NYer Print Edition Reviews

by Djembemagic

This is another case of an update that doesn’t seem to do anything to improve any function, but takes away useful features instead. Someone needs to come up with a term for this phenomenon, similar to Moore’s Law, but in the other direction. There’s so many updates and upgrades that throw really good features away. For example, I used to be able to start one of the articles, and if I couldn’t finish it, when I went back it would still be exactly where I left off, even if I read another article in between. Now, if I leave the page, it goes back to the library home page, so I have to open the magazine again, and scroll down to where I left off. Also, the text size only goes from the original size to very large, and huge, instead of anything in between, which is very annoying, and renders it almost useless. Sorry, but the previous version was so much better; much simpler and more streamlined.

Update:
While there seems to have been a slight effort to improve things, it still has the same annoying bugs, like not being able to go back to where you were in an article. Sometimes it’s managed to work, but then it stops again, and I have to scroll down to figure out where I left off. The text size is still virtually useless, as the choices are the default size, and then very large, and then gigantic. On the website, it works perfectly, like NYerPrintEdition used to, with much more incremental options.

by Gfg721

The old app had its quirks but the basic functions worked. This new app is a disaster. I’ve never reviewed any app until now. My hope is we build enough critical mass of complaints that they fix this horrible mess.

For starters, it doesn’t return you to where you left off in an article. It often freezes when not on wi-fi or won’t allow me two swipe left or right to change articles or even scroll up or down. The new home page may provide a full page view of the lovely cover of the week, but i much preferred the thumbnail view so i could see multiple issues at once. The new menu and TOC is hard to navigate. The experience is so frustrating I’ve reduced my reading and might revert to the print edition. My ophthalmologist might like that.

Please fix NYerPrintEdition.

by Jkayen

How have the designers of NYerPrintEdition not considered the capability to maintain progress in an article as a necessity? This is supposed to be a MAGAZINE, with thorough and lengthy articles. Surely I’m not going to read an entire piece in one sitting. Sure, you can “bookmark” the article. But this is a misnomer that no editor should accept. A bookmark is for maintaining progress in a piece of reading. This does not do this.

Instead, you have to try to remember your place, scroll down and scanned the words you have already read (if you can remember) and hopefully find a rough estimate of where you left off.

For a serious journalistic publication, this oversight is inexcusable. It’s as if the people who designed NYerPrintEdition have never had the experience of reading a magazine or any lengthy piece of writing.

by Whatsadiorama

A comically bad roll-out of an updated app. The glitches are numerous and glaring, my two favorite so far being: in multiple issues there’s no way to scroll through the cartoons in the cartoon round-up at the end, you can just see the first cartoon and that’s it; in another issue (July 8 & 15) they left out ALL THE ARTICLES. I tried downloading it multiple times and you get everything up through the Goings On About Town, then it skips directly to the cartoon round-up, which leaves out, umm, the entire magazine. On the plus side, at least in that issue the cartoon round-up is functioning!

Oh yes, and as someone else mentioned, if you’re part way through an article and you scroll to a different article then scroll back, you’ll find yourself right back at the top of the article. It doesn’t remember where you were.

For a magazine whose reputation is built on a sort of snooty, self-satisfied perfectionism, suffice it to say NYerPrintEdition feels decidedly off-brand.

by Laura From Arizona

Well now they’ve made it even more difficult to read my favorite magazine. I switched from the print edition several years ago because I had trouble reading printed material. I have to shout this but THIS MAGAZINE NEEDS SCALABLE FONT!!! Reading the new and exciting version is even more exasperating than before. The choices are tiny font too small to see and then a big jump up to the next font that you can’t hold far enough away. Next step is gigantic, presumably for first-graders. Every other magazine I read on line can allow zooming using the standard motion every iPad user can accomplish. When I complained about it in the past they referred me to a digital format that is even more impossible to navigate. I don’t know if that still exists but I gave up on it ages ago. Is the any help for a hapless reader? I pay a lot for great writing in a poorly thought out format. Has anyone actually tried to read this thing???? Also, no going back to last article read, and no returning to same place left off in an article. Piece of junk, a disservice to readers and an insult to some of the best writers on the planet. Will this review change anything? Doubt it. Wake up! The digital format is SERIOUSLY TERRIBLE!

by Random Man, The Other One

I agree with the other one star reviews about slow performance and the like, but the worst of it is that it no longer keeps your place within an article. I do remember that the New Yorker issued an update with the same problem some years ago. They fixed it in a couple of weeks. I hope they will do the same here, and in short order. Still, what were they thinking?

