Perhaps the most significant holdout from Apple's Newsstand feature in iOS, The Wall Street Journal, has now added support and in-app subscriptions.
Version 5.0 of The Wall Street Journal application is now available and will appear in the Newsstand folder on iOS devices. The application itself has the same look and feel, but now supports Newsstand-only features like automatic background updating to provide users with the latest content.
News Corp's Journal was one of the most prominent national newspapers that had not added support for Newsstand. The main issue was said to be the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from all in-app subscriptions sold on the App Store.
The official full list of features in the newly updated application are:
- Newsstand & Alerts
- WSJ is now in Newsstand! Get new issues automatically delivered to your device overnight. To use Newsstand, tap 'Allow' when prompted.
- Note: WSJ App icon will now appear in the Newsstand Folder.
- Breaking News Alerts from WSJ. To get alerts, tap 'Allow' when prompted.
- In-App Subscriptions
- Purchase a monthly subscription to WSJ through your iTunes account. With a digital subscription you get access to iPad, iPhone, WSJ.com and more.
The launch of the Journal on Newsstand comes less than a week after News Corp shuttered its tablet-only digital newspaper, The Daily. That publication was launched with much fanfare on the iPad and was developed in collaboration with Apple, but never gathered enough subscribers to sustain operations.