Apple reportedly promises publishers improvements to its News Plus service

Apple News Plus, which you can pay $10 a month for in the US, is a big part of Apple’s push into digital services, but a new report suggests that publishers aren’t too enamoured with the platform so far – and that Apple is promising improvements.

According to Business Insider, publishers aren’t getting anywhere near the levels of revenue that Apple suggested they might before the service launched in March.

Although initial uptake was apparently brisk, it would seem not many of those users have kept on their News Plus subscription beyond the initial free trial. It’s difficult to know for sure, as Apple hasn’t revealed a full breakdown of subscriber numbers.

One of the issues with the service, Business Insider’s sources say, is that readers are confused about what is and isn’t included for free as part of Apple News: a small News Plus icon is usually the only difference.

Publisher problems

Publishers are concerned that the News Plus experience feels “unfinished” and want to see a “more intuitive” way for users to get around the app, apparently.

If the sources speaking to Business Insider are to be believed, magazines and newspapers also want Apple to make it easier for them to convert their digital content into a format that works inside the Apple News app.

For its part, Apple is listening to publisher concerns and wants to make improvements to the News Plus service in the various areas we’ve already mentioned.

Apple hasn’t responded to the report publicly but will know it needs to keep publishers happy for News Plus to be a success. Later this year it’s also launching Apple Arcade, a mobile games bundle subscription.

Via 9to5Mac