Majority of magazine apps are exact replicas, AAM study finds

The good news, according to the AAM's 2012 digital publishing survey, is that magazines are taking the lead in using technology to produce feature-rich content. The less good news is that 73% of apps are an exact replica of print editions.

"Our research shows a disparity between the content that media companies serve to consumers and the content they believe readers want to consume," says Eric John, vice-president, digital services for AAM in a blog post. 

He says that publishers know that replicas are not ideal, but are struggling not just with costs and also feeling sceptical about losing control of their content to third-party apps. John  quotes one publisher:

“With the value people get from our magazines—the quality of the design, the layout and the readability—we feel it’s important to have control and deliver the right kind of experience to our customers. We’ve done a little bit of testing, but haven’t really delved into it. It’s a new process for our titles, and there really isn’t a clear model that would make it attractive for us to put our content into some of these other applications rather than building our own.”