This article may use tenses incorrectly. Please help improve it by using past tense if its subject is historic, future tense if it is upcoming, and present tense if it is not time-based (e.g. in fiction).(August 2025) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )
Google Play Newsstand was a news aggregator and digital newsstand service owned and operated by Google between 2013 and 2018. The service was launched in November 2013 through the merger of Google Play Magazines and Google Currents. On May 8, 2018, at Google I/O, Google announced that Google Play Newsstand was, in turn, being amalgamated into Google News, after which it ceased to exist as a separate service.
Newsstand allowed users to subscribe to magazines (in select countries) and topical news feeds, receiving new issues and updates automatically. Content was offered for reading on a dedicated Newsstand section of the Google Play website, or through the mobile apps for Android and iOS. Offline download and reading was supported on mobile apps.
For publishers, Newsstand offered a variety of tools for customization and optimization of their content, as well as the option to include ads through the use of DoubleClick for Publishers. Publishers could restrict geographic access to their content, and employ Google Analytics for aggregated readership data. Publishers could also offer discounts for Google Play subscriptions if a user was already a subscriber on another platform (such as print or digital).
History
Google Play Newsstand was launched on Android on November 20, 2013, through the merger of Google Play Magazines and Google Currents into a single service.[3][4] The Google Currents app on the iOS platform was redesigned and renamed to Google Play Newsstand on September 23, 2014.[5][6] A web application for Newsstand was launched on November 16, 2016.[7][8]
The service has seen two major redesigns since its launch in 2013. The first, in October 2014, added elements from the "Material Design" design language for the release of Android Lollipop.[9] The second, in November 2016, coincided with the launch of the website, and added machine learning technologies to better personalize the content to each individual user, including improved news recommendation, and expanded support for interactive, rich media.[7]
On May 15, 2018, Google Play Newsstand, along with Google News and Weather were replaced with Google News, although it wasn't until November 5 that it was phased out completely, removing the Newsstand tab from the Google Play website and the Play Store app. Then in January 2020, magazines were no longer available on Google News, ending all traces of Play Newsstand altogether.
Features
Users could subscribe to digital magazines to receive new issues or gain ongoing access to content. However, following the replacement of Newsstand with Apple News, the transition was met with widespread criticism. Users posted hundreds of negative comments, citing issues such as the inability to access previously paid subscriptions and dissatisfaction with being presented with content they considered irrelevant. Subscription renewals occur automatically, with charges applied at the beginning of each billing period. Users are notified of any price increases. Google has stated that existing print subscribers may be eligible for a free digital subscription.[10]
When users purchased a single issue of a magazine, Google claimed that it "won't ask for your name, email address, or mailing address. We may anonymously share your postal/ZIP code with the magazine's publisher." If a user becomes a magazine subscriber, "a publisher will receive your name, address, and email address. A publisher may also receive your reading history in the relevant publication. The publisher may use these in accordance with the publisher's privacy policy."[11]
Some magazines were offered on a trial period.[12]
Users could also subscribe to topical feeds of interest, with the service surfacing news sources that interest the user.[13]
Google Play Newsstand supported PDF and RePub file formats for magazine content, and RSS feeds for news content.[14]
Platforms
On computers, content could be read on a dedicated Google Play Newsstand section on the Google Play website.[7]
On smartphones and tablets, content could be read on the Google Play Newsstand mobile app for the Android and iOS operating systems.[15]
Offline download and reading was supported on the mobile apps.[16]
Newsstand Producer
Google Play Newsstand Producer (formerly Google Currents Producer) is a production environment for content publishers to include their website or blog on Newsstand. It enables publishers to customize the look and feel of their content, and make design decisions that automatically optimize the content so that it can be simultaneously delivered to smartphones and tablets of all sizes and orientations.[17]
By default, magazines are available to readers worldwide. Publishers can restrict access by either allowing or blocking specific countries. Publishers can also set the primary language for an edition and choose whether they will allow automatic translation.[19]
Publishers can use Google Analytics to analyze aggregated readership data for their content.[20]
Publishers can offer discounts for subscriptions on Google Play Newsstand for users who have an existing print or digital subscription for the content. Google will verify the user's existing subscription before providing a discounted price.[14]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
