But it’s also setting the stage for a showdown - a game of chicken, if you will - between magazine publishers and Apple over the firm control that Apple maintains over the apps that go into App Store.

Peter Kafka, who writes the Media Memo blog for All Things Digital, tells the story of Time Inc., where execs “have been going nuts” over Apple’s rejection of its subscription app, a move that forced Time to sell the iPad version of the magazine as a $4.99 single copy sale sold via iTunes.

No one is exactly sure why Apple rejected the subscription app, though Kafka floats two theories: the first being that Apple is protecting the consumer data that the magazine publisher might collect and the second being that Apple wants to control the subscription, allowing it to essentially control the digital magazine market.

Now, if you’re a magazine publisher, you know the real value of the subscription is not the revenue but rather the data. And imagine the treasure trove of data, beyond just a subscription list, that could be generated by tracking in-app behavior or interaction with various forms of advertising. That’s valuable information when it comes to turning that content into ad revenue - which is the real bread-and-butter for the magazine.

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