Real Simple Magazine Reviews

by Pulmodoc

Despite the fact that I have an ongoing subscription, RealSimpleMagazine Library will only show issues up to November 2021. The December and Jan/Feb issues show upon the front page of RealSimpleMagazine but not on RealSimpleMagazine Library. When I try to download from the front page, RealSimpleMagazine tells me I have to pay for them and subscribe, even though my subscription is paid thru the iTunes Store til November, 22. I tried resetting, deleting and redox loading RealSimpleMagazine and still get the same results.

by Mama App

I was disappointed in RealSimpleMagazine. While I like the magazine's content, RealSimpleMagazine itself pales in comparison to other, similar magazines. Way too much advertising, for one thing. Other iPad magazines have a fraction of the amount of advertising...a real advantage over the print subscriptions, in my opinion. RealSimpleMagazine has pages of ads, with an annoying and jarring stop in the flow of "flipping" through the pages where you have to click to get out of the ad and continue reading. Also, the lack of clickable links within the articles...even within articles about items you can purchase online...is a real drawback to me. Where are the video and slideshows available in similar magazines? Why no Newsstand integration, so I can keep this with all of my other magazines? On top of it all, the price of a single issue is more than the price of an issue of these other magazines. I won't purchase another issue until improvements are made.

by Podgirlfromtheblacklagoon

I’ve been a subscriber for years and just re-subscribed in December. No January issue? Contacted the publisher, contacted RealSimpleMagazine to learn that they have decided to do combined issues for this year. Requested a refund for the missing issues and was refused. Will dispute the charge on my credit card I have a receipt for 12 issues. Do not subscribe unless you want to throw your money into the trashcan.

by IJJL

I’ve been a subscriber for many, many years and can no longer restore issues via RealSimpleMagazine. Please fix this.

by My Gabbie

Had I known once I updated RealSimpleMagazine I would lose ALL of my old issues and it would be incorporated into Newstand, I would have NEVER have done it. I was thrilled when downloaded RealSimpleMagazine a few months ago that I could keep all of my old issues (which I still needed to catch up on) on my iPad so I can get rid of the hard copies - trying to minimize the junk around the house. Having not read the older issues, I gave them away since I had it all on my iPad. Now that I updated they are all gone and all of the original functionality of RealSimpleMagazine is gone too. You can see the controls at the bottom when you first open up RealSimpleMagazine in Newstand but then they go away and you can't get it back. WTH?! I'm deleting RealSimpleMagazine. What a waste! Real Simple, if it wasn't broke, why did you try to 'fix' it?

by NBChrist

Since RealSimpleMagazine upgraded all of my magazine issues have disappeared. I’ve been trying to sign in for months....doesn’t recognize my account number or email address. Couldn’t contact anyone because it didn’t recognize my email address so the send button was grayed out. Finally tracked back the charges on my credit card so I could figure out who to call....it’s the Meredith Corporation by the way.

Was able to get through to a real, very helpful, person who verified my info...I’m not crazy after all...who then sent me to the ZINIO help desk. Have been going in circles with THEM all day. They had me input a new email address and password. We end up at the same spot “click on the digital+print subscriber button”. Where I am in accounts does not provide that option. I have uninstalled and reinstalled both the Real Simple and ZINIO apps. But, hey, good news...according to them I have been a subscriber since 2011! Yay for me! No magazines...they are happy to take my money and I get a nice blank screen!

by RaineBagley

Edit: Cancelled my subscription a few months ago. Couldn't take the buggy app anymore. My subscription will remain cancelled until the old app is back.

Edit: And now I can't even stay logged in or download any of my magazines. Awesome...

I've been subscribing for a long time and they keep changing the parts about it I like. I don't have room for the paper magazines at my apartment, so I rely on the e-version to get and keep my magazines. First they removed the calendar at the end, ok. And now, starting with January's issue, the text seems so much smaller with fewer interactive features such as highlighting one caption of a list at a time. I usually read while I'm on the treadmill and it's almost impossible for me to read now - I'm 28 with 20/20 vision. The table of contents also doesn't seem to let you jump around anymore making it hard to revisit articles I may not have had time to read. If the magazine keeps going downhill like this, I won't be able to justify spending the money on it anymore.

by Ajonesdesign

All the below is based around the iPhone app. I don't own an iPad so I can use those functions...
Just got the subscription as a gift, and just signing up was more trouble than it should have been. RealSimpleMagazine doesn't even fit my iPhone 6. It was built for what it looks like, an iPhone 4.
I'm also disappointed with the fact that it doesn't rotate and you can't view it in 2 pages mode as if you were reading a real magazine.
I was also bombarded by ads and can hardly find the art led because of them!
Very disappointed. We're headed towards a digital age and just because I signed up for the magazine also doesn't mean I want to take it everywhere I go like I do my phone, which is more convenient when I'm somewhere waiting and wanna read your magazine. This should be a priority and considering that the bigger phones have been out for over a year, I can see that it's not.

by Jendark

Glad to see this good magazine is finally available on the iPad. The interesting, useful articles and the attractive photographs and page layouts are there.

