Apple is Killing the Texture App for Windows 10

Apple is Killing the Texture App for Windows 10

Apple acquired the Texture digital magazine service back in March. But now it’s killing the Windows 10 version of the app.

“To keep things working smoothly, older versions of the app sometimes need to be retired,” a terse support note on the Texture website notes. “After June 30, 2018, the Texture Windows app will no longer be available. Your Texture subscription will continue to be available on compatible phones or tablets running iOS or Android and on Fire HD tablets along with ongoing access to all the magazines you have selected as your favorites.”

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Sensitive Windows users may see this change as some kind of partisan volley against an old foe. But as the support note explains, Texture will continue working on Android and Fire HD, which are both rival platforms too. So it must be something else.

According to Good Reader, the explanation is simple enough: Texture for Windows 10 is a horrible app that has rarely been updated, and Apple dropping it is almost a mercy killing.

My take on this is that Windows is not an ideal place for reading magazines and that Texture, like other reading apps, makes much more sense on mobile devices anyway. Of course, that doesn’t explain why Texture doesn’t have a web client. And Apple isn’t exactly well-known for its web apps either.

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Conversation 22 comments

  • Rob.Federici

    06 May, 2018 - 5:45 pm

    <p>sounds like another development problem that would be solved with a PWA.</p><p><br></p>

    • Richicoder

      06 May, 2018 - 6:23 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#272315"><em>In reply to Rob.Federici:</em></a></blockquote><p>Exactly. Just make a PWA version and you'll please two markets at once. </p>

      • Stooks

        06 May, 2018 - 11:44 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#272326"><em>In reply to Richicoder:</em></a></blockquote><p>Native App &gt; PWA &gt; Web browser. </p><p><br></p><p>I bet Texture clients, even before the Apple purchase were overwhelmingly iOS clients(70-80%), followed by Android and then the 3% left over was classified as "Other". 3% being generous.</p>

    • Stooks

      06 May, 2018 - 11:41 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#272315"><em>In reply to Rob.Federici:</em></a></blockquote><p>It would solve what problem? The need for a Texture app on Windows? </p><p><br></p><p>If Texture never updated their app before Apple bought them and Apple is dropping it then I would say the both know that there simply is NO demand for it on Windows. This is why a lot of apps never come or never get updated on the Windows store. The demand is not there.</p>

  • anchovylover

    06 May, 2018 - 5:48 pm

    <p>" Sensitive Windows users "!</p><p><br></p><p>LOL, l would love to know what that is a euphemism for in uncut words. ?</p>

  • colin79666

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2018 - 5:48 pm

    <p>Too bad if you have a Windows tablet then!</p>

  • wunderbar

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2018 - 5:48 pm

    <p>Honestly, I have zero problem with this. I subscribed to texture for about a year, and the windows client really was absolute garbage that didn't even work half the time.</p><p><br></p><p>I would rather they just kill it than leave it stagnant.</p>

  • mrhnet

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2018 - 6:33 pm

    <p>I used the Windows 10 and the Android version. Windows version wasn't great but worked well enough to read on my Surface Pro. I am guessing it simply wasn't used by enough people to give it more TLC. Android version has seen way more love from the app developers but the way Texture is set up as a magazine display app, even on my Galaxy Note 8, it's not fun to read the magazines because it isn't optimized for small screen sizes. The app only makes full sense on iPads or Android tablets now. For people wanting to use it on iPhones or Android phones, I guess the hope could be that Apple's UI team takes a stab at converting magazine pages to small screens. </p>

  • swarnock

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2018 - 7:56 pm

    <p>As a long term Texture subscriber(even before Texture) I expected the windows app to die a long time ago. I tried to use it on the Surface book but it just did not quite fit probably due to the horrible app. I found the Fire 10 HD is the perfect size for reading their magazines. I hope they are not next as I only subscribe to services like this that do not lock me into a single platform.</p>

