Filipe, not sure of the SOS policies but maybe they will give you a refund if you cancel your print sub in the circumstances, which you could then spend on the iPad version. I would ask at least, if you'd prefer an iPad sub to a paper sub.

You'd do that wouldn't you SOS?

Certainly worth having a conversation with the subscription department.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

I'd like to start off by saying that I am very excited at the potential for the new iPad app, I am very pleased that SOS took the initiative and took this forward looking approach.

As a print subscriber, I nevertheless decided to spring for the iPad sub not least because the iPad version is easier to read than a magazine, and as we get more and more sound clips, and perhaps videos over time it will soon be blowing the print version away. I would have preferred to get credit for my print sub, but trust that the reasons given are genuine and that SOS is not trying to profiteer In any case, I have gotten so much value out of SOS over the years that an extra few tens of dollars doesn't seem so steep.

Now, a couple of points about iPad 3 - first off, the new screen is a game changer. It marks the transition from convenient but not quite as pretty as a magazine, to convenient and better than a magazine in my opinion. I want all of my magazines to work this way from now on, I think it is the future of print! Having said that, as has already been acknowledged, the app is not using the full potential of the iPad 3 yet. I would urge the SOS technical staff to continue to take this seriously. To be honest, tripling the download size is no big deal to me. It takes 3 mins instead of 1 to download, and horrors, I can only store 128 SOSs on my iPad at once

In fact, I plan to store exactly one at a time, and use the website for back issue research as I have been doing. Reading the latest issue and fact checking or research are to me different activities and suited to different devices. The only wrinkle here is that as I continue to renew my iPad subscription, I will eventually lose my eSub - I really want both, and to be able to ditch the print edition, and would even pay a small premium for the privilege, as long as the iPad and eSub were integrated somehow.

Keep up the good work SOS!

Quote Andrew Cockburn:

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...but trust that the reasons given are genuine and that SOS is not trying to profiteer

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Thank you for your trust -- and it's not misplaced. I can assure you that the inability to coordinate print/esub/digital edition and iPad subscriptions is as frustrating to us as to our loyal supporters.

Quote:

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It marks the transition from convenient but not quite as pretty as a magazine, to convenient and better than a magazine in my opinion.

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I'm yet to view the magazine app on an iPad 3, so I'll have to take your word for it... but I'm still very happy with the current offering on a creaky old iPad 1 which I think looks better than the paper mag anyway! However, as I reported above, the team are investigating ways of optimising the experience for the iPad 3. Sadly, not everyone has access to the kind of superfast download speeds that you have, so this is something we have to take seriously!

Quote:

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The only wrinkle here is that as I continue to renew my iPad subscription, I will eventually lose my eSub

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As everything on the website is free to view after 5 months, the obviously low-cost solution is to store the five most recent issues on your iPad, and use the website for everything else!

Rest assured that we will continue to pressure Apple and the third-party suppliers that support our app creation technology to improve the subscription mechanisms so that we can offer our readers the service they require, rather than the rather limiting one Apple is imposing upon us!

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Hi all,

Sorry but I don't have time to read this large thread. I started of but only got the first page as its a big first page!

I notice some of the rampant internet consumption brigade have took hold. Basically demanding more from SOS and want an app yesterday but I feel this is unfair. SOS standards come before quickness. Any fool can make quantity but at what quality. Do you want a buggy app that doesn't work properly today or a fully working one in 6 months time? Id rather wait and am actually thankful that SOS are looking into this as is.

Anyhow, Just want to ask if an iPhone app will be coming out for my iPhone anytime soon where I can access the SOS forum. Not worried at all about reading a mag through a screen. WH Smiths and an iphone app is all I need to read the mag and contribute to the forum with my pesky questions.

It's out already and called Safari.............. Works fine for me!

Bob

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www.bickerton.co.nz

Dont have safari on my iphone mate. Purposly locked out. Otherwise I end up like one of thoese fat hover people off Wall-E just staring into a screen all day long sucking up low quality infomation the human brain seems to crave.

I dont mind a dedicated app for SOS as SOS forum to me is an indispensible working tool, a high quality and nutritious chicken breast if you will. Safari and facebook and other tripe all humans get easily adicted to Wall-E style is nothing more than a plate of Mcdonnalds.

As such I try hard to keep my internet diet spot on! Apps allow me to do this without getting tempted to look at pointless status update and such 24 hours a day.

It's called self discipline.

Hardly think your lack of it is good enough reason for SOS to develop an app!

Bob

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www.bickerton.co.nz

Thanks. Obviously you know me so well so from half a planet away and a few paragraphs to know I lack self disiplin.

