Next Issue, a Netflix for magazines, lands on the iPad

The Netflix model of unlimited content works well for movies and television shows, but can it work for magazines?

That’s the question being answered by Next Issue, a subscription-based all-you-can-read tablet app that’s hitting the iPad today after an extended period flying solo on Android.

Via the app, users have access to 39 titles from all the big publishers — Conde Nast, Hearst, News Corp, Meredith, and Time — so there’s no shortage of options. Surprisingly, Next Issue hopes to double its selection by the end of the year.

Next Issue offers two types of subscriptions, which run for $10 and $15. The more expensive Premium subscription offers the service’s entire catalog (including its weekly selections), while the Basic plan only offers the top magazines.

Either way, it’s a pretty good deal, considering the average magazine subscription runs for a yearly $20. Half that price for 40 titles? That’s pretty hard to pass up.

But what’s most surprising is just how long its taken the app to reach iPad owners. As the success of Apple’s Newsstand app has shown, iOS is a major moneymaker for magazine publishers. It will be interesting to see where the service goes from here. There may be some hope for magazines just yet.

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