2023-11-29
No offline mode
You can download issues to read offline but the app itself doesn’t load if you don’t have perfect internet… won’t be renewing my subscription.
Updating
-8
#47 in Top Free Apps > Magazines & Newspapers
-11
#55 in Top Free Apps > News
-4
#21 in Top Grossing Apps > Magazines & Newspapers
-3
#23 in Top Grossing Apps > News
-12
#64 in Top Free iPad Apps > Magazines & Newspapers
-9
#54 in Top Free iPad Apps > News
+15
+13
#38 in Top Grossing iPad Apps > News
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
In a world where true facts are in short supply, there has never been a greater need for a trusted, impartial source of information about what’s going on in the world – or a greater need for inspiration through great ideas.
From artificial intelligence to climate change, from the latest innovations in health to the mysteries of quantum physics and the human mind, New Scientist covers the ideas and innovations that matter.
Download the app for free today.
NEW SCIENTIST SUBSCRIBERS
New Scientist subscribers can access digital issues in the app as part of your existing subscription. However, if you have a print only subscription, you will be unable to access subscriber-only content for free.
If you’re a subscriber and you’re having trouble logging in, please get in touch with customer service. The team's details can be found at newscientist.com/iosappfaq
https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
What's New in Version 4.4
Performance enhancements and app improvements.
Seller
Name
NEW SCIENTIST LIMITED
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
4.4
Size
30.2 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
Infrequent/Mild Medical/Treatment Information
Compatibility
iOS 14.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.6 of 5 (7,210 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2023-11-23
All
Great reading. An so educational
2023-11-15
Good but hopeless support
I have an issue where articles opened in the in app browser aren’t picking up my subscribed state.
This is blatantly an issue with the app, but support have informed me that only Apple can assist.
I haven’t even bothered Apple because I know their response will be that it is (correctly) a fault with the app and the responsibility of the developer.
I mean, how could Apple even fix this without actually modifying the app? I’m a software developer myself and would love to pass customers to Microsoft to fix my bugs!
It’s a shame, because otherwise the app and content are very good.
2023-10-27
Apple Family Sharing isn’t available.
Took out istore subscription only to find that I cannot share it with apple family share. Ridiculous as I’m not buying 2 subscriptions for 2 people in the same household. Therefore will cancel.
2023-10-27
0 Free Articles Remaining
This weeks issue is broken. I viewed the first three pages and used my “free articles” - it literally says I have an active membership but won’t let me view???
2023-09-20
Quality reporting
I consume large amounts of information from the New Scientist.
The articles provide well explained summaries and updates that are pitched in a way that neither assume you know lots on the subject nor treat you like an idiot.
The editorial team do seem to know their subjects and care about the accuracy of content and its significance/relevance.
The app points me to hot news items as well as letting me wander off to explore themes. It is genuinely educational, and for someone in their late 50’s I’m enjoying that.
2023-09-20
Not used the app yet but keep getting a review request.
I can’t get the pop up to review to go away without leaving a review, therefore I am leaving a one star review to make it go away.
2023-09-12
No screen mirroring
This is how a read the magazine. Has not work for the last three weeks. Emailed 4 times no reply. I will be cancelling my subscription if no resolved
.
2023-08-26
Exploration
I just love going down rabbit holes, never sure where I will end up.
2023-08-20
Log in process garbage
I signed back up for the digital edition on a deal to give it another try.
Trying to read articles and can’t log in despite my log in being similar toe every other process this site doesn’t let me in.
Eternal doom loop of does not recognise login.
Funnily enough it recognised my bank account well enough.
2023-08-16
I Love it!!
Proper decent articles that encourage my brain to want to learn more and more. Depression and Anxiety have led me to The New Scientist. Whilst avoiding the scurrilous BBC news, which seems to me to be coercive and damaging to all our potential independent thinking.
More people need to learn facts about our selves and our world if we are ever to progress/evolve past the Industrial Revolution!
2023-08-08
Just subscribed
So glad I did. Fantastic way to keep updated on what is happening to our planet and beyond. Great value to have the app although not sure which is the most ecologically sound paper or cloud storage!
