USA TODAY Crosswor‪d‬ 4+

Why does this app always have issues loading the daily crossword and archived crosswords? Or opening without crashing? Every time there is an iOS update, the app has some issue that makes it unfunctional. I love these crosswords. So much so, that I somehow haven’t deleted this app despite these problems. Please just fix it. Look at your reviews, hire another developer, and just make the app work. There are some people who pay for this app. I’m sure many more would actually consider the paid version if the app actually worked with any level of consistency.

The app’s new solving interface is so bad, the first time I saw it I thought it was a bug. Here is an abbreviated list of its crimes against usability:

- The puzzle grid has been squished and pushed to the side to make room for an awkward column of clues to its left, which makes the grid harder to read, makes its tap targets smaller, and introduces wasted space above and below.

- Worse, this new clue column is redundant given that both the current down and across clue ALREADY APPEAR above the keyboard.

- Speaking of the keyboard, all the keys have been squished to the left in order to fit some teeny tiny navigation buttons that move you from clue to clue and letter to letter. So not only is it harder to type accurately, the user is also prone to accidentally moving the cursor while typing. Cool!

- Then, there’s an always-visible set of hint buttons immediately below the last row of letters on the keyboard. These are also very easy to tap by accident and, if you can believe it, the “reveal letter” and “reveal clue” buttons don’t even ask for confirmation before filling in the answer!!

This app breaks virtually every UI design rule in the book! It’s especially a shame because the USA Today crossword is otherwise so good these days, but the app is so terrible I stopped solving them. Would give this zero stars if I could. So disappointed.

I love doing this crossword everyday, but the app kept crashing. Tech support told me to uninstall and reinstall. I did, but since then I have been unable to sign in to my account. Another email to tech support and they said, “try it using it at McDonald’s or Starbucks.” Of course, this makes no sense, but I couldn’t anyway because they were all closed at the time due to the pandemic. Tech support closed my ticket marking it as resolved since I couldn’t do that. Another email to tech support and this time the ticket was marked resolved by saying, “we have forwarded your problem to the department that handles passwords.” Weeks later and I have never heard a thing from this department. As a highly recognized company, USA Today should be embarrassed to have their name affiliated with this app, especially since USA Today is so popular among crossword puzzlers.