The New York Times launches HTML5 web app for iPad

The New York Times has launched an experimental HTML5 web app specifically for viewing content on the iPad.

The web app has a few different features from the regular iPad app, including the ability to find out which articles are trending on Twitter and a continuous wire feed. It supports swipe gestures and orientation for portrait or landscape viewing.

The Verge theorizes that the newspaper launched the app to sidestep Apple's subscription fees, but NYT Corporate Communications Manager Linda Zebian told the site that it was a push to get content across to all mobile platforms, and that the iPad was a natural testing ground to make sure that it worked.

"It is not an attempt to avoid Apple's purchase fee and we have no plans to eradicate our native iOS apps, it's just another way our subscribers can access Times content," Zebian said.

The web app is only for subscribers that have tablet access in their subscription package. Those subscribers can visit app.nytimes.com via Safari on the iPad to install it.