Apple’s Newsstand offers many magazines of varying topics. From technology, design, sports and news, there is enough content there to fill every niche. While many of them are paid content, you might be surprised to know that there are free magazines avalable – they are just a little difficult to find.
Well, we’ve crawled through the App store and the Web at large to find some of the top-quality newsstand contents you can download for your leisurely reading. Here are some of the contents various publications put up for free. After checking them out, if you crave for more full-featured content, do consider subscribing to these top-notch digital magazines.
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The New York Times
The Gray Lady herself was one of the first to take advantage of Apple’s Newsstand system. The publisher offers 10 article views a month on all of its online services. Full access requires a subscription. It may not seem like a lot but should be enough to skim through the latest breaking news the New York Times is known for.
The Economist & Intelligent Life
One of the biggest and most influential magazines in the world, The Economist offers their own Economist magazine, containing the editor’s choice of articles (written and spoken) for free, and Intelligent Life, a culture magazine. For the former, you will need to pay a fee for the full magazine, but Intelligent Lif is entirely free to download and enjoy.
Bloomberg Businessweek+
Bloomberg is one of the most respected names in business reporting and with their iPad app, you can get a selection of their articles for free. And if you are already subscribed to the print edition, you can validate this through the app and get the digital edition free of charge.
Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is the oldest published newspaper in Australia and through the years has gained a reputation for its high journalistic standards. The paper covers both Australian and world affairs, and the app offers their front page articles as well as their editor’s choice for free. Also included are articles from their lifestyle sections.
Vice
Vice, known for its gonzo journalism with their reporters covering some of the most dangerous stories on earth, offers up their magazine and its archive for free. The magazine covers news, current events and culture, as well as a few topics that defy classification.
Metro
The free UK tabloid offers its digital version for free as well. The paper contains a mix of topics, from news, sports, lifestyle among others and is mostly filled with short articles that are perfect for a quick read during commute.
Paragraph
Paragraph is a free magazine that aims to find the best stories that are published on the internet and present them in a beautiful layout. It does more than just stories, with various related multimedia links to enhance the reading experience.
Adobe Inspire
Adobe issues a free monthly magazine that focuses on creative topics. It features tips and tricks on using Adobe software as well as design in general. They also include some highlighted works of artists and photographers. A must-have if you are a creative junkie or a heavy user of Adobe products.
Aux
A magazine that covers music, Aux is made specifically for the digital format and sought to differentiate themselves by adding in features that aren’t possible on the dead tree format: picture showcases, links to music and videos and the ability to share. Music fans should take a look into it.
MacDirectory
Describing itself as "the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts", MacDirectory is an Apple magazine that covers all things Apple. With plenty of reviews, news and interviews, Apple fans should download this one to their iPads immediately.
Snap
Brought to you by the same people behind the Hipstamatic app, Snap is a magazine that "showcases the driving forces behind global creative culture". In essence, it’s a photography magazine that showcases the works of photographers and the stories behind them.
TRVL
A travel magazine that showcases cities and countries, giving the reader a preview of them and what to expect. It’s not a tour guide, more of a quick glimpse into the area, showing you prime spots with beautiful, hi-res photos. If you ever consider traveling around, download one of their magazines for a small showing of what the place has to offer.
Square Mile
A UK lifestyle and business magazine primarily aimed at those working in the London’s financial industry, the magazine focuses on topics that will interest those interested in the finer things in life, as well as interesting goings-on in the city of London.
Cineworld Magazine
Cineworld is a UK cinema chain and they offer a monthly magazine that covers the latest movies to hit the big screen. This magazine is packed with everything a movie fan needs including movie showcases, trailers, interviews and for those living in the UK, booking tickets within the magazine. Any movie-buffs out there should grab a copy.
Al Jazeera English Magazine
Al Jazeera English offers a monthly magazine that covers the hottest and most pressing topics that is on the news. The magazine features in-depth articles and analysis from the reporters of Al Jazeera, with each issue dedicating itself to one main topic. Past issues include coverage of Nelson Mandela’s death and the constitutional transitions of Turkey.
Gamereactor
Gamereactor is a European gaming magazine, featuring the typical things you would expect in one, reviews, previews, features and the like. What’s special about this magazine is that it’s available in multiple languages such as Spanish, German and Russian. So if you’re looking for something other than English, this magazine has got you covered.
Walmart Gamecenter
Walmart’s monthly gaming magazine that promises to offer "news, previews, interviews and other exclusive stories about gaming culture and the most important game releases." The magazine is published with collaboration with EGM Media, which also publishes one of the longest running gaming magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, so you know the content’s good.
WebMD Magazine
Released once every two months, WebMD Magazine is published by WebMD, one of the biggest providers of medical information on the Web. It contains general health tips, so it’s something to look at for those watching their health.
Sporting News
An American sports magazine that recently went digital only, it has a long history, since being founded in 1886. The magazine covers the American sporting leagues so if you’re a fan of any of them, give this one a try. It is especially know for its baseball coverage, having been called "The Bible Of Baseball".
Sport
A weekly free sports magazine based in London, Sport covers a wide variety, catering to a British audience. If you are a fan of football, cricket or rugby, you definitely should check this one out.
