Google's Android platform is far behind its competitors in terms of magazine and newspaper offerings. Numerous popular magazine titles including GQ, The Economist, Vanity Fair and Time offer full versions of their magazines on the iPad. While magazine publishers on Android offer only stripped down free versions.

The iPad has also inspired a new tablet-only magazine from Virgin called , and News Corp. is expected to launch a in 2011. Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, meanwhile, offer a large range of digital magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Barnes and Noble offers subscriptions for its Nook color e-reader, but not its mobile applications for devices such as the iPad and Android phones. Amazon sells magazines and newspapers on all Kindle devices and the , but not on iOS devices.

Apple Newsstand

Rumors about a revamped magazine and have been circulating for several months. Currently, individual publishers design and sell magazines through individual applications. Offerings vary from individual issue sales, yearly subscriptions or supplying to subscribers of their print editions.

Apple is purportedly hoping to change this scheme and offer in-app subscriptions for iOS devices. One reported sticking point between Apple and publishers since rumors of an Apple subscription plan first surfaced is access to subscriber information. Magazine and newspaper publishers say it is vital to their business to know who their subscribers are so they can offer special marketing and sales deals directed at their readers. But Apple does not share subscriber information with app developers. So many publishers sell digital subscriptions for the iPad through their Websites instead of a one-click subscription through an iOS app.