2023-07-21
Keeps forgetting I’m subscribed
2nd day into the 1 month free trial and I will be cancelling at this rate. It’s a shame because there are so many really interesting articles I want to read. Every time I have to close the app because of real life demands, I try to carry on reading but apparently I’ve read all my free articles for the month so I need to pay. Very frustrating and disappointing.
2023-07-03
Far as I Can Tell
Into science?
Then you need this app.
It’ll keep you up to date with breaking science stories. It’s range is wide and it’s explainations are in depth without being overwhelming.
2023-06-07
Frustrating
Just been told, for the umpteenth time, that I don’t have an active subscription. I do.
So frustrating because ‘customer service’ is non-existent.
2023-04-29
Redistribution of fossil fuel propaganda
Just sayin.
2023-04-08
Broadly very good - but no search facility
This app is broadly very good and does most of the things you’d expect well. However, I can’t find any search function. This seems like a major omission. I’d really like to be able to search for articles or letters etc I remember from the past, or on topics or themes of interest.
2023-03-04
Search tool
The app and info are great but I want to be able to search for topics. Is this possible?
2023-02-21
App does not function
I’m having issues accessing the app on my Ipad. I have re-downloaded the app multiple times, reset my ipad to factory settings and did every other trouble shooting step i’ve found online but it has not helped.
Every time i open the app i’m greeted by the message: Failed to load timeline There was a problem loading content.
The version information also looks bizarre and is not the same as the app on my phone.
2023-02-16
In app Adverts?!
My subscription cost a lot so I'm furious that NS is "double dipping" by imposing adverts in the app! The content is fine but having my data given to advertisers is not. I won't be resubscribing as I view this as a betrayal and shoddy. NS say "You get ads in the paper NS" but those ads don't spy on me as I browse around the Internet or sell my information to data brokers.
2023-01-22
Suggested change.
Why don’t you do science instead of opinion? I can get any opinion on social media.
I just remembered why I cancelled my subscription
2022-12-15
Please allow Accessible display
It's great to have the NS news in my app, and to search and sort, but please, please, pretty please will you make the app accommodate any accessibility setting the user has chosen? Please check our settings and change the app appearance accordingly for: * Dark Mode * Text size (as set in the control panel) (without requiring sideways scroll) * Larger fonts (without requiring sideways scroll) And also but less urgently * Bold font * Increase contrast In the next release would be good!
2022-12-02
Audio player not working
I am currently on a free trial of the app. I love the content of the New Scientist and am looking to get the annual digital subscription. But I can’t bring myself to do so until the app is working. It’s a shame that such large parts of the app, such as the audio player, are broken, rendering it useless… please fix before the end of the Black Friday sale or extend the sale
Edit: looks to be working now, thanks
2022-11-27
Bit wobbly
A great magazine but the App is a bit unreliable.
2022-11-22
Audio doesn’t work
This app is utterly useless. The audio doesn’t work, just has blank lines where the time counter should be and little download clouds remain over the article thumbnails. I have resorted to getting Siri to read out some of the articles but this is no good when I am in the car which is when I like to listen to the articles.
2022-11-07
Excellent information
I do take the magazine but like to be able to share articles of more general interest by the app. Understand only a small proportion of some articles but like to keep up to date on the world of science
2022-10-14
Much better
Was terrible, now rather good, thank you!
Old review:
Terrible scrolling issues, doesn’t save position on previous article, annoying checking content every time you open the app, can’t remove old content to free up space. Sort the app out please! Update: new slightly nicer look, but not fixed the scrolling issues! Please get your priorities straight!
2022-10-08
Problems logging in to my account
I have numerous times to log into my account I am also fed up verifying that I am not a robot. !!!!
2022-09-30
Buggy to sign in…and where is the search?!
Frustrating to sign in… took over 10 tries of entering the same data again and again. Poor.
Where is the search functionality? Is there really no search capability, or am I failing to navigate the UI effectively? (One might argue that if this is the case, its flawed anyway, but hey…)
Ok, but pretty limited and disappointing.
2022-09-12
No magazine flow / no night mode
I read NS at night in bed. I am aware the app designers are working on night mode but it’s been months now. It’s galling that the FAQ section states it’s in the app.
