The Charlotte Observer News Reviews

by Red Socks The Grey

The latest update took away the option to read the paper outside TheCharlotteObserverNews in the browser, which was the only way to actually see what would have been printed on Saturday. Now this awful app is forcing you to open the paper in app and is putting banner ads on top, shrinking further what you can see. This paper already has ads to the point of a 2 page spread giving you 1/4 page of actual news. Why must we have a stupid banner ad on top of the other ads, when I AM PAYING FOR THIS. I AM A PAID SUBSCRIBER. I support local news and have to argue bill cycle after cycle that it is worth the money, when it goes up and up. But I am losing my patience. I am close to killing this and sending the money to NPR. Fix TheCharlotteObserverNews or I am done.

by Billinalbemarle

TheCharlotteObserverNews for the respected and widely read “Charlotte Observer” is a disgrace to the newspaper. It is cumbersome, difficult to use, frustrating and reason enough to drop my subscription. From the other comments currently listed on this page, it seems that you have to go back over a year to find a positive evaluation. Since that time, every rating is similar to mine. Why are these problems not being addressed? My recommendation: Simply go back to the original Olive program....it worked perfectly.

by Gram4kids

Really does not deserve a star at all 0 stars!!! Why did you change the delivery format. Much harder to read and navigate. Why can’t I get my paper in newspaper form today. It just goes to a blank page. This new format is so much worse than the previous one. I like to read a paper that looks like a paper and when I use that option it takes forever to show clear print when you turn the page. But today I can’t get the newspaper form at all. Please go back to the old form or improve this one so it is user friendly. Very disappointed.

by Tr1858

Now that the newspaper replica is no longer available for the old eEdition app, we are required to use TheCharlotteObserverNews. TheCharlotteObserverNews works very poorly with the newspaper replica on a mobile device such as an iPad. If you hold the device horizontally, the entire left half of the screen is used to show targeted ads. If you hold the device vertically, the target ads cover the newspaper article text at the bottom of the screen. It seems that the primary reason for this new app is to promote targets ads. And why am I required to put up with all these targeted ads when I’m paying for my subscription.

by DVS8989

I used to enjoy the full page replica view. Now to try to duplicate that view, it forces the reader to safari, where the viewable area is limited by the browser at the top. Also, it no longer allows one to select a permanent full page view, rather you have to pinch each page after turning. That old feature was differentiated from competing papers, and was excellent. I guess those with a strong desire for local CLT news will make the switch, but for me there are other avenues to find this rather than continue to pay for the Observer on line.

by Fjihbfdcyh

Your "improvements" to your app now make it very difficult to get into TheCharlotteObserverNews (password required every time I want to read the paper) and once in, I can't click on an article and right scroll to the next article as I could do with your prior Olive software. Your improvement went backwards, making the paper harder to read and navigate. Even your review star system is backwards. I select one star, and it accepts the selection as five star! Selecting the star on the right side would normally be the starting place, the unit column, in case you forgot your elementary education.

by Pen Wine

Given the challenges of local journalism in the digital age, I really enjoy the content of the Observer and feel Charlotte is lucky to have it.

But speaking of the digital age, TheCharlotteObserverNews itself is very poor. Half of the time it goes into an “infinite load”, just sitting there spinning. About one out of four times it hangs up. Notifications of new articles arrive before they are even loaded in TheCharlotteObserverNews .

Beta versions of apps generally are better than the execution of TheCharlotteObserverNews. If McClatchy wants to survive in the digital age, it better deliver a better app. (Note: I am a paying subscriber.)

by Charlotte Pelican

Recent upgrade was either slow to load are would crash constantly; rarely could work. Uninstalled and reinstalled and worked a bit better. But got notice today that I needed to download new version. Well…did but app only pulls up with message that says I need to download the new update. Uninstall and reinstalled again but no go. Can’t get screen to anything else but “upgrade screen”. As to new format, not really sure what all the blue icons that categorize the segments…looks like a 5th grader web design. The embedded ads also look cheap. Y’all can do better.

by NCNana54321

The e-edition replica paper update renders the replica paper almost unreadable. It is very small on the iPad screen and does not include the option of a single tap to make the print a little larger. The digest view with articles listed on the left doesn’t include the complete contents and leaves out the local obituaries and comics. This is already a weak paper that is down to the size of a large leaflet. After 35 years as subscribers we are discussing whether to cancel due to this user unfriendly update to the replica edition online which is what we like to read daily. What a sorry update to an already sorry paper. One star is too many.

by Uncertainage

Absolutely mystified by this “update”! The best access to articles (and obits!) is the *e-edition* — AKA a big ol’ image file. 🤯 You can’t scroll the news; you must manually select sections (from a pretty limited set of options) to access that section’s articles. 😧 And search is… well, I don’t see search anywhere. 😲

TheCharlotteObserverNews is so alarmingly bad that I’m pretty sure it was developed by a committee of suits who are still figuring out email, talking about the interwebs, and insisting app customers want to read “the paper.” Upside: your fingers will get plenty of exercise pinching & expanding 89 pictures of a newspaper page.

I keep thinking I’m missing something. Sadly, 99% sure I’m not. This is about frustrating you so badly you give up on that nasty old interweb & subscribe to the *real* paper.

