The Canadian Newsstand: small differences and additions make all the difference for both readers and publishers

As angry as American developers may be over the changes Apple have made to the App Store – centered on the loss of a way to search for the newest released apps – Canadian app developers have reasons to feel lucky, especially media app developers.

At first glance, there appears to be virtually no difference between the U.S. and Canadian App Stores. Each has a carousel promotion at the top of the Newsstand as seen in the desktop version of iTunes. Both have a "New and Noteworthy" section that does not, in fact, feature new apps at all, just apps Apple wants to promote.

Yet another area is devoted to either more apps or, in the case of the Canadian App Store, a button that will lead you to an area where Canadian magazines are gathered in one place. In all, 43 magazines can be found in this space, but the order in which the reader sees the titles is determined by Apple as there is no ability to sort the titles by either release date or alphabetically.

Below the buttons comes "What's Hot", yet another area where Apple promotes apps.

Below that is another special area called Magazines en français. This section contains 29 French language titles, but unlike the section devoted to Canadian magazines, in general, this section can be sorted by Name, Release Date and Featured.

It all seems so random – why can one sort the magazines and newspapers found in one area, but not the other?

Below the area devoted to French language magazines is yet another row of app buttons (as opposed to icons) where again Apple is promoting apps.

Then finally there is the last section: "All Newsstand Apps" – the section that has been eliminated from the U.S. App Store.

In all, Canadian publishers can see seven different places where a reader could find their titles. There is also, of course, the Top Paid Apps, Top Free Apps and Top Grossing lists of apps that can be found along the right side of the store. That makes ten places.

In the U.S. store, there is a Happy Holidays section as well as a 2012 in Review section, but one row of buttons is missing, and most importantly of all, the "All Newsstand Apps" is gone.

What is shocking about the U.S. design – again, as seen in the desktop version of the iTunes App Store – is the enormous amount of wasted space. In fact, more than 50 percent of the available space Apple has to promote or list apps is left unused. Said another way, the redesigned Apple App Store is white space.

To make matters worse, using Apple's own system for sorting, if one were to use the subcategories to find apps, then pressed "New" one would find that the apps that come up can be sorted by either name or featured, but not date. In other words, "New" has lost all meaning.

For now, at least, Canadian publishers still have a way their new apps can be found by a shopper browsing to find something new to read. In the U.S. store, new apps are lost somewhere in the system. Let's hope that Apple chooses to fix the U.S. store so that it looks more like what Canadians see when they are in their own App Store.

AAM digital publishing survey unveils how member companies are investing in the new digital platforms

A new study conducted by the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations, shows that member companies have made tremendous strides in developing for mobile media, tablets and online, even while many members are struggling to maintain a positive bottom line.

The AAM survey, conducted with Roslow Research, showed that 90 percent of AAM member companies are now distributing content via mobile devices – with 85 percent having launched an iPhone app, and 87 an iPad app.

"This year’s survey results show that publishers have embraced tablets, smartphones and the Web as an integral part of their overall cross-platform publishing strategy," said Eric John, AAM’s vice president of digital services. "They are meeting their readers where they live — in print, on tablets and smartphones, and on the Web."

AAM members are also active launchers of Android and other platform apps, as well. 75 percent reported having an Android app, while 67 percent said they have Kindle apps. More AAM magazine member companies are producing native applications (80 percent) versus newspaper companies 69 percent).

Magazine publishers appear most satisfied with native apps, compared to newspapers and B2B firms – 58 percent said they prefer to stick with native app, version 30 percent who wanted to move to HTML5 solutions. Not surprisingly, I suppose, B2B media companies are the most confused on the issue with 60 percent not sure in which direction to go.

Almost half of newspaper companies surveyed by the AAM said they now have put their websites behind some type of paywall (48 percent), while only 22 percent of consumer magazine members have. The AAM business media numbers say 54 percent have gone behind paywalls, but it must be remembered that the AAM represents only a small slice of all B2B media companies, and of those, the majority use a paid circulation model versus a qualified circulation model.

