Australian Financial Review 4+

‘Upgraded’ app reduces functionality

The app ‘upgrade’ a few weeks ago seems to have reduced its functionality. In particular, if you leave the app, it no longer remembers which page you were on in Today’s Paper (or even which edition), which means constantly having to flip through pages or scroll through the contents to find where you were up to (if you can even remember). It’s now also difficult to see which editions you’ve downloaded, so you can be left without access to Today’s Paper if you’re off wifi or mobile access. In the previous version, it was clear from the blue highlighting where you should click to get a plain text version of an article - now I seem to accidentally click on invisible hyperlinks all the time.
The old version of the app was far from perfect, but this latest version feels like it has gone backwards. As an avid reader of the AFR and daily user of the app, it’s become very frustrating!

Developer Response ,

We've heard your feedback and the latest version of the app now remembers your last read page to ensure you don’t lose your spot. For downloads, if you haven't downloaded a paper, there's a download option visible. If you feel that we've improved the app experience, feel free to update your rating. Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Reading the articles

I have been so totally spoilt by the SMH and The Age apps for iPad , so not having the ability to tap on an article and read it in text mode is a major access flaw in this app, having to enlarge by dragging is not a good enough experience, especially for a premium priced app.

Next, whilst the app is fine, again unlike the SMH or Age app, there is no access available to the web version... it’s says not a subscriber and in contacting AFR support, they say they can’t see the subscription because it comes out of Apple... this is totally weird and very unsatisfactory customer experience

Can do a lot better, people

Useless, pathetic upgrade

How to stuff up an editorially excellent paper -- do a so-called 'upgrade' that makes it really difficult to use and incredibly frustrating to navigate. What dill didn't realise that being taken back to where you were previously reading is hugely important? Now, we're all having to do multiple clicks just to find out where we were. This has been going on for weeks now and still it hasn't been fixed. Why? It has the same (lack of) logic) that removed the blue tinting to show where to get the 'plain text' version of the story. The AFR management and staff fail to read reviews at their peril. And providing no link to give feedback on the actual site is insulting, arrogant and, seemingly, an attempt to avoid criticism, or even just helpful suggestions. Such a clever move -- now, people read the app's review in the App Store and decide not to download it at all, rather than get some sensible feedback in-app.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for taking the time to leave honest feedback. We're sorry to hear that the latest update has missed the mark. Please update your app to the latest version which has several improvements. Today’s Paper will now keep track of your last read page, so you'll never lose your spot. We'll pass your other feedback directly to the apps team to help improve the reading features. If you feel that we've improved the app, feel free to update your rating. Thank you for your support.