If you’re like many of us, getting an app on the app store calls for either a lot of money to pay a developer or picking up a book and learning to become a ninja with XCode for iOS or Javascript / Android development – both can be definitely daunting. Luckily there are exceptional companies like Mag+ developing tools to make iPad and Android programming easier to build media rich and interactive app store ready products. Mag+ gives InDesign users the power to publish to iPad or Android tablets without having to know or be a programmer, for free.
Mag+ turns your Adobe InDesign software into an app publishing platform that can be played and tested for free. By taking the traditional publishing platform and giving users the opportunity to build interactive content for new technologies, Mag+ gives a simplified way to utilize creativity on a familiar publishing engine.
You begin as you usually might when developing content: Open up InDesign, install the Mag+ plugin, begin designing your digital content and then simply export the pages and get ready to publish on the app store. The platform allows for two layers of content so text blocks can be made into interactive elements, interactive HTML elements can be programmed to allow for 360-degree rotation, forms or slideshow use and it is enabled with orientation response to ensure readability for all users. Although free to use, the cost to get your idea live on the app store, un-branded with Mag+ goes for $199.
Mag+ does a wonderful job at making it easy to publish digital content and has been used by publishers such as WebMD, MAD Magazine, Maxim and IKEA. As a free tool to test and use until you’re ready to publish, why not grab the plugin and start testing out how you can build an interactive publication for a tablet using everyone’s favorite publishing software: InDesign.