Id also like a simple option to read through the all the articles in an issue from beginning to end. Currently, I have no idea if I’ve read all the items in a given week. The old app was very intuitive- swipe right for next article. I really don’t care of you just make a continuous article from beginning to end of the entire edition.
Update. Night vision has now been corrected. Thanks.
2022-09-12
My in app purchases have disappeared
I purchased individual issues of the magazine via the app, purchased through the Apple App Store (not part of a subscription, just one off issues). My understanding was that I was buying a digital copy of the magazine, not leasing it for a short period. My purchases have now disappeared. ‘Restore purchases’ doesn’t work. The magazines I downloaded over the many years I was subscribed have also disappeared.
*edited to clarify, as it seems the developer has not understood my feedback, that I cannot download my one off purchases
2022-08-14
Great - but lost some features with new version
As has been mentioned elsewhere, this is an invaluable companion to a New Scientist subscription, offering all the articles but with links embedded and an audio version for selected articles. My only gripes are that the brilliant search facility disappeared in the redesign (can we have it back please?) and the ability to play an entire issue’s audio vanished with the latest release (12 Aug ‘22). Good to know it is always being improved.
2022-07-31
Not working
App wont let me log in, keeps saying enter a password when the correct one is already entered
2022-07-29
A bug-ridden mess
I love the content but the app is ridden with bugs, many of which have persisted for months, making it frustrating to use.
1. Dark mode is unusable as text is the same colour as the background in the yellow boxes.
2. With a poor internet connection, many articles on downloaded issues are empty. This can only be fixed by turning on airplane mode. Why does the app even need an internet connection to browse downloaded issues?
3. Deleting issues per the FAQ doesn’t work, so I you to periodically delete and reinstall the app to do this.
4. When you switch to another app and then back to the NS app it disables swiping left and right to the next article. So you have to hit the back button, but of course it doesn’t save your position in the issue so you have to scroll through the whole magazine to return to your article.
2022-07-24
Locks me out of some articles
Generally pretty good. But irritatingly when I searched with term “mirror neurons” it told me I had 0of1 free articles left this month and invited me to subscribe (I have an online account and was logged in).
2022-07-21
Articles
If more free articles could be provided for those who can’t afford to buy news, it would be wonderful.
2022-07-20
Sign in
I’ve enjoyed a couple of articles, and seen many more that I’d like to read; however, I’m having trouble with my password.
2022-07-12
Suggestion
I love this app. It’s a great way to learn new things and I find all articles very interesting. I do however think they should add a discussion feature where we can have discussions about each article. I thought it would be a cool ide
2022-05-21
Trans lobby woz ‘ere !
Why can’t you just use the term woman?
2022-05-13
Redesigned app
This is just an app review, not content. Content is still excellent. Inspiring have mixes feelings about the upgrade. On one hand, the app is clearly better designed and developed, on the other, it removed dark mode (and I read a lot during the late evening), it lost my bookmarks during the upgrade, and it just sort of feels a bit noisy, like every idea had to go into the interface.
2022-05-02
Dark Mode Removed
They appear to have removed dark mode with the new update. Despite the FAQs saying its in settings…. Its not.
Why.
2022-04-26
What happened
This used to be a good app. I am no longer read magazines in a nice magazine format. It’s just a long scrolling list like a website. I can even read magazines I’d purchased individually in the nice format they used to come in. This is just awful.
2022-04-23
Harder to read now
The new app no longer allows me to move through the issue between articles. Every few articles I have to go back to contents to go to the next one. Annoying. Bug or feature?
2022-04-06
Really annoying yellow text highlight
Having got rid of the annoying adverts at the bottom of the page we now have distracting yellow highlights - really irritating and make reading articles a strain
2022-04-05
Truth
Only impartial non academic source of many types of information particularly in regard to diet and health, unlike most newspapers which promote latest crank theories.
Also very good on nontechnical accounts of physical science
2022-03-29
Great new app with some features removed
Great new app with additional features that the old app didn’t have. However, the night mode has been removed which I loved, the app doesn’t save the last article that I was on and sometimes you are unable to swipe to the next article so you have to go back to the menu and select the next article which can be a pain.