I would give it a fourth star for better interactivity. Links within ads are clickable, but not within articles. [The "Gifts" article, for example, would be even more useful if the reader could go directly to the websites listed for each item.] I would give it a fifth star if e-subscriptions were available. To keep down clutter in my home and to reduce environmental impact, I am no longer subscribing to hard copy magazines. Having to buy this a single copy at a time is a bit pricey, especially when so many other magazines are making electronic subscriptions available.

by Lt222

12/20 update: Well they updated RealSimpleMagazine again & now I've lost all my back issues, or must redownload them & I have to sign in over & over & over again, sometimes just to read the ONE magazine I have bothered to download. So now I've lost my back issues TWICE- so much for the iPad making this easier. At least the program used to remember who I was. Really now, it seems like a very inconvenient process- I think I may junk it & just stick with the paper magazine again.

Not happy that RealSimpleMagazine has been incorporated into the "Newstand." all my back issues are gone (double boo). Does this mean I won't ever be able to keep them anymore? I don't want to go to the Newstand to read Real Simple- ridiculous to turn this over to Apple. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

by WhoDoesntLoveRS

I love Real Simple and the fact that RealSimpleMagazine allows me to read digital versions at no extra charge. Suggestions for improvement: 1. The ability to bookmark specific pages instead of sections. If I like a recipe in a 5 page spread I want to be able to go right back to the recipe I marked instead of the first page of that section.
2. The ability to view all Real Simple bookmarks from the Real Simple library instead of having to remember which issue the bookmark was placed in.
3. The ability to click to navigate to websites listed in each issue.

Another reviewer mentioned the need for WiFi in order to read the issues. I've only tried to read at home so far, but if this is true then that is a MAJOR disappointment. What's the point of having to "download" an issue if you do not have offline access to it? Readers definitely need the ability to read magazines while waiting or traveling away from a wireless signal they trust.

I'll end by saying once again that I really love this magazine! I hope these features are included in future updates.

by Shadesofpemberly

I'm super glad that Real Simple finally has a digital version. That being said, I was kinda hoping this would be for the Newsstand app. Newsstand is one of three apps on my iPad that i cannot use and cannot remove from my home screen. So i was hoping that this would be in that format so that I could utilize that app.

Overall good app, but could use some work. It freezes up on me a lot. There are some pages where the content doesn't cover the screen and you have to swipe your finger over the I,age to see the rest of the page. Also, I have to keep downloading the magazine every other to,e I use RealSimpleMagazine , which is a real bummer considering my Internet speed isn't exactly optimal. It would also be nice to be able to view the magazine in landscape mode, if so desired.

I'm not really into a lot of magazines, but I like Real Simple because the title says exactly what you're getting before you even open the cover.

by Bongir

I love Real Simple magazine. Being a collector (subscriber) of various Home,Garden, Fashion, Photography, Architecture, Financial, and Travel magazines - I have often said if I had to pare down my subscriptions - Real Simple would be my first choice to keep.
That being said, availability of an e subscription made it easy to keep the issues I love without the clutter. Downloading an issue was fairly easy - removing an issue was a little trickier as even tapping the issue for selection to delete would open it.
Most of the links to websites for items in the magazine worked flawlessly (even links within those websites that were opened) and navigation back to the magazine was a breeze.
Color quality of pages was almost perfect - had a slight "washed" quality to my eye (compared with other e versions of magazine that I have).
Type size was reasonable for reading - and zoom was easy.
All in all It was good - with one star deducted for pains in deleting issue, slight fuzz on colors, and glitchy website links (I am picky about my 5 star rating).

by Lala283

At first I also had problems logging in to RealSimpleMagazine , but unlike others who have given poor reviews, I called the customer service number and a nice man helped get my app running and continued to stay on the line until everything was resolved. It took no more than 5 min and I haven't had a problem since!

