Not For Paper

Well mannered discussions on all things pixeled

I Just Want to Read The News

Ft

"We have launched a new, faster, more complete app for the iPad and iPhone which is available via your browser rather than from an app store."

...says Financial Times, who just joined a small group of publishers that refuse to unabashedly join the Apple brigade. Their iOS app, for iPad in particular, is one of the more refined news applications on the App Store. And yet as of now (unless they change their minds) they've decided to pull back support for the iOS app. Instead they've transitioned their iOS experience to a web app, that users can still save to their desktop, and functions ALMOST just like the native app. It's certainly one of the better web apps using HTML5, CSS3, and all that tech jazz. 

We can assume that for Financial Times, there are some benefits to leaving the App Store: 

• This allows them to avoid paying 30% of the subscription fees to Apple—something Apple enforces on users who subsribe from within an app.
• This is more flexible for getting the application on future tablets and phones across different platforms. 
• Updates are not tied to Apples approval process. 

For the user, there really isn't a benefit I can see. The benefits of going with a native app: 

• Native apps are still more responsive.
• The application gets all the benefits of native functionality, such as multi-tasking.
• With Apple's upcoming Newsstand, content updates are pulled to front and center. 
• Subscription management is all in one place (with your Apple account).

Apple obviously has incentives to keep things in-house as well:

• Control over the user experience (more control at least). e.g. Newsstand for iPad.
• 30% of the profits (for those that subscribe in-app).
• Note: They've given a free pass to many video subscription services (no Newsstand equivalent yet for video yet).

The question is, are the benefits to FT going to out-weight the losses. Being on the app-store means getting a spot of the shelf of the most popular digital storefront around. And with that comes features that help to draw in more users and make subscriptions more appealing. Features like centralized account management, and content updates in the Newsstand. Only time will answer that question.

Having tried the web app after being a steady user of the iPad native app, the 'more complete app' value isn't coming through. Native apps have benefits over the web. But the web also has many benefits over native apps. And this move is merely trying to replicate the native app experience on the web—which can only be partially successful. Regardless of the profit share issue, users will go where the best experience is—and even pay for it given the right value. And the web can be a great thing. But publishing to the web should also mean taking full advantage of everything the web has to offer. Let a website be a website (can still have some app-like behavior). And let an app be an app. I might even pay for both if you do both right.