FLYING Magazine Reviews

by DaPilot0

The digital edition is a joke. The latest app revision made it so I couldn’t access my downloaded issues offline, so I deleted and reinstalled FLYINGMagazine . Then it didn’t give me an option to restore my iTunes purchase. I e-mailed technical support a few days ago but no response yet. I called Flying customer support today but they said they don’t provide support for the digital app. Then they told me the e-Mail address I used was wrong (it was the one in FLYINGMagazine ) and proceeded to give me another e-mail address to contact them with. I’m about to contact Apple and request a refund for my subscription. It’s pathetic. You guys could do so much better. It’s probably time for me to pull the plug for good until you decide to go back to monthly issues anyhow. So long Flying Magazine. I’ll stick to my monthly AOPA mags and maybe add Plane and Pilot instead.

by Showboat141

Can’t red articles unless you click a link. No downloads. I remember when you used to be able to read offline, like on an AIRPLANE! thought about going back to paper but now it’s only four issues a year. Goodbye and good riddance.

by Johnnyb61

You know, I had gotten use to having to log out, log back in and restore purchases to regain access to my digital subscription on every update. Then came the updates that required further steps to remove “Buy Issue” button and restore the “Download” button. But this update really takes things to a new level. You now have to recreate your account. Anybody else notice the help articles in the FAQ tell you to only use the first 9 digits of your account number? That of course fails ( and I love that it tells you to contact customer service but doesn’t give you contact info). When I use the full 10 digits I make some progress except that it references an incorrect email (that explains why it didn’t recognize the correct email ) and won’t let me edit it (Flying's online customer service does recognize the correct email).
I give up. Deleted FLYINGMagazine . The publisher of FLYINGMagazine is the supposed leader in this field. Absolute waste of my time. As mention by others, just assume you won’t have access to the digital version.

by Gabelizard124

FLYINGMagazine really went downhill

by Jtgooge

Now I can’t access the magazine offline. I can’t imagine who thought this was an improvement

by LG0912

I just cant download new issues. I have a valid subscription until april22 but cannot find the latest issue

by 172Capt

Can’t log in, can’t restore purchases, can’t view issues. I don’t care at all about flying mag’s facebook page. The last thing I ever want to see is facebook content. Unbelievably useless app.

by Jec2345

Completely useless app. Impossible to digitally subscribe. You can only buy one issue at a time at full price. I guess it is slaying trees and snail mail until Bonnier gets its act together.

Update - new format is bad and they are rehashing old content.

by Cl65skip

What happened? I’d just like to read the magazine on my iPad.. is this so difficult? After much frustration, I give up. Subscription canceled.. and I wish I could get a refund for the remaining few months, as I won’t be attempting to read this confusing and unstable app.

by Ramflyer1

I am using the new version of FLYINGMagazine and it is so frustrating.

I finally figured out that you need to click on the “Topics” button to get previous issues.

Then, in an issue, there is no way to easily get to the content you want. And, if you put the device to sleep and come back two minutes later, you have to go through the whole process again IF you can remember where you were!

And FLYINGMagazine will not flip to landscape.

And,

And,

And …..

Please bring the old version back.

Please!

by TDJKA

I paid for my subscription and downloaded FLYINGMagazine, but it does not work. System says I am logged in to my account, but it will not allow me to read articles. I keep getting messages that I am reading only previews of articles and FLYINGMagazine wants me to buy the magazine. I already bought it, so why can’t I read my magazine?

I deleted FLYINGMagazine and downloaded it again. Same result - unable to read articles.

The help articles are equally useless. Written by people who can barely put together a sentence, there’s no actual help.

