Universal Apple News+ and then, additional subscriptions?

[msackey]

Are my eyes deceiving me or is it the case recently that subscribers to Apple News+ are sometimes seeing news sources or articles that require additional subscription on top of what one already pays for News+?

I can't seem to quickly locate articles like this but as an insomniac, I sometimes read Apple News+ in the middle of the night. In the past several weeks or perhaps couple of months, I seem to have encountered a few times when I click into an article from some news sources, the article displays a few paragraphs of news and then informs me that to read more I need to subscribe for the amount of, for example, $20/month. I seem to recall that some articles like this came from Bloomsberg and some from Insider, but I can't really vouch for it. As an insomniac, reading during those hours can sometimes be a little "muddy"

I am an Apple News+ subscriber, and I thought after paying that subscription fee that whatever sources that I read within Apple News app, there are no additional subscription fees to get to those articles. Anyone experience this? Or is this some kind of temporary (and occasional) glitch?

 

[dmccloud]

There are some providers (Wall Street Journal and New York Times are two I know of offhand) which have their own paywall you have to deal with to actually see their content regardless of Apple News+ subscription status. However, this is not a recent or new development, as WSJ has been like that since day one.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Apple News has been highly disappointing for me as an Apple Premier subscriber.

I pay for several news sources outside of Apple News+ and Apple News recognizes I paid for them but still continues to show ads when I view articles with those subscriptions in Apple News.

The ads are excessive and distracting. The idea that I'm paying for something that then asks me to pay for something else is very distasteful. Yes, I believe we get access to some things to justify the payment - some news orgs / news papers give us full access (WSJ, etc only give partial access).

The magazines are only readable on LARGE devices (MacBook with large screen etc).

Yeah searching is horrible. lol.

I don't use Apple News very often.

 

[dmccloud]

I actually use Apple News+ more for the magazines than the newspaper side of things. I will even use it on my iPhone when I need to reference something quickly.

 

[sparksd]

I actually use Apple News+ more for the magazines than the newspaper side of things. I will even use it on my iPhone when I need to reference something quickly.

Same here. I like the magazines in portrait mode on my M1 12.9. News I get through my regular subscriptions & free browsing.

 

[msackey]

There are some providers (Wall Street Journal and New York Times are two I know of offhand) which have their own paywall you have to deal with to actually see their content regardless of Apple News+ subscription status. However, this is not a recent or new development, as WSJ has been like that since day one.

NYT is no longer part of Apple News+; it was early on but hasn't been for a few years now. I am a subscriber to NYT and use their app often to access articles.

I didn't know that WSJ requires separate subscription though. Because my institution subscribes to WSJ, I do have a login to which I use for when using the WSJ app, but I also made it such that Apple News+ links to my WSJ login. But that said, the list of publications included in Apple News+ includes WJS per this link, so it seems deceptive to me that it would require a separate subscription! https://www.apple.com/apple-news/publications/

This is bizarre. Apple News+ advertises itself as one subscription to access all the publications that it lists as part of its fold. And yet you're saying that some sources like WSJ requires separate subscription? Eek!

 

[msackey]

Apple News has been highly disappointing for me as an Apple Premier subscriber.

I pay for several news sources outside of Apple News+ and Apple News recognizes I paid for them but still continues to show ads when I view articles with those subscriptions in Apple News.

The ads are excessive and distracting. The idea that I'm paying for something that then asks me to pay for something else is very distasteful. Yes, I believe we get access to some things to justify the payment - some news orgs / news papers give us full access (WSJ, etc only give partial access).

The magazines are only readable on LARGE devices (MacBook with large screen etc).

Yeah searching is horrible. lol.

I don't use Apple News very often.

I suppose I may have conceded and lowered my standards. I agree the ads are distracting but may be I no longer get as bothered. But I agree they could go away.

What gets me bonkers more these days is that there are actually news sources within Apple News+ that require an additional subscription free other than the subscription to News+? That's ridiculous.

 

[sparksd]

I suppose I may have conceded and lowered my standards. I agree the ads are distracting but may be I no longer get as bothered. But I agree they could go away.

What gets me bonkers more these days is that there are actually news sources within Apple News+ that require an additional subscription free other than the subscription to News+? That's ridiculous.

Not really surprising on news sources. They're already hurting for money and wouldn't want to be fully available under Apple's pricing - their cut would be incredibly small on a per-subscriber basis.

 

[msackey]

Not really surprising on news sources. They're already hurting for money and wouldn't want to be fully available under Apple's pricing - their cut would be incredibly small on a per-subscriber basis.

Well, that's one reason NYT pulled out of Apple News+. Apple News+ advertises itself as one subscription for access to all those under its fold. So yes, it is surprising. If there are publications that require additional subscription, then maybe Apple News+ should not include them in the package? Or, re-do how they advertise Apple News+ not to say it is one subscription.

