News-O-Matic: Reading for Kids Reviews

by Laur3Eliz

I’m a second grade teacher in a Catholic school. I’ve been using NewsOMatic for years. Even got majority of all other teachers to buy and use in their classrooms. The last year I noticed a few of the articles dealing with our election, politics, and President Trump to be very clearly leaning toward the left. I actually use the bias, “Not whole truth” information they give to teach a lesson on “fake news”. I’m going to finish out this year, but if it doesn’t change to being fair and unbiased, my teachers and myself will Not be renewing.

by LoveTheLORD7

This news app was perfect for me until I updated it recently & made me sorry I did. Now while reading the articles, as I am nearing the middle or end, it keeps jumping back to the beginning! I have to keep scrolling back continuously to the section I was reading! That so much takes away the joy from reading the articles. Why is it doing that?🙁 Then I was surprised they took away the little animated piece (with the dog & ball, etc) they had when you pressed NewsOMatic ! Now it just says loading.... If I had known it was going to be a problem reading the articles - since it keeps scrolling back to the top automatically - I would have NEVER updated it! Can you please fix this?!? Why do supposed updates make things worse instead of better? The articles are still great but how can they be read & enjoyed if it automatically jumps back to the beginning?!? Again, can you please fix this?

by Vscopeppapig

I am sorry to say but I don’t know why to even like do anything you have to have a subscription you should at least have something for maybe the people who can’t afford it ( i can afford it but I don’t spend it on this) because all your doing is charging parents/kids to pay for NewsOMatic they may not use that often and stuff like that. Back to what I said earlier what if parents can’t just afford to waste all their money on NewsOMatic instead of putting towards dinner and food and supplies needed. I truly myself have gotten annoyed and I’m just saying that It is fun to see some of the pictures. Please try to make more free stuff. Thank you.

by Dewey1234

I was so excited about NewsOMatic because my son enjoys reading news and nonfiction more than fiction. He’s reading at a second grade level so I set it at K-2 for the reading level. It’s still way too hard for him! It’s more like a 4th or 5th and up reading level. So it won’t be of any use to me.

I also noticed that the games don’t work. The game that is like a quiz won’t let you submit your answer. I had a hard time setting his birthday on his profile.

But I do think it’s an awesome idea and maybe with some work, this could be a great app!

by ProfessorPurpose

This seems like a truly great idea. I’d love to find out what it’s like, but you really can’t learn anything about it without signing up and getting on a week trial plan (which auto-renews if you don’t remember to cancel). Pretty cheesy if you ask me. I suggest they let an interested person access a basic level just to look around, say 24 hour access. I suspect they’d get many more people to have a look. I’m certainly not interested in signing up and then having to worry about canceling later. What a turn-off.

It’s kind of like going to a nice hotel but they won’t even let you in the lobby to look around without giving them your credit card. A turn off.

I hope they’ll reconsider this. I was interested. Now I’m just irritated.

by DJ Moe PHX

I loved NewsOMatic and I would go on it all the time to learn about the news. It doesn't have junk articles and a child can understand them. One day I wanted to read an article and it suddenly said I needed a subscription fee. I have been playing this for 2 years and I have to pay now. I try deleting the game and reinstalling it but it still says the same thing. I would have rated it 5 stars if this didn't happen.

by Nope_nope_no_#evil

It’s a great app. You can learn so much from reading the articles! But I think it’s annoying that you ask for a subscription, when someone is confused on something, or has an article idea, you ask for a subscription! It is a little glitchy, so please check on that. Overall, it is an amazing app. Thank you for making this! NewsOMatic WILL stay on NewsOMatic Store. When I’m older, I will use NewsOMatic to help my kids. Thanks for your time, and stay safe please🙂🙂

by Guinea Pigs And Donald Trump

I love News-O-Matic and I think it’s a great resource for children to find out news that suits them and their reading and maturity level. But in the drawing section, there is a problem. Whenever you draw, the lines you drew become blurry and seem to slide down the screen, as if they are being watered down. Also, it is annoying that you cannot zoom in on drawings for more detailed work. But besides those 2 issues, great app, would recommend. 5 stars subtract drawing bugs.

