Rodale-owned Men?s Health is rolling out an iPhone application version of its magazine after seeing a substantial need from consumers to read news in a more portable form.

In addition to the Men?s Health iPhone app, the magazine also has a line of apps for brands such as its Eat This Not That! and workout content. The magazine is working with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and claims to be the first publication to launch on the iPhone platform.

?We wanted to give our readers a new way to consume the content they were craving,? said Sean Bumgarner, interactive design director at Rodale, New York.

?Many of our readers are already taking our content on the go or to the gym with their tablets, so providing them with an even more portable way to interact with us was a natural next step,? he said.

?We have released all of our titles to tablets, and we are still very much focused on the development of our tablet content. It is our goal to publish a seamless and engaging multi-platform experience to our readers, and with iPhone and iPod touch users numbering over 220 million worldwide, this falls right into that sweet spot.?

Men?s Health claims to be the world?s largest men?s lifestyle magazine with a circulation that reaches 12 million readers.

Mobile reading
Users can download the free Men?s Health iPhone application from Apple?s Newsstand.

To download an issue, users can either pay a $5 price per issue or sign-up for a $24 yearly subscription.

Current Men?s Health iPad users can download the iPhone versions for free. By offering current subscribers more than one way to read content, the digital versions of the magazine points to the growing need from publishers to have content available on all platforms.

For the magazine?s June and July/August issues, the app is a PDF-only version of the printed product.

For example, users can view articles by zooming in on text and navigate the issue, but there is not any exclusive digital content involved.

However, beginning in August, Men?s Health will begin to incorporate digital-only content that takes advantage of iPhone devices.

Digital lifestyle
Up until now, Men?s Health?s smartphone apps have primarily focused on segmenting portions of its content into branded apps.

For example, the magazine has a smoothie recipe app that lets users create 100 versions of drinks selected from the editors.

Additionally, Men?s Health also has the Jimmy the Bartender app for $2.99 that lets users find nearby bars as well as doling outing advice and tips for men.

Similar to other publications, apps are a core part of Men?s Health mobile strategy because they give users a place that is regularly updated with new content and can offer users a rich experience.

With more consumers digesting content while on the go, more publishers such as Rodale have not only incorporated mobile as a form of content but have also struggled with monetizing content.

?We see mobile as hand-in-hand with our print publications,? Mr. Bumgarner said.

?Right now, we try to extend our service to readers in a meaningful way by providing innovative content for our tablet editions. For example, every month we have frame-by-frame workouts and extra video content on our iPad edition, allowing us to bring content to life in a new way.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York