Local News & Weather: Haystack Reviews

by DxiXpn

I have been enjoying your channel on Roku for a while now. But suddenly this morning my newsfeed is showing me nothing but sports and sports scores and recaps. I would have never selected sports ever to watch. And it’s not even a channel to select when you’re choosing your channels. I’ve deleted LocalNewsWeather , restarted my TV, and then re-download it again, select weather and current events and it’s the same thing. I’ve never even watched any of the sports news on there. No matter what I do I cannot get it back to normal. And used to, every time I would open it, it would open up with the weather and then you would see a lot of variety of different news clips from different news agencies and it was all very interesting.. about the trials going on in the country etc and all these great news bits. Now nothing but four or five sports clips.I’ve deleted LocalNewsWeather and restarted the TV and re-download LocalNewsWeather and re-selected my weather in current events channels at least 10 times today and I cannot get it to go back like it was.

by GoBonnieGo

Used to love Haystack. I turn it on in the morning and get my news of the day. Also get to watch some Late Night. But after the latest update, it works different and I don’t like the change. I’ll be watching a story and it will cut out to update the stories. Be great if it went back to the story I was watching, but it doesn’t. Seems to update more than twice while I’m watching. Something has happened to the Late Night category. It used to be diverse and have lots of clips from different late night shows. These days there’s sometimes only five clips. Or sometimes there will only be clips from one show. Like I’ll only be able to watch old Conan. I’m not a fan of Conan or old shows so that’s not nice. I’ve changed settings to no avail. I used to be able to turn Haystack on and walk around either watching or just listening. Now I have to run back to continue stories or get rid of old Conan. I’m also missing the World in Photos that it used to get. All of that together means that I’m still watching it, but looking for something new.

by Dave804

I used to love haystack news for its ability to find only the new segments that were interesting to me. But then politics came in to play. Now haystack will no longer play Newsmax segments and repeatedly skips the video. I also find that the default news sources feeds are heavily weighted to one side of the political spectrum. Not only is this dangerous for either side but it does not give the complete picture of the news. Counter arguments are extremely important and help people bounce their thoughts and ideas off of alternative sources so that they can better gauge the legitimacy their views.

by Amandakayrhoades

There should be no reason why LocalNewsWeather only plays the local Fox affiliate when searching for local news stations. I live in a major market, there are many local news stations here. Unlike them the Fox affiliate isn’t even based in this city but rather a suburb much further out. Omitting so many news outlets could have a dangerous impact on folks who don’t realize they have other options and that there’s important stuff happening at the local level as well.

But hey, LocalNewsWeather seems to work pretty well and connect users to larger news stories. It’s just that it’s marketed as a local news app, and it isn’t.

by Sofie061616

I have this on my smart tv and tablet. It’s the first thing I turn on in the morning. I love LocalNewsWeather ... it’s an awesome concept. I like having local and national channels plus the weather all together. I like that you can define topics you’re interested in.

As some else mentioned, the news needs to refresh more frequently. I would like to see the topics you choose only pull from the channels you select. I would really like to see Fox News and OAN added to national channels.

I would like to see Haystack available on Roku and Samsung Smart TV’s made 2017 and before.

by NickyJaayy

I use LocalNewsWeather everyday but I believe there needs to be more independent news sources. It's tough going from CNN to Fox News all morning but other than that; I love it. I would also like to see maybe more science and tech news but great job by the developers! One last thing, can we please lose The Fumble sports cast? 1. The sports news caster is super annoying in the morning and there's hardly ANY sports involved in the clips. More of "The View" gossip type sports news.....bringing this down from 5 to 4 stars

by BonnieBee10

I’ve had haystack for many years and now all of a sudden it won’t work on the smart TV. It works fine on Roku. Is this just the way that smart TVs only have paid programming. Smart TVs don’t have the CW app either. Another free broadcasting. What’s up. Just saying I’m very disappointed and if something is done I will only use Roku TV’s. Until it’s fixed you won’t get a higher rating.

by BSiliezar

Love it but need to be able to access weather more frequently. I really like the personalized content and I significantly prefer this news to anything else out there (3 major channels, fix, cnn, etc) but it can get redundant. Overall love the service but frustrated with the lack of easy access to weather - you can watch the live feed once but can’t go back to it easily.

by Iooklooklookshecute

LocalNewsWeather is excellent for getting the latest world and local news in a short time with few commercials. However, just as all the other reviews state, it freezes up at times, and can be unresponsive on your device. Freezes much more than other streaming apps. The freeze doesn’t bother me, but other people maybe irritated.

by 30 Pounds Of Rope

I’ve been using Haystack for quite a while now. I don’t have any complaints, mainly all compliments at this point.

There could be a “update” or “refresh” feature, and also a way to access all current hashtags # in addition to adding your own? Those would be useful.