Its acctually more removing temptations. Why walk through a whore house with a 50 note sticking out of your top pocket?

As if I expect SOS to make an app just for me and my circumstances. Id guess many 1000s would love an iPhone forum app. I certainly would. Anyone else?

Generally speaking the inability to avoid temptation would be described as a lack of self discipline, but you're right, I've no idea who you are, so I shouldn't draw conclusions from your statements! (and I've shown distinct lack of discipline myself in avoiding winding you up)

I would have thought a good reason to develop an app for the forums would be that it offered more features than we currently enjoy through a standard browser, but I suspect nothing will happen for awhile.

If you're feeling strong you could try reinstalling Safari and try only using it for SOS forums...........

Bob

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www.bickerton.co.nz

Quote Kolakube:

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Any fool can make quantity but at what quality. Do you want a buggy app that doesn't work properly today or a fully working one in 6 months time? Id rather wait and am actually thankful that SOS are looking into this as is.

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You are a little behind the times K! You are right -- we do priortise quality over quantity, and that is one reason why it took us so long to release the iPad app version of the magazine. But it is out there now, and is proving to be fantastically popular with our readers. There are a few little wrinkles to iron out in respect of the new iPad 3 screen resolution, but overall it is a huge success, and opens a very interesting new avenue for the inclusion of embedded audio and visual material.

Quote:

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Anyhow, Just want to ask if an iPhone app will be coming out for my iPhone anytime soon where I can access the SOS forum.

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It is definitely on the wish list, but there are a few other things that need to happen first. Fundamentally, the current forum software doesn't lend itself to integration with a forum app. When we started the forum we wanted to include various features that weren't available at the time -- although they are standard in almost all forums today -- and to achieve that we had to 'butcher' the software quite heavily. As a result, it's not compatible with any of the current forum apps.

The plan, which is well underway behind the scenes, is to completely re-engineer the website. When that is complete we will renew the forum software and be able to offer forum access apps.

So it is coming, but you'll need to be patient I'm afraid!

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Fair enought Bob.

I will say the I do have an app for another forum and it works great in the fact it fits perfectly on the iphone so no zooming in and out all the time. Also I get PM alerts and forum reply updates on the acctual app as opposed Email.

I think if people were happy with Safari on the iPhone what to be fair is designed for a much bigger screen then we wouldnt have apps like Facebook, Ebay, Wiki etc etc.

Of course whether SOS deem a forum app profitable enough to put the funds into in this global ressesion is another matter. But I did think in this title that thats what they were planning.

Of course if your happy with Safari you can always continue to use it and not bother with the app. I honestly think though that many would benifit from one.

Just go your reply hugh. Thanks for the info. Yes im patient, its great to know its even a consideration.

I have to say I was dismayed that the ipad version is not available to me as a print subscriber unless I pay again for the same magazines. I do however appreciate your explanation and frustrations Hugh and thank you for this. Lets hope things change in the future. Keep up the great work with the magazine.

Hi all

Yeah I was a bit frustrated by the lack of iPad subscription for regular print subscribers as in the past having the full subscription has included all the smaller subscription offerings.

Obviously it's not something which you guys have a massive control over and sounds equally as frustrating for you. I look forward to a potential solution and all the best for the apps future. I won't be resubscribing for the app as money's too tight etc and my print subscription is only really justified in the family expenditure as it saves money over me buying a copy in shops monthly.

Hopefully a solution can be found till then I'll continue to enjoy the online stuff via safari and the generous supply of back issues you guys open up to everyone.

One question I have is, is the existing web site html5 compliant so at least print subscribers can view on their iPads without running into flash issues? I don't seem to remember any issues in the past but thought its worth checking.

Rob

Quote Extravagancemusic:

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Yeah I was a bit frustrated by the lack of iPad subscription for regular print subscribers as in the past having the full subscription has included all the smaller subscription offerings.

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Not quite. We have offered a paper mag subscription, a paper + esub package, esub on it's own, or esub + digital online edition.

Ideally, we'd like to be able to offer esub + iPad edition... But we can't because we have no way of linking our subscription system with Apples.

So for the moment, the most cost effective route for you would be to wait for your current paper mag subscription to end and then take out the iPad subscription, which will actually save you money!

Quote:

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One question I have is, is the existing web site html5 compliant so at least print subscribers can view on their iPads without running into flash issues? I don't seem to remember any issues in the past but thought its worth checking.

