The iPad is just about perfect for reading magazines; surprising, then, that more publishers haven’t come out with iPad-specific apps, right? Thankfully, publishers seem to be catching on, and last week saw two tricked-out versions of women’s magazines debut as apps on the iPad.
VIVmag, an all-digital women’s mag that was one the first (if not the first) magazines to publish an iPad-specific issue, just released an iPad app that complements the Zinio-powered and web editions of the magazine that’ve been available up to this point. The app includes nifty features like videos, quizzes, “mix–and-match elements,” and ads that function as shopping gateways. Marie Claire’s Fall Fashion A-Z app also sports videos and a “click-to-buy fashion” function, and adds a cool feature that lets users digitally apply cosmetics to a test model.
VIVmag’s app is free for a very limited preview, which becomes a single full-issue preview upon free registration; further issues need to be bought (though downloading the app gives an automatic 20 percent subscription discount). The Marie Claire app is, simply, $3.
