- 87.7LEGITIMACY SCORE
- 90.2SAFETY SCORE
- 17+CONTENT RATING
- FreePRICE
SmartNews: Local Breaking News App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
SmartNews: Local Breaking News app received 85 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using SmartNews: Local Breaking News? Can you share your negative thoughts about smartnews: local breaking news?
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SmartNews: Local Breaking News for Negative User Reviews
✓ Too many trash stories. Real news please !Enjoy the app but there are too many old, mostly undated items. I suggest either edit out the old stories or mandate a posting date..Version: 23.7.10
✓ Another Fake News appOne sided typical fake news.Version: 8.11.0
✓ Updates News items too fast.Not enough time to read items because it updates too fast. Should have a manual update so we could read more items..Version: 23.4.30
✓ “show less” feature is uselessWhen a story comes up that is not of interest you have the option to select “show less”. Using the selection is useless as the topic or even the original story keeps reappearing. Very frustrating!.Version: 24.1.1
✓ Not a bad app but!!!I read a lot of the reviews on here and every one is I thought you said this app is “balanced” news. But everybody is complaining it’s not balanced because all there looking for is one side of the story. There either for Trump or against him. They don’t want to hear the other side. To Trump supporters of its not Fox News it’s Fake news. So why are you looking to find “balanced” news when you really don’t want to hear it??? The same goes the other way. The second thing. The reason I gave this app a low score is because I understand you have a free app and you need revenue but the pop up adds and all the advertising is absolutely ridiculous. There are news sources that don’t even let you see the news because there advertising for you to buy something from them. CNN has at least 4-5 pop ups in the first 10-15 seconds. I couldn’t even go into a comments section because it just kept popping up to the same exact spot even if I tried to scroll up or down. It is ridiculous. I think I’ve had enough of this app. I’ll find my news (on both sides) somewhere else..Version: 6.0.10
✓ Huge battery drain & overheat continues after quittingI really like this app except for web view. When it launches whatever browser view it devours battery at like 5-10% a minute!!! I see no way to select the browser it uses. Of course smart view doesn’t eat power like that, but sometimes you want the web view. So that’s why only 2 stars. 10% a minute? And iPhone gets hot! Like the selection of stories but sometimes it just duplicates the same story. So, meh. Adding to review. Now it causes my (new) iPhone 12 mini to overheat! Yep. I have an app that reads the battery temperature and it goes from nominal to serious in a few minutes (once critical) of use. And of course the device is physically hot. Only this app. So something in it is making heavy use of the cpu? I cannot really use SmartNews and I like it, but it is overheating my phone. ADDING: the overheating is significant, and the ads during scrolling increases this until phone so hot it freezes. Quitting app doesn’t help, so guessing ads continue in background. I have to restart every time I use this app to cool the phone down. Don’t like this “feature” of ads not letting go in background even after quitting..Version: 23.11.10
✓ Outstanding AppHere's the scoop. I've been using it for a few days and I've really enjoyed it. The way it is layered out (not a typo) means that I am likely to read some stories that I would never see otherwise. I like how it swipes from page to page. And, in web view if you normally comment on articles the comments are there. But what I really like is the choice between "Web" and "Smart" views. In smart view it looks more like a magazine article and all those "12 reasons why her abs are fake" or "This one wierd trick proves that insurance is a scam" click bait ads are NOT. EVEN. THERE. It would get a 5th Star if Smart View was able to be the default view. And, you can add your own news feeds as well. But, I would not recommend turning it into "All Sports" or "All Lifestyle". You need some balance. So, make sure you keep the real news. Because you really needed to know that POTUS had a sore throat. Updated to drop from four to two stars. When you share a news item it takes the person to a “get the app” page. So, attaching to social media means anyone looking has to have the app. The work around was to open in Safari Reader and copy the URL. Now, those don’t work. Might as well start looking for a new aggregator..Version: 22.12.10
✓ Stop Sending Me Celebrity Crap!!!This could be a great news compiler. It used to be much better. Lately all I get is crap about celebrities that I loathe. I didn’t ask for celebrity crap! It looks like I’ll have to stop using it if this keeps up..Version: 23.6.40
✓ The Ads are out of controlI’m on the hunt for a new news app and I truly am so upset about it. I have been using this app for years and I truly believe it is one of the best resources I’ve found for a well-rounded news wrap up. The ads in the articles don’t bother me, but every other article I click on pops up an advertisement usually for some sort of app and even when I click to exit the ad, the ‘x’ just disappears and I have to force close the app. I have tried to ask for an option to pay to remove ads (as I see other people here have also asked for the same thing) and since this still doesn’t appear to be a feature they will be implementing I need to find another way to get my news. The other dealbreaker that I am no longer willing to compromise on is the fact that I cannot share any news articles I find with someone unless they also download the app- forcing me to have to google a news story to share the story from a different source- adding multiple steps to something that should be simple. As I said, I do love this app but until there are some changes to improve usability I will have to find another app..Version: 24.2.12
✓ News is not impartial but rather fed on “preference”If I opened one a news about “aliens” then these are the only news I see. I would like to actually see the latest news!.Version: 23.4.40
