Forums | MacLife

Digital magazines are available online, for download to a computer or both.


For MacLife I sometimes get an email with a link saying that the issue is ready. MacLife uses Texterity, which provides the issues online.

Macworld uses Zinio, which sends me an email when an issue is available. One of the differences between the two is that Zinio installs a program on your hard drive that allows you to read offline (you can read online as well). Zinio has a download manager where you can check to see if you have any issues available to download, without having to check emails.  Also Zinio's website keeps track of my issues in my "library" and allows me to re-download my back issues if I need to do that.

One thing that I do like about Texterity is that you can see all the issue's pages spread out in a larger-than-thumbnail form, making finding an article or ad easy.

I am not trying to say one is better than the other, just that I am trying to figure out what is holding up my digital issue and whether anyone else is having a similar problem.

Progress is being made. They did email me back that they are looking into it.

Dusty, we are leading parallel lives.  I had my first problems with the digital subscription last June.  I did not get the regular email saying that the June edition was available for download, so I had to email customer service for them to get it fixed.  All was relatively smooth until the November edition, when I again did not get notice of the availability of the download (although for some inexplicable reason I did receive a hard copy of the magazine, which I had not ordered and had never requested) and contacted customer service.  I was told that the email was not late until Oct. 14, which would have been a couple weeks after the normal cadence, but I waited nonetheless.  After the 14th came and went, I contact them again and they finally sent me the link.

Well, December also came and went with similar results. I got the hard copy of the magazine but no digital version.  I have sent several emails since then asking for the download and have gotten sporadic responses saying, essentially, we are looking into your concerns but no indication that the problem is solved or that I am even getting the December edition.  And today I received the hard copy of January 09 MacLife. 

I have no idea what they are doing, and unfortunately I have the feeling that neither do they.

Dusty, things have not improved for me either.  I keep writing to customer service for them to resolve this issue (like you, I did not order the hard copy but I am now getting it for some inexplicable reason, but they can't seem to get me my digital version).  As of now, I am waiting for January 09, which I received in the mail 3 weeks ago.  When I contact them, they treat me like a bothersome child and ask me to wait a little longer for a digital copy that never comes until I again contact them asking where it is.  They are fast converting me into a MacWorld-only reader.

After begging some more, I finally got the digital copy today.  I fear this is going to be a monthly occurrence.

Sorry for the extreme late response.

Hopefully you have gotten an email response. If not try again.  I have been getting my issues on time so far, so maybe whatever snafu they had in general or with my account has been addressed.

Good luck

The last couple of months I've gotten my digital copy no problem, each time with an email with the link to the magazine.

So I am hoping your issues will arrive as well. Not sure where the hang up would be, maybe a communication gap  between Texterity and MacLife.

Good luck to you.

Hitchhiker wrote:

Getting real quick to the point of bringing this out into something more than this forum..

Well, you should definitely contact customer service if you haven't already. They don't read the forum, for the most part (some of the magazine staff occasionally read through, but they're not the customer service and billing department either, so it's better/faster if you contact the responsible parties directly.)

Glorious.