Why did I pay a tenner for The Times iPad app? Well I thought I should try it out and see what it was like. I’ve had a preview of it and it utterly rocked when I saw it. Alas right now all I see when I run the app is a black screen thus. Perhaps it’s because the first edition has not yet hit the digital presses? I think so. It’s only 1am at the moment. I have high hopes for News International although i do think they are faced with a rather difficult task.
That said, paying a tenner for the app is a little annoying. Unless That has bought me access to the site and service for a year. That would be ok. But paying just to have it on my iPad and then not being being able to login on the web… That would be annoying.
We shall see.
Published on my iPad.
Update: Here’s what I saw last night
This morning though, I saw this…
I clicked and got this message. Ah hah. Right. It’s a tenner for the month, roughly. Ok. I’ve paid in advance already by purchasing the app.
I registered and boom, here was the newspaper’s iPad edition:
The limitations became clear pretty quickly. I can’t DO anything with the content. I can’t send a link, tweet a link or talk about it virtually with anyone. For example, this is a pretty shocking piece of news that I wanted to comment upon to my friends.
I do like the fact that the whole thing is downloaded to the device so I don’t need connectivity to browse through. That’s good. I don’t like having to wait for the internet either.
I’m going to see how I get on and I’ll publish my thoughts soon.
Try it now its there – its really good
The content is there now – definitely worth the wait…
According to the BBC, you’ve not even bought access on the iPad for a year – only 28 days. Personally I think that’s far too expensive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/05/reading_the_ipad.html
It’s a Cellan-jones blog entry though, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect any of the facts to be correct.
“Download The Time iPad app now to get your first 28 days subscription. Additional aceess is available to buy at the same price each 28 day period thereafter through the iTunes store.”
Ewan its 28 days subscription not a year, the paper is £1 a day on normal weekdays assuming supplements like the football section on Mondays are available. For luddites like myself who like the random discovery that a paper provides its fairly good value if you just straight compare to the cost of the paper version and ignore the benefits of digital distribution etc
I think the pricing is just about right but I have some doubts in the back of my mind, one of the main advantages of the web is it's dynamic nature, that fact that it can be updated at any time; while I like the ability to download an edition I don't know how well I can reconcile the fact that what I'm getting is a static edition, and paying a premium to read The Times on the iPad doesn't entitle me to read the web version.
Anyone know when he next daily editions are available? It’s 6.30am and I want to start my day reading the news but still only see yesterday’s Times when I open the app on my iPad.
I also tried it but the Saturday edition only contains the newspaper and none of the colour supplement.
This to me is a deal breaker. If this stays this way I will not be subscribing in the future.
Does it include the sunday times?
You know what, I fired up The Times app today and … no… the Sunday Times doesn't appear to have been delivered!
That's a very good point, Simon. What about the rest of the paper!
£10 for 28 days. But did everyone understand that 28 days does not include the Sunday Times, or supplements, or bits from the regular daily paper? And what does 28 days mean? Is it 28 issues of the The Times, or 24 issues (due to 6 per week)? I feel cheated. They have only today changed the app description in the app store to highlight that it is only for 6 editions per week, and does not include the Sunday Times, which we would need to pay for again. News International were negligent to allow such an imprecise description for an app that costs £10.
How close to the actual paper is it? does it include the crossword, sudoku etc as well as news, sports, tv, times 2 etc? I read the times every day so would like to know before paying whether it has all of the usual content. It would be good if they could give you one edition free before you purchase just to check whether it is suitable for you or not.
Agreed – it would not be difficult technically to offer that day's edition free the first time the App is installed (but not on subsequent installs – to prevent people just reinstalling every day to get it free).
As an iPhone developer myself I can think of a few ways to achieve this.
I personally have not signed up for the subscription because:
1) it's perceived to be very expensive in App terms (most people expect Apps to be either free or 99p – I'm not saying they should expect this kind of price, but it is a fact and you have to deal with that)
2) I don't really know what I'd be getting for my money. A few screen shots and a text description is not enough in this case.
I can happily accept the price if I know what I'd be getting for it.
I would suggest either one edition for free as a sampler, or offer people different payment options:
1) Today's paper (for the same price as the printed version)
2) 28 days for a tenner.
3) A year for £100
Good points
Finally given up on the Times. Very poor customer service when you have a query. Asked a simple questions over 2 weeks ago & kept getting vague replies.
The ipad edition does not have a “larger print” option (Telegraph does & also has a :night” option) We seniors need this 🙂
Annoying that you have to pay eztra for the Sunday times -should be included.
Even cancelling my subscription was a hassle.
Maybe I’ll try again when they sort out their problems. Meanwhile I’ll stay with the Telegraph.
Finally given up on the Times. Very poor customer service when you have a query. Asked a simple questions over 2 weeks ago & kept getting vague replies.
The ipad edition does not have a “larger print” option (Telegraph does & also has a :night” option) We seniors need this 🙂
Annoying that you have to pay eztra for the Sunday times -should be included.
Even cancelling my subscription was a hassle.
Maybe I’ll try again when they sort out their problems. Meanwhile I’ll stay with the Telegraph.