✓ DowngradeHuge downgrade from the International version to the local US version. As someone from Canada, the local US version is completely useless to me. The layout of the app is different and now I am constantly bombarded by stupid ads. Please go back to International!!.Version: 23.3.30
✓ Big Time Liberal News AggregatorLook here, it’s not smart news when I have to physically add stories and sources. If you had good AI, you would know what I read and don’t read, which would give you a sense of what I am interested in, instead of spamming me with all kinds of liberal political news. And here’s the kicker, you defend your system, vice taking my recommendations to make your system better. The fact you refuse to make changes tells me that 1) the system is doing what you want, or 2) you lack the maturity and business sense to operate the business you are selling. UPDATE: Now why don’t you tell the truth? Almost all the stories are big-time left wing stories. Every once in a while you you toss in a conservative website origin story, and you call that balanced. Sometimes I would search for a conservative story and have to dig pages into searches. How about news that is not political, period? Or like I have seen quite a few liberals who think that media such as MSNBC and Huffington Post is centrists...maybe you actually believe that. Anyways, as long as you keep this business model, you will keep me away. Tried a long time but almost all the news is extreme liberal news. There is no balance...and it certainly could not figure out I want real news, not politics..Version: 6.4.0
✓ Used to be a great appNow it’s just another ad clogged, trendy people magazine style “news” app. I deleted it today after it hung up on another ad. Was great, is junk!.Version: 23.3.30
✓ Gimmicky headlinesA serious news source would stop using those childish gimmicky headlines. Grow up..Version: 23.6.10
✓ SHADY SOURCESToo much clickbait and sources you can’t block. For example “inside the magic” is an irresponsible news site with sensationalist headlines - can’t block it. This used to be a great app but it’s just gotten progressively worse..Version: 23.11.40
✓ App should be named MSNBC2Being fed up with pretty much all media outlets having a noticeable political bias and wanting to JUST k ow what happened, not someone’s analysis of it, I’ve been looking for an app that just gives the news. Let me figure out what it means. an app that I can open up, see what happened in the world today and close it. I gave this app about 4 months. Every time I opened it it seemed to get worse. If there was a Trump/Republican bashing article anywhere on the net, you’ll find it on the front page here. You don’t even have to read the articles to see that everything on this site is for liberals. The titles are hilariously liberal. Don’t think I’ve seen a single article pertaining to the US government or the White House or republican that wasn’t a negative liberal opinion piece. I scrolled through about 5 minutes ago and it was ridiculous. Finally decided to delete it. This isn’t a news site. If you really just want to know what happened in the world today, this is not the site for you. Update: Based on the developers feedback, it’s obvious that anyone who points out that this is a liberal leaning site is told to try Fox News for your conservative views. I’m not even a conservative. Just someone looking for unbiased news and this poser is telling everyone that points out their obvious bias that they’re a conservative and need to look elsewhere for their conservative views. This won’t be around long..Version: 6.0.0
✓ Pros and consI really enjoy reading different viewpoints to make my own decisions and opinions. That is why I originally subscribed. Unfortunately so many articles have an interesting headline but when you click on it you cannot read more without paying to subscribe or the page blacks out after reading a few sentences. Sometimes the entire SmartNews site shuts down when I click on an article and closes out on my iPad. I have to reboot everything. It can be very frustrating to locate information and learn more about an article. Sometimes it seems as though many of the articles are only there for you to click on so that you can be bombarded with ads to sell something (almost all are things I have no use or desire to have and some have been borderline pornography!). If I need something I go looking for it on the web. I understand the need for having advertisements to cover the cost of the site and can deal with straightforward ads, but stealth/misleading clickbait articles brings down my enjoyment of your site and pushes me to go elsewhere..Version: 8.62.0
✓ I never leave reviewsI really love this app. I read this news every day and sometimes several times a day. I supported that it had ads as that what it takes to fund an app that doesn’t require purchase. But the ads have gotten out of control. Back to back full page ad with Hidden delete buttons that it becomes so hard to touch that you open an ad just trying to close it. And the ads are so consistent and ridiculous that you almost memorize them and hate them every time you see them because you see it so much. They pop up in the middle of reading some thing I’m really interested in and then I end up clicking 10 times just to get back where I was to finish reading an article that’s available on so many other apps. I just loved it the way that this one was designed but now it’s become a bit too much. I try to ignore the refresh that loses my place when trying to get to another article but now reading the news on this app has become more work than it is pleasure. With that note I’m gonna have to say goodbye SmartNews. I wish you well in the future and I hope that you can conform a little more to the readers and keep their interest while funding the project..Version: 22.4.10
✓ BiasedI find their news extremely biased..Version: 22.11.40
✓ The app don’t run wellMy husband shared articles with me and I can’t open them.Version: 23.12.20
✓ Gone to GarbageThis App was a five star until you decided to switch to the “American” version. Gone are the easily navigated news sites, now replaced with a jumble of incomprehensible crap I didn’t decide to follow. Too many tabloid type stories litter the feeds, and to constantly scroll down a page until I find a news site I actually follow is tedious. Happily deleted this once great app from my home page..Version: 23.3.30