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All the soundonsound.com online web content is entirely iPad friendly. The Digital Edition web version of the mag is flash-based so isn't iPad compatible... And that's partly why we now have the iPad app.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Been excited and waiting for the mobile apps for ages now. I'd also like to make some noises about an iPhone app. I understand there's a lot the SOS team are taking on but like one of the previous posters mentioned, even if it was just for the forums and reader ads it would still be a really handy resource. Even as i'm trying to write this post on my iphone the text keeps jumping, and the whole browsing of the forums is pretty clunky on phone devices. Surely we would have even more of a local and national community of musicians and techies if we could post questions and respond to others more easily on the move? Plenty of times I've thought the SOS forums would be an ideal place to post this but never bother by the time i reach a computer. I resort to rss feeds for reading posts on the move but actually replying has been more hassle than its worth.

Surely an app with a mobile web port of the forums and readers ads wouldn't be that hard?? A full iphone app would still be great but I'm not sure how likely that is. Anyone else feel the same?

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Recording, mastering, production and training.
Edinburgh Recording Studio Swanfield Studios

We are very much aware of how useful access to the forums (and readers ads) would be from a smart phone. However, we have to prioritise the amount of effort and resources we have available and it would be wasted effort to develop something for the current forum and web structure when we are fairly advanced in the process of totally renewing and upgrading the entire thing.

So, as I've said before, it is on our 'road map' and it will happen... but we have a few others things to complete first.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

I am ready to go all-iPad with Sound on Sound, but what's the target date for retina display support? The magazine looks pretty terrible on the new iPad, compared to other content.

Just to update any iPad3 users out there... We have just submitted for Apple approval updates to the UK and US iPad apps which will provide Retina display support from the May 2012 edition onwards.

Once the app has been approved we will investigate the possibility of upgrading the previously released issues to 'HD' status.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Great news, thank you!

Hi -

I've read the comments on this thread (not each and every one but enough to get the gist) and I realise that this is a hot topic but what I am trying to understand is this:

Currently I have an esub subscription but I only use to to access the website so that I can check out pst reviews of equipment I am thinking of getting and check out old articles on songwriting etc - I never read the digital version of the mag.

If I let my esub subscription lapse (next month) and take out an iPad subscription will I still be able to use the SOS website and forums for my historical research as before?

Also - do you have any intention of digitising any of the early SOS issues - I often look for stuff that comes up with the "Not available on website" message. It would be great to have access to the complete SOS history online.

Many thanks

Best wishes to all.

Quote Trashtalk:

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If I let my esub subscription lapse (next month) and take out an iPad subscription will I still be able to use the SOS website and forums for my historical research as before?

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Everything -- reviews, features, technique articles and all the rest -- is available to read for free on the website once it is more than five months old. The eSub allows you to access material which is less than five months old.

The iPad subscription will allow you to read current magazine editions in an enhanced format with embedded sound and vision clips for selected articles, and carefully optimised for the iPad medium.

So, once you're five months in to your iPad subscription you'll be able to access everything again....

Quote:

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Also - do you have any intention of digitising any of the early SOS issues - I often look for stuff that comes up with the "Not available on website" message. It would be great to have access to the complete SOS history online.

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It is on the wish list of things we'd like to do, but it is so far down that I doubt it will ever happen. The difficulty is that prior to January 1994 the magazine wasn't produced in a way that allows us easily to translate the archives to the web. Every magazine article for those ten years of issues would have to be scanned, OCR'd, edited and processed to make them web-searchable... and sadly, we just don't have the resources to be able to do that.

However, the website does list all the content from the first issue in 1985, and it is possible to purchase hand-made photocopies of specific articles from the SOS shop.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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So, once you're five months in to your iPad subscription you'll be able to access everything again....

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Okay that makes sense - actually it sounds like I probably needn't have take out an eSub in the first place :-)

I'll try the iPad version out.

Quote:

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However, the website does list all the content from the first issue in 1985, and it is possible to purchase hand-made photocopies of specific articles from the SOS shop.

hugh

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I can totally understand the effort required is huge - a shame though because there are some excellent interviews and retro reviews that would it would be great to be able to refer to.
I'll check out the Photocopy option (I wasn't aware of this).

Many thanks for the speedy response...

Cheers

I have been a loyal e-subscriber for maybe 5 years apart from a couple of lapses where I thought I could live without it (actually, based on my join date, it's more like 10 years). I have always considered the e-sub an exceptional value compared to paying $12-15 for imported versions of the printed magazine (but I only ever bought those because they proved to be worth every penny). I started reading this thread because I wanted to see if there was a way for me to leverage my current e-sub into iPad versions.