I do not particularly mind that it no longer reproduces the print magazine. The NY Times for one understood that devices and print are fundamentally different media; this leaves open other possibilities for NYerPrintEdition .

I’m writing this para at a later date, and NYerPrintEdition is even worse than I first thought. Worst of all, while it does download the basic content, it appears not to download the audio of the article. While I don’t use this feature, it has the mortel side effect of locking the article (preventing scrolling) until it’s finished, which can take some time. This is particularly a problem if you’re on the subway between stations. I also detest the navigation after a restart where instead of taking you to the article you were reading, it takes you to the download page.

Please, fully test a substantial revision (including focus groups) before releasing it to the world.

by Investigator312

New Yorker has great content. But NYerPrintEdition has significant flaws. One big one: you have to scroll to read articles, and swipe left or right to move between articles. It is easy when scrolling to accidentally swipe to a different article. When you go back to the article you were reading, it has lost your place. Basic usability rule allowing the user to recover from errors is not implemented. NYerPrintEdition has also started losing the content if left open too long. And again, you’ve lost your place. If you try to use the bookmark, it doesn’t really work. Basically, NYerPrintEdition is designed to lose your place. With such great content, it’s too bad they have such a crumby app. I’m frustrated enough to not renew my subscription.

by Sfsf98

Such great content. Such an awful app. A huge step backwards from the previous version. Losing your place if you accidentally scroll to the next or previous article. The Bookmark capability? Works maybe 50% of the time and takes too long. Cannot directly delete issues like the previous version and the “30 Day” deletion capability does not work (I have it turned on and it never goes below 7 issues). Today, the current issued was suddenly not available and I was halfway through it. Am I the only person who is insulted by the fact that to listen to the articles I have to sign up and pay for an additional app (Audm) above my already pricey subscription? I am really fed up and not sure how much longer I can stand it — and I have been a subscriber for over 20 years. The Atlantic is looking pretty good.

by Jacobsw

Like the other reviewers, I'm exasperated that NYerPrintEdition no longer remembers your place in an article. This is especially unfortunate because it's so easy to accidentally swipe left or right when you're trying to scroll, so that you switch to a different article, and the when you immediately swipe back to your article, you find you've lost your place.

But I want to acknowledge that this update makes a major improvement: you can zoom in on images, making it possible to appreciate details.

Keep the visual improvements and fix the scrolling problems and the long article load times and this will once again be NYerPrintEdition that this superb magazine deserves.

by A De Forest

I love being able to read the NewYorker on my phone. This most recent update,however, makes the scrolling process more cumbersome. The biggest and most annoying flaw is that NYerPrintEdition no longer keeps my place in an article I’m reading. If I don’t read an article in one sitting, or if I read half an article and then flip through the rest of the issue — both expected magazine reading habits — I am sent back to the beginning and have to scroll down to find my (unmarked) place. With a long article, this can take a long time. And if my finger veers to right or left as I’m scrolling then I find myself in the previous or subsequent article and have to start all over again. The older version, which mimicked paging through the magazine, was blissfully intuitive. And NYerPrintEdition held my place in any number of articles! Now, at least once an issue, I have to contend with a frustrating, Sisyphean experience.