✓ Why so Anti Trump?Bunch of left-wing garbage written by brain washed fascist diversity hires..Version: 22.3.30
✓ Limited flexibility.The news is by default USA based. I would like to tailor the top news tab with various sources from around the world, and my own country. Adding the channels along the top is a good feature, but one more step in being able to filter the top news would be great. Also, only two Australian news channels were available. Would like more..Version: 22.3.40
✓ Smart News, Bias NotificationsI downloaded this app because I heard good things about it. Let’s face the facts here MSN is dominated and ruled by liberal bias. You can scream and shout and say otherwise but don’t let that cognitive dissonance get in the way, it is. Conservative/Republican MSM is Fox News and A.M. radio. Thats it. I have to admit, when I first downloaded this app, The homepage was almost split with different news sources. I’d say 40-60 split with liberal news still dominate. But fair. I really enjoy the food and wine pages and some of the entertainment. It’s good to see the contrast for political stories as well. The issue is with the push notifications. Why am I constantly getting news sources pushed to me that are anti-GOP, anti-Trump, and bias news favoring the left? I mean Jesus Christ...I got a couple notifications from sources like Huffington post...they’re nothing more than a glorified blog with bias points of views and zero fact. I like the notifications on my iPhone and watch. But I’m turning them off. I’ve never seen one pro conservative news story pushed to me. There is still a bias here and it’s obvious..Version: 5.0.9
✓ Enjoyable so far!I’ve had this app for a handful of days and I enjoy it quite a bit. I can see myself using it regularly - not a download and forget type app. The automatic local news and the “smart view” is a great touch! I used Apple News about a year ago but deleted it because everything felt “curated” to what they think I need to hear vs what I actually want to read. One addition that I would like that this app does NOT have - Screenshotting/exporting entire articles. I love to save news clippings here and there and this app (nor any other I’ve come across?) has that feature. Updated after a few months (changed from 5 stars to 2): I ended up deleting. The sports news is of no interest to me and there no way to turn this off. The app is just a nuisance at this point. I also noticed most news is swayed away from the conservative side (maybe there’s just more left leaning news out there). But the app wasn’t picking what I actually READ as an interest vs. articles I clicked on and had no interest in reading. The app has great potential it just wasn’t suiting my needs..Version: 22.5.10
✓ Notneed to be able to refresh headlines all at onceThe rest I ok..Version: 5.1.7
✓ Becoming more social and celebrity news sourceWhen I first saw the app - was pleasantly surprised on the scope of of the feeds - seemed to collect from all sources. Now it seem too many - perhaps based on trends of what people are clicking on the most from each of the “news sources”. My observation : Looking at the “Top” stories tab it appears to me 50% of the stories are not what I consider news but how some socialite lost their spouse, who is sleeping with who, how a Instagram star was refused service because they were being obnoxious... I generally do not see the value of the stories on that section which is disappointing. To me those types of stories are interesting but it is not news. I know they are eye catching but feels more like buying a family size bag of tortilla chips only finding it 1/4 full of chips and 3/4 air because the product is sold by weight and not volume... I did not want the air - I wanted to chips... HOWEVER the app does most other do not - pull from sources you don’t see on others like Google News, Apple News...etc. I like SmartNews and will continue to use it as my top news aggregator but will generally avoid Top tab..Version: 6.2.7
✓ MehNo news from Canada...what’s up with that?.Version: 8.37.0
✓ NOW DELETED but WAS Best News Aggregator BY FARBelow is my former 5 Star Review and I am now rating this ZERO Stars and this has nothing to to with politics as some have commented In the past, you could go to the Discover Tab and add Tabs from the various content providers (AP, CNN, Fox) Inexplicably that ability has been removed for the Follow Tab, which requires 4 more clicks to read the same content You folks literally took the best laid out app I have ever seen (News or otherwise) and created an app that I had to delete Whoever came up with the idea to eliminate the ability to add Tabs for the “Following” Tab should be fired in one of the most egregious screw ups in iOS history ————————- I have tried numerous News Apps and have left each one as they were not exactly what I was looking for From Design to Content, this is exactly how I would have built it myself. I do NOT understand the reviews which state that it leans one side of the aisle or the other...just don’t pick that particular channel if you feel that way My only criticism (and it is no biggie) is on the Top Stories tab, I could do without the “For You” section. I rarely find those stories interesting and would just prefer additional “Top Stories” to continue on scrolling down that page That aside this is the perfect News App.Version: 8.67.0
✓ Awful UpdateAs one of the last few defenders of this app, I see why people are fleeing. The latest version is full of bugs and lags out/freezes on brand new iPhones, I can’t imagine how dreadful it must be on older phones. I’d tell you to fix it but SmartNews is dying a slow death so I have zero expectations..Version: 24.2.20
