The Spectator Magazine Reviews

by Suzharts

I can’t even get to the article to read it!

by ATL Hoosier

I just gave this one star. Not because of the content. I thoroughly enjoy Jeremy Clarke especially, but all the other content as well. When I can get to it, that is. I hope the people at The Spectator are reading this, because YOU HAVE RUINED TheSpectatorMagazine . There wasn’t anything wrong with the old app. It was straightforward and worked perfectly. THAT’S ALL WE SUBSCRIBERS WANT. The new app is maddeningly convoluted. It takes too much time to find what I want to read, and once found, there’s no guarantee that a simple click will bring it up. You sold out to gearhead app designers and change for change’s sake. This is a frustrating disaster. Keep it simple, stupid.

by Ianel1

This is the third format of Spectator download I have used. The first one was the best. Each of the two “upgrades” has been worse than its predecessor. The latest is a disaster. This latest version makes it very hard to download successfully, and many times when I have been on a train or a plane I have found that the magazine did not download. When I read the magazine it does not bookmark the last page I read and so whenever I resume reading it takes a full minute to get back to where I was. Please either fix TheSpectatorMagazine or scrap it.

by Langport

Magazine won’t download in app.

by The_Green_Line

Great content but app keeps crashing on 12.9” iPad.

by Man Who Sees As Best He Can

As tittle says.

by Yorkshire Boy US

I've been reading the Spectator for years. It's basically a magazine for political junkies but as an ex-pat I find it keeps me in touch with the zeitgeist in England. They are now full on fascists. Delingpole and Moore are the first ones I'd put against the wall. Then that asswipe Taki. It’s a disgusting magazine and I’ve cancelled my subscription.

by Farinastar

You can subscribe for a year, but if you don’t renew, you lose all access to the issues that you purchased. You’re only buying access, not the actual magazines.

by Dagman80

Less intuitive and clumsier than prior versions. Call this one a fail and bring back the predecessor please.

by James XNZ

The latest update is in many ways a visual improvement, but the magazine is now difficult to read. If you use the menu to skip ahead to an article, and then try to resume reading the magazine from the start, scrolling to the next article takes you back to the article you reached from the menu, rather than just the next page. So scrolling from page 1 to 2 actually takes you to page 40, if you’d been reading page 40 beforehand. Can this please be addressed in the next update?

by MCBJD

I have been a subscriber for over 10 years, first through Kindle then through the iPad app. I love the Spectator and have recommended to many. However, a recent update to TheSpectatorMagazine has made it impossible to read downloaded issues offline. After about 20 minutes of offline reading, TheSpectatorMagazine boots me out of the downloaded magazine and requires a login. As my favorite time to read The Spectator is on flights, this is a real problem. Either I am forced to purchase expensive internet service on the flight (if available) or I have to read some other less enjoyable publication that does allow offline reading. PLEASE FIX THIS!

by Mangiubani

By far the best observer of human dignity and frailty told with witty and self-effacing humor!
Surely my best read of the week.
Ephcharisto polu, adelphe,
M. Marchlewski, s.j.

by Trumpette

Almost always first class reporting and great fun to have Rod and Taki to lighten the moment.....with sage comments along with the irony. I’m a fan!

by CosmoPolymath

Unsurpassed insiders' views of UK politics, from grand strategy through titillating gossip. First class reviews of the UK's manifold cultural offerings.

by Briton In Usa

The most intelligent magazine on mostly UK current affairs issues, as well as US ones too. It’s the clever presentation of pertinent information that makes it unfortunately a rare publication. Highly recommended for any critical mind.

by Gateshead Review

Slightly to the left of the WSJ and much more to the right of the NY Times, the Spectator combines the very best of British commentary on world politics and the arts.

The contributions of the weekly columnists are erudite and constantly entertaining. Overall, the best weekly read for anyone with the most marginal interest in UK culture but beyond this a fine-edged view of word events.

by LGJFA

App keeps crashing on my iPad.

by Jajunc

Informative, well written, up-to-date. It’s been published since 1870!

by Limoges 2

Love your mag! Sometimes hooting out loud. You cheer up this old lady locked up in deepest sw France.

by Cyndavi

I've been a Spectator reader for perhaps twenty years and consider the magazine one of the best available. As an American citizen, I tend to skip over much of the writing on British domestic politics, but the Spectator offers so very much more. There's an amazing variety in the subject matter on offer. The reviews are useful.

Most of all, the use of language is precise; the articles concise. I'm old fashioned enough to believe that what's worth saying not only may but must be said clearly. The Spectator's writing is the antithesis of the usual prose of wet concrete that infest journals like (to pick one at random) the New York Review of Books. And the Spectator is often quit funny, too. Such a deal.

TheSpectatorMagazine has been greatly improved over the years. Early versions of TheSpectatorMagazine made reading a bit of a penance. Those day are mercifully over.

by Sogalitno

I had read the SPECTATOR for years in print and was thrilled to have the ease of TheSpectatorMagazine . I love the writing.

HOWEVER, subscribing thru iTunes (which is the only way you can do a monthly sub) has become a nightmare in using TheSpectatorMagazine .

For many months TheSpectatorMagazine is not recognizing the iTunes sub on any iOS device. Mini iPad, iPad or iPhone. I have submitted several 'ticket' and no one responds with a viable solution.

There is no web id for iTunes users and no matter how many times I delete and reinstall TheSpectatorMagazine there are NO DOWNLOADS of the current mags. Nor can one use the iTunes sub to access the website ...

This is really unforgivable - TheSpectatorMagazine has not been updated since 2014 and there was a major iOS update this year.

It's sad. I doubt I will hear from any one at the SPECTATOR. If I do I will come back and write another review.

Do not purchase TheSpectatorMagazine.

by Inyourfacetoo

Magazine is the best but the download system is rank. Also in App spotlight is pretty useless as only looks in downloaded articles, it should look on the web.

by Vmetta

A breath of fresh air in today's news oultlets! Recommend

by Billybankers

Simply the best economic, political and philosophical comment I read. Keep it up Fraser and team!

by Edmd_Burke

Reading the Spectator is like going to a party and talking with fascinating people who are unpredictable. Most are charming and amusing in an inimitably British way even though their opinions vary widely and may sometimes be strange. I highly recommend it.

by Lordgronk

Like a cry of reason from beyond the darkness that is the modern conservative movement in the US, The Spectator celebrates common sense over zealotry and reasonable discourse over ideology. Let the left be blinded by beliefs and ridiculous schemes. I want a magazine that deals with the world as it is, not as it "should" be, and that magazine is The Spectator.

by Aldous_p

Refreshingly opinionated and outspoken. My new favorite read.