theCHIVE Reviews

This was a really great app. Had a lot of interesting stuff on here but a lot has disappeared. Now it’s filled with what I like to call ads. Yes there are ads that you’re forced to watch but these are mandatory ads even though I’ve supported them by buying merchandise. I get it, it’s all about the money now and NOT about the content. Buy this, buy that, oh look more cool stuff to buy. You know people are broke right? theCHIVE has also started to support every girl on ONLYFANS. Wanna find who has an ONLYFANS page?, come find it in the Chive! I get it, people want money but they're not getting my money... again people are broke. There are too many places to find free naked woman and why would anyone pay for this? Go get a real job!

Also, when theCHIVE starts, it shows “the Chive...probably the best app in the world”. Not close. These guys copy and paste a lot of stuff from Reddit. Come on Chive, you guys are better than this. I can easily just go to Reddit if that’s the case. There’s so many people that submit cool, interesting, and hot pics but it’s easier to copy from Reddit? What’s the point of iChive if you rarely use it?

And not to mention, if you open any other app, let’s say text message, weather, email or what not... the chive app will restart. This is beyond ANNOYING. I don’t want to scroll to where I was all over again and forced to watch another ad just because the stupid app restarted.

I’ve followed the chive since 2010 and I love the site, the content and everything the chive has done and continues to do for so many people.
theCHIVE is the problem, first off just opening it cuts off any music or podcasts that is playing which is annoying. The biggest problem is the f@$!ing ads. I don’t click on them but either I scroll past them or just don’t touch my phone (iphoneX) and they pop up open my safari and or App Store and just redirect in a loop until I just close out theCHIVE and my internet/App Store. I love the chive but the ad problem with theCHIVE as turned me from a 5-7 day a week user to maybe one or two days. As soon as the ad monster tries to take over I’m out for the day.

John you have done amazing things for a lot of people. Please fix theCHIVE so more chivers can enjoy your work without the frustration.

They literally punish you with the whole “Probably the best app in the world” tag line on the screen every time you go back to the old well and try to enjoy ya some Chive. Nobody will argue that the content and the people are anything but awesome. But the complete failure to even muster a half hearted effort at providing an app that even works at a mediocre level is astonishing. You can google it yourself and see nothing but an avalanche of complaints and comments from almost every person on the planet who has used theCHIVE and it’s an utter dumpster fire. It never works. Can’t open images or gifs. Crashes almost every time. It literally is almost self-defeating to even try to open it. You just want some DAR or memes or some crap and somehow you find yourself angry, disappointed, and borderline enraged by the time you’ve reloaded theCHIVE 4 times to try to see the freakin pics on a juicy thread or post. Save yourself the agony and just bookmark the Safari link to the Chive online. Trust me you’ll be thankful. Or if you are the kind of person that loves standing in line to find out they sold the last item to the person in front of you, or arriving at your favorite restaurant to find out they are closed that day, or opening up your one present on Christmas morning to find it is an empty box and a cruel joke.....well, then download theCHIVE and you’ll be repeatedly abused.

Please don’t get me wrong, because I love the Chive, the content they provide, what they stand for, and for all they do in providing to people and communities in need. However, theCHIVE itself does not work the best for me. It’s constantly being bogged down or freezes completely to the point where I often need to restart it, or just can’t use it period. Also, “pop-up ads” constantly cause theCHIVE Store to open on my phone, which I can not get to stop myself but rather have to let it run its course and hopefully be able to run the Chive app hours later. I’m not sure if it’s an issue with my phone (iPhone 6) or the ads they allow to run in their app. But, seeing as how I have other apps that do not have this issue I don’t think it’s my phone. For the reasons above though, I’ve decided to delete theCHIVE from my phone and plan on just viewing their web page on my down time. It’s too frustrating to be in an app where ads work phenomenally, but you can barely view the actual content theCHIVE was intended for. I mean this as constructive criticism because, as I said, I love the Chive. I hope that this review gets to them and they consider it wholeheartedly because I’m going to miss it on my phone. But, I’ll be enjoying their posts on Instagram and on their website from here on out.