✓ Twitter constantly breaks navigation in SmartnewsIt started with just plainly reading any article and suddenly being taken away to a “twitter platform” page within the app to now just scrolling through the feed and all of a sudden twitter platform opening on a different browser, makes no sense and is pretty infuriating. When this happens while reading an article, it happens every 10 seconds or so as I navigate back to finish what I started reading then after the third back navigation the article itself renders with an ad blocking the entire view (understand no way to scroll and just an ad sitting in the middle of my screen). This used to be a relatively ok app but with things like that you start alienating your users. Adding another issue, apparently interactive ads are now being fed to users in article views, you cannot scroll them as you naturally would, why, you ask? Because they are interactive and hold your tap hostage and move the character instead of your actual article you are reading. Folks, get it together! I have had multiple instance when I wanted to throw this app away and it is getting worse by the minute!.Version: 23.12.30
✓ Motley fool scam ignore feature useless👎.Version: 24.3.20
✓ JOKE OF A SITEBiased left wing rag! Couldn’t even get past one topic that gave the story from the middle. UPDATE: your response to my review leaves me with a chuckle. The point of your site is to provide unbiased reporting to the people that have chosen to download this app...UNBIASED! Get it? To have me add or update Fox News et all is ludicrous... 1. I could download their apps. 2. You assume those are conservative sites. 3. You assume I’m looking for a ‘ slant’ to my news. All of which are wrong and ignorant. I’m looking for the news! Plain and simple. YOUR SITE FAILS WHAT YOU ACTUALLY ADVERTISE. I don’t care what your opinion or the opinion of who you paste and copy from is. I want the news straight and to the point. EXAMPLE? Sure... your NFL coverage of the kneeling during the anthem. 100% in line with liberal ideology. You’re nothing more than a cut and paste app. Much like the Patch sites. This is a loser of an app! A fraud! A lie! I’ll gladly let everyone I know not to waste the 10 seconds it takes to download your plagiarized cut and paste crap. Not worth the time or effort. Reviewing you however was more than worth it. You’ve been called out for the charlatan that you are. You can’t even get a simple business model right..Version: 5.1.6
✓ Another Leftist Propaganda SiteRemember when HIIT alists took pride in presenting facts. ALL the fact so people could decide for themselves? You may be better than most of your garbage Left media but Left none the same.Version: 8.68.1
✓ Was a great app several years agoThis app has gone down the toilet. “Top news” is mostly pure disinformation or clickbait. Many formerly available channels are gone..Version: 8.49.0
✓ Too many Australian news!Why so many Australian news ?.Version: 4.1.5
✓ TwitterHow do I stop a twitter ad from constantly popping up while I read an article?.Version: 24.2.12
✓ It’s gone downhill - all clickbait nowI used to really get good news out of this app. Something has changed though and now it is all tabloid clickbait garbage. Uninstalling.Version: 23.4.10
✓ New SmartNews, half ad, disguised as storiesDoes APPLE know they are keeping our personal information against app store rules? i CAN NOT REMOVE MY PERSONAL INFORMATION,,, NO MATTER IF I DELETE THE APP FOR MONTHS,!!!! reporting to APPLE has not fixed this issue. it says your information will be removed after 30 days. This is not true if I delete everything and then reload the app all of my preferences and everything I've watched and everything I've read are still on the app.!!!! this is indirect violation of California consumer along and I'll be contacting Sacramento tomorrow to see who I need to talk to since Apple doesn't want to do anything about this when I delete an application and clear my cash. I expect that information to be deleted, not held on to be used for whatever in the nefarious reason. Is it against apples app rules to maintain data on someone when they remove your application SmartNews doesn't care about that evidently and it's a slap in the face of the people that are using this application who don't know their information is being kept forever basically this is in their privacy agreement pretty clear they are saying f-you when it comes to privacy “Do Not Track.” Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers when you visit our website..Version: 24.2.41
✓ Fox is not newsFox News is propaganda and The Province is a trash tabloid that doesn’t report facts. This is NOT smart news..Version: 6.13.0
✓ Used to be 5 starsIt feels that every time you get to enjoy something online, something changes to make the experience unpleasant. This is definitely the case with this program. They recently merged international with US news and have flooded the app with ads. I will stick with it for a few more weeks and if it doesn’t settle down will have to find some other source for my news..Version: 23.3.20
✓ Customizable newsSmartNews allows the user to select news by topic (business, science, entertainment, politics) or by source (CNN, Fox, Huffpost). Any one who says the stories that are presented are “too liberal” or “too conservative” need only select sources they like so they can stay in their echo chamber and never hear another opinion. Pros: wide variety of topics and sources; stories can be viewed on the Web tab or the Smart tab, which eliminates some of the ads and clutter found on the Web tab; allows the user to see news from sources they might not usually visit. Cons: recent update now allows full page pop up ads and also allows some ads to play music while viewing the selected news item with no way to turn off without exiting the page. REALLY ANNOYING, and has the effect of wanting to never buy a product advertised in this manner; most stories aren’t dated, and can hang around for days; some sites are clickbait/fake news but get tossed into the mix with reputable sites; the Local tab isn’t always local news and can show news from places on the other side of the state. Would have given four stars but the new ad policy cuts it to three..Version: 8.35.0
