Whereas I can't actually afford my own iPad, I managed to persuade my brother to lend me his so that I could take a look at the digital version of The Phoenix that was launched today. The app downloads from the App store snd into your newstand for free, and a special offer from The Phoenix is a six month subscription for just £9.99! A bargain considering that buying it normally costs you £2.99 an issue (although the paper version will always be better).
 |
| The loading page. |
The first thing I noticed was the ability to add pages from the comic to your "favourites" list, by simply clicking the little star at the bottom. The favourites list collects all the pages you've 'starred' and keeps them all in one place for easy access.
If you are short sighted, there's no problem there either, as the comic comes with a panel zoom. Basically, if you double tap on any panel it will enter full-screen mode, for easier reading! To get out of it, simply double tap again!
 |
| Part of Corpse Talk in "Panel View". |
Another cool feature is the 'notifications'. Basically, whenever a new issue of The Pheonix comes out, the app will send you a notification so that you never forget!
 |
| The second page of a Gary's Garden strip in "page view". |
The only negative I've found about the app is that if you are already subscribed there doesn't seem to be a way to use your subscription to the paper comic as a digital subscription too, wheras with The Beano you can (although I daren't click the subscribe button as it might charge my brother's account, so I could be wrong).
If you're not sure about the app and want to give it a try before you buy, it comes with a free sample issue so you can test out all the cool stuff it does!
I've found the app to be a lot less 'jumpy' than The Beano and Dandy apps, and all of the hard work Panel Nine have put into it has really paid off, making it run very smoothly and easy to use. Remember, you can get a six month subscription to the digital Phoenix for just £9.99, but that's for one week only, so jump to it!
4 comments:
Looks good! I wish these digital comics worked on platforms other than iPads though. I guess I'll end up buying one eventually but it's an expensive way to read comics.
The Phoenix have said that they have future plans for other platforms too. I hope it works on a computer (as well as other devices), I find that pages a too small to read on my iPod (which is about the same size as your average smartphone).
Although the Nexus7 is only a 7" tablet the screen is so detailed that you can easily read a full comic page on it. So, I hope they make an Android app (at least!) for Phoenix.
DC Thomson really need to make Android Beano and Dandy apps too. :(
I'm sure the Phoenix will soon, but I'm suprised the Beano and Dandy aren't avaliable on Android yet, they've been out for quite some time!
Maybe you could get in touch with Thomson and see what they say?
Post a Comment