After powering 100 issues of 'Trvl' for iPad, Prss is pitched as 'the software Apple forgot to make'

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Popular iPad-only magazine Trvl reached 100 issues and a million app installs last week. Now, the company behind the publication has set its sights on its next major milestone: this summer's public launch of its proprietary publishing tool, Prss.

Prss


Michel Elings, co-founder of Prss and Trvl for iPad, spoke with AppleInsider about his new publishing tools that will soon be available to iOS developers. He said he learned a great deal about the digital publishing world two and a half years ago, when Trvl debuted on the iPad, when he "made all of the mistakes in one month."The mantra behind Prss is to not "screw" anyone ? particularly the reader or the publisher

At the start, Trvl put all of the content in one downloadable issue with a large file size, and published once a month for a $2.99 price.

"People really hated us," he admitted.

When Elings and his team started out, they were working with Adobe InDesign to create Trvl. When that wasn't enough, they tried some other tools, but nothing quite cut it in their eyes. The main problem, he said, is third-party platforms have the goal of being on every platform, rather than focusing on doing the best possible job on just one.

Prss


That's when the team behind Trvl started developing their own digital publishing tools, which they've dubbed Prss. In the words of Elings, he and his team set out to become "the software Apple forgot to make."

"We started our own software because we as a publisher felt screwed, and we also felt that the readers were screwed," he said.

In its current form, Prss powers the popular 'Trvl' for iPad. A free, public version of the tool will launch early this summer.Since moving to their own publishing platform, Trvl has reached the 100-issue milestone and become one of the top rated applications on Apple's iOS Newsstand with over a million installs. In particular, the magazine's issues are relatively small downloads up to 10 times smaller than most existing iPad magazine issues ? changes made possible by their development of Prss.

In fact, their efforts in publishing Trvl have gained the attention of Apple themselves. The nearly 20-person Prss team has met with Apple senior executive Eddy Cue, and Elings said he's hoping they'll be able to win an Apple Design Award at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Prss


Apple also highlighted Trvl at WWDC last year, showcasing the digital magazine in its keynote presentation at the annual event.

When it launches publicly early this summer, Prss will be a free Web-based tool that will allow multiple people to design a magazine simultaneously. The software will support communities inside iPad magazines, as well as e-commerce to help fund digital publications.

In one example cited by Elings, many iPad magazines don't support both portrait and landscape modes for reading. But he claims that the tools within Prss allowed Trvl to reduce the time needed to design for both orientations from three days to just one hour.

Prss


The goal is to reach both professional and individual markets for iOS magazine development. In Elings' view, Prss could be used by a soccer club to make its own publication, while a major publisher like Conde Nast could "throw InDesign out the window" in favor of Prss.

"We really want to start a revolution," he said. We're going to bring the very best tools over to the rest of the world."For now, Prss will remain iOS-only. Co-founder Michel Elings said it's hard to have the same passion for Android, which would hamper quality.

The Prss Web-based suite will be free to use, but publishers who distribute their magazine on the iOS App Store will have to pay what Elings called a "little" fee for using the software. The idea is Prss will cost publishers much less to use than, say, Adobe's InDesign, which can take a 30 percent cut of sales.

The final look and feel of Prss has not yet been decided, as the software is just on the company's internal systems for now. And it will remain an iOS-exclusive tool for the time being, as Elings and his team believe Apple's platform is the superior option.

Prss


Their sights are now set on the iPhone and iPod touch, which Elings said could tenfold the market share of Prss. After that, the next target for Prss will be the Web, not Google's Android. Elings said he just doesn't find that developers have a "big passion" for Android.

"If we are going to do Android, which we probably have to, we want to approach it the same way and with the same passion, which is going to be hard," he admitted.

Wherever Prss goes next, Elings said the main focus for him and his team will be the same mantra they've had on iPad to date: Don't "screw" the reader or the publisher, and good things will happen.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    umrk_labumrk_lab Posts: 550member


    "Don't "screw" the reader or the publisher, and good things will happen." 


     


    What can be said about this ? Amen ?

  • Reply 2 of 29
    airbubbleairbubble Posts: 105member
    This looks Brilliant
  • Reply 3 of 29
    This is the news I've been waiting for. Say goodby to GREEDY Adobe and their buggy software and ridiculous price gouging. Adobe is now rated a STRONG SELL.
    he he he :)~
    DING DONG the witch is dead!

    Shantanu has ruined this company. I used to LOVE adobe products!

    Maybe Apple will buy the remains.
  • Reply 4 of 29
    "We started our own software because we as a publisher felt screwed, and we also felt that the readers were screwed," he said.

    I LOVE this line.

    Whom do you think he is talking about?

  • Reply 5 of 29
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Apple also highlighted Trvl at WWDC last year, showcasing the digital magazine in its keynote presentation at the annual event.

    @14'27'', but this highlight lasts 2 seconds.

    @scottyisgaga: why do you think Apple might buy (a part of) Adobe? I certainly don't see any incentive for this. Sometimes they buy a company for their tech, sometimes for their talent. I'm not saying Adobe lacks both, but can't think of a reason for such a takeover.
  • Reply 6 of 29
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    <div align="center"><img src="http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/prss-130414-2.jpg" border="0" width="660" height="345" alt="Prss" /></div>

    I'm not too bothered about the magazines but I'm hoping the butt in the above picture belongs to a girl. It's in that grey area so I think I'll leave it out of my collection but daaamn (if it's a girl). If it's a dude, I'm not really sure what to say about it other than that I assume a powerful wave must have wedged his shorts up there and swollen up the cheeks and I hope he recovers.
    This is the news I've been waiting for. Say goodby to GREEDY Adobe and their buggy software and ridiculous price gouging.

