The New Yorker Ratings and Reviews

Needs improvement

The app is designed well, the typography is great and the reading experience is overall satisfying. Unfortunately it also lacks critical features from an app designed to be a reader:

1. Mark as read: Articles or issues should give the option to be marked as read — or automatically marked as read. Many a times I scroll through the previous issues to see which issue I haven’t finished yet at.
2. Sync with audio: Often times I prefer to read the article but cannot at the moment. In such cases, having the option of listening is great, however if I’m not through listening and decide to decide to finish the article by reading. It is not possible to find where I was left off. There should be a sink feature where the audio can mark until where the user has listened to the article.

Developer Response ,

Hello, Carmichael, we appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback. This is extremely helpful information for our developers as they work to enhance and improve the overall app experience for our users. If you have a moment, we welcome you to share your thoughts with our team by contacting them at apps@newyorker.com. Thanks!

July 2022, forced app upgrade, dumped old saved issues

Longtime print - online subscriber and reader here. Was pleased that with prior “print edition” app i could download AND SAVE issues to view on a large-screen ipad, or a mini for airplane reading. After a forced app upgrade years ago, all my saved full issues deleted, had to redownload each and every one. On a rural connection DSL it takes a minute per issue and mind numbing icon stroking and scrolling. July 2022, again, the app is upgraded, all my saved issues are not ported to the upgraded app. I got to a google-fiber wifi to download issues, all over again. (Edited) at first it looked like i could only download current year issues. Then i went back and noticed a “year” scroll menu (top right, then bottom) to allow prior-year issue download. Back to 2008. So, next app upgrade, will CN continue to refresh archives, or will the old bits just vanish?

Twice, issues were not imported in the app upgrade. Remember, readers. Your online media are ephemeral. If you value the content, save the print edition, because CondeNaste may or may not continue to refresh any paid-for archive of digital content. Fortunately, my “saved articles” list, which was initially blank after the upgrade, reappeared after a minute or two- i think it is intact?. So, rating: content quality, 5 stars. Delivery and loss of archives, zero stars. Old issues have been deleted twice, now.

Developer Response ,

Hello boborojo. Most importantly, we want to thank you for being a loyal subscriber to The New Yorker, we appreciate and value your thoughts on our latest update. We're so sorry to hear about your experience and would like an opportunity to help make reading The New Yorker a positive one. Our developers would like to hear more about your experience, please contact them at apps@newyorker.com at your next available moment. This will help diagnose the issue and avoid the same issue with future updates. Thank you.

Desperately in need of improvement

If the content in the New Yorker wasn’t so worthwhile I would ditch this app in a heartbeat. - Even with the latest version it doesn’t really keep my place. If I move away from what I am reading (and the app will do it for me without asking when new stories come in), I have to scroll through the downloaded issues, remember which one I was reading, find the article, and then sometimes, but not always, it will go to where I left off: huge pain. - With one of the latest updates the cover title disappeared and the order of the articles changed (talk of the town is now at the end) - Suddenly the app started having problems with finding internet connection and issues before 2024 are not available. I hope this lasts problem is a temporary malfunction otherwise I will seriously have to cancel my subscription. BTW I have been a subscriber for many years and I would miss the magazine, just not sure it’s worth the headache. I would revert to print if I could but I travel a lot. The app, if it worked, would be a perfect solution for my needs. Too bad it doesn’t!

Wanted to update after the developer’s response: I have indeed contacted the technical support team several times and was appalled at the lack of resolution. For the most part it seems no one even bothers to read the requests to find out what the problems are.
My conclusion is the app is poorly designed and the support is lacking.

Developer Response ,

-Hi there @Weaver hollow, We're sorry to hear that your experiencing various issues with the app and thank you for taking the time to leave us your review. Our developers continue to make adjustments to improve the user experience for our long term customers like you.
We encourage you to contact our technical support team at apps@newyorker.com at your next available moment. This will help diagnose the issue and help find a solution for you! Thank you.