One of the best things I like about reading my Real Simple Magazine on my iPad, is that some of the adds take you to a website where you can get more info or purchase a product! I would love it if I could click on the website addresses listed with items featured in the magazine so I might be able to purchase those finds too!

by Cajuncocoa

All of the issues available to me will not show up on my iPad Mini5. I’ve completed all the troubleshooting steps: syncing, restoring purchases, deleting and redownloading RealSimpleMagazine , turning the iPad off and back on ...nothing works. Can someone help?

by JO FACE

Updated to the new app. Sorry I did. I have now lost all my issues that were downloaded. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling RealSimpleMagazine . No good. If it wasn’t broken, why did you fix it. Very disappointed. If I can not download my back issues, I will be cancelling my subscription, until you can fix this. Disappointed user and reader.
Have been in contact with customer support and they still can’t fix my problem. Have been sending them emails with info they requested and I still can’t download any issues,especially the latest issue. Why should I pay when I already have a subscription. Think I will not be renewing.

by Lizzyjeanne

I was pleasantly surprised when I got an email from Real Simple letting me know that I could get a digital subscription for free with my print subscription. I haven't even started getting the print subscription in the mail yet, but I was able to look up my account with my address anyways. The magazines loaded without problem, and it is formatted beautifully. I really appreciate how easy it is to navigate through the magazine and jumps from section to section. I think it's easier and more fun to read the magazine digitally. The contents page has links that take you right to the article that you want to read. Great job, Real Simple. Other magazines could take cues from you.

by Karencz

RealSimpleMagazine comes free with a paid print subscription and it veers very little from the print version. Having it makes it all the more handy for me to finish reading one of my favorite magazines. The colors and pictures seem even crisper on the screen than they do on the printed page and Real Simple is always a beautifully shot, uncluttered magazine, enjoyable to the eye as much as it is to read. Intuitive toolbar makes navigation simple. I cling to my magazines like an outdated dinosaur, but if they are all this perfect, I'm not so sure I need to continue adding to my monthly recycling heap.

by Pandora Nervosa

As the mother/step-mother of 3 very unique individuals, life is never dull. Two of the children are incredibly resourceful & self-sufficient. The third (and oldest) either forgets that he has a project altogether or just doesn't care. Getting this child to do anything is the most stressful thing in my life. The battles span the gamut from his wearing deodorant to washing the sheets I purchased for him 5 months ago (and he hasn't laundered them not even once).

THIS, my friends, is where Real Simple comes into the picture. Aided by the fantastic articles, checklists, demonstrative photography, plus the handy take-along apps, I am never without the calming influence that is Real Simple.

While one very small corner of my life is in total chaos, thanks to Real Simple, the important parts of my family's life is fresh, comfortable and organized...all thanks to Real Simple.

by G'maof2

I truly enjoys he Real Simple magazine. It's always full of interesting, useful, productive topics. RealSimpleMagazine itself is a little clumsy to download. I use an IPad and to get the issue to download, I have put in my customer number, etc. There are a lot of ID #s and passwords that one has to memorize these days. Once I have a paid subscription, why can't the magazine recognize that and download new issues automatically? Ask if you want but don't make me jump through hoops trying to do what should be a "simple" push of a button. I get frustrated each month - there must be an "simpler" way!

by Allie Tex

What’s wrong with the new app? I’ve been trying for three hours to download the latest issue. If you can’t fix this you need to go back to the prior app. At least it worked.

by Susieq317

Just like all these other 1 star reviews, can’t access anything even though I’m signed in. Ridiculous

by XtyM

I have signed in as a digital + print subscriber (as you’ve suggested to others with this problem), and I cannot access my issues. Tried both with email and subscriber number...still nothing.

by LPDeNeri

RealSimpleMagazine will not recognize print subscription account number, so my current subscription are not available in my library and so in available to view or download. This seems to be an issue with most review and is bringing down the apps ratings. It is so frustrating. I doubt that I’ll renew my subscription if RealSimpleMagazine bugs aren’t fixed.

by Mandiepedia

My app, unlike others, has been fine until this month. Now I can’t download June (which I paid for) no matter how many times I try to restore my app purchases. I refuse to jump through a million hoops to fix this, based on all of the other comments. Looks like I’ll either go back to being a print only.....or stop reading altogether.

by NorCalReader 2019

Like others, I had access to my print + digital subscription to RS as well as other magazines (Fortune, etc.) until a month or so ago, when RealSimpleMagazine was upgraded. Now I have no access to any of the editions of any of the magazines and apparently have to jump through hoops to get it rectified. Terrible upgrade. Terrible customer service. After many years of being a subscriber to many of your magazines, I am, for the first time, reconsidering renewing my subscriptions. Very disappointed.

by Real Nurse Longs Simpilicity

App is very quirky. Sometimes I can read the journal other times I cannot.
Magazine is so much thinner lately .