    I doubt it. I don't see people uploading loads of high resolution images to a server or somehow including vector content from Illustrator easily. It might be RGB only too so difficult to simultaneously author to print with CMYK. There's also the issue of loading fonts on the server. It must work to a certain extent or they wouldn't offer it but I can't see it being a workflow that's widely adopted. Not least because if the company goes under, how do they access their layouts? That could be said about Adobe's software recurring license model too but I still think it's less of an issue working offline. You don't want to have a publishing deadline and then your internet starts screwing up.
  • Reply 7 of 29
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Looks exciting.
  • Reply 8 of 29
    Nice ass
  • Reply 9 of 29
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member
    I'm doing double-salto backflips in excitement for these guys and this software!!!

    I took notice of them the very first issue of TRVL... not because of the magazine (which was fresh but too large sometimes), but the way they've creatively tackled the modern role as publisher. Rather than have a huge staff writing exclusively for their magazine, they purchase articles from journalists. It's known as the "agency model" and is quite similar to Nat. Geo. among others.

    I commented on a related story here at AI about this preferred model going forward. Can't find it, but it was regarding the B**** & Moanin' by the publishers about the Newsstand and Apple's cut of the pie and refusal of sharing Apple User Data. Also in that thread were thoughts by others as well as myself that Apple would release software, similar to iAd composer or the iTunes Album software. What we received unfortunately was half-baked only for iBooks some 2-3 years later (timeline deficiency?...sorry!).

    I can't agree with @scottyisgaga enough... OTHER THAN Apple buying that corpse! Bad move... because there is absolutely nothing there to pay a premium for AFAIC.

    Maybe Photoshop... but then I'd rather see Apple getting more deeply involved with the guys from Pixelmator instead. They're doing a pretty darn knock-out good job with a very small staff. Probably could use some engineering help for the "next phase".

    Additional comments about Adobe:

    [LIST]
    [*] they're the Microsoft-styled Bloatware-Pigs of the design/software industry.
    [*] they're exclusive SASS model sucks Donkey ______!!!
    [*] they refuse to listen to their customers and Beta Testers. Period.
    [*] their customer service is probably the absolute worst in ANY industry.
    [/LIST]

    @mstone... don't argue with me about this, w/o looking first at the Adobe Forums and seeing for yourself what Adobe and Apple users are having BIG problems with. As an Apple Fan yourself, you have to surely admit that Adobe is diametrically the polar opposite of everything Apple stands for.

    @PRSS.... please bring out that software ASAP! It's been a very, VERY long time since I've been excited about any new graphics/publishing software! 8-)
  • Reply 10 of 29
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member
    Nice ass

    Ah Yeah! Because I love surfin' and beach scenery in general...:smokey:

    Picture below and the video link to Gabriel Medina Surfing the North Shore (at Daily Surf Videos): Video

    700

    Edit added: everybody over 50 don't watch this video! Brings tears to the eyes how great things used to be... and how sick this little kid can rip the waves...:no:
  • Reply 11 of 29

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ThePixelDoc View Post





     


     


    Beach Bum.

  • Reply 12 of 29
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    In the words of Elings, he and his team set out to become "the software Apple forgot to make.".

    There is an idiocy in this comment that could come back to haunt Elings. Apple didn't FORGET anything. They aren't obligated to make the software for these folks. Or rather not this level. They made the software developers need via XCode and supporting things like HTML, CSS, etc. This is an unneeded tool in the sense that you must have it. It's an engine the same as things like Unreal, GameSalad etc. Handy but not a must have
  • Reply 13 of 29
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member


    boy or girl, that's definitely a nice ass to have! 

  • Reply 14 of 29
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by ThePixelDoc View Post



     


     


    You'd think Apple would censor the second image to something softer.


  • Reply 15 of 29
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Ah Yeah! Because I love surfin' and beach scenery in general...:smokey:

    Picture below and the video link to Gabriel Medina Surfing the North Shore (at Daily Surf Videos): Video

    700

    Edit added: everybody over 50 don't watch this video! Brings tears to the eyes how great things used to be... and how sick this little kid can rip the waves...:no:

    Turtle says Haoles shouldn't watch that video.
  • Reply 16 of 29
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member


    Why d ppl ht vwls s mch ths dys?

  • Reply 17 of 29
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member

    I (and she) "firmly" deny that suggestion! Bubble.............. uh.......... Head?! 8-)
  • Reply 18 of 29
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    richl wrote: »
    Why d ppl ht vwls s mch ths dys?

    Interestingly your comment is completely readable. Remove just consonants — not even all of them — and it's a completely different story.

    Perhaps we should consider this site as a possible reason. How many articles per week does AI create that say "still developing..."? Quite a few by my count. We want info with as little delay as possible. Perhaps that why there is a desire to remove superfluous characters from words. We see a more extreme form of that with SMS but there needs to be consideration for the added difficultly in forming complete sentences as well as the max length of the original SMS message.

    Perhaps Sherlock Holmes can explain it better: http://tvline.com/2012/10/24/elementary-season-1-spoilers-video/ (video)

    "Language is evolving, Watson, becoming a more efficient version of itself. I love text shorthand. It allows you to convey context and tone without losing velocity."
  • Reply 19 of 29
    richl wrote: »
    Why d ppl ht vwls s mch ths dys?

    Going back to the roots of the original language Hebrew?
  • Reply 20 of 29
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Ah Yeah! Because I love surfin' and beach scenery in general...:smokey:

    Picture below and the video link to Gabriel Medina Surfing the North Shore (at Daily Surf Videos): Video

    Thank you, added to collection. The video is better than the pic as it has the slow motion jiggling - it's the Sandy Ridge architecture that does that.
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