Apple to replace Newsstand with new Flipboard-like app for iOS 9

By Neil Hughes

Apple is apparently planning to do away with its Newsstand application for iOS, instead replacing it with a Flipboard-like digital magazine that will present content from a number of sources.

Citing unnamed sources, Re/code reported on Monday that partners for Apple's new application will include ESPN, The New York Times, Conde Nast, and Hearst. The new application will apparently replace Newsstand, a catch-all app that includes magazines, newspapers, and other subscription-based content.

According to Peter Kafka, publishers who use Apple's new app will keep 100 percent of the advertising they sell. The iPad maker will still take a 30 percent cut of revenue from subscriptions sold through publisher's own apps.

News of Apple's plans broke just before the company plans to unveil its next-generation platforms, including iOS 9 and OS X 10.11, at Monday's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Presumably, Apple's Newsstand replacement will be an integral part of the iOS 9 operating system update.

Apple's Newsstand debuted in 2011 with the launch of iOS 5. It was initially exclusive to the iPad, but eventually came to the iPhone as well.