And I have to admit that I was prepared to whine like crazy if there wasn't a way for me to do that...then I actually installed and looked at the iPad app and was just so impressed. The best sound on sound reading experience yet. Then I realized all of the things that are great about sound on sound....great writing, great instruction, etc... A searchable archive of almost everything that is still relevant (it's amazing that I am as likely to read an article from 5 years ago as from this month). And thinking that this great magazine is put together by such a small, dedicated staff (fueled by little more than digestive biscuits and an occasional bacon sandwich, so they're eco-friendly to boot!!), I realized that I will be happy to pay for the iPad subscription, even if it means paying for a few issues twice in the two different formats. In the end, I think it's true that you mostly get what you pay for, and for all of this it is well worth it. Maybe I will wait until I have 5 months left on my e-sub to subscribe, but seriously, it's worth it to me in any case. This is actually my first post on the forum and I am happy to acknowledge the great work for the time I have been a subscriber.

Cheers to the S on S staff, and congrats on a fantastic job on the iPad app!!

Edited by maltobello (04/04/12 02:52 AM)

I've been a print subscriber for the past 15 years (i.e. from the first day I discovered soundonsound). Lately I've been reading the paper magazine less than before, because I can use the esub access with my ipad (and iphone sometimes, believe it or not you can read on it, especially with the reader function on mobile safari). I too appreciated a lot the reading experience with the ipad magazine version, and I was disappointed too on discovering that my subscription is not valid for the ipad version. I understand the reasons behind this, that are clearly explained in this thread, meaning that, right now, is not possible to give the ipad version to the subscriber to the printed version, but maybe you could do the opposite, i.e. give esub access to the subscriber to the ipad version. I'm saying this because, while I know that esub access is open to everyone after five months, I really like the idea of browsing the new issue with my iphone, or computer, but since I want to purchase an ipad subscription, I would not want to pay for 2 subscriptions.
Cheers and congratulations for what I think is the best magazine in the audio-music production world

Quote Project:

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...but maybe you could do the opposite, i.e. give esub access to the subscriber to the ipad version.

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I understand your request and the reasons for it, and it would be nice if we could achieve what you ask. Hopefully, one day, we will. But at the present time it is not possible because we have no access to the details of iPad subscribers. As I said, when you buy the iPad subscription you are Apple's customer, and not directly ours!

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Quote maltobello:

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I have been a loyal e-subscriber for maybe 5 years apart from a couple of lapses where I thought I could live without it (actually, based on my join date, it's more like 10 years). I have always considered the e-sub an exceptional value compared to paying $12-15 for imported versions of the printed magazine (but I only ever bought those because they proved to be worth every penny). I started reading this thread because I wanted to see if there was a way for me to leverage my current e-sub into iPad versions.

And I have to admit that I was prepared to whine like crazy if there wasn't a way for me to do that...then I actually installed and looked at the iPad app and was just so impressed. The best sound on sound reading experience yet. Then I realized all of the things that are great about sound on sound....great writing, great instruction, etc... A searchable archive of almost everything that is still relevant (it's amazing that I am as likely to read an article from 5 years ago as from this month). And thinking that this great magazine is put together by such a small, dedicated staff (fueled by little more than digestive biscuits and an occasional bacon sandwich, so they're eco-friendly to boot!!), I realized that I will be happy to pay for the iPad subscription, even if it means paying for a few issues twice in the two different formats. In the end, I think it's true that you mostly get what you pay for, and for all of this it is well worth it. Maybe I will wait until I have 5 months left on my e-sub to subscribe, but seriously, it's worth it to me in any case. This is actually my first post on the forum and I am happy to acknowledge the great work for the time I have been a subscriber.

Cheers to the S on S staff, and congrats on a fantastic job on the iPad app!!

---

Thank you for your kind words and support, maltobello. I speak for the whole team when I say that we really hoped the extra effort we put into our app would delight our readers, and so it's great to hear that you really enjoy this new format for the magazine. Of course, the great news is we're not done yet! There's still a lot of scope for extra multimedia content such as integrated audio and video, as well as iPad-friendly ads, and a whole heap of extra features we're keeping shtum about for now. We're also going to be branching out into other formats (as has been discussed here) in the future, so there's still a lot of improvements and enhancements we can add to make it even better.

It's also really cool that you enjoyed the iPad edition so much it motivated you to use your first forum post on here to tell us! ^.^

So thanks again for your support, and you are quite right to say that as a small team we depend on the support of our loyal readers - such as yourself!

