The New York Times Launches HTML5 Web App For iPad

The New York Times just launched an all-new HTML5 web app for the iPad, and it's probably so that they can avoid Apple's in-app subscription fees, which is a steep 30%. The web app is available only to digital subscribers of NYTimes.com, as well as home-delivery subscribers who link their account for digital access.

The HTML5 web app is specifically tailored for the iPad and can be accessed through Safari by going to app.nytimes.com. Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer of The New York Times Media Group, says that their subscribers "are interested in trying new ways of reading The Times across a variety of platforms," and they're "working constantly" to develop new and innovative products, so this new web app is just one way of demonstrating that.

There are several new features in the new web app, including a "Trending" section, which utilizes Twitter to see what the most popular news stories are. There's also what's called "Today's Paper," where readers can browse The New York Times just like they would an actual newspaper, as well as "Times Wire," which gives you a constant, reverse-chronological feed of the latest articles, videos and slideshows.

To access the new web app, a digital subscription with Tablet access is required, which will cost you roughly $20 a month, but for a limited time you can get four weeks of access for only a dollar. Hopefully, we'll see this HTML5 web app show up on other devices as well, like Android tablets and other iOS devices.

[via Business Wire]