Apple is shutting down the magazine service it acquired last year now that Apple News Plus has launched
- Digital magazine subscription service Texture, which Apple acquired last year, is shutting down on May 28.
- The closure comes after Apple launched its own paid news service, Apple News Plus, earlier this week.
- Some Texture users have voiced their concerns on Twitter, continuing questions that were initially raised after the debut of Apple News Plus.
Texture, the magazine subscription service Apple acquired in 2018, will end service in May, according to a post on the company's support website first spotted by TechCrunch.
Texture's website says its last day of service will be May 28, and the company points patrons to Apple's product page for its newly launched paid news service, Apple News Plus. In addition to the notice on Texture's website, subscribers were alerted with an email notification, TechCrunch reports. The shuttered digital newsstand is offering its subscribers a free one-month trial of Apple News Plus, the same offer Apple makes to new users.
Apple launched its paid news service alongside several other announcements on Monday, including new subscription services for gaming and TV as well as a credit card called Apple Card. It's part of a big effort by the company to grow the revenue it receives from its services business as iPhone sales have slowed.
Following the news of Texture's closure, some subscribers - particularly those with Android devices - expressed concern on Twitter.
The comments are a continuation of the questions many Texture users raised following Apple's event on Monday. Texture has also said that existing users will not be able to port their preferences or saved stories over to Apple News Plus. Instead, the company suggests capturing screenshots to save those stories.
The news of Texture's shutdown isn't necessarily surprising. Apple made a similar move in 2015 when it shut down the Beats Music app after launching Apple Music following the company's $3 billion acquisition of Beats. But Apple Music is also available on Android devices, and it's unclear if Apple plans to follow the same pattern with its news subscription app.
The free tier of Apple News, which the company launched in 2015, has already seen notable success without expanding to other platforms. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company's keynote that Apple News is now the number one news app, with five billion articles read per month.