According to UBM, the apps revolutionise the access of built environment news and multimedia content. As the only news-focused applications developed for the architecture, construction and property industries in the UK, UBM Built Environment claims to have blazed a trail for the rest of the market to follow.
Paul Dominguez, Head of Digital at UBM Built Environment, highlights the importance of mobile apps to the industry: “Making news more accessible and immediately available is key to providing a valued news service to the industries we serve. The delivery of content is completely integrated with our content management systems, allowing us to distribute it as quickly as possible through multiple channels. Content is at the heart of our business, and these news apps provide yet another channel for our audiences to consume this business critical content, providing choice and more importantly access to news as it happens.”
The apps are free to download across all iOS devices and all content is free for the first 30 days before falling in line with Apple’s Newsstand subscriptions, where each publication will be priced at around £2 per week or £3.50 a month. The app development follows the successful launch of mobile websites for all three brands earlier this year: m.building.co.uk, m.bdonline.co.uk, m.propertyweek.com.
Phil Clark, digital and audience director at UBM Built Environment comments on the launch: “Developing news-focused apps for the architecture, construction and property magazines is a great step forward in widening the reach of our content and utilising new platforms to enhance the brand experience. This is the perfect time for us to release great new products into this space as our audience now begin to dramatically shift their content consumption.”
App content includes the latest award winning industry news coverage, opinion from key industry figures, image galleries, videos, the latest industry jobs and more. The apps also display outstanding quality images and multimedia, crucial in the built environment industries. The landscape view galleries present images of the latest industry projects, which can be easily browsed by swiping left or right. Other functionality includes reading content saved to the device whilst offline, full screen article view, the option to share articles on Facebook, Twitter, or by email, as well as the iPhone native interface for improved browsing experience.
Chris Kilbee, Managing Director of BE Media at UBM Built Environment says: “We are extremely excited about the launch of our Building, BD and Property Week iOS apps. The media landscape continues to change at a frantic pace but at UBM Built Environment, we are committed to providing the most innovative content solutions within B2B and we’re confident that these apps will continue to enhance the experience of our built environment customers”.
The new media developments introduced by UBM Built Environment are set to lead the way for the industry to embrace the leading role of new media in accessing the news, with accessibility and immediacy being at the heart of industry communications.
