Newsstand Subscriptions across Multiple iDevices???

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Newsstand Subscriptions across Multiple iDevices???

Hi Folks,

I was delighted to find that when I checked the Newsstand App to see what was on offer my beloved Guitar World was sitting there waiting for me to sign up and at €12.99 for a year it couldn't have been better so as I sat watching the latest episode of Terra Nova I subscribed to the 12 month option for Guitar World on my iPhone. As it downloaded I picked up my iPad to check something else and was also delighted to see that the cover had already populated on my iPads Newsstand App. "Happy Days" I said to myself.

Once the latest issue had downloaded and Terra Nova came to its first break I opened the Magazine on my iPad only to find that it wants me to subscribe to the 12 month subscription again dispite my having already subscribed on my iPhone.

"This isn't right" I said to myself. Surely the good guys at apple have set this up in such a way that I can read my magazines on any of my devices. However, anywhere i've looked on the web I simply can't find a reference to this at all. Either Magazine Subscriptions through Newsstand don't share across all my devices or they do and there is something wrong.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what the situation is here as I feel there is absolutely no need in my subscription being on the iPhone only. I bought my iPad for this singular reason.

If anyone could help I would be over the moon.

Cheers,

TQ

Posted on Oct 14, 2011 3:20 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 15, 2011 5:59 AM in response to laoistom

Ive no solution but just to say ive the same issue so interested in the answer.

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Answer 2

Oct 15, 2011 8:02 AM in response to jonathanfromaberdeen

Quick update, on my ipad i subscribed to Maclife (69p a month) but bought 1 copy of Edge Magazine. If you enter both via Newsstand there is a help option on the bottom right, enter this then press more at the top right and then select "restore purchases" (need to do this in each app). This has allowed me to redownload the MacLife subscription and download the magazine on my iphone, hasnt helped on Edge Magazine though.

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Answer 3

Oct 15, 2011 8:32 AM in response to jonathanfromaberdeen

Plucked up the courage to see what would happen if i repurchased the single Edge magazine again. Once you authorise the payment it recognised youve already purchased it and you can download it again. So looks like you can workaround it but Newsstand or the Apps within it need to sync better with multiple devices. Would be interested if anyone knows how it should work.

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Answer 4

laoistom Author

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Oct 16, 2011 9:55 AM in response to laoistom

I'll give that a try later. I do agree though that either apple or the magazine provider need get the syncing working correctly. When you consider that everything else can be shared and synced across multiple device.

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Answer 5

laoistom Author

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Oct 18, 2011 4:26 AM in response to laoistom

One further update for you all folks. When I first had this issue I mailed Future (Magazie Publishers) regarding the issues I was having and they got back to me this morning. This is their response :

Hi there,

Thank you for your email. We've had quite a few questions about the way issues work, so you're not alone. To be clear:

1) If you have purchased single issues of a magazine, you can read these on any devices that you own. To redownload them, press the Buy button and enter your iTunes password. iTunes will report back that the issue has been purchased already, and will make the download free. Please ensure that you use the same iTunes account on both devices.

2) If you have purchased a subscription to a magazine, you can read the magazines included with that subscription on any devices that you own. To transfer your subscription, go to the Help screen and look for the Restore Purchases button. On the iPhone, this is under the "More" button. If you have not bought any single issues on top of your subscription, you may receive the message "There are no purchases to restore".

3) If you have subscribed to a magazine and for some reason the latest issue did not become available to you, please try using the Restore Purchases button.

4) If you downloaded an issue and it is no longer there, this usually happens because you did an upgrade/restore of your device and the issues were removed by iTunes, or because your device was running low on space and removed the issues. In both cases, you can follow the instructions above to redownload your issues.

On some iOS versions, you may need to relaunch the app for both of the above solutions to work.

If this does not solve your problem, please get in touch again.

Paul
--
App Support
Future

Clicking buy in the app sorted it for me.

Still though its a bit crap that it doesn't automatically sync.

Cheers,

Thomas Quigley

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Answer 6

Oct 31, 2011 1:19 PM in response to laoistom

I received the same email message from Future Publishing after I had subscribed to one their magazines for 12 months on my iPhone 4S and was unable to download (without further charges), the same edition to my iPad.

Tried the "Restore Purchases" button, however, the magazine still showed price against it and hadn't changed to "Download". I, nevertheless clicked on the single edition, priced, button and, it would appear, that I've been charged! This was confirmed by iTunes email invoice.

Not the best start to my "Newsstand" experience and would be keen to see if anyone else has had the same problem or, even better, a solution or workaround?

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