THE Financial Times has pulled its iPad and iPhone applications from Apple's App Store after losing a battle to keep control of customer data obtained through subscriptions.

Apple has recently begun to insist subscriptions to apps it hosts must go through its own store, giving Apple ownership of valuable data about customers from those transactions.

The FT and Apple had been in negotiations for months but failed to reach a compromise, an FT spokesman said yesterday.

Apple launched its own subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos and music earlier this year but has won little support from major publishers.

The iPad tablet computer, launched a year and a half ago, created a new market popular with affluent professionals and has been a major driver of new subscriptions to FT.com, which now accounts for about a quarter of the FT's total sales.

The FT's digital subscriptions rose 34 percent to 230,000 in the first half of this year, with mobile devices accounting for 22 percent of FT.com traffic and more than 15 percent of new subscriptions.

In a move to reduce its dependence on Apple and develop apps more quickly for rival tablet computers, the FT in June launched a web-based version of its mobile app, the first of its kind by a major publisher.

This allows readers to sign up on an FT website and then sign on using any device, including the iPad and iPhone.

A shortcut can be installed on the device, giving an experience similar to using a native app custom-built for the smartphone or tablet being used.

An FT spokesman said the company was encouraging subscribers to migrate to the web-based app.
 

Source:shanghaidaily