Google Play Adds Free Digital Subscription Option For Print Magazine Subscribers

Both the digital and print versions of magazines have their own perks; the digital version, for example, is easy to enjoy on-the-go without lugging around the weight of physical rags, while the print editions are tactile and enjoyable on a quiet evening indoors. Until now, print magazine subscribers had to pay for a secondary digital subscription to get the magazine on their Android device. That inconvenience ends today.Google Play is now offering a "free for print subscribers" option, which requires users to verify that they already pay for the print version of the magazine. Those who satisfy that requirement will then gain free access to the magazine's digital counterpart. This isn't applied across all magazines, however, with the publisher deciding whether the feature will be available.

Magazine subscribers can see if their magazine of choice allows a free digital subscription by searching for it on Google Play, then tapping "Subscribe." If a free digital version is available, it will be listed at the bottom of the subscription pricing. For now, this can only be performed using a mobile device, as the feature isn't available on the Web.

Verifying your existing print subscription is relatively simple. Users need to select the free for print subscribers option from the magazine's Google Play listing. After selecting that, the user will be required to verify the subscription by whatever means that specific magazine requires. The magazine Conde Nest, for example, requires the log in information for the subscriber's account with the publisher. TIME magazine, meanwhile, requires the subscriber's 11 digit account number.

[via Google Support]