The Press Democrat Reviews

The previous app worked perfectly. What was anyone thinking to replace it with ThePressDemocrat that locks on a previous edition and does not download the new edition. It requires that you must repeatedly sign in with password. Then it says you have signed in multiple times and locks you out. You call for technical support and are told your account is now unlocked. You are told to wait 15 minutes and try to sign in again. Nope! You get the message that you are still blocked from using ThePressDemocrat . I have subscribed to the PD for 32 years but am considering unsubscribing. I don’t like to wake up in the morning and get a cuppa coffee and then struggle with a faulty app.

Why try to improve upon something that was working just fine! New is not necessarily better.
New app is much harder to navigate and get recent articles. Always asks me to log in again. Crashes. Continually asking me to update from old version when I’m already using new version.
Will probably cancel subscription for the rest of the year and try again next year. Too many other sources available.
Also Press Democrat has failed to cover news in an unbiased manner. I prefer to make my own decisions rather than being fed politically biased reporting.

Used to enjoy rustling the newsprint in my hands and cutting out articles. Then I got tired of missed deliveries, soggy sundays and adds strewn about the driveway. The iPad app (and cheaper subscription) seemed like a reasonable alternative. Well, if you pay more for the newsprint addition and with it the aforementioned missed deliveries, rain soaked columns and coupons scattered across your landscaping, the iPad app is precisely what you paid for. Thus far, ThePressDemocrat has either failed to load the lower have of the page or crashed each time its opened. In recent days it seems to load entirely only to crash twice during a read (after the second crash, I look for my news elsewhere). To top if off, the "App Support" link is no good.

UPDATE: dropped from 2 stars to 1 (and that’s because you can’t give “0” stars). Came back to ThePressDemocrat after quite sometime only to find it was completely unusable. Initially I got a quick response from support and answered their questions, only to be directed to the website. Then why have an app? “Click on the eEdition link for downloadable content.” That links directly to the completely unusable app. No response from support in a week. Deleted app and y’all get 1 star.

The PD’s new app is very difficult to use, and the content is not the same as the eEdition. For example, on June 16, the top story in ThePressDemocrat version was about the infusion of state money for homelessness. In the eEdition, you’d have to look for that story. There, the big story is the Graton Casino. In ThePressDemocrat , you’re shown small pictures of the pages of what appears to be the print edition, so you have to select a page without being able to see what all the stories are about (only the major headlines are easily legible.) So you have to open each story before you even know what it’s about. It’s just too clumsy and tedious.

Thie newly updated app barely works on an iPad. Frequently the text version does not open and the only way to read is to expand the image and scroll around for columns. This morning ThePressDemocrat showed only the newspaper from the previous day and there was no way to get an update. I have not once been able to read the comics, the baseball standings, or the weather from ThePressDemocrat . I have the strong feeling the developer told the PD ThePressDemocrat was ready and they just released it witn no QA. Two stars is generous. ThePressDemocrat seriously has me considering cancelling my subscription after 15 years. (Fortunately the website seems to work.)

I have read the Press Democrat for about 50 years. I read it because I like to have some local news and I have gotten it from the P D. But since you have become an independent paper you have a hard time filing the newspaper with enough articles to make it a good stand alone paper. SO now you overwrite a lot of your articles to the point they become boring and none informative. Also if there are articles with some similarities you put the same exact information in both articles. I find myself reading an article of interest but halfway into the articles that are two or three pages long I get the feeling you are just babbling to fill space. There is a need for you to face these issues and find a solution that would make your readers want to finish your articles. You need to start reading your own paper and find out how boring some of your articles really are. Thanks for the P D

Overall I like ThePressDemocrat . I appreciate being able to get Sonoma County news no matter where I am. I am frustrated though by the functionality. Often, I can click on and article and it brings that artcle up in a new window which I can save or share. But this function often disappears, sometimes for a day, often longer. What gives?

ThePressDemocrat is simple, easy to use. Layout can can easily be arranged for easy viewing/reading. Full pages on left showing the newspaper as it would lay on a table, chosen/selected articles will display on right side.
Or, you can have the entire paper display as it would lay on a table . In any case it it easy to navigate. You can move quickly to sections by using navigation at the top.

The only drawback I found is you cannot copy-and-paste.

Finally I can click on an article area in the newspaper page view, have the article appear full page, and then be able to either click the X upper right or the T (text) icon lower right to close the article. The article closes and I'm back to a view of the current newspaper page. Previously I had to scroll up to the top of the article and click an X to close it. And previously the article only appeared in a lower window pane that could not be made bigger. This is a big improvement.

There are still lots of issues on my Ipad 2017 with your eedition remembering my logged in status. And then I have trouble successfully logging in again even though I have a valid account.

Insubscribe to the online Washington Post and there are no issues with it remembering my logged in status, nor issue with logging into it.

I happily used the prior version of the PD app for years. This new version is even better with its more pleasing user interface. I like the new easier-to-read font and the ability to increase/decrease font size. I do have a few wishes: I want the font size options to be more granular - for me, size 1.0 is a bit too small but the next higher size 1.5 is too large. I would also like it to let me zoom in more with a two-finger spread gesture - on my iPad I seem to hit a lower zoom limit than in the prior version. Lastly, double-tapping to zoom acts a bit wonky sometimes - e.g., on the comics page it zooms but I often end up 2 or 3 pages away from the comics page. These wishes aside, I highly recommend the new version over the old one.

