Fairfax launches iPhone apps but no sign of promised iPad offerings

Fairfax has today launched an app for the Apple iPhone based on its digital news mastheads, but there is no sign of the iPad app that the company said would launch by the end of this month.

The iPad apps – priced at $2.49 per month – are based on the web content of the smh.com.au, theage.com.au, WAtoday.com.au and brisbanetimes.com.au.

In a press release,the publisher said:

“Fairfax Media today paves the way for publishers to effectively monetise content with a range of new iPhone apps set to revolutionise how consumers interact with content online. The innovative apps for the smh.com.au, theage.com.au, WAtoday.com.au and brisbanetimes.com.au, let consumers completely personalise their news experience, with a range of additional features and increased breadth of coverage.  

“Making full use of the range of gesture and viewing features available with the iPhone, the apps let consumers interact, change the order of display and even remove news from more than 100 different sections of content from the Fairfax news titles.

“Laden with features including photo galleries, full-screen video and localised weather, users will be able to customise their entire news experience. For example, someone interested only in sports and business news can set their news stream to reflect their preferences. Other customisable aspects include viewing options (horizontal and vertical options), adjustable font sizes, and video preferences.

Fairfax CEO Brian McCarthy, said, “It’s the first move by Fairfax Media to charge for its online news content on a mobile phone. The development of the apps is a milestone in our ongoing strategy around the delivery of content through digital platforms.”

When asked about the absence of the promised iPad apps, a spokesman for Fairfax told Mumbrella that there was no announcement in the pipeline.

The venture, which is driven by Fairfax’s digital arm, follows July’s drive to sell subscriptions to iPad users by Fairfax’s print arm, which ended in confusion after the company said it wasn’t their real app. At the time, publisher Lloyd Whish-Wilson told Mumbrella: “The Smart Edition was never planned, nor expected to be, the end-product in the development of the Sydney Morning Herald iPad app. This is now well in to development, and as MD Brian McCarthy said in his press release, will be released shortly.” He added at the time that it would launch by the end of September.

And in June, McCarthy said Fairfax had 50 apps on the way that would roll out over a “three, four, five, six month period”.

At the time of posting, only one review of the new SMH iPhone app had appeared in the iTunes store. It gave the app one star out of a possible five, describing it as “slow, buggy and it’s not the paper!”. There was also one review of The Age’s app, which described it as “nice but pricey and slow”.

Rival publisher News Ltd launched its iPad offering back in May, on the day the iPad launched in Australia.