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was given a sneak peek of Popular Mechanics’s iPad app this week — which is still in development — and an interesting look at the thought process that goes into translating page to pixel.
Hearst, which distributes Pop Mechanics, got some flack for not jumping on the app bandwagon prior to the launch of Steve Jobs’s “magical” product. Still, Deputy Editor Jerry Beilinson and Senior Technology Editor Glenn Derene explained to us that they didn’t think it wise to start laying out the app without getting their hands on the goods first.
Consequently, the magazine is also creating the app in-house, rather than shipping it out to developers who may be unfamiliar with the publication. This process will lay the groundwork for how all other magazine apps are created at Hearst.
The attention to detail shows. Instead of just taking the magazine and cramming it — PDF-style — into an app, Popular Mechanics took stock of what its audience wants. It seems head-smackingly simple when you think about it: An app should appeal to the same demographic as the magazine appeals to, therefore not all apps should be created the same. Readers of Rolling Stone might be more into streaming music than, say, adherents of Guns & Ammo, for instance.
The reader of Popular Mechanics — whose median is age 46 — is described by the magazine as “a curious mindset — that’s what drives the Pop Mechanics reader to explore, become knowledgeable and actively participate in a wide range of interests. He is today’s influential neighborhood adviser that friends, family and colleagues turn to for advice.”
OK, so the average reader is older and maybe he’s a bit more into traditional forms of communication (i.e. text) than the younger set, but he’s still ahead of the run-of-the-mill digital curb. Beilinson and Derene found that readers dig video and interactivity, but test groups really wanted an app that facilitated reading.
Consequently, the team set out to create a “lean-back” app that is truly easy to use. In Beilinson and Derene’s opinion, re-teaching someone how to read a magazine is rather ridiculous — the iPad reading experience should come naturally.
Navigation is rather handy, allowing one to browse through the magazine itself with a simple gesture or toggle through a table of contents. There’s also a page-flow bar at the bottom of the app where one can pick and choose which page to read, and a color-coded bar that shows you where in the magazine you’re currently located. (You can also zoom in on each page to get a better view before visiting it.)
What’s interesting about the stories themselves is that although — on first glance — they appear to look identical to those in the magazine, the page layout, font and design has been altered to fit the iPad’s screen. If you’ve ever visited a magazine’s offices before, you may have seen galleys for every page tacked to the wall — the same is true for this particular magazine app. In essence, the team had to lay out two magazines rather than one.
Popular Mechanics also prides itself on being a utility for readers — it uses its DIY section in particular to teach readers everything from home repair to auto repair. The DIY section — in the iPad incarnation — is created for utility, with 3-D models of whatever it is you’re building that you can view from multiple angles, and dissemble. There’s also step-by-step photo galleries (not available in the magazine) that allow one to really get into the project. The team envisions readers taking the ‘Pad into the workroom, where it can serve as a handy guide.
Interactive elements like this are scattered throughout the app — in addition to having bookmarking and sharing functionality, you can also send an e-mail, update Facebook and tweet from inside the app. There’s also a newsfeed that pulls in stories from the website. Perhaps the coolest addition — at least in this upcoming issue — is an interactive earthquake tracker, which shows seismic activity around the globe. This stands in for the traditional infographic, providing more value by updating constantly. Which means that the element will still have a function months after the issue comes out.
It remains to be seen how readers will react to this app — it still needs to be approved by the App StoreApp Store
— but it definitely seems like the publication is taking advantage of the technology at hand. Pop Mechanics is not merely copy-pasting the magazine into an app, nor melding print and web content, but really creating a new reading experience.
Of course, a couple of questions arise after viewing this product: 1). Will a magazine be able to create a print product and app every month (in addition to daily web operations) without significant costs/labor/strain on staff? 2). If iPad ownership continues to grow, and the app offers that much more functionality and utility, why even have a print product anymore? (Still no word on app pricing, by the way.) 3). How will magazines handle archiving issues when more and more digital versions are in the can?
We’ll be excited to see how this all continues to pan out as both the Popular Mechanics app comes to light as well as future Hearst titles. In the meantime, we’re embedding a few screenshots of the app below.
The Popular Mechanics iPad App
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