Apple announced on March 12 that it has acquired Texture for an undisclosed sum. Often called the “Netflix of magazines,” Texture gives readers access to over 200 popular magazines through its app and website for a single monthly fee. It was originally called Next Issue Media when it launched in 2012, and had raised $130 million in venture funding before the acquisition. Said Apple executive Eddy Cue:
We’re excited Texture will join Apple, along with an impressive catalog of magazines from many of the world’s leading publishers. We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.
In an interview at the South by Southwest conference following the news, Cue said that Apple would be integrating Texture into Apple News, and that the company is committed to curating the news to remove fake news. Part of the goal of Apple News and acquiring Texture, he said, is to avoid “a lot of the issues” happening in the media today, such as the spread of inaccurate information on social media. Whether Apple can actually do this remains to be seen.
Mathew Ingram is CJR’s chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.