Most Frustrating App Ever

I have gone in so many circles trying unsuccessfully to access my digital subscription through this app that I am on the verge of canceling my subscription altogether. At one point, days into this, it FINALLY asked for my email and password. Once I entered them the app sent me back to square one for the umpteenth time. It is Sunday night and customer service is closed. I am sure there is a simple answer to this, but FAQs doesn’t address it even though I see other comments describing the same dilemma.
(Part II) By posting this negative review I received a more detailed response to my customer service requests and an offer to edit my review, which I am now doing by adding this text which I hope will be helpful to customers, customer care and the developer of this app: sign out and then sign back in with your email and password. “Sign out” is nowhere indicated, and it would have spared me weeks of aggravation. Now that I am able to access the content that I subscribed to, the app functions as well as I would hope with high quality graphics. I would like to raise my rating to 5 stars, but I can’t in good faith until the app provides clear instructions on how to link content. Without this minor correction, the app is useless. If I missed something I apologize and am open to raising my rating as I do appreciate how much work went into this otherwise excellent app.

Developer Response ,

Hi Venus, we're sorry to hear about the trouble you're having trying to access your subscription. It sounds like you may need to lin your subscription. Please uninstall and reinstall the app before proceeding with the steps listed below.



To link your subscription:



1-Sign into your newyorker.com account (or create one, if you haven’t yet).
Visit newyorker.com/account/link.

2-Enter your account number or subscription number, which can be found in two places: the Account summary section of Customer Care and the mailing label of a magazine, if you are a print subscriber.
Or, select the link to use your shipping address.


If you're still experiencing the same issue, please contact us at help@newyorker.com or call 800-444-7570 (515-243-3273, if outside the United States). We'll be happy to help you there.

Mostly ok

I am a long time reader of the new yorker and recently switched to the app because of travel. I would give the new yorker app a higher rating if it didn't have a few very annoying attributes that sometimes make it completely unusable. The main problem is that without an internet connection, you cannot read the magazine AT ALL. Even after you download an issue to your phone, it will not let you read it or access it in any way without an internet connection. I am often traveling through areas where the internet is intermittently available. The whole idea of downloading the magazine to my phone is so that I can read it when I am NOT connected to the internet!

The second issue is more of an annoyance but still worth mentioning. Every so often the app takes you out of the magazine to its highlights page. This loses your place in the article you were reading. Even if you use the "save my place" setting and check the icon at the top of the article to do the same, it does not actually save your place. This results in spending a fair amount of time hunting for where you left off reading last.

Other than those two failures, the app is slick, easy to use and works well. I expect more from such an institution as the new yorker.

Developer Response ,

Hi ncb11111111! Thank you for sharing your feedback. I understand the frustration of not being able to read downloaded issues without an internet connection, especially while traveling, and the issue with the app losing your place. We appreciate your long-time support of The New Yorker. Our teams are always working to improve the user experience and an important part of that process is your feedback. We have passed your review to our teams for further review. Thank you

Please save our place. Please.

I can’t take it any more. I can’t believe the New Yorker can’t create an app that will keep my place in the article I’m reading. If you just go to another article and go back, you’re at the top again and have to scroll through the whole thing trying to find your place, which considering the length of New Yorker articles is not always a trivial task. If you’re away for more than a few hours, the screen goes blank and you can’t get the article back unless you go to another article and then back, which, naturally, loses your place. It’s insane and infuriating and makes reading the magazine a chore for everyone who doesn’t have the time to sit and read an article from beginning to end in one sitting, which is everyone. (And even if you do, if you accidentally scroll away, which is very easy to do with this interface, you’re screwed.) I tell everyone who’s thinking about subscribing about this and have discouraged a few people from even trying. After 35 years of reading the magazine I’m about to unsubscribe myself because this reading experience is just not pleasant anymore. And no I’m not an ancient person who doesn’t understand technology, I work at a software company and I would be embarrassed if we produced a user-unfriendly product like this.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for being a loyal subscriber to The New Yorker, So versatile. We're sorry to hear this and for the inconvenience. Our developers are working to make adjustments that will better the reading experience for our users and your feedback is an important part of that process. Please send your thoughts to help@newyorker.com, as our team would love to hear more about your thoughts and what you would like to see in future updates. Thank you.

