The Independent launches hybrid ‘digital newspaper’
The Independent has today unveiled a new app for tablets and smartphones that combines a mixture of newspaper design with digital interactivity.
The free app will allow readers to swipe through the pages and sections from start to finish, tapping on articles to read full stories and will be updated throughout the day.
Users will also be able to share and comment on articles, view picture galleries and video as well as play crosswords or check live weather forecasts tailored to location. By registering directly readers can get free push notifications of breaking news and updated editions.
The app, which is based on reader feedback, is available to download on iPad and Kindle Fire from today with iPhone and Android to follow.
Readers can also choose to download the newspaper exactly as it appears in print, including supplements from the past month. After a free trial, the app is available to subscribe to for £2.99 per week, £12.99 a month or £159.99 a year.
The news comes less than a week after the print version of The Independent recorded further circulation declines. The most recent ABC figures show that year on year, the title was down -13.3% to a daily average of 66,576 copies.
However, its sister paper, the ‘i’, has seen modest growth in the print market and was up 1.5% year on year to a daily average of 298,266 copies.
Meanwhile, traffic to independent.co.uk has seen the site reach around 30 million monthly unique browsers.
In December last year, it was announced that Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, owners of The Independent and its sister paper, are looking for a buyer in a bid to “offload loss-making papers that they see no prospect of turning into profit.”
While the print titles currently make a loss estimated at £10 million a year, the newsbrand’s online presence saw a 5.5% increase in average daily browsers over December, adding an extra 70,000 to take its total to almost 1.4 million.
The title will now be looking to convince advertisers that the heritage built up in the newsbrand can offer something new in the digital age.
In a statement issued today, the paper said the investment in the new app “presents fresh multi-platform commercial opportunities for advertisers, offering both IAB standard ad units of digital campaign packages, as well as bespoke and other high-impact full-screen interstitials.”
Commenting on the launch, Zach Leonard, managing director, digital at The Independent and Evening Standard, said: “We have responded to the demands of our readers by creating an app that is easy to use and allows them to engage with The Independent brand in the format they prefer.
“Our most considered news app yet, it is rooted in the insight that our readers expect the currency and interactivity a tablet edition can offer with the familiarity and impact of a traditional print product. The new app will help us to continue to deliver the best journalism to our readers and innovative, cross-platform opportunities for our advertisers.”
The user figures for the ‘free digital newspaper’ will be counted on the digital ABC certificate. ‘Print edition’ usage will be counted as either Digital Publication or Print ABC certificate, to be confirmed.