As part of a push to promote “quality journalism” from “trusted sources,” Apple announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire a virtual magazine newsstand app called Texture.
The app, formerly known as Next Issue, was founded in 2010. Referred to as the “Netflix of magazine publishing,” Texture lets you access a library of 200 magazines for a $9.99 monthly subscription fee. According to TechCrunch, Apple plans to let the company and app (which is available on iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Windows) continue to operate as they do currently.
“We’re excited Texture will join Apple, along with an impressive catalog of magazines from many of the world’s leading publishers,” said Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue in a press release. “We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.”
The terms of Apple’s acquisition haven’t been released, and user numbers for the Texture app aren’t publicly known.
Longtime iOS users may remember that Apple had a previous foray into the magazine subscription space: Newsstand. The app acted as a hub for individual digital magazine subscriptions but never gained a large, loyal following. Its replacement, the News app in iOS 9, allows you to follow favorite publications, like or dislike stories, and choose from content curated to your interests.
With the Texture app (and its parent company, Next Issue Media) in its fold, Apple has a potentially more attractive model for enticing iOS users to read stories from vetted publications—and perhaps help avoid the issue of false news and fake news that social media has propagated.
It’s possible that at some point, Apple may integrate aspects of Texture into its News app. Alternatively, Texture may eventually benefit from the suggestion algorithms Apple’s already developed for News.
Regardless, it’s feasible that we may see Apple emerge as a new voice in the battle against misinformation online.
H/T TechCrunch