An official Washington Post app for iPad was approved earlier today, and it’s available for free in the App Store here. What’s so interesting about it? Just like the official New York Times app, full access is granted until February 2011 (NYT app grants fere full access until January 2011) for free. No need to submit payment information, but an existing washingtonpost.com account is already required.
You can also create an account in-app. After February 2011, the service will go paid (with a so-called “paywall”) and you’ll need to have a subscription to enjoy the contents of The Washington Post on the iPad.
The app provides deep integration with news shared on Twitter and Facebook, and allows you to check on photo galleries and video content specifically encoded for the iPad. The interface design is admittedly a little “weird”, with non-standard buttons and navigation elements, not to mention the huge ad covering the bottom part of the screen. “Ad-integrated”, more than “ad-supported”.
It’s not exactly the best looking app for iPad, but if you’re a daily WP reader you should give it a try. You have time until next February.
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