Yesterday's launch of iOS 5 was also the launch of Newsstand, Apple's solution for buying and updating magazines and periodicals on iPhones and iPads. It's pretty spiffy, and we are there -- in fact, as of this writing we're the No. 6 app on the iPhone Newsstand Top Grossing list.
You can buy a single issue for $5.99 or subscribe for just 99 cents per month, which you can cancel anytime. (So there's really no reason to buy that $5.99 single issue, seriously -- just subscribe to get the current issue for 99 cents and then you can immediately cancel. I've got screenshots explaining how in the gallery below.) Once you subscribe, new issues will be downloaded to your iPhone and iPad automatically, and you'll be charged 99 cents each month.
The digital edition is just like the print edition. Basically it's a PDF reader. We've been looking forward to this for months, and every time someone asked us why it was taking so long our geek hearts would break just a little, but now it's here and we hope you like it.
Speaking of the print edition, some have been asking if print subscribers get access for free. Unfortunately, we don't have a mechanism for that yet. The universal Mac|Life Mag app (which is the reader) is free, but the actual issues are sold via in-app subscriptions, so we can't even give you a promo code. That means for now the app edition and the print edition are two separate products, and we totally understand if you don't want to purchase both, but at least now you have a choice.
Any questions? Let us know in the comments, or hit us up on Twitter. (We're @MacLife, where over 40,000 of you hang out with us for some reason -- that's another milestone we passed this week that greatly warmed our nerdish hearts. Our readers are the BEST!)
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pellis01
July 31, 2012 at 11:40am
They make it impossible to cancel. I no longer want this magazine or app, but it keeps charging me $0.99 per month. Apple iTunes should protect users from this fraudulent activity. All iTunes subscriptions should be able to be activated or cancelled with one click within iTunes. I will cancel EVERYTHING if McLife does not stop!!!
brandonwalkermedia
November 15, 2011 at 7:31pm
MacLife for iPhone is a FRUAD!!! DO NOT BUY! the subscription is a rip they have not given ANY of us a new issue and we have ALL been charged, further more i have not heard a word from Future or MacLife regarding this issue AND ITS BEEN 2 WEEKS!!!
Advice to people who have bought the subscription:
Report the MacLife Mag app as FRUAD maybe you should get all your money back and they will remove the Fraudulent app so no one else can be tricked
theDVUSone
November 15, 2011 at 12:56am
Mac|Life told me that there was a new edition ready to download but all I am seeing is the November issue still. I was also charged the $0.99. Does it automatically download or have I missed something?
jgrayman
November 10, 2011 at 9:48am
The December 2011 issue is out in print but it isn't available on the apple newsstand? What gives?
thermopyl
October 19, 2011 at 2:28pm
Yep, pay your 99c and then find there is no way to unsubscribe.
I have been passed around nearly every customer support member of Future US, MacLife, Texterity and a host of others ~ no-one will take responsibility. Heaven help them if they charge me again!
AVOID
PostcardsFromLimbo
October 16, 2011 at 9:03pm
As a subscriber going back to MacAddict #1, all I have to say is "YEAH!"
jpatrickn
October 15, 2011 at 8:07am
Getting the red badge bug as well.
Also, I have another problem, I subscribed using my iPad 2 and when I downloaded the magazine on my iPhone 4 and my sister's iPad 1, I think I was charged again since my account is missing about $2.
I already contacted Apple support regarding this as well as Maclife.
UPDATE: iTunes just gave back my missing $2.00 :)
munkyman12
October 14, 2011 at 11:43am
I prematurely subscribed to your monthly plan on my iPhone. I then realized it would be much better reading the mag on my iPad :) Unfortunately, when I try to view the mag on my iPad, all it does is say I already have a subscription but will not load the magazine onto my iPad. How do I resolve this issue?
kingv84
October 14, 2011 at 9:38am
The badge on Maclife "New" and the red number do not disappear after I open the magazine and read it. Seems to me like a bug. Only happens on magazines from Future Plc. PC Gamer has the same problem.
skendel
October 13, 2011 at 5:16pm
Yeah, I would prefer it like pmartign would. The version emailed to me is pretty damn crappy. :) Useless on an iPad 2 WiFi only when I am out and about.
rtamesis
October 13, 2011 at 5:04pm
I downloaded the app on both my iPhone and iPad (updated to iOS 5!) but the subscribe button within your app doesn't seem to work.
penname
October 13, 2011 at 4:14pm
Finally! MacLife never went the Zinio route so I was dying to get a digital way to read MacLife. Much prefer digital versions if at all possible, especially since the iPad 2. And imagine what the reading experience will be on the iPad 3 retina display (can always dream).
A bunch of good guitar magazines also showed up on Newsstand. I was also glad to see my current wired subscription automatically showed up.
Also noticed Car & Driver and The Walking Dead on the list. Now I have some difficult decisions, since I have a current Car & Drive subscription through Zinio, and get my copies of The Walking Dead through ComiXology. Amazon and Kindle won the battle for my digital book business (sorry iBooks) but Newsstand looks like it may win me for magazines.
Husher315
October 13, 2011 at 2:31pm
Thanks for the clarification about the print and app subscriptions. Gonna stick with my print till it runs, then go digital.
Do you guys think there will be a way in the future to get access to the mag app if you are a print subscriber?
Susie Ochs
October 13, 2011 at 2:44pm
I sure hope so! As you can see by my "don't pay $5.99, that's ridiculous!" instructions above, I tend to think more like a consumer than a businessperson... It's definitely something our readers want, so hopefully if/when it becomes an option in the App Store, we'll offer it. I really hope we do. It'll be up to the business side of the...uh, business: the circulation and marketing and executive teams. They keep us editorial types out of decisions like that. But we let 'em know what people are asking for, and that's a hugely popular request of course...
benna12
October 13, 2011 at 12:16pm
I am having an issue where I have subscribed to to the 99 cent a month option, but even after I have downloaded the current issue and opened it, the red alert badge is still showing on the Newsstand App and there is a banner over the issue of MacLife that says "New".
Has this happened to anyone else? I cannot get the red badge alert to go away.
pmartign
October 13, 2011 at 11:58am
It would be awesome if you could link the Newsstand to the print edition. I would prefer that to the version you email me. Thanks.
