The first thing I noticed about the new Esquire January 2010 issue iPhone app ($2.99) was that it looked like you would be able to download several issues over the next year. Unlike the iPhone app version of GQ (which recently made an issue iPhone app of their own), the home page gives you a digital “shelf” where it appears multiple issues can be placed. That alone is just the start of why Esquire has the best iPhone magazine out there.
Once the iPhone app is downloaded, readers are brought to a shelf where they can presumably pick their issue. After selecting the cover of their choice, the iPhone app prompts you to “Start This Issue.” Readers can then read the magazine page-by-page by using their fingers to scroll up and down through content and flip the page to the next article. While the controls aren’t perfect, they offer the easiest way to browse a magazine on your iPhone yet. Another cool feature that is lacking from other “magazines on your iPhone” issues is that you can browse the issue by article by going to the table of contents. There, readers can see a cover for each story and make their way quickly through content. This allows for you to get to what you want with speed and simplicity.
The Esquire iPhone app also offers more in the way of photos than other similar iPhone apps. You get a nice photo at the top of each story, which you can enlarge if you so choose. Other options make this iPhone app reader-friendly as well. To get back to the home page or table of contents, just tap the issue name at the top of the screen. If you want to flip to the next article, just click the “next” or “previous article” buttons at the end.
Still, Esquire magazine’s iPhone app is missing some features that were great on other magazine iPhone apps. There is no extra video or audio content to supplement the magazine’s articles. For future issues, Esquire should start adding extra content, or it will soon fall behind the others.
In the end, Esquire’s January 2010 issue iPhone app is the best example out therefore the future of reading magazines on you iPhone. It’s still got plenty of kinks to work out, but at the moment, it’s the best bang for your buck.
