In a press release Apple announced that its App Store would make the subscription service available to all app publishers, just like it was on The Daily (the iPad only newspaper/magazine Rupert Murdoch just launched).
The service seems pretty simple from the buyer side–you download the app you want and then within the app you can sign up for a subscription. The publisher sets the price and length, and then you are automatically charged prior to each period. It’s just like a magazine subscription, though it should be a whole lot easier to cancel. Apple is giving customers a spot in their account page where they can manage subscriptions so you aren’t paying for anything you don’t want.
Interestingly, the release notes that “Publishers who use Apple’s subscription service in their app can also leverage other methods for acquiring digital subscribers outside of the app,” which means that publishers with existing businesses (think magazines and newspapers) can use their systems, they just need to get the publication in sync with their apps. Also, they won’t be able to offer any specials deals there that are not available in the app. So Apple is being somewhat flexible here, but they are not going to allow increased pricing when a publisher has to pay the rev share. [Geek]
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