We knew it was only a matter of time before Google eventually discontinues their digital print-replica magazine service and that day has finally come. Google News will no longer let you subscribe to any magazine service and in fact, they will refund you for the last payment of your subscription. So if you still want to continue accessing and subscribing to that kind of contact, you will have to do it directly with the magazine or any app that they may already have.
Google didn’t give an explanation as to why they have stopped the service, but it has been written on the wall for some time now. Initially, we had a standalone Play Magazines app which then got renamed to Play Newsstand. Eventually, they put everything under Google News, including the actual News app and the Weather app as well for some reason. But when the magazine section was removed from the Play Store web interface, we knew it wasn’t long for this world.
For users who have an outstanding subscription, Google will refund you the full amount but how long that will take will depend on your payment method. You won’t be able to purchase any new issues or renew any subscription through Google Play News. But don’t worry, all the issues that you previously purchased can still be accessed through the app, either in the Following or Favorites tab.
You might say, no one really reads magazines anymore anyway. But for those who still prefer to do so, at least the digital version, you can still visit the publication’s website and subscribe directly from there. However, not all magazines actually have a digital version apart from the Google Play Store collaboration. If that’s the case and you still want to be able to subscribe, you’ll have to make do with an actual print magazine (yes, they still have those).
The way that newspaper and magazine platforms continue to evolve in terms of content and delivery is still pretty interesting to observe. Let’s wait and see if Google has something up its sleeve to replace their print-replica subscription.
