Question

Basically, the app needs to see what magazine issues (in-app purchases) are available and display their covers graphically in multiple rows. (The catalog of issues You see when You open a newsstand app)

The issues themselves are html with supporting files (CSS, images…)

Do You know how to do this?
Have You already done it?
Is there such code available that one can adapt to their own case?

Answer 1

With app you need a server implementation as well. Your app should connect server every time (or based on push notification) to check what all magazine issues are available. Its server’s logic to provide web call or host some file so that app can determine list of available magazine issues as well other metadata about the issue. The metadata could be issue name, date, price, path to hosted cover image, path to hosted full issue content, iTunes product id etc. Once your app will get all this information it should create UI to show all the available issues, by downloading cover images, showing date, issue name,etc.

Your app should also cache issue’s images and metadata so that you can create your store even when offline.

Once user taps on an issue you can use issue’s iTunes product id to make the purchase and on successful purchase your app should show some UI to download the issue’s content from your server.

If you want to enable background downloading using push notifications (and you don’t mind that your app is installed inside iOS5’s pre installed folder called Newsstand) you should make your magazine app a Newsstand app. Check out my answer to this question. It has link to a very good tutorial about Newsstand apps.