✓ Been Using This App for 7 YearsPros: This has always been the best news app in terms of algorithm and finding the articles most important days ahead of the regular news cycle. Absolutely love that about this app. Cons: What I do not like, are the pop up ads. Would much rather prefer a subscription option that costs, say, 5 dollars a month. No ads? Would 100% pay for that. Maybe even 10 dollars. I use the app less now because some pop up ads cannot be dismissed, or play sound automatically, which is great when I’m laying in bed late at night and get blasted with some obnoxious ad for an obscure iOS game. Lol. Additional con: the most recent update removed the ability to share articles as regular links to the original site it was posted on. IN ADDITION, you can no longer “open in browser”. It just points back to the app again… I understand trying to retain traffic to the application, so you get more ad views, and thus revenue… but we cannot isolate the app like this. It ruins a wonderful utility it had prior to this most recent update. Please fix:(.Version: 22.12.40
✓ IOS version buggyGreat News app, but the last 2 versions have been really buggy on iOS - all issues are performance related: slow to load articles and freezing of up 10 seconds (iPhone 14 pro). Making the iOS version unusable. Thankfully the iPadOS version of the app has no such issues..Version: 24.2.20
✓ ErraticI don't like the new format...it seems to be all over the place! It's not as easy to find specific articles..Version: 23.4.40
✓ Too many right wing rags on hereWhile I appreciate different viewpoints I don’t appreciate viewpoints that rely on lies, misinformation, half truths or conscious omission of some facts to lend credence to their story. Rags like The Blaze, Epoch Times, The Washington Examiner and of course Faux (Fox) News are a few of the rags that the general public can do without. I guess that these BS “journalistic” sites/rags are able to rely upon the general stupidity of the average American. Not sure if obesity is the cause of Americans stupidity or if it is the Republibigots never ending war against good public schools and good curriculums. Suffice to say, it would be great if SmartNews had a rule that only stories that have been fact checked get promoted on their app. This would easily eliminate the aforementioned sites/rags from having their Fake News stories on this app. Wake up all u right wing morons. It’s time for you all to move to Texas. Then we will happily build a wall. Oh, don’t forget your MAGA hats u morons..Version: 6.2.7
✓ Suggestion to developers1. You should expose a suggestion link in app where users can log suggestions. 2. When app first starts up there’s a moment when I see a fantastic headline. I hadn’t read it before but then it’s blown away all of sudden as feeds refresh. There’s a couple of ways to handle this - perhaps simplest in ux is to show the <new feeds > blue drop down forcing user to press the button. There’s pros and cons. You could have a switch to enable auto refresh.... Or have a timer rotate ticking down saying auto refresh in 5-4-3-2-1 and have ability to cancel. Or show a link to older /cached previous news - (use metrics to track how many ppl click.) This is only applicable to when app first starts up. or more complicated way - introduce a way to time machine back in timeline / dates. This could be fun to explore. Eg. Like go to last weeks news..Version: 6.0.14
✓ Poor upgrade.Since the last update the adds are repetitive, too large and in your face and cause performance issues. Very poorly done. Please return to the last version..Version: 23.4.20
✓ Destroyed the appThe recent massive ads have destroyed the entire experience and pleasure of this app and made it unbearable to use. Forced to delete it after this review.Version: 23.4.10
✓ Very close to unsubscribing.Since you changed to the US version things are worse than ever!! Fox News and NY post reign supreme plus Mirror online and Daily Mail garbage. As top news we now get countless articles on latest murders, assaults, and daily crime ‘news’ everywhere. Please reconsider….. Not what I signed up for..Version: 23.3.30
✓ It’s Too Much NowI have loved Smart News for years. They have been my primary source of news on my phone. But two issues have unfortunately caused me to uninstall the app. The first (and more minor) issue is the lack of control over my feed. Months ago I asked the app to show me fewer stories from one source. You don’t have the ability to straight up ban a content provider. Or if there is a way, I haven’t been able to find it. When I contacted support, they said to use the “show less content from this provider” setting. After changing the setting I continue to see what looks like the same amount of content in my feed from the source. So, one star gone. The second issue (and more major for me) is the incredible battery drain I experience while using the app. I can read Apple News for an hour and see about 1% battery loss. But using SN for just 15 minutes causes my phone to heat up to the point of discomfort while holding it, and eats 3-5% of my battery. This is just astonishing to me, and it seems to be getting worse. I lost 7% of my battery yesterday morning while using the app for 18 minutes. So, second star gone. I really like Smart News, and I am genuinely sad to say goodbye to this wonderful aggregator. But I just feel like it’s no longer worth it considering how much better it consumes. I’ll give it a year and check back in to see if things have improved. But I don’t have much hope. This issues has persisted since I started using the app years ago..Version: 23.4.20
✓ New merged usa version is unbearable with too many ads.Please revert to the old version.Version: 23.2.30
✓ The Era of dumb apps continuesAfter reading an article and going back to main screen, the application reloads the articles and jumps you to the top. Thanks for losing my spot for two new articles that are actually days old and I’ve already seen, you think. Then begin to scroll through the articles again to try to find where you previously were. With no help at all from the app, this will happen over and over. So you open up the settings believing the creators would give you the ability to prevent such a thing, applications used to provide customizations for almost everything, surely there is a way to prevent this madness. Unfortunately, you only find a couple of unhelpful options and details about the app and/or how to leave a review. The creators appear to know exactly what we want, so I suppose there is no need to let us configure anything. If you’re thinking, all the other iOS news apps do the same thing, you’d be exactly right. Now you know this app does it too and will hopefully save you time from trying this app thinking you’re going to get something better. Which I guarantee is what they want you to think based off their unique name..Version: 6.0.3
