How do I unlock episodes?

While most series on Tapas are free, some have locked episodes. Locked episodes are marked with a small lock icon, and can be unlocked with Tapas Ink, or by using free episode tickets you may have received for that series.

You can unlock one episode at a time manually, or unlock multiple in quick succession by using 1-Tap™ at a discounted rate. On occasion, you can also unlock in bulk during special sale periods.

Unlocking episodes (Mobile)

To unlock an episode, simply tap a locked episode from the series screen, or swipe from one episode to the next while reading. If you have 1-Tap™ enabled, however, swiping to the next episode will automatically unlock with Ink.

If the next episode is locked and you don't have any free episodes remaining, you'll be given unlocking choices. The exact choices will differ depending on the number of locked episodes remaining, and whether the series is completed or ongoing. 

You can choose to unlock one episode at a time at its full price, or at a discounted price using the 1-Tap™ function. During a sale, you may be prompted with the additional option of purchasing the series in bulk. Please note that bulk purchases unlock all available locked episodes and do not purchase future unreleased episodes. If the series is ongoing, you will still need to unlock any additional locked episodes released in the future.

Once you've made your selection, the episode will unlock so you can continue reading. If you don't have enough Ink to unlock the episode(s) you want, you'll be taken to the Ink Shop to get more first.

Unlocking episodes (Web) 

To unlock an episode on our website, click the locked episode from the episode list on the series page, or scroll down to the next episode. Then click on the green "unlock episode" button.

If you don't have any free episodes tickets, you'll be given unlocking choices. If a series is completed, you can unlock one episode or the entire series, however, choices may differ depending on the series. If a series is still ongoing, you can unlock the current episode or all currently available episodes, but will still need to unlock any additional locked episodes released in the future.

Once you've made your selection, the episode will unlock so you can continue reading. If you don't have enough Ink to unlock the episode(s) you want, you'll be taken to the Ink Shop to get more first.

"Wait Until Free" series

Some series are "Wait Until Free," which means you can start a timer to wait and unlock episodes for free. All series with WUF available are marked with a yellow clock on their cover.

Each Wait Until Free series comes with a limit to the number of episodes available through Wait Until Free. A series’ Wait Until Free (WUF) schedule can be viewed on the series details page which will note the wait period and which number of episodes are available using WUF (Image 1). Episodes available for WUF are also denoted with a yellow WUF label to the right of the episode. (Image 2)

Unlocking WUF Episodes

To unlock a WUF episode, simply tap an episode from the list of Wait UntilFree qualifying episodes. You can unlock one episode in a series each time the WUF timer completes. Once unlocked, the episode’s yellow WUF label will disappear and become a normal unlocked episode. The episode is unlocked permanently on your account. 

To continue reading, start the next timer by opening a new episode, and wait for it to unlock. You can find available WUF episodes from their subscribed series in the Library > Wait Until Free section.