Making iPad apps in InDesign just got easier

Including in Adobe's Creative Cloud package, you may not have noticed the Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), but it's actually quite a cool tool. Essentially it enables you to design, prepare and package an unlimited number of interactive iPhone apps and iPad apps to the Apple App Store using InDesign (find out exactly how here). And now that's become even easier, as Adobe has just announced a big update to the tool.

The new features in DPS include:

• Native content viewers: You can now publish native content viewers that offer the same reading experience regardless of device - including Apple, Android and Windows tablets and phones - using one set of assets.
• Information screen: A new information screen allows you to present special offers, cross sell related content or display critical information specific to your app at any point in the reading experience.

• Secure content: DPS now enables encryption of .folio files, protecting information as it is delivered from Adobe secure servers into DPS apps on Apple tablets and smartphones.
• Streamlined Text and Push Notifications: Newly enhanced text notifications makes it easier to deliver push notifications to remind and promote content already available within a reader's library.

Alongside the new updates, Adobe has made the technical spec for the .folio format available under a free license, enabling newsstands to produce their own viewing apps capable of displaying digital content built using DPS. You can find out more about the updates here.