Local newspaper paid-for iPad apps hit Apple's Newsstand

Archant and Newsquest have today launched paid-for iPad and iPhone apps for local newspaper titles with Northcliffe to release an edition of one of its daily papers to the App Store shortly.

The apps being released by three of the major publishers of local newspapers range from £2.99 to £9.99 for a one month subscription, and are available to download from Apple's Newsstand, a portal launched in October which allows iPad and iPhone users to browse and buy magazine and news apps.

Archant has released a range of 60 titles, including local papers from its east of England division, plus a range of "Life" brand magazines, including Cotswold Life.

Apps of local Archant titles the Eastern Daily Press, Ipswich Star, Norwich Evening News and East Anglian Daily Times cost £9.99, the same as the price charged by the Guardian and Telegraph.

Newsquest has launched five titles, four paid-for and one free, with prices ranging from £2.99 to £4.99 for a month's subscription.

Roger Green, managing director, digital media for Newsquest told Journalism.co.uk, the different charges will allow the publisher to "trial various pricing and observe differences between the titles on offer".

Northcliffe title the South Wales Evening Post will soon be launching across iOS, according to a release from PageSuite, the firm that has turned the print editions into PDFs to work as apps.

The publishers have all opted to use the PageSuite Dynamic App platform, also adopted by Midland News Association's Wolverhampton Express and Star and Shropshire, which in January scrapped part-paywalls in favour of paid-for apps.

The newspapers to release apps this week all include an introductory free trial period.

The South Wales Evening Post, owned by Northcliffe, will then ask readers to pay £6.99 for one month, £19.99 for thee months, £37.99 for six months or £69.99 for 12 months.

Archant's local newspaper titles all cost £2.99 for a one week subscription or £9.99 a month.

Newsquest's Oxford Times costs £2.99 for one month, £7.99 for three months, £14.99 for six months or £24.99 for the year; the Brighton Argus is charging £3.99 for one month, £9.99 for three months, £17,99 for six months or £29.99 a year; the Northern Echo costs £4.99 for one month, £13.49 for three months, £24.99 for six months or £47.99 for the year. Hampshire sports weekly Sports Pink is priced from £2.49 a month.

In the release, PageSuite said it is seeing more than 150,000 print replica editions app downloads a week.

"Newsstand subscriptions allow publishers to automatically push their content to each device, with some titles seeing an average of over 25 minutes viewing time in the iOS Apps. This is great to see local media getting traction on the platform.” Ross Murphy, managing director, PageSuite Group, said in a statement.

• Listen to Journalism.co.uk's podcast from November in how Newsstand is "revolutionising the publishing industry".

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