The Chive has always meant much more to me than just an app full of funny galleries. It’s a community with a cause. I’ve bought Chive merchandise, supported Chive Charities, and have been proud to call myself a Chiver. I get it, nothing is free. I know at the end of the day it’s a business, and businesses have to be profitable, but theCHIVE has recently become a minefield of ads. Noisy video ads that pop up without warning, bottom banner ads that slide up to fill half the screen, etc etc. The ads have crossed the line from being a perfectly acceptable consequence of enjoying free content to being a truly annoying experience. All of this conveniently getting progressively more annoying upon the introduction of a $4.99 a month subscription for “ad-free”. I’m deleting theCHIVE for now. Guys, please take a closer look at this direction you are taking. When you ask, we Chivers deliver. When someone is in need, we blow the roof off fundraising. If you’re hard up for cash, please consider treating us with some respect and laying it out straight, instead of hitting us with some Clockwork Orange crap. I bet a majority of the true Chivers would make it rain on a fundraiser to keep you all doing what you do. This overly aggressive ad strategy makes me feel like a commodity and not a member of the community.

Trust me on all this below. You’ll see for yourself soon enough. You’ll love them at first the you‘ll see what I’m talking about. Have been checking back in the last few weeks to see if things got better since my last review. No way got much worse. Just had some f’d up audio commercial start playing out of nowhere and you can’t turn it off even if you close theCHIVE . F these guys with a capital F!!! And F Bill Murry. Don’t know why they support this creep. He is not a good guy. And who want to buy stupid coins with Bill Murray on them? For what? Just to give their money to these
Guys. Wake up people!!! The greed of these guys got the best of them. You cans find better elsewhere. I’m done.

Old review:
The chive nation and charity are both awesome. However, the user experience is now miserable. theCHIVE is so glitchy and slow with frequent freeze ups I can no longer use it. Also, with the amount of ads I suspect that the owners are looking to cash out and are now at the stage of milking it for every dime they can squeeze out, not caring if their product suffers. Another competitor will come along and the chive Brother’s will have made their millions and then .....bye bye. It was a good run for a while though. I enjoyed most of it. Peace out.

I’m a small business owner and I’ve had the fortune to see my business grow outside of my home office and into something that requires a complete staff, office space, employee benefits, 3rd party tech support, 3rd party payroll support and even an accountant who only knows my business name but not mine... The Chive has grown by monumental proportions since I joined the Chive Nation in 2012. You guys have built something to be proud of! But as of tonight, I just can’t handle the ads or the $60(ish) a year that it would take to go ad free. That $60 could be going towards a charity or my bar tab. After reading the last 30 reviews it seems we’re all on the same page. We love y’all and the content but the price to play is getting out of hand. There has to be a happy medium here. If not I fear that you as an organization will lose a large portion of your support. You do great things for those who need it most, but don’t forget about the majority of users out there who use your app as a pick me up or a place to shut down and relax. They are the ones who will ultimately make or break a company. The ad pollution that consumed what probably WAS the best has made the experience stressful and frustrating. I hope to see y’all rebound from this hiccup. Much love and respect!

John...Mac...and the rest of the guys and ladies that power the Chive machine, you have failed us. I personally chose the Chive back in 2013 so that I could have a positive perspective on the goings on around the world. I was turned on to you guys by a fellow medic and it was an immediate love. I have seen your move to Austin and was filled with the warm feels when I see what is being done for my fellow vets and also those who are in need. But you have FAILED US. You stood tall when there needed to be a voice for net neutrality as well as the blue grinch known as Facebook...BUT YOU HAVE FAILED US. We, the Chive Nation, use your app as a get away or as a substitute for social media, we come to you to get away from the constant bombardment from ads and the mainstream chase of the almighty dollar. With theCHIVE in its current iteration, I can’t even sit for longer than two minutes without have to cut off intrusive ads. There has to be a better way. PLEEEEASE for the love of all that is holy...cut it out. Get back to what made you the Chris Farley’s of this world, and quit using us, the Chivers and Chivettes as your ad guinea pigs.

