Digital MAD Moving to Magzter

For those of you who hated the MAD iPad app for getting the digital version of the magazine, good news! MAD is discontinuing the app and moving its digital subscriptions over to Magzter. Here are all the details:

Q: What happened to my MAD in my MAD app?

A: We have listened to our fans through tweets, emails, Facebook, and millions of two complaints via Google+ – the experience of reading issues on the MAD app left much to be desired. We want our fans who like to read the magazine digitally to have as enjoyable and effortless reading experience as those who read the print edition. Needless to say, our app was not providing this experience.

Effective immediately, we are moving our MAD digital reading experience from our own iPad-only app to Magzter, a company specialized in bringing magazines to digital audiences. Fans can now read MAD digitally on their iOS device, Android, Amazon Fire, or online at Magzter.com.

Q: When is the last issue available?

A: The last new issue that was put in the MAD app was Issue #3, the October 2018 issue. Issue #4 is now available digitally via Magzter. From this point forward, we will be publishing all digital issues of MAD on Magzter or other digital hubs.

Q: So, what now

A: First things first – compensation and refunds.

As someone who has paid for a digital subscription will be refunded via the app Store, you should receive a pro-rated credit equal to the remaining unfulfilled issues on your account in the coming days.

We have also created a code for a full year subscription of MAD on Magzter, for free for all current digital subscribers.

If you are a current digital subscriber you should have gotten that code in an email.

This is a good thing in all ways but one (maybe two). It’s good because Magzter’s app is available for basically all smart phones/tablets, so Android and Amazon Fire users can join in on the fun. It’s good because the app will work better there, as the reading experience left something to be desired on the iPad app. It’s good (for a year anyway) in that they are offering both a free one year subscription AND a refund for any digital subscription balance you had left.

Having tested the Magzter version I will say it’s a much better reading experience. For some odd reason you had to scroll past two page spreads using an area at the bottom of the page, and you could not see a full spread all together. Magzter lets you turn a page or scroll through the center gutter of any two page spread. You can also turn your tablet horizontal to see an entire two page spread. Finally, for some odd reason many of the pages of the parodies I did were pixelated badly. These are nice and crisp, even if you zoom in tight.

The bad? You no longer get a free digital subscription with a print subscription. I really liked that. I got the issue on my iPad as well as in the mailbox. Now I’ll have to pay $20 more a year for the digital MAD. Oh well, I’ll just ask for a page rate bump of 56 cents per page. That should take care of it. The other bad thing is that digital back issues are available, but for the full $5.99 price each. I had a fair number of back issues I bought through the iPad app for $1.99 each, and of course I go not have them on Magzter. I’d have to repurchase them if I wanted them, and at the higher price. I am not sure how long those issues I bought will be available to me on the iPad. Eventually that app will stop working and that will be it.

By the way, MAD isn’t moving to Magzter. The magazine has been available on that platform for a while now, since way back before the LA move. They are just eliminating their proprietary app service.