A smartphone is typically a personal device, only used by the individual it belongs to, but Diane Hall, president and publisher of Toronto-based 2 for Life Media, considers the iPad a ‘household’ gadget.

It’s an ideal tool for the Toronto-based publisher to launch a digital version of 2 for Couples magazine, which hit the Apple iTunes store this week. About 200 copies of the iPad app were downloaded on the first day of the launch, 117 of them from the US, giving the magazine exposure to a more international demographic, she explains.

Sponsors Absolut Vodka and Bodem were arranged internally through the brands’ US teams – Absolut has incorporated a 30-second short-film video ad titled Lemon Drop promoting citrus-flavoured vodka, created by Tag in New York.

‘We’re embedding videos right into the article,’ says Hall, explaining that a video option presents itself in vertical mode, but plays in landscape mode once it is tapped. ‘The tap brings it to full screen, and [the viewer can] control it or turn it off by swiping to the next article or rotating the iPad,’ Hall tells MiC.

The 2 For Couples app offers three platforms of coverage: editorial on date-night ideas, makeovers and expert relationship advice; a 2Life section that allows couples to create a profile where they can store important anniversaries, sizes and gift wish lists; and 2Wire, a newsfeed called ‘Couples in the Know,’ which links to stories on the Brangelinas of the world as well as viral video content.

Promoted virally with a trailer launched last week on YouTube, and on the magazine’s website, the 2 for Couples app is free for the first issue but will cost $1.99 after this month. The printed magazine is published quarterly, so the app allows for more frequent coverage for their readers, explains Hall.

There have been about four million iPads sold since Apple debuted the product earlier this year – Hall predicts Canadians make up about 10% of that figure, however Apple’s official sales figures have not been released.