With the New York Times recently putting up a pay wall, it’s good to see another major metropolitan newspaper arrive on scene offering free access. The Los Angeles Times iPad app (free) is now available in the App Store. You only have to register with a username and password to get full access.
The app offers an impressive amount of content for free. It divides things up into 11 sections, displaying a default Top Stories page along with Sports, Business, Entertainment, Opinion, Entertainment, and more. Of course, the news coverage is biased on the Southern California area, which means lots of Lakers, Dodgers, etc. But also good coverage of Hollywood, if entertainment news is your thing.
The interface of the app is somewhat clunky to browse, and the visual style seems a bit generic, but in line with other iPad newspapers, but once you dig down into the individual articles, the text is highly readable, with a minimalistic full-screen reading format.
The app’s features include one-tap saving for offline reading, sharing of articles via Facebook, and adjustable font sizes. The app is free for now, and the description makes no mention of establishing a pay wall in the future. Take that, New York Times!