In a sign that the digital platforms are still not assisting member media firms turn a profit, the AAM study said that only half of those surveyed said that their websites are currently profitable. Not surprisingly then, only 22 percent said their mobile and tablet apps are contributing to the bottom line, though 51 percent said they expected their apps to be in the black in the next two years.

The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV announce new collaboration agreement; media companies will share video content and reporting across print, online & TV

The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV, the local CBS station, today announced that they will begin a collaboration that will combine the news and feature resources of both media outlets. The Globe is owned by The New York Times Company, while WBZ-TV id owned-and-operated by CBS.

According to the announcement, the two media outlets will share breaking news and video on television, in print and online, bringing WBZ-TV's AccuWeather forecasts and meteorologists to The Globe, for instance.

"This collaboration will further allow The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV News to deliver the most comprehensive news and information across platforms to better serve consumers when, where, and how they want content,” said Mark Lund, President and General Manager of CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV.

The new collaboration will mean that TV viewers will probably be seeing Globe reporters providing interviews and analysis for WBZ-TV news reports, as well the use of Globe polls.

“The relationship with WBZ-TV is one more way for the Globe to extend its reach in Greater Boston, with a news organization that values quality journalism,” Caleb Solomon, the Globe’s managing editor, said.

A mystery tale: Digital magazine apps that say they were updated in April finally hit the App Store in December

Every once in a while one finds something so strange inside the App Store that I don't know whether I should write about or simply scratch my head and move on.

As I've written about lately, Apple has made changes to its App Store that make it all but impossible for readers to find the latest released tablet editions. It is a change so counterintuitive that developers are at a loss to understand why Apple would do something so stupid.

But it is not yet completely impossible to go into the App Store and find the latest apps, you simply have to go outside the U.S. App Store. It was there that I found a new app from 1100 Media for their Chicago tablet magazine. That's when things got really strange.

The app description for Chicago | 1100.com states that the app was updated to version 2.5 on April 10, 2012. OK, then why is this showing up in the App Store as a brand new release?

A look at the online version of the app in iTune shows a release date of December 17 – today – so that kind of explains it. But there is one more odd thing about this app: downloading it, installing it and opening it up shows that the latest issues are from March and April.

The Chicago tab edition is not the only 1100 Media app showing the same oddities. The los angeles | 1100.com (sic) also shows a discrepancy between its release date online and what it shows in the App Store. It, too, has April as its last issue in the app.

A call to the company does no good since the phone numbers appear faked. They are, in fact, the same phone number for each magazine but with only the area code changed – each number is disconnected.

This is all a big mystery, or at least a mystery to me.

About three weeks ago I posted a look at the same company's tablet magazine for Scottsdale. At the time I said that the designers were taking a minimal approach to creating their tablet magazine, but that it worked. These two apps that are both new and old – new to the App Store, yet containing old issues – are identical in look to that Scottsdale digital magazine. So identical, in fact, that one has to really wonder about what is going on here.

Updates: Hearst shows a lack of App Store etiquette; American Airlines adds new features to mobile app, while British Airways show how to write an app description

The management team at Hearst magazines must be sadists, because they continue to appear to enjoy inflicting pain on their digital readers through double charging and releasing buggy apps. But then again, maybe their are masochists, because they seem to enjoy getting slammed by their readers inside the App Store, seemingly going out of their way to do things that bring on one-star reviews.

Late last week the media company updated its iOS app editions, but continue to insult their readers by failing to tell them what the app updates are for. Instead, the app descriptions contain this copy:

Thanks to our readers who have provided feedback on the Cosmo app! Based on your feedback, we have developed this new version to ensure you have the best reading experience. Please update now, and keep the comments coming.

No fear, their readers are happy to oblige.

"The update doesn't fix the problem. I paid 3.99$ for a magazine I can't view, it's just a black screen," wrote on of several irate readers inside the App Store.

For the most part, the Hearst magazine apps are the lowest rated inside the store. The main problem is that Hearst continues to charge all readers for the digital editions, even if the reader is already a print subscriber. But Hearst is not alone in this policy, so why are their apps so badly rated?

