The Boston Globe ePaper 12+

I find the new version of this App worse than the last and it doesn’t do some of the things (e.g., automatically download) that it is supposed to - or at least the automatic download is not evident in the settings menu). The new version is a pain to use - I used to be able to read the newspaper and simply swipe left to advance. No more! Now I have to shrink the page fully, to reveal the next button on the bottom right and touch that - this is cumbersome. The new App has also had trouble downloading and frozen once, requiring me to delete and reinstall- this never happens with the old app. Navigation between sections is slightly easier now though, but certainly not worth all the other irritating drawbacks. Too bad…..I route for the Globe!

“Words can't describe just how bad this app is. Downloads get hung up so that one can be waiting days for issues that never show up. The Globe should be embarrassed that it's name is associated with this piece of junk. Don't buy it.”

I wrote the above review several years ago and have been assured by the Globe that the app will be improved. Now, two years later, nothing has changed, and it’s still a pig. More often than not, the paper’s already slow down-load never finishes, and I say the hell with it, and never get to read the paper. How the Globe allows this to happen is incomprehensible.

Ok, it’s September, 2018, two years after I wrote the above reviews. The new app is out, and I find it much improved. In fact, I’m now reading the Globe again. The only downside is a somewhat inconsistent page turning when I swipe left, but that may be my technique. It took a while but the Globe May have mended its ways.

I get that some people like this faux paper layout of this app but really it is cumbersome for most users and lags in comparison to the NYT, WSJ and the WashPo. Having to decide whether to download an edition or not as the first pop up when coming to the app is annoying and wastes time. Clicking into a story causes it to go in a non mobile friendly layout where the pictures do not flow well with the story. It is also difficult to scroll from story to story, rather one has to flip through each page of the paper like it is a physical paper. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that most mobile readers do not need to replicate the flow of a physical paper in order to appreciate the stories.
I am going to unsubscribe to the Globe because I primarily read my news on mobile and the experience is just disappointing and frustrating. Please modernize this app and ditch the physical paper replication.