The San Diego Union-Tribune Reviews

The paper is great, but TheSanDiegoUnionTribune is very buggy. It’s a shame because when TheSanDiegoUnionTribune works it’s actually a great way to read the paper. Unfortunately it’s quite buggy (frozen interface, article clicks not responding as they should). Whenever I report an problem directly from TheSanDiegoUnionTribune it supplies all the technical detail tech support should need (platform, OS version, app version, etc). But every time, every single time, I get a generic response back (giving me nonsensical advice like “clear the cache and the cookies, try a different browser). I’m trying to be forgiving during this time when they probably aren’t fully staffed, but they clearly don’t care about fixing TheSanDiegoUnionTribune .

Every time they update this, the workability decreases. I have been a subscriber for over 30 years, and used the digital version as soon as it was introduced. But I finally gave up after their last “upgrade”. Not responsive, cumbersome, and when I called about the new issues, the rep really wasn’t very well informed about it. His best guess was to reboot it, and he had no idea how to deal with the issues. I cancelled my subscription, it just isn’t worth the high blood pressure trying to get it to work.

Two calls in 3 days to customer service (long hold time) they recommended deleting app and reinstalling. That works until you start turning pages then it stops to say you don’t have a subscription and you have no where to click to prove that you do. Please make your app more reliable we want to read the on line newspaper daily.

The basic idea is great, but I cannot remember a day in the last year where there was not some kind of problem. Tapping on an article should open it in its own window. This is great because you can scale the font and makes it easier to read. If an article spans pages it all should show in this window.

So, some articles will not open at all. Some open blank. Some open but do not include all the text (frequently stopping at the end of that “page”). Some are missing some or all of the pictures.

The web version is generally less problematic, but often the same issues occur on the web version. Customer service is basically non responsive with the standard reboot your iPad and reload TheSanDiegoUnionTribune as a solution. This never works.

I love the sports coverage, especially Kevin Acee on the Padres beat but I’d dump TheSanDiegoUnionTribune in a minute if there was an alternative.

Spent over an hour on the phone with customer service attempting to link my iOS subscription to the web access. Articles I get via email or social media on my desktop should be readable with the unlimited subscription according to their marketing materials. They kept insisting it was apple’s responsibility since I subscribed through TheSanDiegoUnionTribune . I was also told to subscribe via the web not TheSanDiegoUnionTribune (which coincidentally is twice as expensive). Passing the buck. They were unable to figure it out but told me they would look into it. Will update my review if they resolve the problem.

As prior reviewer notes, I to updated my Ipad and the old app that is an exact replica of the newspaper appears to no longer be available. Instead in TheSanDiegoUnionTribune you can go to the upper right hand menu and click eNewpaper which boots you over to Safari and downloads the newspaper into Safari. Thats ok if you have wifi but say your getting on a plane, the old app kept the entire newspaper available to read offline in newspaper format but Safari doesn't do that.

I like TheSanDiegoUnionTribune and it seems to work well. The exception is if I download a paper, and then try to read it the next day, TheSanDiegoUnionTribune gets confused and keeps trying to download and read today’s paper. This situation is exasperated when offline. I reported this issue and the support was ludicrous. They asked “what browser am I using” when I specifically said it’s about TheSanDiegoUnionTribune. Worthless support.

The only way to still have the read aloud option is to go to the website. This newer version does not allow that option. Dissapointed.

I do not want to read the paper in a web browser, which does not allow offline reading when not connected to WIFI. I do not want to have to convert the edition to a .pdf file and then store it in iBooks where the functionality then becomes extremely limited. The old app worked so well. Why was it changed? I am on a trial subscription now and may not continue, given the hassle it is to read the digital paper.

UT confirmed to me that they no longer support the Tecnavia App (the original one). Really annoying that they would stop supporting it WITHOUT informing their subscribers. Please support the original app. I can no longer download the paper to read offline when I am flying or somewhere without internet access. The download option in the e-newspaper does not fix this, it is buggy and often needs to reload which is impossible without internet connection.

The eNewspaper section of TheSanDiegoUnionTribune has an article toggle that allows you to read the entire article without changing pages. It will stop working on today’s edition, but work on an archived edition or the next day’s edition. It’s doesn’t appear to be consistent as far as the day of the week.

I can usually read the paper if I click on the email version they send, but if I try to use TheSanDiegoUnionTribune it freezes so I can’t switch pages. The old app was great as it downloaded allowing me to read anytime without an internet connection. I can’t understand why the paper took a perfectly good app and made it so!!!! Bad. Just bring back the old app or get someone that fix the current one. Definitely allow downloading to read offline.

Amazing. A mediocre but usable app replaced by some deformed version from a programmer that obviously has no news app experience. I’d cancel but my wife likes local news even as she’s complains about how bad it is. Once I convince her of alternatives, Voice of San Diego,
The Reader, etc, I hope to eliminate this abomination. Compared with my Washington Post app this is a disgraceful example of getting what you paid for and even if it was free they overpaid. Amateur day.

There’s no bugs on the latest version. And you can click on articles to bring them up into an easy read format.

I think i might resubscribe...

Like other reviewers I am frustrated because I can’t easily download the daily edition and read it later without an Internet connection. Also, please put back the feature where you can read an article which continues on another page by simply clicking the hyperlink which is the page number where the article is continued. This may be a short lived subscription for me.

Easy to use. I actually like that it doesn’t automatically download the e-paper. Saves space, and downloading is quick and easy if desired. Really like the full paper view.

Did the UT team test drive this with their loyal subscribers, did you understand the customer use cases of how they consume your daily paper?

For those who travel for work, the best thing was to load the paper before heading out of home. Then I could read the UT without the need for a connection. Please fix this or should we ask for a refund to our long standing subscription.

This new App is awkward and inefficient. It kicks you out randomly saying you need to log in or become a subscriber. When I go the settings, I am logged in. Finally have to delete and reinstall it. The pages don’t move freely with swiping. Often have to go backwards then forwards then backwards to make the current page scroll down. Really bad.

I cannot even log in now to read the paper before it hits me with a page to pay for a trial subscription of which I’ve had auto pay for a subscription for years! Was on the phone with a customer support rep (what a joke!) as she kept me doing the same thing over and over which didn’t work for 30 minutes before she hung up on me! UNSAT!

This is a terrible app with bare bones stories and the same content several days running. I tried to cancel but it’s impossible to do so through TheSanDiegoUnionTribune itself. I called customer service and they are in the Philippines. They told me to “call TheSanDiegoUnionTribune Store” to cancel. Of course they did not have a phone number. I guess I’m stuck paying for this into eternity.