New Pay Model for Times Apps

The New York Times Company said Thursday it would begin a new metered pay model for its mobile apps and charge readers for articles, as it does on its Web site.

On June 27, the company will start charging nonsubscribers who want to read more than three articles a day on The New York Times apps for mobile devices. Until now, readers using the apps were able to access 10 to 15 stories a day exclusively from its Top News section without paying for content. Subscribers are able to access articles, blog items and slide shows from all sections of The Times.

After readers click through three articles, nonsubscribers will be able to browse section fronts and get article summaries. But they will have to become subscribers to read more than three articles. Web subscriptions that include mobile apps range from $15 to $20 every four weeks.

To encourage more readers to pay for the app, the company said it is also introducing a seven-day free trial.

Denise F. Warren, an executive vice president of the company, said that The Times had been planning for a long time to charge for content on its apps because readers had access to so many more articles there than they did on the Web site.

“We always knew there was an imbalance,” said Ms. Warren in an interview. “We wanted to restore that balance between the Web site and the apps.”

Since April 2011, when the company introduced a metered pay model on its Web site, The Times and The International Herald Tribune have attracted 676,000 paid digital subscribers. On the Web site, nonsubscribers can access 10 free articles a month.