Wanderlust new Windows 8 app
As mobile platforms proliferate publishers need to widen their reach – just like getting physical distribution in new retail outlets. Five publishers have won free app builds on Microsoft Windows 8 with digital publishing solutions provider Stonewash. All are now available to view on the Windows App Store.
Earlier this year Stonewash invited publishers to apply for the free Windows 8 Apps, and from hundreds of entries selected the five winners. Each magazine had their app built and managed for 12 months free of charge in a co-funded initiative between Stonewash and Microsoft.
And the winners are:
- Wanderlust (Wanderlust Travel Media)
- ArtReview (ArtReview)
- PC Pro (Dennis)
- The Skinny (Radge Media)
- PC Advisor (IDG)
All apps are free to download and The Skinny and Art Review magazines are free to download, while the others are in-app purchases.
Search for the magazines on the Windows 8 App Store
The participating publishers have been keen to try out a new platform. Says Ash Patel, Marketing Manager, IDG: “As soon as Windows 8 launched back in October PC Advisor was very keen to launch our product on this platform. PC Advisor is currently available on Apple and Android devices so it made complete sense to expand onto Windows 8. Many of our readers and online users are avid Microsoft fans. The Microsoft funded competition fell at the perfect time and has allowed us to widen our readership and reach out to those digital users who we couldn’t reach before.”
Rob Grainger, CEO, Stonewash added, “We’ve been working closely with the team at Microsoft and we’ve been impressed with how they’ve been open and attentive to what publishers need from digital platforms. We’re committed to supporting Windows 8 as the potential audience is huge in comparison to other app stores and it will play an important role in the way readers engage with content on screens.”
Stonewash are soon launching more pioneering initiatives that will remove many of the barriers facing traditional publishers as they navigate and reposition into a more online market.
The founders of Stonewash Ltd began developing the first version of the Stonewash Magazine Framework in 2008. Fast forward over 4 years and Stonewash are at the forefront of developing magazine apps for smartphones and tablets, with clients across the world.
Stonewash creates apps that provide a great off-the-shelf experience for readers and come with a superb suite of browser-based production tools, coupled with functionality geared to capturing the reader data that advertisers, editors and publishers need. More on the Stonewash website: www.stonewash.co.uk
Stonewash are also currently running a large-scale research project into how people are reading digital magazines, analysing vast amounts of data from their own publishing clients.
Rob Grainger will present the first insights from this research at the SIIA Digital Content & Media Summit on 24 September in London.