  • Stooks

    06 May, 2018 - 11:38 pm

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">My take on this is that Windows is not an ideal place for reading&nbsp;"</span></p><p><br></p><p>This. You use to complain that the Kindle store app, (now gone?) was never updated and horrible. Amazon still has the win32 and Mac versions of the apps and they get updated but I think this is the last place people want to use them (computer).</p><p><br></p><p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And Apple isn’t exactly well-known for its web apps either."</span></p><p><br></p><p>Texture, before Apple did not have a web client. Apple does not have to have Web or PWA clients because they have exellent native app support.</p>

    • Boris Zakharin

      07 May, 2018 - 1:19 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#272358"><em>In reply to Stooks:</em></a></blockquote><p>Seriously? I spend most of my non-work time reading via web browser on my Windows 10 laptop including books, though for magazines I still prefer paper. I know, quaint. Even if I didn't, my magazine subscription does allow me unlimited web access, so this texture thing doesn't affect me. I don't travel enough to buy a real tablet, which would be my choice for this type of activity, so when I do I either take my aging and ailing first generation Surface RT (which I got free for reasons too boring to explain) or make do with the phone. But laptop reading is what I'm used to.</p>

  • dontbe evil

    07 May, 2018 - 4:14 am

    <p>no surprise, apple care only about their green garden and apple fans to milk</p>

  • nbplopes

    07 May, 2018 - 4:48 am

    <p>I don’t understand your reasoning. At one moment you find great value in bringing handheld apps to Windows 10. On the other hand given a specific case ….</p>

    • Stooks

      07 May, 2018 - 9:24 am

      <blockquote><a href="#272402"><em>In reply to nbplopes:</em></a></blockquote><p>I get his reasoning. No matter the platform (Apple, Google Microsoft) some mobile apps make little or no sense on a computer. Why waste the time and effort if basically no body will use them.</p><p><br></p><p>Texture from day one, was a tablet app, then smartphone, then everything else.</p>

  • ids

    Premium Member
    07 May, 2018 - 8:59 am

    <p>We dont get that in the UK/Europe but Readly is the same over here and dropped it a while back. Sad to see as it stopped my using my SP3 for consumption and moved to a Galaxt Tab S3 instead. Can't say I have looked back to be honest ….</p>

  • Bats

    07 May, 2018 - 9:48 am

    <p>Makes sense. You can't take your windows 10 desktop with you to the bathroom. Lol.</p>

  • Darekmeridian

    07 May, 2018 - 11:09 am

    <p>Wow I didn't even know that Texture was on Windows… Have always used it on IOS platforms.</p><p><br></p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    07 May, 2018 - 11:36 am

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">My take on this is that Windows is not an ideal place for reading magazines and that Texture, like other reading apps, makes much more sense on mobile devices anyway."</span></p><p>Wait, what? If the PC is a bad platform for reading, then we've all been using our PC's incorrectly for years. Millions and millions of people spend hours reading on their PC every day- short form, long form, interactive, blogs, news, gossip, scientific papers, professional research, etc. Reading is probably the #1 activity we do on a PC. Maybe you don't spend an hour straight reading a novel, but magazines offer the same bite-size content as the websites that have largely replaced them. "Digital magazines" are for the most part literally just digitized versions of the paper magazine, essentially a pdf. Would you rather read a pdf on a small screen or a large screen– especially a modern high-resolution monitor? </p>

  • mariusmuntensky

    08 May, 2018 - 2:48 am

    <p>Very Good! why losing time and resources with a junk wincrap 10 platform</p>

  • X911ty12

    08 May, 2018 - 10:55 am

    <p>Never heard of it.</p>

  • YouWereWarned

    08 May, 2018 - 5:32 pm

    <p>So welcome to the bean-counter world of software development–throw out a piece of crap and see which platform has the least-forgiving user base. Then cancel that version.</p><p>OTOH, who wants to read magazines on a phone screen? A 2-in-1 Win10 notebook is ideal, followed by anything else with a decently-sized screen. Not a job for Windows?</p><p>Finally, an app that merely displays static text and images should be dead-easy to maintain on ANY platform. The moving-target that is Microsoft's paradigm of the week is the problem I suspect.</p>

  • Jeffsters

    11 May, 2018 - 9:12 am

    <p>Just as there is no Apple News for Mac OS! Apple believes the use case is mobile phone and tablet devices. Nothing more!</p>

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