Good reading in magazine apps

Apple is revolutionising the publishing industry with its iPad and iPhone 4 . Here are some of the best magazine applications (known as "apps" and once called software).

Wired

Selling 24,000 copies in its first 24 hours of availability, the Wired magazine app gave the publishing industry confidence that this new format could revitalise the market.

Wired magazine has all of the visual impact of a print edition, and is improved by interactive video and animated infographics (for example, 360deg spinning images), just as a modern media source for tech news should.

Stories are organised in vertical stacks for easy navigation, rather than magazine-like spreads and the drop-down table of contents makes orientation of each issue a cinch. $5.29 per issue.

GQ

The quintessential guide to life and style, GQ magazine is a staple publication for the 21st- century man.

However, at up to $20 an issue for the air-freighted version, it's hard to justify buying every month.

At just $4.19 an issue, GQ's iPad or iPhone app is not only value for money but also a brilliant example of how a digitised magazine should be constructed.

Consisting of the entire print version's content, the GQ app was one of the world's first. It contains exclusive behind- the-scenes videos and photo shoots not available in the physical magazine, font sizes are adjustable, pinch and zoom works well, and it works in both "browse-friendly" landscape format and "read- friendly" portrait format.

Sports Illustrated

If you're an international sports fan who likes to share news and results with friends across the globe, get the Sports Illustrated magazine app.

Not just a static tablet version of the physical publication, this app includes a revolutionary "wheel" feature that enables you to email a text version of an article, share it on Facebook or Twitter, and get related content, related photos and stats. From $6.49 per issue.

Vanity Fair

Another publication that's on New Zealand news-stands for a ridiculous $20 or so per issue, Vanity Fair is easier on the pocket in its iPad/iPhone version. Full of high-profile interviews and stunning photography, this magazine app lets you know as soon as each new issue is available for download, so you can be thumbing through its 10,000-word features weeks before the print version hits this side of the planet.

Vanity Fair is not just about the articles but its brilliant advertising campaigns too, and like with many other magazine apps, every ad is made interactive by linking directly to the brand's website. $5.29 per issue.

Zinio

If you just want to preview magazines on your iPad or iPhone in your downtime - like you would browse the magazine aisle in a bookstore - get Zinio. This app is free and gives you a selection of samples of top magazines like Rolling Stone and The Economist, ready to read in your digital library.

You can instantly read the headline articles, which is often all you want from a magazine. You can later buy the full digital version.

- © Fairfax NZ News