Hope the next update will help to ease these and make the app seamless 😊
2022-03-27
App has been crashing for 2 weeks
App crashes since an update 2 weeks ago, I’ve uninstalled and re installed many times it works for a bit then crashes. I use the app to listen to audio content, I’m unsure how I can listen to paid for audio content without the app? Please fix the app
2022-03-20
Keeps crashing
When it works it is great but frequent crashes followed by inability to reopen, crashes on start, require reinstall to fix. I note that there isn’t a clear cache option either so can’t use that possible fix.
2022-03-19
Great… when it works
I love the New Scientist. Just got paid subscription. But… it repeatedly will not open - flashes up on the screen for a moment and then disappears. I’ve switched phone on and off, I’ve deleted app and reloaded a couple of times. Seemed to have worked but back to disappearing act again now… quite frustrating. None of my other apps have ever done this.
2022-03-16
Terrible update
After a week of software update, the app itself is always crashing and it needs constant uninstalling in order to use the service. It is quite handy still and informative but not helpful at all.
2022-03-12
Update looks good but features removed
I am enjoying the look of the new app however I've noticed some features have been removed. I cannot access the night mode and it doesn't seem to save my place in issues (I like to work my way through). I hope the app updates soon with a night mode and a more refined experience for users who like to read issues like the magazine, front to back.
2022-03-11
A very significant improvement
I am, here, reviewing the new application (not the publication), and I am very pleased to find that it has been vastly improved from the previous version. I am very grateful for that, and it will mean that I can, at long last, enjoy my digital subscription. The layout is clearer, making use of screen space, navigation flows better, and the ability to bookmark and save articles of interest is very useful. The audio and visual media have also been much better integrated.
One gripe I have is that I lost all my previous scrapbook articles (oh well…). I also look forward to a dark/black theme option.
2022-03-09
Version 4.0.0 is confusing
After update to version 4.0.0:
I started buying individual issues (without subscription) since autumn 2021 - it seems all of the issues which I purchased are now lost and cannot be restored.
I can’t find special issues like the “New Scientist Essential Guide” serious in this version. Only two or three days before the release of this version, I purchased ALL ELEVEN ISSUES of the “Essential Series” in this app - I forgot the price but I believe it’s around £100.
All lost and can’t be restored. This is so confusing and I feel betrayed - you’ve got my money and now you’re denying my access to the books I’ve purchased.
And one last issue: at the moment the oldest available digital issue in this version 4.0.0 app is the 02-January-2021 issue - I noticed this when I was trying to find an article which was published in early 2020 when the pandemic just began.
I know the new version of your app looks better and is arguably easier to use - but please do remember there’re people who enjoy the things you mercilessly (and carelessly) deleted. You can’t just take our money and soon delete what we paid for.
2021-03-25
Display issues
Content marvellous as always. Not so positive about the app: although it’s nice to be able to click on links to articles on websites and references etc, when I click ‘done’ and return to the app, I get a blank white page and it takes a lot of faffing back and forth to get back to where I was.
This is just one of many ongoing issues I have reviewed before. It’s just too ‘glitchy’ to be a relaxing or seamless reading experience.
2021-02-01
Spoilt by adverts
Nicely laid out app but the reading experience is totally ruined by the embedding of adverts within article text and the impossible to remove permanent advert at the bottom of screen. I’m afraid I won’t be subscribing anymore as this isn’t on. Paying subscribers should not be shown ads (or at least be given the option). The dev team would do well to look at the paid for reading experience of the guardian and scientific American apps which are clean and non distracting.
Also the app could do with a few more extra font size choices as the 3 aren’t enough.
2021-01-17
Still quite old fashioned feeling- and now with adverts
Go look at the Economist (event the legacy economist app) for how to do magazine on iPad. Just feels like I’m looking at a bunch of web pages. There is not much magazine feel, with no word wrap around images, column justification etc. Images feel thrown in, and now we have both crappy in line adverts that disrupt the text and little pop ups at the bottom that are massively annoying. The real irony is that your website is now pretty slick, and this app really diminishes your fantastic articles.
