iPhone App Reviews

GQ | Feb 2010

Brad H | Jan 30, 2010 Entertainment

User rating: (8 votes, average: 2.25 out of 5)

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With the announcement of the iPad comes all the speculation on how we will consume media like newspapers, magazines, and books. As far as books go the format is pretty much fleshed out with digital versions of books available on many devices. Magazines on the other hand are few and far between. Condé Nast Digital has brought GQ magazine to the iPhone and iPod touch. I personally love a good magazine but no longer subscribe to any because I find it to be a lot of hassle in the digital world we live in today. My biggest question has been ” The magazine is made on a computer then printed onto paper so why cant I just get a digital copy page for page on my computer or mobile device.”

The GQ app doesn’t go so far as to deliver a magazine that I can flip through page by page but its a great start. All the content from the magazine is present; Cover page, articles, and pictures it’s all there. The main app menu is split up into sections of relevant articles. The articles are easy to read and have a font re-sizer to adjust the text to be bigger or smaller. If the article has pictures that go along with it, and pretty much all of them do, there is a button you can push to view the media as a slide show.Some of the articles are on the web site but with the app purchase you are given full access to all the articles as well as app only pictures that aren’t on the site. Here’s to you Miranda Kerr, nice photo set.

As far as who is this app for, I would say the casual reader of GQ. If your buying your magazine off the rack your going to save $1.50 by getting the app. If your a subscriber of GQ your going to spend three times as much for the app after a year. If you are a first time reader the app does give you a link to subscribe to the print magazine for a year at a dollar a piece.

With all that said, here are some things I would hope for the future not only with Condé Nast but all publications. I want the actual magazine on my device just as it is in print. I also would like to see a digital subscription, and don’t get me wrong I’m sure things on Apples side need to change for this to happen. All in all I am excited for the future of magazines in digital form and for the GQ app blazing the trail in this open frontier.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that when you go into landscape mode you get the page for page magazine to flip through, ads and all, just what I wanted.

iTunes Link – GQ | Feb 2010

Version 1.0

Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2

Tags: $2.99, Entertainment