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SOS Web Editor, Support & Social Media
Friend SOS on Facebook | Follow SOS on Twitter

So...how's the numbers? Are you getting more or fewer iPad subscribers than you expected?

The big lift will be when people's paper or esubs start to run out, or if you can find a way to unify iPad and print subs, but I can guess that you're getting off to a promising start.

Newsstand begs you to fill it with magazines and I think iPad ownership will continue to explode in the coming years, along with an explosion in iPad music makers. In an app store where the 5-star cream rises to the top, I'm sure some big growth awaits for the SOS empire!

Just catching up, the whole point of a sub for me is to be able read stuff offline at your own convenience... even though its 2012, it doesn't mean we have internet everywhere... e.g. trains, planes, cars, or even sitting anywhere where there is no free access.

I believe prior to the announcement of the Ipad app that's what you could do, just download then read PDFs without being connected (that sounded perfect) ... but when the app was announced there were no more PDFs and we were just all in wait mode.

I have no use for an e-sub where I have to be connected the whole time. I only read stuff on my iPad on planes, trains, etc. I also like the idea of a digital magazine which can be flicked through like a real magazine.. I don't want to click links like a web page.

Look... I understand why PDF format was removed (piracy etc.), and I know that the Ipad app had to wait for approval but I still think there should be some better clarity from you guys..

I am not trolling, I just wanted to read SOS offline and now realise this isn't what I paid for. So my question is can I cancel my e-sub asap and get refunded for the remainder?

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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Quote orangefunk:

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This is a real shame... I only got the esub in the first place because I wanted to read SOS on my iPad.. that was the WHOLE point!

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The eSub has only ever provided access to the locked website content, and you can access that on your iPad through the safari web browser. Nothing has changed and I don't understand your complaint.

Quote:

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I have no intention of getting an eSub for iPad as well.

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You don't need to. The eSub allows access to the locked website content via whatever means you use to access the website: desktop computer, smart-phone, tablet or whatever.

Quote:

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I really hope there is some leeway for us here because technology aside I think we've been terribly mislead.

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I don't see how! The eSub is unchanged. It does now what it always has and what you paid for.

The iPad app is an entirely separate thing. It is an equivalent of the paper magazine and the 'digital edition magazine' that we offer through subscriptions and via the newsagent in the case of the paper mag.

Hugh

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Quote orangefunk:

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I believe prior to the announcement of the Ipad app that's what you could do, just download then read PDFs without being connected (that sounded perfect) ... but when the app was announced there were no more PDFs and we were just all in wait mode.

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There was no connection between the anouncement of the iPad app and the decision to remove the PDF download feature. We had to stop the PDF downloads because of serious piracy problems, as I explained.

Quote:

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So my question is can I cancel my e-sub asap and get refunded for the remainder?

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Yes. Please telephone the subscription department at the SOS office and explain why you would like to cancel and ask for a refund.

I'm sorry if you feel you were mislead, but the SOS shop description of the eSub subscription makes it very clear that "The eSub gives you exclusive 24/7 online access, via your browser, to complete HTML versions of all the editorial content of SOUND ON SOUND..."

If you want to read the current magazines off-line I would suggest taking out an iPad subscription...

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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Just to update any iPad3 users out there... We have just submitted for Apple approval updates to the UK and US iPad apps which will provide Retina display support from the May 2012 edition onwards.

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Awesome! Can't wait for the new issue!

The new May edition with retina graphics looks AMAZING on the iPad 3.

Fantastic work again - now the music mag with the best content also looks the best!

I'm probably being dense, but I cannot see the May edition and it's obvious that some of you have it on your iPads....

I subscribed as of the April issue and can read that plus the January freebie just fine.

Any ideas why some of you have it and I do not? I've re-started newstand just in case.

I also can't see the May edition yet. I'm jonesing bad

Ah I'm glad some other people have this problem, I can't see the May edition yet either! And I've tried pretty much everything I can think of, short of restoring software on iPad completely... Have deleted app and reinstalled it, turned iPad on and off, selected restore previous purchases etc. Looking forward to this getting resolved! Have emailed support...

Sorry everyone -- it turns out that while the May edition could be seen and downloaded for iPad3 users, a bug in the system made that issue invisible to us poor iPad1 and iPad2 users!

I'm told the bug has been found and squished, and everyone should now be able to see the May edition.

Apologies for the confusion!

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Thanks Hugh - I'm downloading it now and look forward to a good read a bit later

Thanks Hugh, happily reading now! Die bug, die...

Ah I downloaded the May issue to my iPad 3 on Tuesday, nah nah.

Lol, rotfl etc