The Observer: Independent journalism that matters
The Observer has been challenging power, explaining the modern world and celebrating arts, culture, food and the things that make life worth living since 1791.
Our subscriber-only app brings together The Observer’s award-winning journalism, the complete weekly print edition, exclusive digital stories, ad-free podcasts, puzzles, recipes and more, all in one place.
Download The Observer app to enjoy:
UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE OBSERVER
Read our journalism every day of the week, with in-depth reporting, investigations, analysis and comment on politics, world affairs, climate, culture, ideas, food, travel and more.
EXCLUSIVE DAILY STORIES
Discover digital stories published exclusively for subscribers, with journalism from observer.co.uk and the weekly newspaper.
THE COMPLETE PRINT EDITION
Read the full Observer newspaper every Sunday on your phone or tablet, including the Observer Magazine and New Review.
Browse every page in our digital edition and enjoy the experience of the Sunday newspaper wherever you are.
EXCLUSIVE, AD-FREE PODCASTS
Listen to award-winning podcasts, investigations and original audio series without advertising.
Hear major series including We Call Her Emma and Foundling, as well as behind-the-headlines conversations and reporting from Observer journalists.
Subscribers can also access exclusive and ad-free Observer audio through their preferred podcast app.
PUZZLES FOR EVERY DAY
Take a break with a growing selection of digital puzzles, from accessible daily challenges to The Observer’s famously demanding cryptic crossword.
The Observer published the world’s first cryptic crossword more than a century ago. Our app continues that tradition with puzzles designed to test, entertain and delight.
OUR NEW CULTURE CLUB
Observer subscribers receive unlimited access to Culture Club, with a wide range of cultural benefits and exclusive offers.
Enjoy access to special offers, experiences and events, including events in our newsroom featuring famous authors and conversations with leading cultural figures.
RECIPES FROM NIGEL SLATER AND OUR FOOD TEAM
Find trusted recipes from Nigel Slater and The Observer’s food writers, presented in an easy-to-follow format that is simple to use while you cook.
EXCLUSIVE NEWSLETTERS
Stay close to the subjects that matter to you with subscriber newsletters from leading Observer writers.
Receive insight and analysis from voices including Rachel Sylvester on Westminster, Ben Zaranko on economics, Rory Smith on football, Patricia Clarke on artificial intelligence, and more.
DARK MODE
Read comfortably at any time of day with a night-reading-friendly dark mode throughout the app.
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM, SINCE 1791
For more than two centuries, The Observer has looked beyond the headlines: holding power to account, investigating the stories that matter and finding joy in culture, food, ideas and everyday life.
Download The Observer app today and enjoy everything your subscription has to offer.
Terms of Use
https://observer.co.uk/policy/terms
Editorial Guidelines
https://observer.co.uk/news/about-us/article/the-observers-editorial-guidelines
Privacy Policy
https://observer.co.uk/policy/privacy
Apple Standard EULA
https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Lovely app from the wonderful newspaper, and great app support when needed.
JezCH
I’m loving this app which is well set out and very easy to use. A great addition to the brilliant Sunday printed paper. I use the iPhone app, and have discovered the iPad version works fine on my Apple silicon MacBook even though it is not verified for macOS. I had great support when I first loaded the iPhone app and it was failing to load news articles, podcasts or puzzles from the headline tiles. This was resolved by ensuring In-App purchases is set to Allow in iOS settings which is a small glitch I have reported.The support page link in the app store gives a page not found error but the subscribers support email address is well monitored and prompt to respond.
Nice looking app .. refinements needed
Herbert the magnificent
Firstly overall this is a potentially nice app but initially I found it very frustrating as I was expecting to be able to access the written articles as well.. I have since realised these are only available outside of the app. This is a shame but now I know I’ll just have to work around that. The two gripes I do have are 1. Please normalise the volume across different articles. I listened to several articles no problem and then one was at a much lower volume level.. So much so that on bone conduction headphones out in the open I had to stop and wait until I was back home. 2. The play banner at the bottom of the screen is far too big i so not need a permanent play panel overlaying up to 20% of the screen. Much better to have a decent sized tap toggle button to show/hide this panel. The app feels to me like it has been put together by someone with little UI/UX experience … please put yourself in the head of the user not the designer. In many ways I’m not sure what advantage this app now provides over a standard podcast approach As always the tortoise content itself is pretty good albeit quite expensive
astonishingly good!
abercuawg
I am astonished at just how good the Observer app is. Have been using it as a subscriber for a fortnight; although I find the web page a bit irritating to navigate, the print edition option is a delight (works both landscape and portrait on iPad) and makes it possible to enjoy the aesthetic pleasure of the paper’s design. Greatly appreciate the save/ print pdf option. And having all of the supplements and the entire run of the (new ownership) back issues. Perhaps I’ve come along at the right time: if I’d known it was this good I would have subscribed earlier!
Disappointing Upgrade
SeanC1966
Although the app looks better the player is disappointing. Now you have a choice of 3 playback speeds, 0.5, 1x or 2x. I like to play my podcasts faster and I like more granular control. 2x is too fast for me. I usually sit around 1.5x and then slow it down if someone has a particularly strong accent. My usual podcast player I can change it in stages of 0.1. This would be much better. To say the app is biased towards listening now and then to launch it with a player that lacks the basics of other players lacks thought and planning. Maybe they should’ve asked their subscribers what they wanted. The contact button in app also does not open my email app, it tells me I need to install Mail and takes me straight to the App Store and the Apple mail app page. 🤦♂️
Developer Response
Thank you, Sean, for your feedback. We appreciate your suggestions and have forwarded your comments to our development team, and they will be incorporating more granular audio controls in a future release. Additionally, we are actively working on implementing a new contact solution to address the inconvenience of requiring Apple Mail to be installed on your phone.We value your input and are committed to continuously improving our app based on user feedback.
Bug fixes & improvements
Version 3.1.1
The developer, Tortoise, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Provider
Tortoise Media Ltd
Size
105.5 MB
Category
Magazines & Newspapers
Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
