Gramophone Magazine Reviews

by Reynoldsdayton

After paying for a subscription through Exact Editions, this doesn't allow me to read the entire magazine. Disappointing.

by Kkereta

Great content but as many other magazines, such a lousy interface, no effoort intomit at all
If it was redesigned to match interface of let's say Conde Nast magazines then it could work, and also, pricing is a bit to high, 2,99 $ a month is more then appropriate
So we'll see what happens

by CT_News_junky

Buyer beware. Unlike most magazine subscriptions you don't "own" issues. When your subscription expires you can no longer access any issues. I will not be renewing my subscription.

by Jaroslavd

I bought a 1 month subscription. At the end of the month my subscription expired, and the month I had bought (November 2011) disappeared. I tried to restore it, and was told I had no current subscription. So I guess they're saying that you only "rent" the mag while you have an ongoing subscription, and if you let it lapse, you lose all your editions. Ripoff!

UPDATE: iTunes have confirmed that you only get content while you are subscribed. So you could subscribe for a year, and once the subscription is over, you have no access to that content, ever again.

Putting aside the subscription issue, the iPad edition of the magazine is devoid of any functionality or features that take advantage of the iPad platform. It's basically just a PDF dump of the print material. So it's not worth subscribing to even if you got to keep all the copies. This is a putrid product.

by Jdh98467

AFAIK it doesn't even allow text size to be modified, so essentially you're left to struggle with large images of a small-font magazine page that you read in the manner of examining a large photo in sections at a time. Any newspaper app allows more readability than this. Cp. The New Yorker app. Very frustrating.

by David Grothe

Even if you stay subscribed, a newly downloaded issue erases older issues, so you lose them even though you have paid for and downloaded them previously.

by James T. Leak

The Gramophone app is one I really looked forward to having on my Ipad, since I enjoy reading the music reviews when I can snatch a spare moment. However, GramophoneMagazine has two major drawbacks, one much more annoying than the other.

First, the issues do not download easily. The January 2012
issue would download partway, and then hang. It was exasperating to have the thing stall so often.

Much more serious, however, is the pricing. I had just renewed my print subscription for two years, at a cost of $143, when I came upon the Ipad edition. Could I get Gramophone at no charge on the Ipad, as I do with The New Yorker and other Conde Nast publications to whose print editions I subscribe? Of course not! No price breaks whatsoever! I had to purchase an additional subscription for the Ipad at full price--and I'm experiencing buyer's remorse because I was so weak-willed.

In short, this could be a good app with some bug fixes and a fairer pricing structure. As it is now, it gets my personal "Golden Fleece" award!

by Dr. KK

It keeps hanging, very slow to flip pages, constantly loading every page you turn. It's as if the magazine is not downloaded but you're browsing the web content. So I'm not even sure whether you can read an issue offline on your ipad. I had subscribed and cancelled it after 2 issues. Unless Gramophone learns from other successful magazine apps on iPad, I'm not gonna restart my subscription. Too bad because Gramophone was one of the magazines I was looking forward to read on my iPad. Big disappointment.

by JimWNYC

It is difficult to read. The fonts look terrible on New iPad. It doen't response to your finger movement well. I have to stop my subscription after two issues.

The new issue just replaced old issue. Why do you do this?

by YellowRoseBud

Just upgraded to the latest version. Now I can see my back issues but I can't load and read them...the cover shows up for less than a second and the it displays ten current issue again. I don't know if the Kindle version does the same thing but I will be checking that out tomorrow.

by ConnedNast

Great magazine but GramophoneMagazine has two major issues:

1. There is no function associated with easily accessing their review archive. Shouldn’t this be provided with a subscription?

2. The search function provided is so limited in functionality that it can’t possibly be used to effectively search for anything.

Fix these two issues and it’s five star app for me.

by Rxchaos

GramophoneMagazine on an iPad is frustrating to use. It's a poorly designed interface for good content.

by Davegordon48

I'll start with the same statement I read in another review, "I'm not sure what the negative reviews are about". I don't get it either. Maybe they are from a few years ago but I have had no issues with GramophoneMagazine . The magazine is clear and easy to navigate. The resolution is very high (which I love) and the quality of the writing goes without saying (the best). I have wanted something interactive to look over when I'm listening to music and this is it. Great job!

by Classact

Yes, you do have to subscribe to the magazine. (Duh!) But the pages are tailored to the iPad and display beautifully. You can enlarge text too (pinch and drag). New issues download easily, and do not replace older issues.

by Mathprofessor

I love that this magazine is available digitally! The interface is superior to some other magazines that are available. With the magazine in the news stand it is there ready to read even when the wifi is not there. I now have one of my favorite magazines accessible on my iPad. That is so wonderful. The pages render as beautifully as the paper version. It is easy to zoom to make print larger. It is an easy swipe between pages or you can hit the scroll button at the bottom to quickly move around the magazine! Thank you!

by Zardock

I've been an avid reader of Gramophone for years. Having previewed GramophoneMagazine earlier today, I bought the annual subscription through the iPad app itself. I have no idea what the negative reviewers are talking about. I have access to every single issue published since the magazine's inception in April of 1923. Each issue is searchable and I can bookmark favorite articles. With more recent issues, selecting an album allows access to iTunes preview and purchase option. I love the browsing option, when the pages of the magazine may be previewed in the manner similar Apple's cover-flow.

by Lesit

GramophoneMagazine is a decent one. It allows excellent access to issues of gramophone. Two suggestions:

1. Make access to previous reviews more precise and easier to locate.

2. Allow between pages on screen instead of requiring the user to bring up the arrows at the bottom of the page.