 

[sparksd]

Well, that's one reason NYT pulled out of Apple News+. Apple News+ advertises itself as one subscription for access to all those under its fold. So yes, it is surprising. If there are publications that require additional subscription, then maybe Apple News+ should not include them in the package? Or, re-do how they advertise Apple News+ not to say it is one subscription.

Yeah, Apple is not upfront on this, as noted even a few years back -

https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/26/apple-news-is-a-great-deal-but-what-does-full-access-really-mean/

and some providers -

https://support.theatlantic.com/hc/...850903-Information-for-Apple-News-Subscribers

 

[msackey]

Yeah, Apple is not upfront on this, as noted even a few years back -

https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/26/apple-news-is-a-great-deal-but-what-does-full-access-really-mean/

and some providers -

https://support.theatlantic.com/hc/...850903-Information-for-Apple-News-Subscribers

Wow, I did not realize this whole thing was so murky from the get go!

I read your first link and learnt a lot from it. I will peruse the second link when I get time. But honestly, my understanding of my subscription to News+ is totally not what it is, per the revelation from the first link!

 

[Eric Idle]

Apple News has been an abject failure since day 1.

 

[dmccloud]

Apple News has been an abject failure since day 1.

I wouldn't say that at all, as it depends on how you use the service. Since I use it more for the included magazines than the newspaper side of things, I get a lot of usage out of it. And as more magazines are switching to online-only, services such as Apple News, Zinio, etc. will only grow in popularity and usage.

 

[sparksd]

I wouldn't say that at all, as it depends on how you use the service. Since I use it more for the included magazines than the newspaper side of things, I get a lot of usage out of it. And as more magazines are switching to online-only, services such as Apple News, Zinio, etc. will only grow in popularity and usage.

Agree. I use it a lot for the magazines.

 

[msackey]

I wouldn't say that at all, as it depends on how you use the service. Since I use it more for the included magazines than the newspaper side of things, I get a lot of usage out of it. And as more magazines are switching to online-only, services such as Apple News, Zinio, etc. will only grow in popularity and usage.

Agreed. I don't think it's a total failure. However, I am surprised that full access to some sources requires additional subscription. I haven't encountered that a lot but that doesn't mean there aren't many of those situations.

That said, a situation I think I find a bit clunkier is sometimes I'm on a source site to which I know Apple News+ is part of. At the source site, I'm reading an article and find that it's pay-walled. So, I hop over to Apple News+ to then manually search for the article by title, then read it from Apple News+. That is a clunky experience.

I don't know what a feasible solution is to that problem. One potential solution is sources have an Apple News+ icon for articles in which when you click on that icon, it'll take you directly to the Apple News+ app and so you can read that article. But, I'm not sure it is reasonable to require all such sources to re-design their website to include such Apple News+ icon. Or, is there some kind of non-intrusive way that Apple can create this kind of linking that does not require web sources to edit their web page on their side?

 

[sparksd]

Agreed. I don't think it's a total failure. However, I am surprised that full access to some sources requires additional subscription. I haven't encountered that a lot but that doesn't mean there aren't many of those situations.

That said, a situation I think I find a bit clunkier is sometimes I'm on a source site to which I know Apple News+ is part of. At the source site, I'm reading an article and find that it's pay-walled. So, I hop over to Apple News+ to then manually search for the article by title, then read it from Apple News+. That is a clunky experience.

I don't know what a feasible solution is to that problem. One potential solution is sources have an Apple News+ icon for articles in which when you click on that icon, it'll take you directly to the Apple News+ app and so you can read that article. But, I'm not sure it is reasonable to require all such sources to re-design their website to include such Apple News+ icon. Or, is there some kind of non-intrusive way that Apple can create this kind of linking that does not require web sources to edit their web page on their side?

I can't see any incentive for a source with a pay wall wanting to do that - they want you to buy their direct subscription and they're not going to invest in functionality just to support Apple. The flip side of that is that Apple would rather you used News+ and not the source site.

 

[msackey]

I can't see any incentive for a source with a pay wall wanting to do that - they want you to buy their direct subscription and they're not going to invest in functionality just to support Apple. The flip side of that is that Apple would rather you used News+ and not the source site.

Discoverability of articles on Apple News+ isn't always easy. I probably more often read sources directly and find articles which when paywalled I go to Apple News+ to read them.

I agree there isn't an incentive for sources to create the link I discussed in another post, which is why I wondered if there's an alternative. For example: in the native Safari browser, there's a permanent Apple News+ icon in the toolbar in which when you get to a source that is paywalled, you click that icon and it'll take you directly to that article on Apple News+. I don't know if that technologically is feasible. It's just an idea.