2021-01-07
Pretty good but with minor problems
The standard of writing has improved with fewer basic scientific howlers. Minor irritations are
1) the iPad app irritatingly shoots up to the beginning of an article should one have the timerity to rest a digit on the screen
This is especially irritating on long articles as swipong up to get back to the point which one was reading frequently results in jumping to the start of the previous or next article if the swipe is insuffiviently vertical.
2) the gaps in the text which sometimes change in size and sometimes want me to join the Wellcome institutes. Recently there is more variation but they appear with tedious high frequency. Perhaps you could produce an add-free edition?
3) the irritating mini ads which appear at the base of the screen after the text is moved once.
2020-07-26
More frustration than enjoyment
For background, my subscription has been gifted to me by a friend for my birthday. All I want to do is enjoy my subscription, read articles and learn without hassle.
Yet 1 of every 3 attempts to use the app result in me being told I have to pay to enjoy what is part of my subscription.
When it works, it’s fine. But constantly being told that my subscription is non-existent, having to go through the lengthy process of logging out and back in again and often resetting passwords, is not worth the experience and until this is fixed I won’t be paying for a subscription after my gift subscription runs out.
2020-06-20
A few tweaks would make this app much better
Generally fine, but three things need fixing:
1. It’s too easy to accidentally swipe to the previous/next article when scrolling with one hand on a phone.
2. Swiping back to a previously started article returns to the top of the article - please remember the previous scrolling location.
3. It’s not possible to zoom pictures, etc. Some diagrams don’t fit on the page, other pictures are too small to be viewed on a phone screen without zooming.
2020-06-16
#simplemindsthinktheyhavealltheanswers
I wonder sometimes as to why history repeats itself so much and why society dotes on it like an ear worm in the mind, all these articles and “facts” I see hidden lies and corruption everywhere.
I do hope one day science will reveal the truth and the spirit will be whole someday in noble peace to end all this mindless suffering we call life. I see a jigsaw in people. But even a simple soul like me can’t clip you together to make the beautiful picture it should be.
Life is exhausting!
Keep the faith fellow druids
Science rocks
2020-06-13
Not recognising subscription
Due to corona virus my print account was updated to include the app. This was a very nice gesture but has just led to a lot of frustration. The app keeps not recognising my subscription and thus not giving me access to any of the issues. I have managed to get it to work a few times but it takes a good 15 minutes of fiddling around with resetting passwords and reactivating my account every time and I have given up on using it. If this was sorted out it might be a good app but this really ruins it and makes it unusable.
2020-03-03
Intrusive adds despite paying for content
The app used to work reasonably well, although swiping left/right to change pages can be over sensitive making it easy to accidentally change pages and lose your place when scrolling through an article.
Unfortunately in the last few months the app has started to insert adverts into articles, sometimes really distracting animated adverts. These are intrusive when reading and also easy to click on by mistake when scrolling on a small screen, spoiling the reading experience. Readers have already paid for content by subscribing so it is annoying that the experience is spoiled by clumsy advertising.
2020-01-08
Essential reading for anyone seeking knowledge of our world. And beyond.
New Scientist has been a must read every week for me since I discovered it many years ago. Reading it means I feel informed on all the important scientific and moral issues of contemporary life.
Top-notch writing means even complex science is explained in ways I can relate to and use in my work and private life. I’m sure reading it makes me more interesting as a person as I can often explain science to others using the brilliant stories the writers use to bring cutting-edge scientific knowledge and theories alive.
I look forward to downloading it on my iPad every week. Especially if I have a long train journey to face.
One of the best weekly magazines everyone who wants to be informed should read. Always makes me think. And New Scientist grows my knowledge and understanding of the amazing universe we live in.
2020-01-04
OK but navigation should be better
The content is all there and accessible from the menu but for me the are two irritations:
1/ no way of reading through sequentially as I could with the printed magazine. I always have to go back to the menu and choose another article. I’d like a “Next” button at the end of each article.
2/ the app keeps deleting previous downloaded issues, despite there being plenty of free space on my iPad. I’d like to choose what’s kept and deleted.
2019-10-15
Mostly OK but some annoying features!