by Cjb_ma

New Yorker, I love you so much and I love having all the issues on my phone. The new app is an upgrade in many ways. But you have GOT to bridge the type-size gulf. Though my eyes are past, say, Jia Tolentino age, I can juuust about read that smallest type size comfortably on the bus. But if I'm feeling squinty and want to increase it just a tad, I am bumped directly up to a much huger, more let's say like a Brody, Schjeldahl, Acocella kind of size, which requires quite a lot of scrolling. With the Roger Angell option, with 2-3 comically humongous words per line, after that. I'm happy there are very-large-type options available (I hope to be reading The New Yorker into my Brody years and beyond), but I am begging you, can you throw me like a Nussbaum in the middle there? Thank you.

by Judi Forrester

The New Yorker has been part of my household for decades. I loved the previous on-line format but hate this one. It does not honor the print version, the cartoon contest is hard to navigate and often screwed up, the format of the cartoon section is annoying as are the little animated banners in the sections that list events. When you swipe out of an article and come back, you always end up starting over at the top. I hate all of it. I can’t imagine what possessed you to change the format. There’s an old saying about things that ain’t broke.

by Griffindriscoll

You have to get over the guilt trip of not reading every article.........just give yourself credit for reading a whole book when you do finish one of three, and hve the issue around for when you do have time.......definitely one of the finest and most enjoyable resources in print and with the audible spin-offs: New Yorker fiction in which one author reads another authors story from the archive and they discuss.......or the political scene, or New Yorker poetry.......all gifts “may they live long and prosper...

by Cincybook

I am a conservative ...and I yes I enjoy the NY. I like reading other viewpoints. And The writing is top notch. It’s a great read cover to cover .
My only criticism is in the past two years it’s gone from “left viewpoint” - which is great - to “left screeching and whining” - which is not- towards the current president or current Congress . One is the devil and one is a hall of goodness to read the magazine, so the political articles and tidbits have no objectivity at all and it comes across as sour grapes rather than a sophisticated magazine.

by Disgruntled In Wallingford

I’ve used NYerPrintEdition for years but the developers recently broke it. You have to be extremely careful when you swipe down to turn the page. If you’re careless NYerPrintEdition often interprets you swipe as horizontal to go to an adjacent story. If you go back to what you were reading you are taken not to where you left off but to the top of the article and have to scroll and scroll to find your place. Temporary fix? Disable story to story scrolling and force users to use the contents list. Permanent fix? Reactivate return to your place.

by Avid Listener And Reviewer

UPDATE: Able to download and open the latest issue at long last, thanks to needed app updates (?), but disappointed in what appears largely unnecessary format changes. Still and all, I will keep using it to gain access prior to mail delivery.

Finally got latest issue downloaded after multiple crashes on iPad. When download crashed as well when attempting to open issue, reinstalled app only now to be unable to download current issue altogether! Earlier version worked fine for me; no need to update whatsoever. Guess I will now just have to await delivery of hard copy on Friday...

by BarabasJohn

A huge step backwards. For one thing, it keeps blowing up when I try to download the current issue (July 22, 2019) on my iPad — not to mention wiping out my previously downloaded issues. (Strangely enough, I am able to download back issues, well, the 2 I tried anyway). Even so, it no longer keeps track of where I left off reading if I happen to accidentally swipe elsewhere or temporarily stop reading and close the article. Anyway, I agree with the (somewhat snide) comments about letting the “kids” responsible for the tekkie stuff run around unsupervised. Mom and dad, since THEY still read, need to approve all changes before being implemented. 😒

by GeorgeByGeorge

I ave subscribed to this wonderful magazine for many years. I enjoy the covers, especially Barry Blitt. I appreciated Peter S’s reviews on art; he taught me how to look at and understand all kinds of art. He wrote a poignant essay about the illness which will cause his demise. I will miss him. I enjoy Anthony’s movie reviews. And Jill Lepore. This magazine has been a mainstay in my life; I look forward to it every week. When they pile up and I have to toss them, it feels like I’m throwing out something very precious to me. I love to write and periodically send out my blog “Endgame” to friends and relatives. Right now, I’m focused on the Lockdown. Finally, I love the cartoons. In my opinion, it’s a perfect magazine.