We enjoy the PD app and have stopped receiving the physical paper to save money and paper. I like how we are given two options to view it. I personally like the option of reading it like the physical paper. I like seeing the paper as a whole, ads and all. The other viewing option, reading the articles separately is handy if you want to share an article. I also really like that each day’s edition is easily available and I can read an article I might have missed last week.

ThePressDemocrat works well but I really don’t understand what all the symbols are for viewing and it seems too difficult to figure out.
Also each day it doesn’t open up to page A1. Some random page pops up and I have to maneuver it to page one.
I do appreciate that I can read it on my phone pretty easily and don’t have to sit at my laptop to read the paper.

PROs: With the arrival of the new app my reading pleasure has improved markedly. In summary, the layout, red selection fade to normal black is pleasant and easier on the eyes. Selection remaining on the screen EACTLY where leaving off by switching links and then returning is key for me eliminating a nuisance that was there from my nearly 5 years before. Even going to standby on the tablet and then back to run/view without change adds to my convenience and viewing pleasure.
CON: I still marvel at the lack of thorough proof-reading with errors that are present in most all editions to some extent. Run-together word combinations is my biggest frustration but letter(s) juxtaposition(s) within a word and word gaps are close seconds. This kind of thing was never tolerated when I was a proof reader and facsimile transmission transmitter maintenance technician for Dow Jones & Co. at the Wall Street Journal, West Coast edition, in Palo Alto, CA. We proof read each page, marked it up and sent it back to editor for correction before transmission to Riverside, CA where it was used as is to split up the press edition distribution. Thousands of papers were effected by this! I’m sure that Press Democrat pride is there ... just some suggestions for improvement might be helpful!

Reading the PD online is affordable and enjoyable.
I especially like the way it is laid out the same as the print edition. I can easily click on a story and read it all the way to the end without turning a page. It is much easier than messing with the paper edition and turning pages.
I appreciate the collection of local and national stories, and editorials.
I’m a loyal PD customer! Thank you!

Excellent paper! I have been a long time subscriber and need to see more women's
Sports. The WNBA is a great starting point. I
believe they are better than the men’s game, if not better! So wonderful to see the league is doing a great job. This year was the WMBA’s twenty fifth anniversary and didn’t see any big news items. When are we going to acknowledge women’s sports is here to stay?

Not only do I enjoy reading about all the happening locally,regionally,nationally and globally, I get to do all of of this and more(sports & weather) while I’m thousands of miles away. The articles are extremely well written, very informative and most importantly, the whole staff is relevant. While travel has its perks, not as much anymore, having the PD literally at my fingertips keeps me grounded and makes me feel closer to home. Most ppl don’t travel as much as I do, so this “option “ given by PD is one that I would insist upon for all who will begin too or already have begun traveling abroad. Thank you very much for all your hard work, it pays off for me!!! Don’t change a thing, But if you have new ideas or concepts that you are entertaining, you must first present to me foe approval before moving forward with the additions and/or changes that would be implemented by the PD!!! Marco

I read a number of newspapers online, and the PD has the best interface, hands down. For people who are reluctant to forgo their actual newspaper, ThePressDemocrat presents the paper exactly as it looks on the news stand. It’s super easy to access each article and make the print as large or small as you prefer. Highly recommended (I love the PD content, too! We’re so lucky to have such a great local paper.)

Update: I wrote this review a few months ago and it is exactly the situation today. Wouldn’t be without a!

While one of us reads the delivered paper, the other one can read online. Of course before Covid-19 we would have raved how we could read the PD while traveling!
It is a very user friendly app (and I rarely say that!) which adds to the ease of just sitting back and reading the paper.
Wouldn’t be without it.

Opening the daily Press Democrat using my subscription app is a welcome part of my day. Whether traveling abroad or sitting in my living room in Petaluma, reading the PD leaves me informed and relaxed.

Too often, news apps and website display garish ads and pop ups. The PD subscription app has none of that. The pages are easy to access. Zooming in on articles is easy as is jumping from section to section.

ThePressDemocrat does a solid job of presenting a newspaper-reading experience for those of us reluctant to lose that page-turning aspect of news consumption. With the split page display of printed page and readable type, I can enjoy both understanding HOW the news is presented in print as well as easily reading the content. (Which sometimes has little ideosyncracies as to how words are broken up in odd ways, but I only find that endearing.) Viva la digital newsprint!

My husband and I left Petaluma 31/2 yrs ago to relocate in WA because of climate. We don’t regret the move, but the leaving has been so hard- covid hasn’t made visiting easy either. I have been a Press Democrat subscriber for 40 years, and have started my day feeling connected and informed reading the highest level of journalism found anywhere. I still get to start my day that way up here because of your digital edition. Thank you all so much for your brave, truthful storytelling. Always. You are our heroes. Mary Sisler

Even though the paper is a few hours late news wise, I enjoy the integrity of the true journalists that contribute to it. The decline of people reading the print edition of the news is sad but we’ve been getting the papers since my great grandpa came over from Italy in 1906 as long as there’s a paper edition, I will be getting it. I have the E edition, tacked onto my paper edition only because sometimes I need to print a crossword lol, but as for the news, I love the print edition thank you to all for getting it to me, including my carrier.

We in Santa Rosa are fortunate to have the Press Democrat. This newspaper is an example of what local journalism can be. I have been a faithful reader of the print version for almost 20 years and have recently signed up for the eEdition. That means I can take the PD wherever I go. It is easy to navigate and I wish I had downloaded ThePressDemocrat sooner.
Thank you to everyone on the staff who produce both the print and eEdition.