Magazines on mobile, tablet and PC

Readly is a flat rate for magazines and newspapers that is functionally comparable to the streaming service Netflix: A monthly fee gives users online access to thousands of magazines, in which they can read as much and as long as they want . We share our experiences with the online service and say whether the Readly subscription is worth it.

Magazine flat rate Readly: Our verdict

“Why buy a magazine? All information is available for free on the Internet!” – anyone who believes that is wrong. Readly is good proof that some information and entertainment is not easy to find on the web. The depth and diversity of the content is always impressive: tattoos, dogs, Italian cuisine, in-ear headphones, tanks – there is a magazine for almost everything. Depending on the title, you will be extremely well informed about the respective topic.

“But aren’t magazines already dead?” No, not that – but printed magazines have to adapt to change and continue to reach the reader, who has long been spending most of his time on mobile phones and tablets. Despite all the difficulties magazines continue to be popular, especially in Germany.

I also appreciate the magazine format and used to regularly buy audio and video game magazines at the kiosk. I have been using the Readly online kiosk (costs: 11.99 euros/month) for around two years now, both professionally and privately. The two key points from my experience are as follows:

1. At Readly you can find a lot, but by far not everything.
2. If you want to get the most out of Readly, use a tablet.

Don’t get your hopes up: Readly’s selection is not comprehensive. While music streaming services like Spotify seem to cover the majority of all titles ever released, the Readly flat rate only offers one Excerpt from the total offer in the huge magazine and newspaper market. While many interests are covered, there will still be gaps here and there. Operation in the desktop browser (go.readly.com) is useful, but a bit sluggish – the mobile app is much better and shows its full strength on tablets. I use Readly on an iPad mini (5th generation) and am satisfied: the most important gestures are quickly learned, after a short time it feels natural to “leaf through” a magazine digitally.

Logically, whether Readly is worth it depends on how much you actually read. When I look back on the last few years, my assessment is clear: I can easily recoup the 11.99 euro monthly fee over two weekends. It’s not just the magazines that you absolutely want to read – but also the many titles that you can read at the browse discovered and into which one looks a few pages far. This is fun and a nice change from the endless streams on Twitter and Instagram, which are tiring in the long run. Reading magazines for two hours is a completely different and beneficial experience that I have now rediscovered for myself. By the way: 5 user profiles (on max. 5 devices) are included, so Readly can also be used as a family.

Advantages:

• Easy to use without complicated special rules: everything you find in Readly can be read. There are no additional costs apart from the regular monthly fee
• Very good mobile apps for reading on tablets (Android, iOS)
• International magazines (e.g. English, Turkish) available, which enhances the offer if you speak the language

Disadvantages:

• The selection is good, but not outstanding: over 1,400 magazines in German, but there are still no well-known names (Spiegel, Focus) and most daily newspapers
• You should refrain from using it on your cell phone: the screen on a smartphone is simply too small

Magazine flat rate Readly: test rating (July 2022)

• Selection: 8.0
• Operation Desktop: 7.0
• Operation mobile phone: 6.0
• Tablet operation: 8.5

GIGA rating: 7.6 out of 10 (Sub-grade “Selection” forms 50 percent of the overall grade)

An offer that you should take a close look at before booking

“Frau mit Herz”, “AutoBild” or would you prefer “Gamestar”? Readly offers interested parties a discounted entry (first month 99 cents). Nevertheless, it is advisable to take a closer look at the entire offer and to compare it with your own interests. There is one for that Overview page of all magazines at Readly, which is also accessible without a subscription. Here you can search for specific titles and filter the selection by country.

Important to know: Readly currently lists over 5,700 magazines in total (23 countries) – but if you narrow it down to Germany, there are “only” 1,259 titles. Together with Austria and Switzerland then 1,483 titles. What I miss are the daily newspapers: Neither the FAZ nor the Süddeutsche Zeitung can be found – only a few titles, many from Axel Springer:

But I think the selection of UK and US magazines is great, because I don’t know most of them and rarely stumble across them in the kiosk. However, a prerequisite for this additional benefit from “foreign magazines” is that you master the respective languages ​​- there is no translation function. Anyone who regularly travels abroad will be happy: Readly does not use so-called geo-blocking, as is common with streaming providers, for example. This means that all titles also from abroad can be retrieved.

In general, it is advisable to read the FAQ on the Readly website in advance. Here it says, for example, that you can pay the monthly fee by PayPal, SEPA direct debit or credit card (VISA, MasterCard) and that the subscription can be canceled at any time.

Readly operation: Only half as good without a tablet

As mentioned, Readly is best when using the app on a tablet. Although some magazines can be reading mode open, where a practical text zoom is available – but the perfect experience does not want to set in on a smartphone. The magazines are designed for a larger format. My iPad mini is almost a bit too small, occasionally I have to zoom in to be able to read more comfortably.

Reading on the laptop or PC monitor is useful for short research. The user interface in the browser and the input via mouse/touchpad are quickly learned – but I don’t think that feels nearly as natural as reading Readly on a tablet.

Marking or copying text is not possible. You can take screenshots (Readly Version 6.2.0, tested in iOS) and individual pages can be shared as a readable preview, for example via iMessage. Practical: you can favourites set and download complete magazines, for later offline reading. The search function works quickly and forgives small typos (“Loudspeaker” instead of “Loudspeaker”). However, the search in Readly does not come close to the comfort of a Google search, but it would have to be more flexible with several search words (order).

Overall, well implemented and quite suitable for everyday use, at least after a few minutes of getting used to it. Of course, what is missing is the tactile impression: how the stylish architecture magazine in satin matt lies raised on the glass table in the living room cannot be reproduced digitally. Then the only thing that helps is going to the kiosk.