Well, bugs and crashes don't help. But I think it is the attitude the company has, as seen in its app description copy, that is at the root of the problem. The app description reads as if the company simply doesn't care, that it is oblivious to the problems their apps have. Honest copy writing would certainly help the situation – simply say what you are fixing, and explain your pricing policy. Not everyone will agree, and no doubt many of the one-star reviews will continue. But Hearst may be surprised to find that honesty will be enough to win over a few others, and most importantly, will prevent others from canceling their subscriptions.

American Airlines and British Airlines both issued late last week. The AA mobile app, simply called American Airlines, adds some interesting new features to an app that already has some pretty cool ones.

The app update now will re-direct the user for check-in on British Airways and Iberia, AA's two partners. The app will also show the customer's drink coupon if purchased at the time of their reservation. The update also fixed some important bugs concerning upgrades.

As for the British Airways app, its app description takes the polar opposite approach to app description writing than does Hearst. It's "What's New" copy is extensive, really extensive.

It, too, contains some marketing language, but it also contains important details about the changes in its app.

BA not only includes the changes seen in the latest update, but also includes the changes seen in the previous update. This allows them to review important additions and fixes seen in that update in order to encourage users to go ahead and press that "update" button.

And that, folks, is why you include details in app descriptions, to encourage downloads.

Apple updates iTunes to 11.0.1, locks in design changes that are making many small developers howl in protest

The development community that made the Apple App Store a huge success is voicing its disapproval of moves made by Apple that are designed to benefit larger developers and increase sales overall at the expense of small, independent developers – and developers are letting Apple know about it by complaining in the Apple developer forums.

Over the weekend Apple released a small update to its iTunes software, that some developers hoped would reverse a change that they believe is resulting in a sharp fall in their app sales.

As part of the app description, Apple mentioned its new store design:

• A New Store. The iTunes Store has been complete redesigned and now features a clean look that makes it simpler than ever to see what's hot and discover new favorite.

The change in question eliminates the "All" area, where new apps showed up and were seen first by shoppers. A new app would enter this area upon release and every app could be found here, sorted by release date.

Now, with the redesign, the "All" area was eliminated from every category and now Apple uses the entire App Store to promote apps its thinks buyers will want. Unless the buyer knows the name of the app, it is now impossible to find a new app unless Apple chooses to promote it.

And while the App Store may be "cleaner", it now wastes most of the space, so justifying the change based on aesthetics seems a bit dishonest.

"I don't mind Apple giving some special treat to the big guys," wrote one developer on the Apple developer forum. "If I spent a million on marketing my app and it didn't get some special attention by Apple, I'd be peed."

"But - I don't think that this approach necessarily has to exclude giving some attention to small indie devs. Why not have a category for New Releases in addition to those pushing big guys; or, heck, even a Random list of apps that picks 100 apps randomly or something like that."

Others pointed out that the move does not help buyers either, as it now makes it harder for buyers to find new apps, those that have been recently been released and would be of interest.

"The appstore is going die a natural death because the average customer is going to get tired seeing the same "Big Apps" in their faces all the time vs having the option to see new innovative item releases like good ole days!" wrote a developer.

Not everyone is upset with the changes, explaining that the only way a developer could make an app a success was to market the app outside the store. But all seem to agree that the move by Apple may force shoppers to go elsewhere to find apps. If the Apple App Store redesign makes it nearly impossible to actually find what you are looking for – unless Apple itself promotes the app – then buyers will be forced to look at third party sites in order to understand what is actually in the App Store.

"If the innovative new apps start regularly marketing themselves outside the App store somewhere, that's where the users who need a novelty fix will start looking for them," wrote a developer. "There's still too much money in the long tail to completely kill the App Store, unless some other platform steps up significantly."

But ultimately the problem here for Apple is that in one big move they have destroyed the loyalty and trust of many small and independent developers. Possibly worse is the fact that while a simple change in the store would satisfy the complaints of developers, the idea that Apple would intentional inflict a harmful change to the developers that made the store a success, all in the name of promoting the big developers, has many small developers questioning their loyalty to the platform.

Note: Many developers and vendors even today remain unaware of the changes to the App Store that will effect new apps. One person at a major digital publishing platform company said he did not know of the changes, and in fact did not see them on his machine because he had not updated his software. Upon seeing the changes he became concerned because he felt the changes would discourage some clients from launching new apps.