Apple App Store subscriptions announced

Apple has announced a new subscription service available to all publishers of content-based apps on the App Store.

Apple's new subscriptions service on the App Store effectively offers magazine and newspaper publishers and video, music and other producers a new way of making some cash from selling their content online.

The subscriptions service will mean that publishers can set the price and length of subscription, then with one-click customers pick the length of subscription and are automatically charged accordingly.

Essentially this means that consumers can now get digital magazines and newspapers delivered to their iPad, iPod touch or iPhone on a regular basis.

This is something that was fist introduced with The Daily iPad newspaper in the US, and has now trickled through into the rest of the App Store.

Innovative service

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said about the new service: "We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers."

The arrival of Apple's new subs service for content creators follows the recent launch of News International's The Daily iPad newspaper app.

As with other app developer partnerships, Apple will get a 30 per cent cut from any publisher's content that is sold online via the iTunes App Store – although this will only be the case where Apple brings a new subscriber to the app.

In the case of the content publisher bringing an existing or new subscriber to the app, then that publisher keeps 100 percent of the revenue, and Apple earns nothing – other than the value of having ever more users signed up to the iTunes App Store.

It's certainly an interesting model and we will no doubt be bringing you further news of content creators and publishers choosing to develop iPad, iPod touch and iPhone friendly magazines and more in the coming months.