Read Playboy uncensored on the iPad no comments
You can now read Playboy magazine uncensored on the iPad. 
You won’t find it at iTunes, of course, as it would have to be censored to gain approval. Playboy has made the complete collection of 57 years of Playboy available as a web app that you can access via the iPad’s web browser.
All issues are recreated faithfully, including the advertising. Subscriptions are $8 per month, $60 per year or $100 for two years. The subscription price includes each month’s issue when it comes out as well as access to the archives and some video and other content exclusive to the web app. You can subscribe at i.Playboy.com.
The app is optimized for the iPad. It should work and look fine on other devices as well, but has not been tested on other tablets by Playboy. I subscribed for the month (for testing purposes, of course!) to compare the experience on my iPad and on the Xoom. I’ve only had a few minutes with it, but the Playboy app seems to be readable on the Xoom, though it is better formatted on the iPad. Some features just don’t seem to work properly on the Xoom though. For example, on the iPad you get a slider strip of page thumbnails when you tap the screen. This is handy for quick navigation. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to work properly on the Xoom — the thumbnail strip appears very briefly but then disappears before you can do anything with it.
Because this is a web app it is not quite as fast and smooth as if the magazine were loaded onto your iPad via an app obtained through iTunes. By publishing their digital wares in this manner rather than through iTunes, publishers avoid having to pay Apple a 30 percent cut and they also get the subscriber information. And, in the case of Playboy, they can deliver the original uncut content to their audience.
Update: Pinch and zoom also does not seem to work with the Playboy app on the Xoom, although it is enabled on the iPad. On the Xoom you can double tap to resize the page.
Update #2: After spending more time with the app I have to say that it does need some more polishing, even when reading on the iPad. On the iPad I’ve been kicked back to the login page in the middle of my reading, which is most annoying.
I’ve also had a chance to try the Playboy web app on my Nook Color. On the Nook the page thumbnails work correctly, but pinch and zoom is not functional.
You know, I think the Playboy reading experience would be much better if it were offered through B&N’s Newsstand (assuming B&N would approve it). Reading a magazine via a web app feels a bit clunky compared to one accessed via a regular app, especially when the web connection is a bit shaky. You have to wait while each page fully loads and panning around the page is generally not as smooth. Reading would also be easier with the Article Mode feature found in most of B&N’s digital magazines.
Hardcore Playboy fans may be happy with the Playboy web app in its current iteration, but others may find it to be somewhat frustrating.
Update #3: An alternative to the Playboy web app is to subscribe to Playboy digitally through Zinio. A yearly subscription is $20, which gives you new issues as they come out — no access to the archives that the Playboy web app provides. Zinio also has an app for use on Android devices (including Honeycomb tablets) that I’ve found to work quite well. The magazines I’ve tried from Zinio (I’ve not tried the Zinio Playboy) work smoothly and seem to include all of the content of the paper editions.