-Loyal NOM Fan

by Dreaminonbeach

I’m a need junkie but trying to find news appropriate shows For my kid is hard. A lot of “news” things out their kids are monthly and while educational, are not what I consider the news and learning about the world and what’s going on today in it. News-I-Magic is great and only thing I’ve found that fits what I was looking for. I didn’t give full five stars cause I would like even 1-2 more daily top news stories featured

by 123blessisngs

Wow NewsOMatic is AMAZING. I first got it 2 months ago and it's great. The drawing feature and the note feature is amazing and fun to! I love NewsOMatic and will highly recamend it for a kid friendly news app. It gives you true and amazing news and the editior might even write back to you! And the comments can be pretty funny! I think you should do less political things and more other things, lastly can you make a area were users can share news together on a chating area, my daughter really wants this, she says it's awesome!

by Cramerr12

My 10-year-old daughter reads this at the breakfast table every morning. Usually, there are no phones at the table but I can’t help letting her use it when she shares the news with me and my husband. It is written in such a great, non-biased way and helps us discuss this crazy world we live in. Would give it 6 stars if I could!

by Overit199/

News-O-Matic, more like News-O-Magic! NewsOMatic is an amazing source for kids and adults alike. As a serial nanny, I am always looking for funducational ways to engage with the children I’m working with, and this is it! Informative and fun, this is an app kids want to “play” with. One of my favorite moments of 2018 was when the kiddos asked for time on NewsOMatic and took turns picking and reading articles to each other the entire ride home. Great tool for motivating young readers and connecting them with the world at large.

Services like these are so important, and we are very grateful for News-O-Matic.

by Cambchris

I love NewsOMatic. Very user friendly. Five interesting stories each day, from current events to sports and nature. Stories written for different age levels, with accompanying videos and slide show, and kids can read or get read to. As a mom, reminds me of Weekly Reader that I loved to read as a kid. My kids are getting news in a way they really like!

by Jvk977

Great selection of content, kids read the news, enjoy the selection, get a heads up on a wide array of topics without scaring them, definitely worth the money. After some updating/ bug trouble in the beginning I can also say great customer service, quick and helpful responses, follow–up ! All in all great app for elementary to middle school kids !

by JenniferRW

I work with kids between 7 and 18, some with a variety of disabilities. It can be a struggle to find a resource that gets them to read. Well, I finally found something that works. The students are literally asking to read the articles every morning! Incredible.

by Harrypotterlover2.0

News-O-Matic is a place where kids can see the news just for kids and if they have questions they can go to the news room and if you hit write to Russ and they write there questions to Russ and he will answer them later and you can read other kids questions as well so get News-O-Matic today free

by SchoolPsychRWB

NewsOMatic is great, i use it everyday, I really like the option to draw and that they try to let all of the kids see their art in the “pictures of the day” this encourages kids to make more art! I also really like all the articles, they are really engaging, and talk about real world problems!

by BostonianMath

I’ve been searching for a news app for kids — and I cannot believe this exists. It’s incredible. My kid is reading the news. On his own. Every day. And from my perspective it’s totally safe and balanced so I don’t have to worry about anything inappropriate. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this for any other parents out there.

by Applyrevu

We’ve loved subscribing for years. The human recorded readers and story choices are my favorite parts of NewsOMatic. It’s really a multi-media daily newspaper. Three reading levels for each story make it work for most students. You create a user profile for each child/reader. The slideshow and video with most stories are rewarding.
Text reader apps can be hard to understand, but a real live News-o-matic staffer reads each story in each reading level. I used it for my high school students with language disorders. My son with son with autism thinks it’s “cool.”

by Veronica Wilgan

Ground-breaking content for kids. No one does it better- not even the Washington Post!
From their coverage of coronavirus coverage to their thoughtful, powerful pieces regarding the black lives matter movement, there is no better resource for kids to learn about the evolving world around them.

by RW Brooklyn NY

I didn't think it was possible. My daughter did NOT enjoy reading on her own. But NewsOMatic changed everything. She picks it up every day after school and wants to read more and more.

And she's learning so much about the world! It's kind of amazing...