The Guardian has released a new daily app exclusively for digital subscribers, marking the first substantial offering for those who pay for its content despite it being free to read online.
Guardian Daily was previously a page-turning app for tablets but has been completely redesigned to offer a curated, scrolling news experience that publishes once a day – at 3am for UK readers.
Each day’s edition, including Sunday’s Observer, can also be downloaded to read offline. The app will not update throughout the day, unlike the Times app which has three daily editions.
A spokesperson for Guardian News and Media, publisher of the Guardian and Observer titles, told Press Gazette the daily app was the “most sophisticated product we have created to date”.
It is designed to complement the Guardian’s pre-existing live app, which will continue to offer free access to all Guardian content to users but with a focus on breaking news, and the revamped Guardian Weekly, although the latter mainly targets an audience outside the UK.
Previously Guardian subscribers – those who made regular monthly donations – only received ad-free versions of the live app and theguardian.com news website.
Digital platforms editor Caspar Llewellyn Smith said GNM had recognised a “growing desire among readers for a digital space in which to catch the day’s most important stories at one point in time – away from constant breaking news”.
Anna Bateson, GNM’s chief customer officer, added: “As part of our reader-centric approach we’ve re-imagined the Daily as a thoughtful, considered digital edition of Guardian journalism – designed to fit into our readers’ daily routines.
“It offers readers the chance to shape the way they enjoy the journalism – from breaking news through the Live app, to the curated Daily edition.
“The Daily represents a significant progression in our digital subscription offering, which we are developing and growing to achieve our ambitious supporter goal.”
A Guardian digital subscription costs £11.99 a month, after a three-month trial offer of £5.99 a month. The app will be made available to US and Australian readers next year.
The Guardian claims more than a million readers have contributed financially to it over the past three years.
Digital subscriptions currently stand at 190,000, it said, while the total number of monthly paying supporters is more than 655,000. In addition, 300,000 one-off contributions have been made in the past 12 months.
The newspaper said it aims to grow reader revenues with a focus on digital subscriptions, alongside donations, in order to build a “more financially sustainable organisation”.
It hopes to reach 2m paying supporters by 2022.
Picture: Guardian News and Media
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