Applications
BBC launches Focus magazine iPad app
MUMBAI: BBC Focus, the science and technology monthly, is the first title from BBC Magazines to launch a monthly magazine app for the iPad.
The digital edition of Focus magazine‘s December issue is now on sale, bringing the award-winning science and technology magazine to life with enhanced features and interactive elements.
Each month the Focus Magazine app will give readers all the content they love from the printed magazine, plus a plethora of exclusive extras. Every page is individually designed on a dual viewing mode so that readers can enjoy the content in portrait or landscape orientation.
Interactive features include an animated cover, integrated video and audio, and 360-degree photography that allows users to see the very latest gadgets and consumer technology from all angles.
Other features include interactive infographics, geotagged information and an in-app browser to help users navigate the app. Icons throughout the issue will draw attention to the interactive elements and additional content. The app boasts a small file size, which will allow for fast downloads.
The app has been created by the editorial and art team behind the print edition of Focus and has been built by Mobile IQ.
BBC Magazines MD Peter Phippen said: “I am delighted that BBC Magazines‘ first fully-interactive magazine app is for Focus, a title dedicated to making science accessible to all. This is a very exciting development for BBC Magazines as it moves into the next phase of digital publishing and I will be announcing more digital titles this financial year.”
Focus editor Jheni Osman commented, “This app is the ultimate brand extension for Focus, with all the great content from the magazine specifically redesigned to maximise the iPad‘s capabilities. Focus readers asked us for a digital version and we‘re delighted to have created a highly interactive app that will have a new issue available every 4 weeks – and subscribers to the print edition can download it free of charge.”
The December issue of Focus for the iPad examines how extraterrestrial life could look very similar to extreme life on Earth, reveals the most common misconceptions clouding the reality of dinosaurs and reviews the new Xbox Kinect.
The first digital edition of Focus magazine is now available to download from the Apple App store, priced ?3.49 per issue and will be free every month for all subscribers to the print edition of the magazine.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