I used to be one theCHIVE daily. Typically multiple times a day. Anytime I had a moment and needed a quick dopamine fix. Then the ads started. I get that this is a business and you need to keep it going, but come on. The ads are at a point that they are ridiculous and I rarely even open it anymore. Pay for the ad-free experience you say? It’s easier to just delete theCHIVE and go elsewhere. I’ve donated to Chive charities, spent money on merch, and supported this app for several years. For a long time it was part of my daily routine. Now, because of the ads, I rarely even open theCHIVE or visit the site anymore which means I’m not buying merch or donating anymore either. You can’t have it both ways. Either you have loyal supporters who make this app a part of their life or you make your money from ads and see a huge turnover in subscribers and supporters. This whole site was designed to sell merch and did a fantastic job at first but as the business grew, so did the overhead and the need for more money. It no longer has the same “community feeling” that it did 3-4 years ago. Now it’s just another business vying for attention in a world where we are already overloaded with those. Take care and good luck. I’ll be deleting theCHIVE .

Just updated to latest version again. Won't open up! Just crashes! Even after reload!

Update on the new update: I’ve followed The Chive since before they had theCHIVE. It used to be funny and entertaining. Now it is all about reposted memes and bouncing boobs. I’m a guy and this is even too much for me. Not to mention all the ads, which after the last update they added MORE. Biggest complaint from everyone are the ads and what does Chive do? MORE ADS! As I scroll on the main page they’ve added short video clips between the galleries. Every time I scroll past one of those I get a short audio blip. My phone is on vibrate and the audio STILL PLAYS. Ridiculous. It has also been randomly going to the adverts web page even though I never clicked on the ad. This last update made that problem worse and it get stuck in a loop when I click back to theCHIVE it immediately goes back to the adverts web page, over and over and over, till I force close theCHIVE . The Chive started out well, now it’s about the ad money. I won’t pay for the ad free version and I will no longer use theCHIVE . You will also be losing any future donation’s to your charities. Chive has become Greedy, maybe that’s why the C in Chive is green.

Long time Chiver. Always enjoyed their content and I love what they’ve done recently to change the online publishing landscape. What I can’t understand is why their app has continued to be buggy for my iPhones over the years. There always seems to be issues with something, and most notably is how it can’t seem to handle being opened after it’s ignored for a few hours without making my iPhone 7+ go haywire, and more frequently is how it will stop my music or audiobook whenever I open theCHIVE , and I have to turn the music back on while using theCHIVE to continue. I really love having a paid subscription where there are no ads. That is more than worth the price for the quality content, but theCHIVE crashing and causing these issues is driving me nuts. Y’all.... please PLEASE do something about this. The music stopping is so consistent I can’t believe it. You have a great thing going but I’m literally writing this review because I had to try 5 times to open theCHIVE and it kept crashing, so I’ve spent this moment writing this review instead of checking the DAR. You are worth more than this. Godspeed.

It almost seems like a tragic breakup. We had some great times and I truly enjoyed the humor that I could always count on, especially when I needed some kind of pick me up. I stuck with theCHIVE after the introduction of ads, knowing that just like tv and radio, ads are a part of enjoying free content. I also thought it was perfectly fine that they offered a subscription based ad-free experience for those willing to pay for it. What I did not expect was that the quality of the end user experience with theCHIVE would become so degraded for those of us who don’t want to pay. They may still offer free content for every one who wants it, but with how slow theCHIVE has become, how choppy the downloading, having to stop after two or three pictures to wait for the next two or three to download, and the frequent redirects, it has become impossible to simply enjoy a little humor from theCHIVE. I have deleted it and will just have to find humor from another source. While The Chive may be a wonderful organization and community, they are limiting their exposure by making theCHIVE so unpleasant to use. I still love you, but I just can’t be with you anymore.

