Nook for iPad Updated with Periodical Subscriptions

The Nook Color is a nice eReader, especially for enjoying periodicals in full color, and now with an update, the iPad Nook app provides readers with the same rich full-color periodical experience.

This is a leg up for Barnes & Noble, because the Kindle device and the Kindle app can’t display periodicals in full color.

While I’ve always preferred the Kindle for basic reading because of its bigger selection, I’ve hated that I could not read color magazines with the app or the device. You can get some mags on the device, but not in the app, and the few you can read on the device are in black and white since the device only does monochrome.

What’s New in Nook for the iPad

Now that the Nook app handles magazines, periodical readers have another option on the iPad. The NewsStand website provides a place for shoppers to find magazines while also allowing Barnes and Noble to obey Apple’s in-app subscription rules. You buy subscriptions at the website and they are automatically available via the app. Two week free trials make it possible for you to see if you enjoy a magazine before forking over cash.

The app includes books and newspapers as well as magazines. Like the Kindle app, you can customize the reading experience with font and page color changes to make it easier to view in different lighting situations or to match your taste. The Nook handles the text of magazine articles well allowing you to put the article into a reading mode so that you see just the text images related to that article (see below). Easily switch back to see the full experience.

Nook Study didn’t make it into the iPad app update. Users will still have to use their Nook or Nook Color for those eBook textbooks.

The Competition

This update could sway some users who have been looking for a good way to read mags on their iPad. There are a lot of magazine apps on the iPad, but this is one app to rule them all so to speak.

Previously, most users would go with the Zinio iPad app. It was a weak reading experience because previously it could not remember your reading location in a magazine and iPad backups in iTunes took forever with the Zinio app and a few magazines installed. Zinio fixed these issues via updates but the early bad experience left a bad taste in my mouth. The update is better but still not a great experience since it requires users to tap through samples every time you load the thing.

You can find the Nook app in the app store for free.