PadGadget Weekly App Series — Top Magazine Apps
By 
For today’s Weekly App Series we’ve found seven great apps to add to your iPad collection. Our editorial team goes through the data, picks the best and most interesting apps and then brings them to you on a regular basis.
We used our PadGadget Apps Tracker to find these great apps and we’ll continue to look for the best apps on a weekly basis. Be sure to check them out because these apps might just be what you’re looking for.
This week’s category is: Top Magazine Apps
1.) National Geographic Magazine (Free) - This interactive, digital version of the world’s most popular nature magazine is full of beautiful photos, fascinating articles and detailed topographical maps. Additional features, exclusive to the digital magazine include videos relating to articles, interactive timelines and illustrations and guided map tours. The free app includes a sample of the November 2011 issue. Back issues dating back to February of 2011 can be purchased individually for $4.99. Readers can subscribe for $1.99 per month, or $19.99 annually. Current print subscribers can access the digital edition for free.
2.) The New Yorker Magazine (Free) - Anyone who has ever had a subscription of The New Yorker will know how difficult it is to read the entire magazine in one week before the next issue arrives. At least you know you can make it through the Top Ten list. The digital version of this intellectual magazine includes all of the fresh and topical stories that you love, as well as the witty cartoon illustrations. Additional content exclusive to the digital magazine includes video, audio clips and interactive photo slideshows. The free app includes a sample of the Table of Contents and a clever video how-to directed by Roman Coppola and starring Jason Schwartzman. Back issues dating back to October of 2010 can be purchased for $4.99 each ($2.99 for The New Yorker Reader). Annual subscriptions cost $59.99 and include all access to every issue since 1925. Current print subscribers can access the digital edition for free.
3.) Food Network Magazine (Free) - Finally, this delectable food magazine is available for the iPad. Unfortunately, it is not free for print subscribers. Hopefully, Hearst will change that soon. For those who don’t already get the print copy delivered to their mailbox, this magazine is full of wonderful recipes that have been created and tested by top chefs. For the most part, this is a PDF replica. However, readers can tap on any recipe to add the ingredients to a shopping list. The shopping list is added to the end of the issue and can be edited and sent through email. Individual issues, starting with the most current, can be purchased for $3.99. Subscriptions are available for $1.99 per month, or $19.99 annually. There is no sample copy for preview.
4.) Mad Magazine (Cheap!), (Free) – Having recently hit their 500-issue milestone, the creators of Mad Magazine gave Alfred E. Neuman a great birthday present, and iPad owners a wonderful April Fool’s Day in the form of an interactive, digital version of the humorous magazine. Peruse the pages of this hilarious periodical to read clever comic strips, mashups, Spy Vs. Spy and the famous fold-ins. The app comes with a sample of the table of contents and two articles of the April 2012 issue. Additional free content includes TV Timeouts, in-app access to the Idiotical Blog and the Mad Magazine store, as well as exclusive bonus content only available with the digital magazine. Back issues can be purchased individually for $1.99. Current issues are $4.99. Readers can subscribe bi-monthly for $1.99 per issue or $9.99 annually. Subscribers to the print magazine can access the digital edition for free.
5.) WIRED Magazine (Free) - One of the first magazines to make the transition to the iPad is also one of the first magazines to update to support the new iPad’s Retina display. Being that WIRED is a tech magazine, of course they are going to have some of the most interactive content of any iPad periodical. The digital version includes all the fascinating content of the print magazine, as well as moving images, videos, audio clips, and interactive articles. Back issues dating back to June of 2010 can be purchased individually for $3.99. Subscriptions can be purchased for $1.99 per month or $19.99 annually. Current subscribers to the print magazine can access the digital edition for free.
6.) Funny or Die’s The Occasional (Free) - That’s right kiddies. The folks that brought you “The Landlord” and “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” have started their own magazine. What are they thinking? Seriously funny, this app can’t be called a magazine. It is full of interactive images, videos, audio clips and hilarious content. Watch episodes of Between Two Ferns, listen to Tom Lennon teach yoga and read celebrity quotes that they’ve never said, but we all know they are thinking. The first issue is available for $3.99. Bi-monthly subscriptions can be purchased for $1.99 per issues or $9.99 annually. According to the App Store summary, yearly subscribers “may receive bonus content occasionally.”
7.) Project Magazine (Free) - This may be the best iPad magazine app available. Not necessarily for content, but for the interactive features. The articles are so-so. They read like your typical men’s magazine. But this was the first to be an iPad exclusive magazine and turned the periodical world upside-down with its well-designed interactivity. There are videos that can be viewed right on the page instead of taking up the screen so that readers can watch a clip while reading the article. There are lots of moving images. The covers are always the most impressive, visually. There are links to websites relating to the articles on every page. This is truly what the iPad is meant for. Individual copies can be purchased for $3.99. Subscriptions can be purchased for $19.99 annually.