A most dissatisfied user.

by Mlikesplanes

I have a subscription, but every month the only way to download the magazine is to purchase the single issue, download it and then ask for a refund from Apple. I have deleted FLYINGMagazine , logged in again, restored purchases, but nothing works. Very frustrating.

by Steveddavis

It used to be a decent app. It had its problems, but you could easily find your saved issues. Most importantly you could scroll though a digital magazine, page by page pretty much like a print version. Now an issue appears like a collection of FaceBook posts. Hugely disappointing. Probably the end of a lifelong (since I was 16 - I’m 63 now) relationship with first the print editions and for the last several years, the digital version. 😢

by 4@#$28

Cant use offline.

by Cashman83

I’m trying to figure out how the latest version of this ap is an improvement. The previous ability to scroll each issue and page in digital format like reading the print version was great. Hopefully this previous feature will be restored with enough pushback from readers.

by RV4C140

As a pilot who travels with an iPad, I recently decided to try a digital subscription to Flying instead of renewing my paper subscription. After a few issues, I wish I could go back to the paper magazine.

As others have reported, FLYINGMagazine is clunky, slow, and prone to crashing. Also, FLYINGMagazine only shows one page at a time without zooming capability, so there's no good way to view the beautiful photos that span two pages of the paper magazine.

Finally, each issue is a fairly large download, so plan to watch the progress bar for several minutes before you can access the magazine - FLYINGMagazine doesn't seem to be capable of downloading in the background.

by VRPilot62

Very frustrated that I can’t read even the current issue via FLYINGMagazine without clicking on each article one at a time. Might as well just surf the web. And the past issue library is completely gone. I stopped saving the paper issues some time ago because I thought I would always be able to access past articles online but now all the great past articles are gone. Very sad to lose the archive as many of those older articles were an aviation treasure.

by VPNavyFS

Hard to understand much of the whining in other reviews, because I've never had a problem with FLYINGMagazine crashing -- not even once -- in the year plus I've been a subscriber. Dropped my print subscription in favor of this digital format, in fact. The issues look gorgeous on the retina iPad, and navigation is very easy. However, as others have pointed out, downloading is slow, and the interface for managing issues is quite primitive. Thus, one star off for those (long-unfixed) problems, and one more off for the lack of compelling content such as video, animation, etc. that digital should make possible. (Good grief, one of the *radio control* piloting mags blows Flying out of the water in that regard!) Hope they keep improving this!

by Loanflyer

Frankly, I have no idea what the negative reviews are about. I just added the digital subscription to my print, downloaded the current edition, and it works flawlessly. I'm using ipad 4 and the color photos are gorgeous. Navigation is easy and smooth. No crashes. Different news and magazine apps all interact a little differently. I subscribe to the WSJ, IBD, Fortune, and Flying. They each have idiosyncrasies, but they all get the job done. I have zero issues whatsoever with FLYINGMagazine.

by Dhmde

I purchased Flying magazine and was happy to get the digital i-Pad version as well. I read some of the negative reviews, and wonder if those individuals have a slow learning curve or if FLYINGMagazine was made more user-friendly after those comments. Personally I had no problem downloading FLYINGMagazine and registration was a breeze. Once I signed in, I was able to quickly download the most recent issue of Flying, which I could browse easily without having to resize. I’m very pleased with the presentation and with the clarity of the pages. I will probably use the iPad version as my go-to reader and use the printed version as a reference for articles I want to clip out and file.

by Cap Roger

I was pleased that FLYINGMagazine seemed to work well for most of the year - I’m a print subscriber and it allowed me to read on my iPad for convenience. The latest update broke FLYINGMagazine again - it wants me to pay again to read my subscription.

I would advise avoiding the IOS app altogether - digital access to an existing Flying magazine subscription is so unreliable that subscribers should assume that there is no digital access (contrary to what the Flying magazine website says when you subscribe to the print edition.)

