Then which platform should the app be designed for? True you could make an argument for tablets or TVs and computers are another valid and often used option. But there is one platform that practically everyone has easy access too, no matter where they are and that is the smart phone.
And I highly doubt they are catering to any one platform. My WAG is they prefer the formating of single pages and just add in the double page as a courtesy. In any case it doesn't matter which option they choose, as inevitably some ungrateful asshole will complain because of course their preferences matters more then the next guy's.
It's the interwebs after all. The mostly anonymous land of self-entitled asshats and mad lads with genocidal murder hobo tendencies.
get off your cross. they chopped the spread in half unnecessarily and worsened the experience as a result.