Texture, the magazine subscription service that Apple purchased back in March, plans to shut down its Windows app at the end of June. Users were informed of the discontinuation this week through emails and a note inside the app, which said that after June 30th, “this app will stop working and will no longer be available in the Microsoft Store.” Texture’s Android, Amazon Fire, and iOS apps will still be supported.
Apple shutting down Texture’s Windows magazine app after acquisition
Image: Apple
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
While this might sound like a case of Apple immediately cutting off users outside of its ecosystem, the discontinuation of Texture’s Windows app may have been a long time coming. The app seemingly hasn’t been updated in some time, and on the Windows Store, it’s inundated with bad reviews dating back years about how poorly the app works. Multiple reviews mention being unable to download magazines, which is kind of the entire point of the app.
In a note on its website, Texture wrote that it needed to shut down the Windows app to “keep things working smoothly.” Apple declined further comment.
Texture isn’t available on the web, so subscribers on Windows will have to pick up another device to continue using the service. Given Apple’s increasing interest in media, it would make sense for the company to eventually provide a cross-platform way to access all of the content it distributes. But for now, there’s no word of a new service that’ll work on Windows.
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