One of the things that utterly boggles my mind is how reluctant the publishing industry seems to be to acknowledge the existence of iOS devices. Offline, there’s relatively little coverage in Mac mags, and in the UK only the bi-monthly iPod & iPhone User is there for people who want to do more with their iPhones, iPads and iPods. It’s a pretty good mag (disclaimer: I also happen to write for it), but it’s crazy that it’s the only regular publication of its kind.

Perhaps publishers have as one decided there’s no market for competition, but given how iOS stories make a site’s visitor count jump, one might think there’d also be more interest in print-based publications. One argument against is that the relatively low cost of apps makes it unlikely people will buy an iOS magazine; but from a consumer perspective, I’d be happy to pay four or five quid each month if someone would tell me what great apps are out there and how to use them, rather than wading through pages of crap on the App Store and ‘wasting’ 59p a bunch of times before unearthing a real gem of a game or utility.

The iPad might be shaking up thinking in this area, due to apps and games for it generally being more costly than those for iPods. I sincerely hope so, because when I was asked to write the games section for the rather wonderful MacFormat Presents: iPad The Essential Handbook, I had a really fun week, and it was quite a come-down when I returned to my iMac, to review and write about all manner of Mac things. But even if I wasn’t a writer in this space, I’d love to have a small selection of monthly iOS mags to peruse, rather than a few pages in a Mac mag, combined with the inevitable moaning from Mac users about their mags being ‘polluted’.

Anyway, if you have an iPad or are considering getting one, MacFormat’s guide is well worth reading—there are plenty of tutorials and apps covered, for the princely sum of £7.99. You can buy it online from myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.