✓ Drifting into the right wing orbitI’ve been a fan for years, butI’m troubled by the increasing number of inflammatory and dubious articles from Fox News and the NYPost. Like HuffPost, they should be presented as separate channels so the these screeds aren’t visible to those of of us who despise these right-wing rags..Version: 23.2.20
✓ New version is garbageThis latest version of smart news is stupid, will probably end up deleting it.Version: 23.3.40
✓ Smart News New Us EditionThe new US edition so called “TOP” daily articles is now just full of endless tabloid type topics,often repetitive on the same page,and useless information with built in commercials.”TOP” should mean “Coles Notes” version of useful ,concise and relevant daily news .Shame on you for bastardizing your website.NOT SMART! I am looking into other websites to rely on ..Version: 23.3.30
✓ Should call it Kardashian news serviceThe main problem with SmartNews is the complete lack of customization or filtering of topics or sources. They also use a huge number of “repeater” sources that simply summarize an article from another site. They provide a button for “suggest less news like this” but it does absolutely nothing. They serve literally thousands of click-bait stories about the Kardashian clan, no matter how many hundred times one clicks the “less news like this” link. If world war 3 broke out, half the “top news” stories would still be about what kim kardashian had for lunch. Other big problem is the heavy reliance on non-US sources for their “USA Edition”… often using titled versions of British tabloids like “The US Sun” (for example). I guess they dont want to license content from legitimate US sources! Could be a decent aggregator if they would fix the customization problem and improve their source pool… and lose their obvious algorithmic obsession with the K-family. Their standard response is “we emphasize discovery over personalization” but think about that… what that really means is “we don’t care what content you do or don’t want… we prefer to keep ramming the content of OUR choice down your throat whether you like it or not. Here… have another 50 kardashian stories!” Is what you want more important than what customers want??.Version: 22.6.20
✓ Ads everywhere that automatically get clicked when you switch tabsRecent ads always pop up on the next page where you swipe and automatically click on them. I keep reporting the ads but still see the same ones over and over. Makes the app unusable now..Version: 24.3.20
✓ Suddenly terrible.Most recent update that merged international and us editions ruined the app. Less channels/topics, local does not work outside of US. Flooded with irrelevant U.S content. Wiped my set up. More intrusive advertising including videos that ignore auto play. Just deleted the app..Version: 23.2.41
✓ Good but....Would be great if you could park publications that you really think are either junk media or almost click bait.Version: 23.2.20
✓ The left wing bias is unreal75% of the articles that show up in the feed are clickbait left wing headlines that are all clearly bias which can be said for most new sources with both parties to an extent but these are usually flat out false or purposely written out of context and you can’t even judge for yourself by reading the article because the random “news” sources posting those clickbait titles sometimes leave out the details that show for a fact that what they are saying is false and the story is literally purposely made to make anyone or any topic that isn’t left wing look bad and I’m saying that as someone that’s not a fan of either party. Plus you can’t even use the “see less of” “see more of” feature because when I see those clickbait false articles I click on them and verify they’re fake then I click “see less from ____ (“news” agency)” yet I still see just as much from all of them that I’ve done it to including when I click “see more from ____” or “follow ____ “ on the very rare news agencies that post mostly unbiased news articles and then I see the same amount from them as I did before.Version: 23.4.30
✓ What is happening to Smart NewsThis international edition was the best news app ever but now that Smart News is merging its international ed with the US one, I am bombarded by ads and no longer have my favourites mixed in with the generic tabs. Why did they choose to mess with perfection?.Version: 23.2.30
✓ Ads have killed this app.I have no problem accepting ads as part of the deal for this free app. I have been a Smart News user for years. I did not mind the apps in the news streams. I felt the pop ads that take over the screen a bit annoying. The Taboola ads were just about where I drew the line. But recently the app has become unusable. A new type of ad that pulls the screen black and starts a video ad in the middle of reading an article. Ok annoying. Hit the close button and it comes back or appears in another 10 seconds. Or worse I have to close the app down. At this point I feel it has made the app too much of nuisance to use. Maybe they will change this ad type but for now I guess I am back to Google News. UPDATE: This is better now the Taboola pop ups are lees frequent. But the pop ads still are annoying. New issue for me at least is the amount of battery energy being used in a short session. In 10 minutes my battery will drop 5% it’s like a gas guzzler. Are ther magical settings to help with this? I have location services off and background app refresh off still destiny’s my battery. I save using the app to late at night. If the app uses energy for ads I would be down for an ad free version..Version: 22.10.21
✓ Terrible changesThis used to be a good app. Now it’s basically an ad and false news app. Use Artifact instead..Version: 23.4.20
✓ Please return to the international versionI can’t tell you how much I’m disappointed with the Updated News app. I am writing to express my disappointment with the recent update to the news app. As a long-time user of the app, I have found it to be my go-to source for news. However, since the update, the US and Canada version has become disjointed and difficult to navigate. The user-friendliness of the app has decreased significantly. As someone who has been with the app since its beginning, I am disappointed that the changes have made it difficult for me to continue using it. I am now forced to look for another app that can provide me with the same level of service as the previous international version did. I hope that you will take my feedback into consideration and work towards improving the app's user experience..Version: 23.4.10