If you’ve ever wondered what gaslighting looks like when it’s done with an app, this is the download for you. Rest assured: you’re not the crazy one.

by Dicussted

For those who want to read a newspaper this is one bad app!
It is frustrating to try to move through the sections as you get the same stories multiple times with no clear picture of where you are in the days edition. As for the comics you have to individually select the comic one wants to see and wait for it to load. This doesn’t even mention all the ads on every page that you have to put up with. Takes twice maybe three times as long to get through the reading
process

by Kayaking Gal

I’ve been an Observer e-edition reader for years and no longer get the physical paper delivered because the former “Olive” software worked great. This new software is HORRIBLE. As a paying subscriber the sign in process is clumsy and doesn’t keep you signed in. There are frequent screen freezes. Printing the daily crosswords (you HAVE to print it to work the puzzle) is about a 6 step process. About half the time I can’t even get signed in and I cannot read the e-edition at all. I loathe reading the paper now because this software is a MISERABLE experience. Many of my neighbors are having similar experiences. I’m using a new iPad so it seem unlikely it’s a device/browser problem.

by Stannc

Their latest refresh of TheCharlotteObserverNews made it useless. Pages don’t load and when they do, the front pages of TheCharlotteObserverNews has stories that are months old. It’s like they forgot that TheCharlotteObserverNews exists. Update: clear browser cache, they said. Installed on a brand new iPhone, cleared the cache, and I got “error fetching feed”. Everything else on the internet works fine. As far as old articles, whatever is being used as a date index isn’t working. Some of the articles seem to be undated in the database, so they never age off. A clear sign of that is articles that say “0 months ago” in the caption.

Phone models: iPhone XS with iOS 14.8, iPhone 13 with iOS 15.

by Frustrated And Irate Customer

I have been a loyal subscriber of the Charlotte Observer for over 20 years. However I am now so frustrated with the observer that I am going to have to find another news source. I subscribe to the paper delivery and have tried to move to the online version but their app does not work with my iPad. The paper delivery of the news paper has been gradually diminishing week after week. Despite my constant complaining I am now only receiving the Sunday paper and have been forced to the online version for all the other days. The online version works on my iPhone but it is difficult to read the entire paper on my phone.....so I either continue as is and go blind or I find another news source that is comparable with my iPad.

by JahWade

I still prefer to read the replica version. However I’m about done. The new app is horrible. The time it takes to focus the content is very distracting. The loss of the old app was unfortunate. The old app was much better in two ways...First the screen real estate for the actual content was significantly diminished. Second, the big ad border at the bottom of the screen eats up more screen real estate and is, at times, animated with rolling ads. The animation is very distracting. If I stop reading the replica I will likely cancel as news comes from everywhere nowadays. Thx....

by JuggDj

Still no real time updates on IPhones! Home page non existent. If you have an iPhone 8 or earlier, sadly TheCharlotteObserverNews is not for you. You will get error fetching feed on the home page with all the updates on iOS, uninstalled/installed, etc. 10 & above you have a beautiful app! I have a friend with a 13 & TheCharlotteObserverNews looks amazing. I don’t have a 13. I have a 8. Love the Observer, since the update it doesn’t work for us old folks. Thank You for all the years. I’ve canceled my subscription!

by E-Worthy

Well; you guys have done it. Inthe words of Minnie Pearl, youve “fixed something that wasn’t betokened”. And in so doing, you have succeeded in removing me and mine from the Eedition readership. I happen to be computer savvy, but it now takes me longer to find today’s Edition than it does to read it. Gone are the days when I could take my IPad to the beach with me and have full assurance that I wouldn’t miss a thing from back home nor elsewhere. It was so simple to look over the previous two or so weeks. I’m sure this was a business decision. But, brothers you have certainly given your Eedition readers the “business”. Enjoy your money, McClatchy....and please think of me when you spend it.
BillB Branner, Charlotte

by Cdl13

There are 2 new versions on the Observer in TheCharlotteObserverNews and the electronic edition which takes you to a website providing a replica of the “print “ version is a very poor replacement for the old app. The print blurs every time an ad banner at the bottom changes which is frequently. You can’t easily print certain features as you could previously and it skips to a different page when you try to resize an article to read because it keeps blurring.

by Myownnicknamethatnoonecanhave

The latest update is now crashing on my iPad. I’m going to reinstall it. My wife reinstalled it and it worked for two uses.

The update to 9.1.1 fixed my issues. Lots of complaints about not finding formats users were familiar with; I had to try the new controls at bottom of the screen to find what I was looking for.

I’m not sure the developers were using Agile management for TheCharlotteObserverNews. If so they didn’t get enough user input.

by Becca Reads

I’m delighted with navigation on TheCharlotteObserverNews as well as the content provided. I moved to Charlotte last month and subscribed to CO this past week. I’m pleased with the local, state, national and international news coverage that’s provided plus the extra sports coverage - NFL, college, PGA and more.

by Dougdawson

What happen to Olivesoftware app? Now I have to go to the observer to start eEditions requiring me to sign in. The navigation to sections of the paper are gone. Google ads take up a 1/3 of the left side and are the most obnoxious ads, nothing of interest to me. And actually if you touch one off we go to the ad itself and have to fight our way back to the paper. I will not be renewing my paper at the end of October. Done with this incompetent paper. I just wanted news and now I am fighting ads, signing in all the time and no navigations. What croc!

by Bogeyfreenc424

I actually loved the first version and it was just simple to read like the paper itself. Then I changed iPads and had to upgrade. If I wanted to read yesterday’s news I would read that paper again. I guess it’s the settings but it’s not fun anymore to read and I get frustrated and shut it down. Can’t make everyone happy I guess but it’s nice to have TheCharlotteObserverNews version.

by Seventh Nickname Attempt

Ads are annoying. Especially when you see the same gosh darn 30 second Caramount Health commercial every story...