Loop magazine goes all-iPad
Loop, the British aviation magazine, is now a free iPad app.
Reading aviation magazines is a great way to fuel your passion for flying, especially when you can’t fly as much as you’d like. Reading about the latest new airplane or flying destination has always been part of pilots’ lives, and the iPad makes it easier (and more affordable) than ever to stay up to date. But there’s another benefit to digital magazines that we hadn’t appreciated until recently–pilots can now read aviation magazines from around the world. Because the iPad makes it easy to distribute content anywhere, without the limitations of printers and postage, pilots can get new perspectives that were once unavailable.
Loop magazine is a great example. This British magazine used to be published as a print publication, and we always admired its modern style, great photography and interesting mix of topics. But as a print magazine, it just wasn’t practical for US pilots to read it. That’s no longer true, and Loop has made the move to the iPad in a big way. Their magazine is now exclusively available on the iPad, but it’s much more than just a print magazine loaded onto an iPad. While the navigation takes a minute to learn, it really shows the power of the iPad, with interactive features, photo galleries and embedded videos. It mixes the best parts of a print magazine and a website.
Loop is still written from a British perspective, so some spellings may look funny to US pilots, but the content is fairly universal, with articles on the latest airplanes, avionics reviews, editorials and how-to tips. If anything, the European perspective on aviation issues is a refreshing change–some of the issues the opinion columns cover are a good warning for US pilots. The latest issue includes articles on the Piper Cub’s 75th anniversary, Cessna’s diesel 182, the new RV-14 and more.
Best of all, the magazine is free on the iPad. Simply download the app from the iTunes App Store, then choose individual issues to download and read. It’s part of the iPad’s Newsstand app, so you’re alerted to new issues automatically.
You can get the free app here.
558 MB! And that’s just for the first LOOP magazine I downloaded, which, btw. took several minutes on HiFi. A couple more of those magazines, and my iPod will quit navigating me through the skies for lack of space for aviation maps!
Other magazines of similar size takes up less than 1% of that.
Hi Henrik – the latest issues are all around 350MB. The reason for the size is that we incorporate video and other interactivity such as 360 degrees of products etc. The app is only for the iPad – not iPod. Once you’ve downloaded and read the issue you can then archive. I’ve currently got 26 issues of our magazines on my iPad, flight plannng software, my newspapers, photos, films etc and i have never had an issue with downloads. But i appreciate that it will take 10 to 15 minutes to download the magazine. It’s quicker than getting in your car and going ad getting it from a physical newstand though and just the right amount of time to make a nice cup of tea!