Could we just maybe charge a ONE-TIME $.99 (or at most $4.99...again ONCE, NOT per month) for theCHIVE , if nothing else but to forgo the constant barrage of useless ads & pop-ups? Seems the ads load quicker than the vids, which is maddening to say the least...Overall the “original’ content is always wonderful, but to have to time your swipe in between the “loading” icon that pops up constantly, or the random “let’s go to theCHIVE Store for no other reason than because we want to pump a game that will be gone within the year”, I have lost all hope for theCHIVE . I understand it takes money to do what they do, but to go ad-free for what they are asking is borderline extortion. I usually see a good portion of their posts on BuzzFeed a few days beforehand. Now I have been hit with the “BLACKED” pop-up (yes, that BLACKED... Incognito search that out if you really need to know). To have uninvited hardcore porn pop onto my phone from an app was beyond ridiculous. Apple doesn’t have many viruses that affect their products; fairly certain theCHIVE will change that real quick.

The chive has some decent content collections, mostly sourced from Reddit and other platforms but there is some unique stuff in the mix too. Overall, it’s an entertaining site with a lot of content updated daily

Unfortunately, theCHIVE is less than stellar. Content often loads slowly and seems to take a lot of phone processing power for the type of content it is loading. My old iPhone 6s used to get hot running theCHIVE compared to similar apps like Reddit or Facebook. The worst part however is the intrusive ads, especially the auto play videos with sound. I’m all for having advertisement on free to use sites but I typically use these kinds of apps during breaks at work or at night before going to sleep. Nothing worse than having a loud ad from my phone play unexpectedly for all my coworkers to hear, or wake up my girlfriend at night, all because I didn’t think to turn off my phone volume to look at a photo website.

I’d like to use theCHIVE more but it had become so annoying that I rarely use The Chive and favor Reddit as I don’t have to worry about the crazy adds with its app.

As much as I enjoy the content theCHIVE and what this organization provides, the grammar and conventions are lacking in a published site. It's understood when using slang like the adorable "doggos" and other slang, but "let's be hone" passes when it should be "let's be honest." Proper use of "your" and "you're" is ignored. There's many, and I mean I can find spelling and grammatical errors in almost EVERY post. And please choose either the British spelling or the American spelling of words. It appears that there's a bunch of frat boys running this outfit and it really should be polished. I say this, because I care, and I want what it best for this app. If I didn't care for your polish and your best, I wouldn't say anything. But I do.

UPDATE: Too many intrusive ads. Scrolling down I’m automatically redirected to Safari and can’t enjoy the content. By the way, Wikipedia is NOT a source. Even your “facts” have no sources. Amateurs.

I remember first downloading the chive almost 10 years ago now on my old iPhone 4 and it worked great, save for how long it took for gifs to load back then, but hey, that was to be expected at the time. Now, on today’s most advanced of advanced smart phone platforms, if you use theCHIVE for more than 5 minutes, the first thing to happen is some bad lagging. About a minute later, you get eternal loading wheels. Nothing will load, pics or gifs. Fast forward another minute or so and everything completely freezes. Think you can shut down theCHIVE and start over? Wrong again. Needs to stay shut down for a considerable amount of time to reset itself. Once it does, you’d think it’d be good to go for round 2? Wrong again. You’ll encounter the exact same sequence of events. And on a side note, a lot of the posts now are sincerely bad. I mean just really bad. The chive was once a good community with a good platform for the community members to get together and share a laugh or two over some solid posts and picture collections. Maybe it’s time to just let it die. Maybe I’m just old and cranky now.

This was my favorite app for years, with me checking in several times a day. I paid for an ad-free version years ago, which ended up disappearing from theCHIVE Store. Ads came back and have gotten worse over the years. Of course good content is worth ads here and there, but when a random video loudly plays out of nowhere, then banners are coming across the screen multiple times and I’m getting redirected to theCHIVE Store without having touched anything, things have gotten ridiculous. The community is still great, some of the content is still good, but a bunch is repeated often and a ton of it is taken from other sites like Reddit, with some editors not bothering to mention where they took the gallery content from. Now if you want no ads you get to pay the same per year as you do streaming TV subscriptions. At least until they revoke this option and make the next one an even harder hit. I love your merch, the community and some of the content, but you all took a great thing and mucked it the h*ll up

