Last year, Apple removed more than 5000 iPhone apps with sexual content from the App Store so it was highly unlikely that Apple would approve Playboy’s native iPad app with uncensored content.
So to bypass Apple’s approval process, Playboy has just launched a new iPad optimized website where subscribers can access not only the latest issue, but the full archive of Playboy issues since 1953.
Here’s a snippet from Playboy’s press release:
From the inaugural issue with Marilyn Monroe to the current issue with rock heiress Lizzy Jagger on the cover, iPlayboy features every pictorial, interview, Centerfold, investigative reporting piece, story, advertisement and image that ever appeared in the magazine, more than 130,000 pages in total. Readers can search for a groundbreaking interview they read years ago, find classic fiction, or read about the most-recent celebrity cover model, all in one place. The site will be updated with each monthly issue so that it includes current content as well as archival features and pictorials.
Users have an option to opt for a month membership that costs $8 or a yearly membership for $60 or $100 for a two-year membership to access content on Playboy’s iPad optimized website. Playboy gets to keep 100% of the membership fee by bypassing the App Store. Apple charges a 30% commission on the sale of every iOS app from its App Store.
Users can access Playboy on the iPad by pointing Mobile Safari to i.Playboy.com.
Do you plan to subscribe to iPlayboy? What do you think about Playboy’s strategy to release an iPad optimized web app? Let us know in the comments.
Time to bring out the vasaline!
I Read it for the articles…. I SWEAR haha
That’s what perplexed me about this article – all this mention of ‘reading’ … I didn’t think Playboy was about reading.
What?
Really?
There’s articles?
Really?
Playboy is a shit mens mag and a ripoff
So – let’s call it Playbog!
It used to be a good mag, now it blows dog ass
Excellent technical work! At least from looking at the video on the web site as I have not paid for the subscription. I am all for this type of distribution, even for other mags. Why would Apple take 30% dip from Magazine subscriptions?? Sure, if you want to pre-download full copies to carry everywhere it is great with an app for storage. But this Cloud-solution seem to be very nicely executed. How will Apple respond? Only allow signed websites??
I’m very interested to see how other publications respond to Playbog’s success in bypassing the Apple Extortion Privilege Fee. And also to how Apple will respond – though I doubt they’ll be able to do anything, as it would make them a laughing stock for their prudery. (I don’t like Playbog though)
I hope they (Apple) at least have the decency to try to sue Playbog (lol) for calling it iPlayBoy, since they have the audacity to try to sue all other i’s.
Now penthouse will follow.
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