The Economist (Legacy) US Reviews

by Ken Waters

I used to love listening to The Economist audio edition until a particular feature was removed. I used to be able to organise my audio playlist in a specific order; the world this week, then the business section, then finance, and afterwards a few select articles chosen among the remaining sections. I was able to go through the edition and organise everything once, then start and stop listening with the confidence that the playlist remained in the order I prioritised.

Now whenever I add to the audio playlist it's always ordered in the way The Economist is (The World This Week, Leaders, Letters, etc) and I can arrange the playlist to my priority, which I used to do for the past few years....now I don't even want to bother with The Economist at all since I now have to either keep track of what I listened to manually and/or keep adding/removing to the playlist in order to listen while I'm doing other tasks. Very unfortunate. It would be VERY much appreciated if the feature to customise the order of the audio playlist is made available once again. Thank you.

by Kenfoster1987

The audio features have become less reliable and bugs more frequent over time. Since several versions ago, the tracklist/ playlist configuration options became non-functional (it would play the next article in the order no matter what tracks were selected or even downloaded). Then the audio was no longer developed to be handled by iOS as such, so Bluetooth controls stopped working. With the latest release, it will not even play more than one article at a time. It requires opening TheEconomistLegacyUS and manually playing the next one, which makes it useless when running or driving.

I consume the Economist almost solely via audio edition when I commute or work out, and this decline is making it impossible to rely on it as my go-to news source, which is extremely disappointing because the journalism is great.

by ChidiWest

TheEconomistLegacyUS has become more difficult to use over this years. Today November 21, 2019 when listening is interrupted by a call it does not return to playing. It no longer shows consistently on the screen of my iPhone when locked. So I can’t advance to next article without opening TheEconomistLegacyUS . It also does not play in my car every time via Bluetooth. Please change your developer and review process.

by Hdjshdjdjdjjd

What a frustrating experience. I bought on my phone using iTunes. I can’t get access on my tablet no matter what I do. Apple doesn’t provide support. I asked for help from the economist and they sent me an email describing a multi-step process that is different from the choices that are even available. I asked them to refund my money, but that got no response. I’d love to read the magazine, but it’s not worth this hassle.

by Stephen_Smith

Seems everyone has had audio issues with this last major update, for weeks and almost months, yet it’s still not fixed; hey all, why aren’t you listening to us, do you just not care?

Yes, this is comes across as a simple rant, but I, and clearly multiple others, have been patiently waiting for two months for this to get fixed and it still hasn’t, and others are having the same issue but no resolution is being provided, don’t you all test this stuff/care?

by Marcela Grld

The Economist audio app should be much better. If anything, it seems to have worsened over time. It used to allow to play just a selected playlist. Now that option is no longer available. Second, if I stopped listening to a story mid-way, next time I opened TheEconomistLegacyUS , it would pick it up where I left. That’s no longer possible so I have to start from the beginning. This is very unpractical if you are using TheEconomistLegacyUS while driving during your commute.

by Robinanyc

When reading on the treadmill or similar, i often accidentally swipe to the next article rather than paging down. When i go back TheEconomistLegacyUS puts me back at the start and i have to scroll around to get back to where i left off, which is annoying.

Also if i want to reread an article, i have to scroll through issues as there is no proper search feature.

On the bright side the ability to navigate through articles and ads is good.

by Dbrouss

I use the audio feature of TheEconomistLegacyUS, but it is now badly broken.

New problems s of 4.3.5:
- When one story audio ends, the next does not start automatically
- When music is paused and started again using Bluetooth, it is usually a different app that starts playing
- Not all selected stories shots up in the playlist, so it is difficult to tell where you are

IOS does not appear to see this as an audio app, so it seems to start other audio apps when i hot play via Bluetooth, at least that is my theory. I also cannot enables background sync in IOS, maybe that is also the issue.

I buy the Economist solely for the audio version for my commute. If this is not fixed by February when my subscription is due to renew, i will cancel. I hope it gets fixed.

by AmyAnh18

Audio would not play unless i download it to my limited-storage phone. In the previous version i could stream the tracks online and resume where i left off. Since the new upgrade i can’t do those things anymore. This version is more like a downgrade, not upgrade.
Please return the features.

by Yhfhvg

When you start the audio up after a break, TheEconomistLegacyUS often starts halfway through a story you’ve already heard. It’s very frustrating. The “track list” vs “playlist” feature is unnecessary and confusing. Sometimes the next story just won’t start. TheEconomistLegacyUS is often unresponsive to controls in my car. No other apps have this problem. In one case I hit pause, and when I hit play the audio from an ad started playing along with the story.

Finally, the lack of a scroll bar in dark mode is a long overlooked feature.

When you’re paying this much for a subscription to this newspaper, you expect the apps to work!

by Usylesses

This is one of the best designed apps out there. I particularly like that it provides the option of selecting which stories you want to download in audio. The problem comes when you try to use third party listening devices like headphones with TheEconomistLegacyUS . TheEconomistLegacyUS is either non responsive to headphone commands or when you stop and then restart a story an ad will play on top of the story. A few times Apple’s music player came on instead of TheEconomistLegacyUS . This deficiency fundamentally impares my ability to use TheEconomistLegacyUS unless I have my phone on and in front of me, which is basically never.

by Moofornoodles

It’s the same great magazine but on your phone. The content is fantastic, but the audio part of TheEconomistLegacyUS has been buggy for years. Right now it only plays one track at a time, then you need to manually start the next article. Previous bugs persisted for eons. I’m hoping this one gets fixed faster.

by Msb64

I love the Economist and have been reading it, whether with my eyes or ears, for years. I’ve gravitated toward the audio version recently but have had consistent issues with it actually playing the audio.

Today, 16 Feb 2019, I’m trying to play the completely downloaded (as opposed to streamed) audio for the most recent issue. While some sections play, others, including The Workd This Week and Leaders refuse to play.

If I can’t access the content, I can’t be happy with TheEconomistLegacyUS .

In addition, the developers need a more informative (e.g. indicate which sections have been read) and intuitive interface. I just don’t get the flow.

by Ahc10

I use TheEconomistLegacyUS primarily for the audio feature. I listen on my commute to/from work. When the audio works, it’s great, but this feature is pretty buggy, and now, it seems to have completely stopped. Please fix ASAP! I crave my daily Economist fix!

by Señor Rios

The writing and UI remains outstanding. I agree with reviewers who ask for more granular control over the audio player’s speed. Increments of .25 would be a huge improvement.