National Geographic Software

I hesitated to subscribe. I mean, I wasn’t sure I had the time to open the magazine let alone the app. To boggles with it! I took a chance, driven by curiosity and the fond memories of being totally engrossed in the NG print editions my grandmother purchased and saved for me. To me, the app immediately added a richness not found in my physical subscriptions. Don’t misunderstand, there is nothing like the smell and feel of a great (especially an old!) NG magazine in your hands! But, when you crave something more, something deeper and different, well, then nothing beats the “bells and whistles” of the National Geographic app. The app takes one farther into the stories, causing the imagination to spark and come alive. Much like the old Choose Your Own Adventure books of my childhood, the possibilities and paths are practically endless. This app is indeed a rarity in a mass produced world. So, get comfortable, open your mind, and let your membership take you far away from what you think you know.

As a professional designer, I must give some credits to the app’s modern-looking redesign. Before the redesign, the app was technically a PDF reader. Every time a new issue came out, I had to download the entire PDF file — hundreds of megabytes — and worry about exceeding the storage limit on my iPad (16 GB). I have always wanted an app that’s designed for mobile. Why would anyone want to read a magazine on the screen? That’s why I have been reading the hard copy instead. The old PDF reader used a redundant UI, which constantly obstruct my view of the content. The navigation was confusing. The layout of each article was inconsistent... It was horrible. The redesign is a huge step forward but still has room for improvements. For example, I’d like to be able to read the content in portrait mode on my iPad. I’d also like to have more options in the settings, such as a Night Mode or Low-battery Mode. Just keep the app light and simple, and keep improving the user experience in future updates. Great job, NatGeo!

October 19, 2019 update: A clear revolt from so many passionate long time readers (35+ years for me) yet NATGEO chooses to do nothing except respond to a few people with the same canned statement about "looking into restoring the ability to download for offline reading". Its now been close to a year since they killed a brilliant magazine app and replaced it with this glorified web browser. At this point I am going to assume that nothing is going to be done to bring back the ability to download issues. I need something I can read offline while traveling. The current product is useless to me. I haven't been able to read but one issue since this new version of the app was launched. It was a tragically poor decision by management to kill the old app and now that clueless choice has been compounded with poor customer service by stringing along your angry readership for nearly a year with the hope that something might change. When my current subscription expires, I will be joining the non-renewing group. Original post Jan 15, 2019 The ability to download an issue for reading offline has been removed. The "Monthly Issues" aren't what the actual magazine looks like any more. You have to log on every single time you open the app.... Marketing missed it big time on this update. Is the new commercial ownership intent on ruining what has been a brilliant publication? So disappointing after being a devoted fan all these years.