Sorry to report that FLYINGMagazine for the most venerated and popular aviation publication should be placarded as INOP, again. Will of course be delighted if a future update ever restores functionality, but not optimistic.

by JD Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxcxxxxxxxxxxx

I’ll reiterate what others have said:
FLYINGMagazine somehow pulled an email address that I had stopped using years ago (and changed on the Flying website) and won’t let me change it again. I used the account number to log in but still can’t get access to the media. Every “update” wipes out the issues in your library and you have to figure out how to get access again. Instructions are either non-existent or incorrect. This new version doesn’t work at all. Bonnier needs to hire new app writers. I’ve deleted it and will just read the print version. It’s sad....

by Jpiagg

Too many problems with FLYINGMagazine and updates change nothing. Come on Flying, get your act together. The magazine is great but your app is horrible. Last change deleted my library and I can’t get it back.

by STSR18

Same problem as others have described. The only options I have in FLYINGMagazine is to buy or subscribe. Already have digital & print subscriptions.

by Aeronut7424

Absolute disgrace. New fix still does no good. Still requires buying another subscription even though it recognizes me. Will not give me access to current nor archive issues.

by 4jowoane

So much for improved. Someone needs to sue. Flying still advertises read it on your iPad - WRONG!

by RjAbronco

App doesn’t work plain and simple

by DasPork

FLYINGMagazine ’s lousy. It’s forever asking me to subscribe to issues when I’ve had a subscription for years. Logging in and out doesn’t help, and I have to delete and reinstall FLYINGMagazine periodically. When it works it’s a convenient way to read the magazine, and considering FLYINGMagazine essentially does nothing but allow you to open and read issues, you’d think it would be simple to have a stable app, but no. This is been going on for years by the way and shows no sign of improvement. I subscribe to the print magazine so end up reading the issues more often then on my iPad. August 2019 update - see above. Nothing’s been fixed and the latest version, once I log into FLYINGMagazine , doesn’t seem to even know I’m a subscriber. SMH...

by Jes2.......

Used FLYINGMagazine for a long time. Current version is a total pain. Spent way more time trying to log in to my subscription that i have paid for and made no changes to, yet won't let me log in or download issues. Spent hours on it and frankly a free year subscription wouldn't even make up for the time i have wasted on this thing. On top of everything even tried to reset my password and the only way to do that is to enter your address, which was fine until the only available country to choose from is Canada. When you live in California that obviously creates an error.

Oh, and did i mention, works fine on my other ipad. Why did they change this, the new app is horrible and the original worked flawlessly.

by Frank In San Diego

I am a print subscriber, but I also use this electronic version of the magazine too. The previous version of FLYINGMagazine was workable, but a major issue was the fact that every time FLYINGMagazine restarted it started reading from the start of the magazine. I would answer a phone call and then would have to navigate from the cover to where I was just reading. That was very annoying.

Now I have upgraded to the latest version. It is requiring me to sign in again, but what is truly annoying is that it doesn’t recognize my print subscription. I am starting to regret my recent decision to renew my subscription. The magazine and content are wonderful, but the delivery is questionable.

by Dandyduk

I have subscribed to Flying for 40 years. I like magazines, newspapers and books from FLYINGMagazine Store. The magazine is great, the articles are terrific! But when you click on an article you have to zoom in to read it. Then move it 4 times per page. That is nuts! I like to read on my exercise bike and this feature makes it impossible. FLYINGMagazine is an afterthought to the paper version.

by Ktmfactoryrider

I have read through the comments and maybe someone from The developer should make several comments about this being a different company than the one printing the paper edition. I looked at this and understood that it was something different so I waited until my paper subscription ran out before getting the online edition.

With that said, I really like the online edition and it has worked very well for me. I would give it five stars if it weren't for several issues.

I wish there was some way to look at the airplane "centerfold" or any photo that spans more than one page. That is one of the reasons that I love the mag, for the nice photos?

Next, and this has already been mentioned, it takes a while to download, that's not a problem because there is so much content, but then it installs it self and that seems to take as much time as the download. Maybe the developed should just change the download to include the un-zipping and installing.

Like I said, I like FLYINGMagazine , once you are over those things, it works well. I am running it on a iPad 2 if that makes any difference.

Feb. 28, 2012 - Really like the latest version, works well.