Sunday Times launches improved mobile app

[caption id="attachment_134900" align="aligncenter" width="487"] The new Sunday Times app. Image: Reuben Goldberg[/caption]

The Sunday Times newspaper has launched a brand-new version of its app for Apple and Android mobile devices.

The app downloads faster than before, uses less bandwidth and more functionality, boasts a new design and includes more audiovisual content.

Lisa MacLeod, head of digital at Times Media, said: “When we built the new Sunday Times app we focused on improving the overall user experience. Attention was given to the general look, feel and readability while improving the download speed and reducing the download size of the app and content.”

She added: “We used the latest HTML5 technologies to create a fusion (hybrid), native wrapper app that keeps the user experience the same for all mobile platforms while retaining the benefits of the web, such as speed to publish, and the ability to change and update the user experience without any delays.”

The new app offers a lot more beyond the improvements in its performance:

• Subscribers using smartphones or tablets now have access to enriched content including videos, photo galleries, recipes and audio clips.
• The number of articles published via the app has been increased by about 80%.
• Subscribers using tablet devices can also download complete editions of The Times and Sunday Times in PDF format.  

Trevor Ormerod, general manager of sales and marketing at Times Media, said: “With more than 3.7-million readers, the Sunday Times is committed to serving its audience on their platforms of choice.

“Increasingly this is becoming a mix of print, digital and mobile, and it’s why this new app is so essential in positioning the Sunday Times for both a contemporary print and increasingly digital future. It’s opening up some very exciting opportunities for advertisers as well.”

Times Media is redesigning its newsrooms and operational models to meet the requirements of a modern, progressive media organisation. This year it will implement a new, multiplatform content management system to support a digital-first approach to content. The group will also move to purpose-built premises towards the end of 2016.

The new app is included in the Sunday Times Platinum Plus subscription package of R107 per month, which includes digital and print delivery of The Times and Sunday Times newspapers.  The Sunday Times app can be found on the Apple Store and Google’s Play store by searching “The Sunday Times Plus”.