Publishers have been fretting for several months over Apple’s instance on a) taking 30% of their subscription revenue and b) not automatically letting them collect subscriber’s personal data. Whilst others fret, the Financial Times has found its own way of circumnavigating the conditions imposed by Apple by offering a web app version of its newspaper, available through the iOS web browser, Mobile Safari.
The web app is an iOS optimised version of the FT website (it does work with other mobile OS browsers, however it is designed to work best on iOS) built using HTML 5. By operating outside of the App Store, the FT doesn’t have to split any subscription revenue with Apple and can collect more user data and proves that it is possible to attract iOS users without Apple’s ‘blessing’.
To use the FT’s new web app, point your mobile browser to http://app.ft.com