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BBC news apps squeeze onto iPhone, iPad

Android stays paranoid

The BBC Trust has waved through a Beeb news app for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, just a few months after the Corporation’s governing body mulled whether development of the software could be justified.

Auntie announced today that apps had been launched for the Jesus Phone and the Jobsian fondle slab in the UK.

The BBC had originally planned to release the free-to-download apps in April this year.

However, the launch was halted after the BBC trust confirmed it had been approached by “representations from industry”, who expressed their objections to news and sports apps being developed for Apple’s devices. They claimed such a move would distort the market.

Now - just a few months on from receiving those gripes - the trust has concluded that development of the apps can be justified.

However, it won’t be providing apps for devices including the Android phone until an unspecified date later this year. Auntie said that apps for BBC Sport and its iPlayer service would be released soon.

"The Apps market is rapidly taking off as more people choose to get their news, sport and other online content while they're on the move. The Trust has a duty to represent the interests of licence fee payers, who will increasingly expect to access BBC content in this way, but also to listen to concerns raised by industry,” said BBC Trustee Diane Coyle.

“In this case we have concluded that while the Apps market is developing quickly and we will monitor the launch of BBC Apps, a PVT [public value test] is not required." ®

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