by Gaberobare

The New Yorker is, unequivocally, the best magazine money can buy. Its quality of writing and aesthetic appeal is unbeatable. Bear in mind, though, this is slightly different than a normal news app, where one scrolls through a list of stories. Here, you download an issue of the magazine, then can navigate though the 10-12 stories per issue there. If you are looking for a more traditional news app experience (very similar design to the apps by the New York Times and The Atlantic), use the New Yorker Today app; it has most of the stories from the week’s magazine, as well as new articles that come out throughout the week. All things considered, The New Yorker is definitely worth the cost of subscription.

by BrionBuono

How would I get through our political culture without The Talk of the Town? How would I understand how artful or laughable a movie is without Anthony Lane, or dance if I don’t read Joan Acocella, or Peter Schjeldahl’s art reviews? The New Yorker for the thirty years I’ve been subscribing and the twenty before that that I’d read my father’s copies, has always had the smartest take on culture, society and politics of any publication I’ve ever perused. I also look forward to it’s inside look at science, the theater and book reviews, and the next investigative piece that will catch the rest of world’s media completely off guard and shape our laws, government and educational institutions by the shear logic and and force of the New Yorker’s investigative and philosophical writing. Bravo auteurs, here’s to another 30 years of reading!

by High5ths

I was so thrilled to see an update of NYerPrintEdition that finally filled the iPhone X/XS screen! But what in the world is the deal with the blurry, slow-loading articles? Each time you flip to an article you have to wait for it to come into focus before you can scroll? (Maybe it is better with quicker internet? But in that case, what’s the point of downloading the issues...) And you don’t remember our place anymore in the article, even if it’s just NYerPrintEdition reloading?

The New Yorker is known for long articles. How can anybody think it’s okay to lose our place in these novels?

I thought maybe you were abandoning NYerPrintEdition in favor of the NYer Today app, and I was so happy to see an update — but now so disappointed with the gaping holes in the implementation. Did no actual readers of the magazine look at NYerPrintEdition before you released it?

by Katie4164

The ‘upgraded’ app is a huge step backwards. No longer a table of contents or contributor list/bios. It lost all my previously downloads added issues and bookmarks & it doesn’t keep my place if I move off article and come back. This is such a basic feature that it’s hard to imagine anyone signing off on a decision to remove it.

I used to enjoy the cartoon caption contest, but now get a blank page and have to click a hyperlink to see the content, which makes no sense given the whole point of a downloaded magazine is to be able to read it offline. The links in older issues go to the current contest, not the relevant one for that week. The previous app was able to do this correctly, so I suspect this one could be made to do so as well.

Fortunately, I can access the New Yorker through my library app, RBDigital and also read it a Kindle app, where all content is preserved and much easier to read. So for now, I’ll continue subscribing, even if it means I can no longer use the iOS app.

Given all the complaints and poor reviews on this site, I was pleased to see another update last week. Unfortunately, it didn’t fix any of these issues, and repeated emails to support and customer service go unanswered. Given what I pay for a subscription, I expect better.

by Ken2116

Great way to access the magazine while on the go. NYerPrintEdition occasionally stops letting us download the latest issue, fixable but a bother. With the newest update if one reads part way into an article, swipes to another and returns to the first, it jumps to the head of the first article thus losing one’s place, a major bother for those who jump around or share with others. (I haven’t checked if there’s a way to avoid this). If one changes text size after reading part way into an article it jumps to another place, would be better if it stayed on or near the current page.

by ERICGG11

Twenty years ago, I used to raid the used magazine racks at Bookman’s in Tucson, Arizona searching for back issues of the New Yorker for a dollar. Now I live in Barcelona and maintain a subscription. The long form essay puts perspective to current events in a far more considered way than breaking news. I enjoy the articles, stories, commentary, and cultural reviews with each new issue. It’s an important part of how I stay informed and connected to a wider tribe of thinkers, writers and cultural enthusiasts. Bravo!