✓ Don’t waste your time here folks…It tells what news to read and you don’t have a choice of contentThe app needs to have a end user selection so when the news refreshes it defaults to the users preferred tab, not the ‘Top News’ which is the editors pick and does not reflect everyone’s choices…it’s actually the leftist editors favourite news channels..so if you don’t want to follow The Guardian News, or CNNNNN and you don’t select it as a news channel, it doesn’t matter as its news stories will still be shown in the default tab when you open the app…seriously biased and flawed news app…don’t waste your time here folks …there is far better available in the App Store.Version: 22.3.30
✓ Snowflake ReadyApp is solely for snowflake as all news sources are so far left they travel in a circle. Biased, one eyed, Leftist news sources. It is not a news app but a propaganga tool. Whatever happened to news apps giving you both sides so we can make our own opinion. Should be removed..Version: 4.1.4
✓ Fox News/The Washington Examiner?I enjoy the app but I wish there weren’t horribly biased “news” services mixed in with reputable ones. Some “news” outlets are gossipy, completely without merit, or are laughable propaganda. I can’t control the contributors on “Top” news for instance. “TheBlaze, Popsugar, Footwear News, US! Weekly, or People” are not offering headlines that are worthy of my time, in fact, someone perusing the top headlines should rightly conclude that Meagan McCain is the most important person in the world, Brian Kilmeade is second, and Kirstie Alley is tied for third with some random “Real Housewife of Where Ever.” This makes the world look nightmarish. It’s wearing me out sifting through the garbage. I have never clicked on Fox, TheBlaze, PopSugar, Footwear News, TMZ, Vogue, Mediate, The Pluralist, or Entertainment Tonight, yet I am not seeing any diminishment in their prominent representation in the top stories of the day, in fact, I’m finding that the more you don’t click on a news source, because you find it disgusting, the more you see it. Maybe the algorithm is broken. How can I successfully navigate through the day without seeing the”Top” news stories concerning the Kardashians, Tomi Lahren, or the Bachelorette? The advice I’m getting so far is not getting the Jessica Simpson out of my “Top News.” Sad..Version: 6.4.0
✓ Too BadRuined the app by merging International with US. Now lost the appeal. Deleted!.Version: 23.2.30
✓ Content is tabloid trash.**Update regarding the developer's response below. The app does allow me to remove high level topics, none of which are "celebrity gossip". They talk about the app being a news aggregator, but then say I would have to manually add different tabs from various news sources. Well, if I have to switch between numerous tabs to look through the news then it's not doing much aggregating. Seeing all my preferred news sources on one tab would be aggregating. Finally, the links to contact the developer don't work! I wanted to clarify their comments and ask for support, but was unable to. And I've tried emailing my questions to the address provided, but with no response. Downgrading my rating to one star. Original review: The layout is nice, but that's the best thing I can say about this app. I like that I can see multiple news headlines on the screen at once. Other apps gave large photos or text so you can only view one or two without scrolling. But - there are way too many junk tabloid articles and over the top partisan hate pieces. I just want factual news which I might be able to achieve if this app let me block certain "news" sources. But it doesn't. I'm tired of wading through all the junk..Version: 8.8.0
✓ Great but useless without New ZealandWill not find my location or city here in New Zealand I’m partially sighted and the app would be great for me , why have the app in apple nz if you won’t support New Zealand I have asked before and received a stupid reply from the app company saying , Thankyou !! .. what reply is that ? Get your act together or remove the app from countries you choose not to support.Version: 23.3.10
✓ Nothing but radical left news sourcesIt also said sign in to access your profile and change settings, etc, I signed in and there’s still nothing under my profile . And no ability to change settings. Also, no way to sign out! Also every headline is radical leftwing..Version: 7.15.0
✓ New VersionNot happy with the removal of the international version. Probably delete. Not interested in U. S..Version: 23.2.41
✓ Ads above ethicsI acknowledge that private publishers have a right to publish content from all perspectives. However, the SmartNews algorithm allows for some really despicable takes on current events to have a greater megaphone. Pieces written from the perspective of white nationalists have repeatedly made their way into my feed. News outlets engaged in vaccine misinformation continued to get fed into my newsfeed. News outlets that denied the facts of the January 6th Insurrection continued to be published. In a correspondence with their team, a staffer wrote to me that “ there’s no personal bias going into the channels that you see every day, nor do we favor any specific publisher over another. What you see is what people are talking about online at that moment, and this changes on a regular basis.” This is a problematic perspective aimed to absolve SmartNews of their social responsibility not to cause harm by amplifying problematic content that can harm others. Instead, they continue to publish this content to gain ad revenue. I am deleting SmartNews in favor of Newsfeed apps that give customers control to not see content that is hateful or harmful, or newsfeeds that self monitor for the same results..Version: 8.48.0
