As reported last night, the Wall Street Journal has updated its official iPad application to include the possibility for readers to buy single issues for a specific day. These single-issues downloads are available as $1.99 in-app purchases, whilst “regular” WSJ monthly and weekly subscriptions are still being sold through a website – which is embedded into the WSJ app for login and purchasing option. At this point, it seems that the WSJ is slowly complying to Apple’s in-app purchase and subscription policies but it’s not quite there yet. Recently, Apple started enforcing a rule that requires developers to implement in-app purchases as an option by default in iOS apps that come with extra, purchasable content.
Single issues (up to a week) can be viewed in the “start screen”. Here, you can choose to buy one or subscribe to the WSJ. iPad subscribers also get free unlimited access to WSJ.com, iPhone and Blackberry apps. Single issues don’t carry any kind of additional benefit as they’re simply tied to an iTunes account.
The WSJ app for iPad is free, and it’s available here.
