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"By now there\u2019s little question that the iPad has defined the modern tablet, and media companies have tackled the promising concept of digital subscription publishing with varying degrees of success.  We\u2019ve seen impressive offerings from Esquire, Wired, and Sports Illustrated, and new iPad-only products like The Daily. What do all these digital publications have in common? If you want them, you\u2019ve got to download them from Apple\u2019s App Store.\nUsers are cool with this \u2014 we\u2019ve been downloading content apps for a while now. But from a publisher\u2019s point of view, there may be a shakeup on the horizon.\nPlayboy recently released its iPad app, a subscription service that offers everything from the monthly magazine (yes, everything), as well as a deep archive that spans all previous issues. The interesting part? You won\u2019t find Playboy in the App Store \u2014 it\u2019s an iPad-optimized website.\nApple\u2019s strict \u201Cno nudity\u201D policy means that a major publisher like Playboy will likely never see the inside of the App Store. But the release of its digital magazine got us thinking: If developers can build web apps that do everything a native app can, who needs the App Store (and its accompanying 30% revenue cut and frustrating approval process) anyway?\nIs the mobile content gatekeeper on tenuous ground?\nBuilding the Native App Experience on the Web\nIf iPad users are going to pay for content on the web, they will demand the glossy finish of Apple\u2019s industry-leading UI. While modern web standards like HTML5 and CSS3 make it possible, Playboy still found challenges to overcome.\n\u201CFrom the start, we knew we needed to support certain gestures, like swipe and pinch/expand, and we also put great emphasis on preserving the smooth animations that are so integral to the iPad experience,\u201D says Paul Strauss, SVP of online operations for Playboy. \u201CIt was also extremely important that issues load as quickly as possible, so a great deal of effort was spent on optimizing image loading and minimizing the number of connections required to serve up an issue.\u201D\nStrauss notes that while HTML5 plays a role in how the app accesses iPad hardware, the real star of the UX show is CSS3.\n\u201CIt would be virtually impossible to recreate the smooth animations of the applications without the use of CSS3,\u201D says Strauss. \u201CThe iOS Safari browser's support for hardware acceleration of 3D transformations is key to this performance.\u201D\nWhen it comes down to user experience, Playboy sports most of the iOS bells and whistles \u2014 page swiping, image zoom, and support for device rotation. Strauss says the average user probably wouldn't see a meaningful difference between the web app and a native one, but admits a tech-savvy reader might spot the limitations.\nLimitations\nDespite the best technical finesse, there are definitely drawbacks to building a mobile web app, according to Richard Ziade, partner and lead strategist of app development firm Arc90. \u201CWeb apps don\u2019t retain state when you switch between apps. They have to relaunch,\u201D he says. \u201CThey\u2019re not as responsive as native apps, and handling purchases is probably going to be more cumbersome than the two-click experience associated with iTunes.\u201D\nStrauss concedes other limitations for Playboy. \u201CWe would also have liked to be able to support offline reading of the archive. Even with HTML5's expanded support for local storage, this is a challenge,\u201D he says. \u201CAs a result, the app requires an Internet connection at all times, and since the experience is image-intensive, a Wi-Fi connection is preferable for a smooth experience. That said, we think we turned this limitation into an advantage by offering our entire back-catalog to all members, which would be impractical in a download experience.\u201D\nPlaying Outside the App Store Ecosystem\n\n\n\n\nTechnical limits aside, what about the visibility that comes with the iTunes stamp of approval?\nPlayboy is a well-known brand. Readers who want to subscribe on the iPad will know where to look. But what about smaller publications or content providers?\n\u201CThere is no doubt that \u2018discoverability\u2019 is a very valuable,\u201D says Ziade. As to whether it outweighs Apple\u2019s cut of the revenue, he says that \u201Cmileage will vary depending on the app.\u201D\nAndres Barreto, the president and cofounder of OnSwipe, a purveyor of white label solutions for iPad publishers, disagrees. \u201CThe leading sources for content discovery are search and social, and they often fall in the ranges of 60%-80% of all traffic for most publishers. You loose that in a native app,\u201D he explains.\n\u201CThe volume of traffic on the web is extremely valuable for publishers when it comes to advertisers, because agencies and brands need results on their media buys \u2014 and apps are just not performing,\u201D Barreto continues. \u201CBringing app-like experiences to the web allows publishers to drive the same premium advertising dollars but at a larger scale with their existing web traffic.\u201D\nThis, of course, harkens back to the biggest revenue question for online publishers: Do you aim to be as visible as possible and sell ads against pageviews, or do you charge readers a subscription fee for exclusive access? As we've seen so far, the model has been determined on a brand-by-brand basis.\nWhere Do Publishers Stand Now?\nDoes Playboy\u2019s foray into the world of web apps signal a sea change in the way publishers deal with the App Store gatekeeper? Ziade thinks it\u2019s too early to tell.\n\u201CThe web has a very long way to go before it reaches that level of obviousness and ease-of-use for the typical user,\u201D he says. \u201C \u2018Gatekeeper\u201D implies a sort of stranglehold. Apple is enjoying its position because it cares deeply about the user experience. They did not grab their position, they won it.\u201D\nStrauss views Playboy\u2019s web app development more as a workaround, rather than a way to jump the Apple ship \u2014 a remedy for the inherent challenge of publishing adult content.\n\u201CWe are not in the camp of folks who feel that Apple\u2019s rev share is an issue or impediment,\u201D says Strauss. \u201CWe continue to focus separately on iOS products \u2026 that are 100% compliant with Apple standards, and which leverage the full benefits of the device in a native app.  For these products, we think Apple\u2019s revenue share is a fair trade for access to their ecosystem and tapping into the Apple user base.\u201D\nBut from a more broad perspective on traffic, social media and monetization, Barreto thinks the days of \u201Cwalled garden\u201D apps are numbered.\n\u201CPublishers that really want to be able to tap into their existing traffic for better monetization and distribution will inevitably go the web route \u2014 it is just a matter of time. For content, most definitely so,\u201D says Barreto. \"Giving up your existing traffic and severely limiting your monetization options due to either low download numbers and the subscription fees Apple imposes simply does not make sense for publishers anymore.\u201D\n\nAs a user, what\u2019s your preference? Do you prefer native apps above all, or have you used optimized web experiences that give the App Store a run for its money? Let us know in the comments.\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/05/24/playboy-ipad-publishing-industry/>