App is reliable and downloads new editions quickly. Downside is that it doesn’t go to the edition and current reading location automatically on start. Instead it goes immediately to look for new editions. This means I can’t quickly resume reading where I left off. I want to choose when to download new editions.
Sometimes screen freezes for scrolling when internet is slow (but is fine in airplane mode)
2019-09-20
Simple is always best
All the big issues which face us seem far more complex than they really are. In truth, life is very simple and NS helps me simplify it so I can understand it.
I don’t read New Scientist because I want to drill down though, if I want to drill down(sometimes I do), the connections are there. No, I read it and love it because I’m a simple person who wants to understand but needs a starting point from which to begin.
It’s articles are clear, non political and concise.
I’m hooked, and glad to be so.
2019-09-11
Great - when it remembers you’re a subscriber
This app has a fabulous layout and ability to both navigate your way around an issue and the New Scientist catalogue but it has an Achilles Heel - it keeps on ‘forgetting’ that you have subscribed. I downloaded the logged in successfully but the first time I returned to the App it let me browse the issues I’d previously downloaded but disappointingly asked me to subscribe to view others. I contacted NS customer services (note NOT open on a weekend in the UK) who ‘did something’ and was able to login again - but a week later I am left reading hard copies only as my app has kicked me out once more; I don’t have the patience or energy to bother to phone up again.
2019-09-01
App reflects magazine with quirks
New Scientist takes a slightly sensational view of provocative new hypotheses and conjectures upsetting the apple cart while never questioning the underlying epistemology and worldview. But there’s no better British alternative.
The app has the bad habit of losing what you were reading. If the device goes to sleep it reverts you to home outside the issue being read and looks for new content. Another example of an app trying to control rather than being responsive.
2019-08-28
A bit badly thought out, but overall _quite_ good
It's taken a while, but now it pretty much replaces my print edition, which sits unopened...but it could be a lot better as an app:
A) why does it feel it needs to barge in to whatever I'm reading, close the edition and bring up the new edition without asking...sometimes I've spent ages finding an article or not quite finished reading something and the new edition closes it without asking and plonks me on the front page....now I have to remember what the heck I was reading and go hunting for it again. I'm smart enough to realise it is Friday and there is a new edition there if I want it...ill go and get it when I'm good and ready thank you!
B) I like doing catching up when on holiday and it would be good if there was a way to read on a kindle which is more sunlight / sitting outside friendly...this might be possible, but not found a way to do it yet...and I don't want to sit under a towel squinting at an iPad.
Fix these things and it would be great...
2019-07-31
Why are there ads for a paid for subscription?
I've started using my new phone rather than an older iPad which means that I've got the latest version of the app. The good thing is that it loads conten much faster. The downside is that I now have unwanted ads for a paid for subscription - I never asked for them and don't want them. Worse still it takes up precious screen space. On top of that, the 'read more' links no longer work. And the navigation for vertical scrolling is less dominant than horizontal skipping between pages, meaning it is more likely to skip to another page than scroll down the screen and returning to the previous page takes me back to the top. This is just very poor app design.
2019-07-29
Great content but horrible user experience
So I have been using this app now for about a month, the content is amazing but navigating articles is terrible.
If you don’t have a connection then all you get is an image of the article that can’t be scrolled.
When scrolling down articles it’s very easy to go to the next page with a slight movement left of right, when that happens and you go back to the article you were trying to read it goes back to the top of the page so I have to scroll all the way back down again. This is doubly frustrating because of the first problem!
These are very simple fixes that can be make interacting with this app much more enjoyable, sort it please
2019-06-23
A few glitches but much easier than reading on the website
Easy to download new issues and read with the option of enlarging the main text, but there are a few glitches sometimes and you can’t enlarge grey-boxed text. Useful links to follow when online but can also be read offline so good to read on holiday! Sciatic then
2019-05-07
Great app but..
I love the magazine, though content seems to have been simplified somewhat over the past couple of years for more mass appeal.
The app is great but for one slight detail, if you get interrupted reading a particular article or feature or issue and your machine goes to sleep it will check for new content upon waking and you will loose your spot. It defaults back to the startup screen and you have to go trawling back through to find the issue and article you were reading.
Can be quite annoying hence only 3 stars.