✓ Not useful for CanadaThe layout and feel of the app is great, but I’m not sure why it’s available on the Canadian App Store as it only support 1 news feed from an obscure publisher. Even searching for Canada in news bring up US publishers with the work Canada in their articles. Definitely not local news. Great app if you want news on the US and world news from a US point of view..Version: 22.3.10
✓ Ad poppingThis app is now randomly throwing up full screen ads with hidden dismiss buttons. It’s amazing how something can go from good to junk apps with one greed based change. Ditching it, you should too. However, this review won’t make it anywhere near the top of reviews for obvious reasons. I’ve found great replacement that doesn’t force feed ads and in comparison to this app, they get me the news I want to read, while still allowing me to find what I want that’s outside my immediate interest. Importantly, without then flooding me with garbage because I read one article. You can say what you don’t like, and that stuff isn’t forced down your throat either. It’s not hard to find something much better, you should look. The developer is asking for suggestions. The suggestion is do not pop up full screen ads that are difficult to close and require user input, or worse killing the app. Simple. The inline ads were (are) plentiful without this. The fact that people don’t click them except accidentally is not a cue to make them full screen and hard to close. That motivation is about $ and advertisers, which has nothing to do with delivering the news. Not the product spots masquerading as articles, the actual news. Either you are a news app or an advertising outlet. Smart news seems to have made that choice. That’s why I, and many others are abandoning the app. It’s not a hard calculus..Version: 8.9.0
✓ Not goodBad compared to what it was with international education. Will delete it and continue to use other news apps.Version: 23.8.40
✓ Ultra bias in favor of liberal agendaThis app is clearly clearly clearly clearly guilty of pushing a liberal agenda. Pathetic. You are guilty of helping divide the country. Law abiding conservatives are being labeled as racist bigoted people every single day. So false! Disturbing and wrong when you scroll through the top stories, it is so obvious that this app is purposely pushing a liberal agenda. The hypocrisy level is off the charts where left leaning news outlets are writing headlines and articles themselves that are misleading and biased. Putting everyone and everything in buckets based on race or sexual orientation. It’s almost as if the Democrats have nothing left to offer other than being ‘nice and kind’ which is far from what I see with my own eyes on a daily basis. Lies with an agenda. Y’all are not news agencies. Simply put y’all work for the Democrat party. Your developer response is not helpful. It’s auto generated and actually admits that you feel news should be based on your preference. News is news regardless of what you want to hear. It should be factual. Period. Leave the opinions to the readers, not the writers and then and only then will you have smart news!.Version: 8.36.0
✓ Really?Fair and balanced? It is not! Primary stories are from Huff Post, NYT, Washington Post, NBC, etc. Really? Fox News and just a handful of more conservative media is at the very very end of the list. Any use who gave this app a high rating must be a very progressive liberal. Very despicable of Smart News people to try to deceive the public. This app does not fairly display the stories from ALL media outlets. It just doesn’t. I tried it so I could see for myself. And I will delete this app. Note to the Smart News responder .. “if you want a more conservative view you should add add Fox News, blah blah .. “. why didn’t you program it in there to begin with, so that the app would appear as you advertise it will be on your lame commercial? Why should CONSERVATIVE people have to tweak the app? It should be FAIR to begin with. You see, a very liberal person will think this is great and will continue to believe they are getting fair news. THEY ARE NOT! Shame on YOU! I received an inadequate reply from Nathan telling me exactly what I thought he would say .. same as above. They just don’t get it. What I’m saying is that they should set up a FAIR sampling of media outlets in the first place. Instead, they are setting up LIBERAL publications, and then I have to change my selections. Why can’t you be more fair?.Version: 6.2.7
✓ You just ruined one of the best news apps out thereStopping the international edition was a huge mistake. I might have been able to deal with the introduction of ads (even paid to remove them), but not being able to select my own channels killed it for me. The old layout was 100% better than selecting news and then having to select news source. I can no longer just read the news feeds I like/trust, instead now have to sift through sources I don’t like and certainly don’t trust! Bring back the international version!!!.Version: 23.3.20
✓ Don’t like the changesSince last update with major changes to the platform eliminating the non U.S. option, has become junk where feed and preferences can not be controlled.Version: 23.6.40
✓ Awful talking ads wake my husband at night.My most used app going downhill. Intrusive flashing ads are thankfully gone, but LARGE ad fills half the screen, makes it difficult to avoid touching it accidentally..Version: 23.8.10
✓ Not recommendedA lot of absurd articles from right-wing propaganda sources started to arrive in the past six months, after using the app for a number of years. Despite providing feedback, the app’s mechanism is quite limited to minimize receiving such articles, and one cannot chose not to receive such topics or such sources..Version: 22.3.20
✓ Merging US and International versions … now local news tab doesn’t workAs a Canadian viewer the merging of International version with local version has made this app useless for me. It will no longer recognize my Canadian location… just gives an error message and says tryi again. Going to delete the app..Version: 23.3.30
✓ Not really newsPSmart news is much more about entertainment and wasting time there on finding any reliable sources of news. But I like it, in small doses. It really went downhill zero after the latest app update on or about November 18, 2023..Version: 23.11.20
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