Image credit – 9to5Mac
Last year Apple announced their acquisition of Texture, which for those unfamiliar is a magazine subscription service that gives users access to unlimited magazines for a fixed price a month, which some have dubbed as the Netflix for magazines. It was rumored that Apple’s acquisition was part of the company’s plans for a similar service of its own, which we now know to be true.
In a report from 9to5Mac, they have managed to get their hands on an image from the iOS 12.2 beta which seems to confirm that Apple has plans to launch their own magazine subscription service. However it seems to be more than just a magazine subscription service, or at the very least it hints that Apple has bigger plans than that.
This is based on references found in the app which mentions a “bundle subscription”. This has led to speculation that this could be part of Apple’s plan to create a bundled subscription service that would include access to a bunch of paid services, such as access to magazines/news, TV, and Apple Music.
We know that Apple is working on acquiring TV shows to help bolster the service when it launches, but they have yet to officially announce any plans of when it will launch or how much it would cost. It also signals Apple’s transition to more subscription-based services, which some analysts in the past have said would be better for the company, and it is also something Apple is encouraging developers to do as well as subscriptions can offer up a more steady revenue stream.