Review: Popular Science Magazine iPad App

This is part of the Top Magazine iPad series

Popular Science’s publisher, Bonnier, greeted the iPad’s launch with the creation of their own magazine platform, Mag+. Popular Science+ is the first application to launch on the new platform. The project of the app was a  collaboration between Bonnier’s global R&D task force and BERG, a London-based design studio. In comparison to their website, www.popsci.com, which appears to have a confusing format, with scattered content and sections, the Popular Science iPad app replicates the clarity of the magazine. The team at Bonnier are really passionate about the concept of the mag + and explain in great detail the careful decisions made behind the navigation of the app in this video.

Our Ratings:

1) Usefulness/Value to User

The Bonnier team have sweated over ways to bring the aestheticism of magazines to life with the expanded  format possibilities of the iPad. In their explanatory video they describe this Mag + as an exploration of reading experiences for magazines on touch-base devices. The team have clearly recognised a big shift in reader control of content consumption, on the iPad. The interface of this iPad is very impressive and it is a very clear route of naviagtion. There are new functions still arriving, such as the ‘heated mode’.

7/10

2) Useability/Interface

The reader can easily navigate through the content by scrolling left and they can dig into the content by scrolling up and down. This app actually looks like it has been totally designed for the iPad. There is even a dog-ear function. Dog-ears are mixed into the table of contents which are used to quickly move between sections in the issue. Apple have stated the need for apps to remain agnostic to the orientation of the device so there isn’t something that the reader is missing in horizontal rather than vertical mode. Bonnier have stated that this has become a really important constraint in defining the rule space for their art direction and editorial control. There is also a unique ‘browse’ mode makes the text disappear so you can focus exclusively on the magazine’s bold photography and illustrations.

8/10

3) Price

There is a subscription offer for this magazine which allows you to save money if you sign up for 6 or 12 issues in advance. In-app purchasing allows users to get new issues for $4.99 (last month) or $2.99 (earlier issues).

6/10

There is a special ‘heated’ mode where you can rub the screen to activate a new mode that lets you select text that you can e-mail, tweet, post to Facebook, or save in your Scrapbook. In Heated mode, you can also save URLs from stories or ads to check out later.

7/10

Summary

This is a truly ambitious app. where Bonnier have tried and succeeded at pushing the limits of iPad innovation. However, for this purpose this app is better for really technically savvy readers, because it has quite a complex navigation design.

This is part of the Top Magazine iPad series