Apple to shut down Texture's Windows app in July

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2018
In what may be a signal from its new ownership, Apple is shutting down the Windows client for magazine service Texture after June 30.

texture-windows


At some point in July, the app will be pulled from the Microsoft Store and stop working, the developers of Texture said in emails and app-based warnings sent this week, according to The Verge. Significantly the iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire (Android-based) editions will keep working.

Although Apple has a tendency to shut out competing platforms once it buys a company and its products, Texture said on its website that it's ending Windows support to "keep things working smoothly." The Windows app hasn't been updated since Texture changed its name from Next Issue, and even without the Apple takeover the developer might have decided to cut off Windows to save costs and simplify support. Some customers have complained about being unable to download magazines.

Windows users will now be forced to use an iOS or Android device, as Texture doesn't have a Web client.

Apple announced the Texture acquisition alongside an SXSW appearance by Eddy Cue. The company is rumored to be preparing a paid news/magazine subscription service of its own, which would ride on top of Apple News.

It may even be considering a purchase of Conde Nast, which would give it access to well-known magazines like The New Yorker, Vogue, and Wired.

The Texture app remains free, with two tiers of subscription. A $9.99 per month tier gives a choice from over 200 monthly titles, with a $14.99 giving you the monthly titles, plus some weekly ones, like People, Entertainment Weekly, Time and others.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,304member
    I don’t think this should be interpreted (by others; not saying the article does this) as “mean old Apple cutting out Windows owners.” The natural medium for reading magazines is not desktop computers, it’s tablets (or giant-ass smartphones, I guess). There’s no indication Apple will cease making the service available to Android, since their money’s as green as anyone else’s, but even Texture itself wasn’t interested in chasing Windows users because that’s not really the best use of a business-and-gaming-focused desktop (and that applies to the Mac as well, but Apple would be incredibly unlikely to discontinue Mac support).
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 10
    harry wildharry wild Posts: 810member
    Apple takes "courage" to shut down the Texture Windows PC platform app.  Don't fix it, judy cancel it and shut it down!
    edited May 2018
  • Reply 3 of 10
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    harry wild said:
    Apple takes "courage" to shut down the Texture Windows PC platform app.  Don't fix it, judy cancel it and shut it down!
    Very insightful...
  • Reply 4 of 10
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    What's the point of this thing?

    I'd never heard of it.  It sounds like a ridiculous idea, when you can read magazines or whatever on the web.

    Hey, Apple, stop buying silly companies!  You want to buy something and shut down their Windoze apps?  BUY ADOBE!!!  Keep Acrobat alive on Windoze, put the rest apps in the Mac app store, and kill the subscription model and stop idiots from buying Windoze garbage and trying to do anything with graphics.

    You've got more than enough cash in the bank to buy them outright. 

    And, bonus, you can kill Flash dead immediately.

    (It might be a good idea to release some actual Pro hardware first though - your current "Pro" lineup is a sad joke.)
    edited May 2018 berndog[Deleted User]watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    harry wildharry wild Posts: 810member
    Texture cannot be access through the web browser!  Has to be through the app!  
  • Reply 6 of 10
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    darkvader said:
    What's the point of this thing?

    I'd never heard of it.  It sounds like a ridiculous idea, when you can read magazines or whatever on the web.

    Hey, Apple, stop buying silly companies!  You want to buy something and shut down their Windoze apps?  BUY ADOBE!!!  Keep Acrobat alive on Windoze, put the rest apps in the Mac app store, and kill the subscription model and stop idiots from buying Windoze garbage and trying to do anything with graphics.

    You've got more than enough cash in the bank to buy them outright. 

    And, bonus, you can kill Flash dead immediately.

    (It might be a good idea to release some actual Pro hardware first though - your current "Pro" lineup is a sad joke.)
    You call out buying silly companies, but buying Adobe for those reasons would be a colossal waste of money.  A big chunk of Adobe's revenue is from B2B software and services that Apple would have no interest in, and you're flushing a large part of their Creative Cloud revenue down the toilet by being petty.

    I much prefer Apple messing around with digital magazines.
    edited May 2018 Rayz2016lolliver
  • Reply 7 of 10
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    darkvader said:
    What's the point of this thing?

    I'd never heard of it.  It sounds like a ridiculous idea, when you can read magazines or whatever on the web.

    Hey, Apple, stop buying silly companies!  You want to buy something and shut down their Windoze apps?  BUY ADOBE!!!  Keep Acrobat alive on Windoze, put the rest apps in the Mac app store, and kill the subscription model and stop idiots from buying Windoze garbage and trying to do anything with graphics.

    You've got more than enough cash in the bank to buy them outright. 

    And, bonus, you can kill Flash dead immediately.

    (It might be a good idea to release some actual Pro hardware first though - your current "Pro" lineup is a sad joke.)
    It's one way Apple can get back into the digital magazine/e-book space. Buy a successful product and make it a competitive advantage for your platform.
    lolliver
  • Reply 8 of 10
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,146member
    ...could this be the Netflix of Print (now mixed) Media, as Netflix was the evolution of cable...? I loved the desktop app as it ran full 1440p in Parallels on a portrait 27" display - it brought magazines like Dwell, National Geographic and other graphically rich publications to life.   Of course the app was running in virtualization so at times slow and quirky. A desktop app would be preferred by me for the reasons above, and so I ask if tracking and iOS sales incentives are primary here...?
    edited May 2018
  • Reply 9 of 10
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Does Texture have a presence outside of the US and Canada?

    Most of the those mags seem US centric.

  • Reply 10 of 10
    deminsddeminsd Posts: 143member
    darkvader said:
    What's the point of this thing?

    I'd never heard of it.  It sounds like a ridiculous idea, when you can read magazines or whatever on the web.

    Hey, Apple, stop buying silly companies!  You want to buy something and shut down their Windoze apps?  BUY ADOBE!!!  Keep Acrobat alive on Windoze, put the rest apps in the Mac app store, and kill the subscription model and stop idiots from buying Windoze garbage and trying to do anything with graphics.

    You've got more than enough cash in the bank to buy them outright. 

    And, bonus, you can kill Flash dead immediately.

    (It might be a good idea to release some actual Pro hardware first though - your current "Pro" lineup is a sad joke.)
    "Windoze garbage"?  You mean the new, more powerful than Mac hardware (since Apple can't seem to update their desktops), that can run Adobe Graphics apps just as well as on a Mac?  What makes you think Photoshop runs better on a 5 year old Mac Pro than 2018 8th gen Intel hardware running Windows?  What does the OS have to do with the app?  

    Better yet, why do you care what other people do?
    [Deleted User]
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