Texture by Next Issue has just updated their app for the iPhone and iPad. It now allows you to sign up for a digital subscription within the app, previously you had to purchase a subscription on their website to use the app. This is going to be a boon for publishers who want to further monetize their content.
In 2012 Next Issue was launched by Conde Nast, Meredith, News Corp, and Time INC. A year later, Rogers Media became a shareholder and brought the service north, into Canada.
Last year Next Issue re-branded themselves with the name Texture. With that change the app also changed its look and mission. Rather than only being about delivering digital editions of print magazines, it evolved to an app that delivered articles from those magazines outside the issues themselves.
I think Texture is no longer hamstrung about making customers jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get access to digital magazines. Signing up directly within the app to buy a subscription should lead to more users gravitating towards the platform.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.