The Guardian Plans New iPhone App - Paid For By Subscription

The UK daily national newspaper, The Guardian, is planning to launch a new iPhone app - and a change to the way it charges for it.

At the moment, the app costs £2.39 for what we thought was a lifetime of getting Guardian news and features.

But no.

Owners, Guardian News and Media, have announced a new app will be launched in December.  And this one will be on a subscription basis.

The cost will be £2.99 for six months...or £3.99 for a year, which in the face of The Guardian's competition is very reasonable.

The Times UK national paper charges £9.99 a month for content for its iPad app, although this can be reduced if you also subscribe to The Times website, which is now behind a paywall.

The Guardian also says it has an iPad app in the early stages of development and the paper's free mobile website has today been overhauled to make it more user-friendly. The new iPhone app will also be launched in the US, where it will be free and supported by ads.

Here's what The Guardian says:

"The Guardian's current iPhone app, which was launched in December 2009 and has notched up more than 205,000 downloads, carried a one-off charge of £2.39. Details of the new app, which will have a number of new features, are being kept under wraps until closer to launch.

"The idea is not to be ideological about any one model but to learn things each time," said Janine Gibson, editor of guardian.co.uk. "The US is a newer market for us and obviously we haven't sold as many apps there as in the UK. We think we can do better and are interested in looking at an ad-funded, free app in the US and using the model to increase reach."

It's a difficult time for newspapers.  Circulation is falling fast and digital media - especially mobile - is the obvious way forward.  But quite how much readers are prepared to pay is still in the melting pot. Here we see The Guardian testing the water: Free mobile website, reasonably priced iPhone app subscription and what will probably be a more expensive subscription for its forthcoming iPad app.

It'll all come out in the wash, as they say.


Update: The Guardian now says owners of its current iPhone app will be able to continue to use it subscription-free even after the new app takes its place in the App Store. So, if you've got it, keep hold of it.