Thanks for a good app!

by Will Minkoff

Customize, Skip, repeat are all features that make using LocalNewsWeather enjoyable. You can use a tactically to find stories you’re looking for, or use it as background noise with fresh content added our by hour. Local, regional, national, global news all within reach. If you like video content, this is it.

by Mustafayusuf

Really need to bring back the portrait mode on the iPad. Also, there used to be a feature where the audio would play on in the background, however that’s gone too.

I’ve always hated manually running through video channels, LocalNewsWeather sincerely has changed the way I consume news daily.

Hope to see some new improvements soon.

by Jason "Jay" Jones

I have yet to have any problems with LocalNewsWeather. I think there should be a MacOS ticker-type app that scrolls news right under the menu bar or a Windows 10 app with similar capabilities.

Maybe even work with news-centric YouTubers or other locations by providing a ticker for OBS, XSplit, or other streaming apps. This way more people can talk about the news of the day and have a royalty-free add-on so that people don’t run into copyright problems.

by Former Goodreader

Even though they no longer continue late night clips probably for legal reasons, haystack has proven to be a quick search for all of your available news that you’re looking for without having to wait or switch between apps. I hope they return the late night clips!

by IllusiveXIII

LocalNewsWeather is great... if you only want to play what the player will randomly play for u. But if u want to search something specific, it’s pretty broken and doesn’t function at all. You can favorite a topic, but there’s no way to watch just your topic of interest. A functionally broken randomizer of news.

by Pxemajik

Great App. Good news variety. They are responsive to feedback, they are growing, developing, everyday. Have had it for over a year. If it is malfunctioning, let them know in their " feedback" drop down. So for the ipad " expert" review...learn to use LocalNewsWeather , and you probably need a new ipad, or you have another tech problem. I run LocalNewsWeather on a 3rd generation ipad, no problem.

by Jerzyricankid

Great app tbh never had any issues. Sometimes when I first used it it would hang in a video and play the sound behind it but simple you close it and open it again and it works fine seriously no big deal. After updates can’t remember the last time that happened. Great place to see top news and it continues without you needing to touch anything. I hope LocalNewsWeather doesn’t change to subscription or anything like popular apps like to do I hope it stays the same cause I love LocalNewsWeather. Only thing I would recommend see if you can add more news stations not saying the ones that it shows are bad but more never hurts

by Paco862

I have had Haystack on Chromecast about 4 years ago. I have to say I love LocalNewsWeather , it has always catered to my interests and does so seamlessly. I generally use this in the morning or just while making dinner.

One thing I would like to see is a more constant refreshing of news. Nowadays everyone is constantly getting bombarded with new news every day - every minute. It needs more categories that are less personalized but more like themed. A common problem with all of this choice is that if you need something quickly you have to wait to choose something and you end up stalling watching The Office for the 8th time.

Make a few channels 24/7 - people will tune in.

by Newsnerd728

My favorite is Joe Hansell who does the weather updates. He’s such a chipper guy. Makes even bad weather sound doable. And the AP news minute is very good too. You can get the major updates you need in short order if time is limited. Choose the other subjects you want updated....what’s not to like?

by Ben Cab

I’ve been using Haystack as my main source of information for years now, so I was fortunate to see it evolving into the best news application available. Great variety of sources and very smooth experience across all platforms.

Love the new design, keep up the great work!

by ReadingDecibels

No topics or sources I follow on my account even show up now. Used to like LocalNewsWeather a lot. It worked on Roku, Chromecast, and my handheld devices. But for about a month now my preferences on my streaming devices are not syncing up with my handheld devices, so no more using it on my smart TV. I now barely use it. The interface is a little wonky sometimes and the content is often limited, much moreso now that the iOS version seems to have gone to standalone mode.

by ProudPittieMom

I haven’t had a TV for years, but do miss the news programs. Have tried many apps for written news, but even they do not do as good of a job at giving you the topics & providers of your choice as Haystack TV! Get to see several news videos, then there’s a quick commercial, then back to the news. Beats broadcast TV to bits!!

Thanks for a really good app that I’m greatly enjoying!

by Dusty Pink

I got rid of cable months ago and the only thing i’ve missed is having a news channel on in the background as i did things at home.

well, they fixed that and it’s news i can tailer to my interests.

love it. thanks Haystack!

by Thestupidtree

LocalNewsWeather is amazing. I have it on most of the day. It starts playing as soon as u open it. Never any lag. Any news your not interested in, you just swipe it away and the next one plays. It is the best news video app and it's completely customizable to your interests. I love it.

by Biofunny

As of now this is an incredible app. I hated paying for TV when all I would watch is the new in the morning. Now I stream it for free. Saving 20 dollars a month. It is also a good supplement to Netflix which I still have. I hope this continues to be as good as it is.

by Johnbenink

What I like about LocalNewsWeather is its “unlimited” scope of news from many many sources. I feel like I’m watching the news like I did many years ago. Watching CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox, etc. is like watching the bashing of Trump or glorying Trump non stop. I want news, not political football. Thanks guys.