2019-03-22
Subscription keeps dropping out
Come on guys sort your App out
I keep being asked to subscribe when logging in although I have already upgraded my subscription
Specifically upgraded to get digital version while in Australia
You have failed failed failed looking at the number of subscribers having the same problem as me
Martin Higgins
2019-03-10
Checking for Content
Once you get started, the app works fine, except for Checking for Content.
You have started to read an issue, maybe a back issue, and leave it for a minute. When you reopen the app, instead of being able to continue, it is “checking for content” and then back to the beginning. You are left trying to work out which issue you were reading and then restarting the article. Why can you not just go back to where you were?
2019-03-02
Annoying swipe issues and cancelling subscription not easy
Needs to save place in article as you read it... Love the New Scientist but very easy to accidentally swipe left and right to another article when you are trying to scroll down a story in the app. Very annoying as when you swipe back to the article you have instantly lost your place and have to scroll down again. During which process you will more often than not accidentally swipe across to another article again! Also there is no easy way to cancel your subscription. You have to contact customer support!! Correct me if I’m wrong but I actually think that might be illegal these days.
2019-03-01
Annoying features
This app is quite annoying to use. Every time you re-enter, it leaves the page you were reading and pops out to see if there is new content. If there is it highlights the new issue, if not the current one. It does remember where you were if you go back in to the issue you were previously reading. Could it at a minimum only pop out if there is a new issue? I would prefer it if it stayed where it is, and displayed a button or other indicator if there is new material.
2018-12-27
Access to sweet knowledge
Easy to use, saves paper, makes my mind dance with ideas. What’s not to like - earlier versions of the app. That would crash, just as your interest was fired. I have forgiven all past app sins and want only more clever linkages that would allow me to follow a line of enquiry. Perhaps make my own publication from the stores...... ;) now would that not add value.
2018-11-09
Malfunctions repeatedly
Every three months or so, this app malfunctions and I have to go down the rabbit hole of “customer care” from the New Scientist. The app tells me to resubscribe while showing that my subscription is active; I get notifications when there is nothing to be notified about, and it deletes my downloaded issues due to a “lack of space” when I have used less than 10% of the space on my iPad. I get the same problem on the iPhone, where I’ve used less than 20% of the available space. Uninstalling and reinstalling haven’t helped. Customer care is not up to scratch, and it takes several weeks to resolve a query. (The first one took about a month.) I send loads of screenshots to demonstrate the issues but they don’t seem to read the emails properly - the last time their response was only tangentially related. They did respond when I rated their service poorly, but didn’t follow up. Something as simple as “problem should be solved now; please check” would go a long way. I got the dreaded trio of problems again this morning. Since I can’t face weeks of struggling with customer care again, I’m giving up on the app. (Back to using the website again, despite its annoying inability to “remember me” and requesting a login every single time.) Why the serious brainpower at New Scientist can’t figure out how to provide access to their subscribers in a user-friendly way is beyond me.
2017-10-19
A disappointment
NS could do better with this app. The UI is old fashioned and is poorly laid out. It's easy to accidentally swipe left or right to a new article when trying to scroll down, and if you swipe back, you get put back at the top of the original article - basic stuff that so many other apps just get right. Useful to be able to download an entire edition and read when offline, and the text fits on the screen nicely (unlike the website which does not adjust when using on a mobile), but nowhere near as good as I had expected.
2017-08-22
NS
I rejoined and had the same problems as two years ago. In fact I found an old unsent review I had written which expressed the same frustration as I am feeling now. I have paid. You have my money. You have made me fill in unnecessary forms and changed password and you still tell me I need to subscribe on one stupid page whilst another page and an email tells me I have subscribed.
STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE AND AN ABILITY TO DOWNLOAD.
2017-07-04
Basic but works
Seems to use an off the shelf app design I.e it's same as scientific American. You can see and sort through issues seeing the covers. BUT, the covers are small so hard to read and there is no way to review the table of contents. So while they offer the ability to buy and single issue, which is great, I cannot find out if I would want to buy one without actually buying one. Once bought, there is pretty decent contents interface which allows you to navigate the issue as well as see what is in it.
2017-06-28
Poor design, doesn't work on iPad Pro 10.5!