I’m thinking the developers are not finished…

I cannot see my ‘account’ features via the app. I cannot make changes. I cannot see the credit card being used to pay for my subscription. I cannot find anything about the auto-renewal feature and just hope I receive an email at some point PRIOR to being charged for a subscription I may not want because of this kind of hassle. I cannot do anything on this app but read articles and in 2022, I should be able to everything via the app without having to talk to a human to make changes. I would like more information via the app so I can make informed decisions without having to call and think through things with someone I don’t even know. If I have to call to find out information that even may bank has accessible, I will likely cancel on the ‘hassle principal.’ I love the New Yorker but it is 2022 and as long as the billionaires and Corporate Citizens are going to ‘FAKE INFLATION’ so they can have more money, I may not CHOOSE to afford a billionaire’s publication.

Developer Response ,

Hello Cool Blue PA,

We're sorry to hear this. All this information can be found under 'Settings' with The New Yorker app. It is recommended to make sure that you have the latest version of the app downloaded on your phone and if you continue to experience the same issue, please contact our technical support team at apps@newyorker.com. Our team will be happy to help. Thanks.

subscribers: how to log in 7/21

Like all the 1-star recent reviews have noted, my iPad app wasn't taking me past the Condé Nast web pop-up login screen. It just sits there after I type in my password.

So I gave up and tried to log in on my computer. Same kind of web screen from Condé Nast came up. After I typed in my password *another screen popped up telling me to "check my email for a link to log in*. I clicked on that link and was able to read articles on my computer through the web browser.

So then I did the same thing on the web browser and mail app on my iPad. Same thing happened-- clicking the link in my email on my iPad took me back to my iPad's web browser and I was able to read New Yorker articles in my iPad's web browser.

So then I clicked on the little top bar that offered to "open this article on the The New Yorker app" and that took me to the app. The app (once again) wanted me to confirm that I had a subscription, and it did so through a web pop-up screen, like before. *But this time it had my email/login/password credentials and asked me to select my verified account.* So I clicked on that and now my app is working again. Whew.

Condé Nast or the app-maker needs to fix this. I would give the app 5 stars because I quite like it. But these account verification shenanigans are obviously a problem for every iOS user, have been in place for several months now, and need to be fixed.

Either that, or they need to acknowledge this problem and offer a work-around.

Great overall - crossword doesn’t save

Love the overall flow and design. I just have one issue with it: normally when I’m reading an article I can close my phone, even quit the app and when I re-open, it will bring me to right where I was on the article (very helpful for longer ones). However, the same is not true for the crosswords, which is the main reason I use the app (I read the hard copy more).

I love the collaborative feature and have discovered that if I open the crossword with the link it provides in my browser, my work is saved and all is good. However, if I just use the app to fill in the crossword, the moment I close my phone or take a phone call, I’m sent back to the home page. Often, when I find the same crossword again (which isn’t straightforward because they aren’t listed by date in the search), my work is saved. But occasionally the board is wiped clean! Very frustrating.

Login flow is horrible

I am a huge fan of the New Yorkers content, and I mostly read on my phone. However, the app is coded in a way that makes it completely infuriating to use. As others have noted, it seems to check if you are subscribed constantly, and logs you out if you do not have connection when it checks this. This is particularly infuriating for me as I lose access most often when I am on the NYC subway. For an app called the New Yorker, clearly none of their developers have considered that their readers might be taking the most common mode of transit in the city.

This would honestly not be so bad if their login process wasn’t insane. However, it now _requires_ you to use a magic link over email instead of just typing in a password. I don’t understand what the purpose of this could be - I’ve set a password! Just let me use it! I often just give up and don’t log back in because I don’t want to deal with swapping over to my email.

The rest of the app is great, but this specific flow is absolutely horrendous.

Developer Response ,

Hello, c_irl. We appreciate you taking the time to leave us your honest review. We always like to hear what subscribers such as yourself think about the app and the overall reading content that will help improve your experience with The New Yorker. Your feedback will be passed along to our team for immediate follow-up.
If you have any other concerns you would like to express with our team, please contact us at apps@newyorker.com. Thank you.