It took six months, but Apple News Plus has officially made its way to the UK and Australia today, finally bringing the subscription news and magazine service to countries outside of the US and Canada.
Apple News Plus UK costs £9.99 / AU$14.99 a month, opening up access to over 150 publications in the UK and 'hundreds of titles' in Australia at launch. The UK edition is priced similarly to the US version, with the exception that the US version has more than 300 publications available — roughly double the amount in the UK.
The UK and Australian release of Apple News Plus gives readers the same upgraded Apple News experience, complete with “richly designed layouts, animated magazine covers, vivid photography and bold typography optimized for iPhone, iPad and Mac.”
UK, Australian region-specific publications
Apple News Plus does come with some region specific titles in the UK. Apple highlights several notable British publications that will appear as part of the monthly subscription: The Times, The Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan UK, Elle UK, Esquire UK, FourFourTwo, Empire, Hello!, Cyclist, and Grazia.
Australia gets the same localized treatment with The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, Vogue, Australian Women’s Health, Elle, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, GQ, Australian Men’s Health, Delicious and Australian Geographic.
Apple News Plus outlook
Apple News Plus was able to amass 200,000 sign-ups in the US in its first 48 hours of availability (note: there was a one-month free trial, just like there is in the UK and Australia). But new subscriptions are said to have flatlined, according to 9to5mac. It’s also competing with Apple’s newer, cheaper subscription services, like recently launched Apple Arcade and the November 1-bound Apple TV Plus.
The slow rollout of Apple News Plus to various countries around the world likely has to do with the tedious task of making individual deals with local and regional publications. Presumably, more counties will gain availability to the subscription service in the coming months.
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