UPDATE: bought an iPad Pro 10.5. Turns out the New Scientist app can't see any new issues on the new iPads and doesn't support this screen form factor. Totally non-functional and hasn't been updated in over a year!
Downgraded from two stars to one star. Junk, basically.
(PREVIOUSLY) While the updated reader app is functional enough, there is no facility to mass-delete old issues, either by date range or by multi-selecting. To delete issues you need to open each one and then engage with a modal dialog that takes at least six screen presses and two pauses ... before being dumped back in the view of available issues at the start, with no context.
Upshot: unless you delete each issue religiously right after you read it, this app will consume all available storage (on a small capacity ipad) and the only way to fix this is to uninstall it and reinstall it!
Come on -- is the ability to select and delete multiple downloaded issues at the same time too much to ask for?
2017-01-09
Has replaced paper!
The transition from print to app has worked really well. I changed by subscription on a Tuesday and on the Friday I could download copies for free - no problems. If I can make on request for improvement it would be that when you change page by swiping horizontally it remembers where you were on the page when you go back. I have done this accidentally a few times and it forgets where I was. Otherwise it's a great reading experience and the ability to share to social media and via messages makes it better than paper!
2016-12-04
Not as good as zinio
Really poor. It's increasingly unstable. I can't read some weeks because it keeps dropping out. I had been reading NS on zinio for several years before switching to this version. On zinio the whole magazine is reproduced digitally. It's a much better experience, especially for reviewing images and figures (and the NS app doesn't allow you to see the cartoon which was always a highlight). It is ironic and frustrating that a supposedly cutting edge magazine can't produce a decent app.
2016-09-18
Didn't work for 2mths; no compatibility in between devices
I love New Scientist, but this is the worst app I ever encountered. It didn't work for the first 10 weeks after purchase. During this time I contacted NS whose customer service informed me that the app is solely produced and run by Apple thus I have to get in touch with them regarding any app issues. So I contacted Apple with hopes to cancel the purchase, get my money back and order a hard copy subscription. Unfortunately I was kindly informed by a generic response that this purchase is non-refundable.
After the 11th week I was finally able to download my first issue which took over 45 min despite no issues with internet connection. I was overwhelmed with the photos quality - it was just amazing! However the app didn't have a compatibility between my devices, so I couldn't enjoy them on my mac nor read the articles on the go on my iphone.
2016-09-16
It is so archaic
The whole subscription process is antique in the worst possible way.. Having decided to spend your money you are not enabled for three weeks!! Your account is sent from department to department before your sign up is activated. Needless to say they do not inform you of that when you pay. Nor when you complain to say you cannot see what you have paid for when contacting support 3 times. Only on the 4th call nearly 2 weeks after subscribing was I told my account will not be activated not at the next edition but the one after. It is unbelievable in this day and age that they - the scientists in our community - could get the technology so wrong. I will expect the software to be equally clunky and old fashioned but I cannot yet confirm that - as of course I cannot yet see it in action!
2016-09-12
Great
Really easy to use and read. Love the new scientist and perfect to download and read on a commute or when relaxing. Really love the fact that I can switch to night mode so that have white text on black.
I really wanted to give 4.5 stars as you cannot multi-select issues for download all at once and leave running in the background. Would be handy in set up.
2016-08-20
Please improve app
I'm going to concentrate on the app not the content. Nice content. Old fashioned app. The app is one of those claustrophobic, one page at a time cheap solutions that are for me a real turn off. The sort of app I like is a recreation of the printed page with digital improvements (see press reader). This is designed by the look of it to work on an iphone when many will be reading on iPads or iPad pros. At the huge amount that UK users get charged (double the US subs) I'd have thought a bit of profit would be left over for a 2016 rather than 2010 app. Not sure I'll continue with the subscription after the two week trial as life is too short for non engaging presentation.
2016-07-24
Paper good... App better
Even better than the wonderful paper mag, which I have been reading now on and off for over 20 years. It means I can click instantly on the links in the text, rather than simply forgetting to look them up in the original. I can also easily share articles with my y6 class, rather than having to scan the page. Finally, it's much easier to get involved... Commenting is simply a click away.