This isn’t a knock on the community or the content- all stellar in my opinion.
I don’t mind the ads, I get it.
My issue is the same as others have mentioned, bogging down, freezing, taking an eternity (dial up memories) to load a single photo and dude, the GIFs forget about it. It’s like slow motion if/when they finally load.
This is a relatively new occurrence. You went through a phase last year where theCHIVE froze regularly and managed to fix it. This was pre-embedded ads, maybe correlation there?
Beyond the irritation that the content loads soooo slowly (it at all) is that the ads populate immediately. I’m sure it’s due to their comparatively small file size but still irritating as AF. Thanks for the rant. Love the Chive! Can we get someone on this issue?

Used to be an awesome app providing many hours of entertainment while sitting at the bar in an attempt to avoid real human contact through a digitally mediated experience. I understand the advertisements but the frequency with which theCHIVE crashes is becoming difficult to manage. Perhaps the crashes are an attempt at conserving the battery power that would otherwise be drained if you were allowed to operate uninterrupted. I’ve also considered the possibility that the crashes are an engineered failsafe to prevent your phone from melting into self destruct mode because after about five minutes without a crash, I need a welding glove in order to hang on the the hecking thing. All that being said this review is for theCHIVE only, the Chive itself is an outstanding community and I respect and appreciate their charity work and involvement with military and veterans. That Ma’am’s and Sirs, I will salute. I will check back for improvements in the chive app with hopeful anticipation, however; in the in interim I’ll be scrolling through the gifs over on Reddit. Peace, Semper Fi and to the future!

Edit September 2017: Absolutely none of the issues so many of the users have tendered have been addressed. Video ads on every single one, constant pop-up ads, being redirected to theCHIVE Store, etc. Considering that most of your content is recycled from other websites (but I was willing to overlook that fact), I'm deleting The Chive. Sorry, but pushing that crap on your user base just doesn't cut it for me. Good luck with your future endeavors, but I'll be spending my charity money elsewhere.

I am a (was) religious user of this site and app, but the ads have made it unbearable. I literally don't even click on any videos anymore because I have to sit through a 15 second ad for each and every one! I could see watching one ad and then the rest would be ad free, but the BS on every single GD video gets old. Not to mention the pop-ups that happen all of the time. The Chive has sold out and I am sorely disappointed. Remember where you came from and take all of these one star reviews into account. You are literally missing my Chive Charities money because your app is so Corporate now. Hope it's worth it.

Problems with theCHIVE keep me from rating 5 stars. It’s a shame that such a great amount of content is locked behind an app that barely functions. Mine crashes every time I view 2 or 3 posts. EVERY. TIME. It also shuts off my music app even if Chive’s app isn’t playing any sound or video, so when I’m listening to music and I want to surf Chive for something interesting, I can’t play music while I’m surfing it. Some posts have frozen my phone completely to the point I had to force the phone to shut down, while other times it just forces me to restart the Chive app. Then it’ll work for a short while. I often get bored fighting theCHIVE and just do something else. CHIVE PEOPLE: FIRE YOUR DEVELOPER AND HIRE A REAL PROGRAMMER! Your app is still broken, hard, as of April 2018.

As a long time Chiver, I have bought hundreds of dollars worth of Chive merchandise, donated plenty to their charities, enjoying their website for many years, and was thrilled when the first app appeared. I have always enjoyed the content... funny and uplifting threads, cat Saturday (where’d that go?), cute girls, interesting knowledge, comical gifs, interesting talent, and a general collection of everything you want to see online without all the crap and politics. Changes and updates to theCHIVE made some versions tough, but the Chive always redeemed themselves with fixes and better content. Until now.

Every update is greeted with more ads, more merchandising, and so many more crashes... all with less true Chive content. And their only solution is to sell me an overpriced subscription that includes a coin, fewer ads, and random discounts from their store... golly gee, mister, wow that’s awesome....

I’m quite sad this will be the last month I’ll suffer through the frustration, as I feel the Chive served me greatly through the years and has ultimately let me down. As I delete theCHIVE , I can’t help but wonder if those two brothers even care anymore.