The Boston Globe Negative Reviews

The Boston Globe App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024

The Boston Globe app received 28 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using The Boston Globe? Can you share your negative thoughts about the boston globe?

The Boston Globe for Negative User Reviews

✓ Slow ad-delivery appThe app is designed to feed you ads, ads, ads. There is content sprinkled around the ads. It opens the ads before content. If you scroll the content, the ads pop up again. The worst example I have yet seen is the comics. You can open each strip one at a time. As the strip opens it first displays an ad. Then it opens a nested window. Then it displays the strip in the nested window. You can click on a link to advance to the next step. Then it clears the page. Then it does the most important part, it fills in an ad. Then it opens a nested window. Then... well you get the idea. I timed it, and it takes 5-8 seconds per strip. This is just sad. I was a multiple-decade subscriber to the paper version, switched to reading the Globe on my Kindle. After a few years, the content kept shrinking. I tried the online version then but it was awful, and I got the Washington Post, which is cheaper and very good. I added the New York Times, which is cheaper and very good. On a whim, I thought to try the Globe again. Right now it is a NOPE! I may give it a few days before I cancel..FrankomaliVersion: 2.9.5

✓ Great leap backward for the e-paperThe recent upgrade of the on-line version of the Globe that appeared several days ago includes a major step backward in usability of the e-paper. I prefer the e-paper as it mimics the experience of reading a print version of the paper. With the new upgrade, the useful navigation tools of the last iteration are gone. Also, loading articles is less reliable and slower, especially articles near the screen edge. Finally, for those of us who prefer to do the daily puzzles on paper, the ability to tap on a puzzle and then print has been lost. One must do a screen shot, crop the image and then print. While there are numerous options to do puzzles on-line under the “play” tab, it’s not clear which of the Sudoku options corresponds to the print version. There appears to be no option to print any of these. Please bring back the more user-friendly last iteration of the e-paper..LandrovelVersion: 5.0.1

✓ Terrible FunctionalityBoston Globe news is great- when I’m actually able to read it. Clicking on a news notification takes you to the app, but rarely opens the actual article the notification was about. So then you have to try to remember enough key words to search for it. If you can find it, clicking on the article opens it up in a web browser instead of in the app, so it makes you log in to view it. Now what is the point of logging in on the app if I have to re-log in every time I want to read an article? Very poor functionality that usually leads me to reading about issues on a different local news site..JohhhhhannnnnnnnnnnnnnVersion: 2.9.18

✓ It’s been awful, foreverThis is honestly the sorriest news app I’ve encountered. It’s been a mess for years - making it apparent that the Globe owners and management just don’t care. How can a major city news org allow this? It’s the norm to have old news articles mixed in with today’s news. Repetition of articles is also common, just as it is on the email I get for today’s news each morning. Need to search? Good luck. Not even obituaries are findable. Boston Globe, take a lesson from the mobile apps for both the NTY (with its amazing graphics) and WSJ (just organized and non repetitive) and get it together. This app is an embarrassment..MjoaquinVersion: 2.4.0

✓ Worst iPad UI everI really like the newspaper itself but the iPad UI is truly the worst of all news apps. When I open the app in landscape mode, all I see a gigantic photo spanning the entire screen. No headline or text is visible without scrolling. At no points it’s possible to get an overview of multiple headlines at the same time. In contrast, I open the NYT app and without scrolling I see the title and a text snippet for 5 articles, and interactive data visualization, and photo related to another article! It’s so much easier to find interesting articles. Please Boston Globe, hire a UI designer....FritznVersion: 2.1.0

✓ Who designed this app?I wish you would read some of these comments, and do some marketing research from some of the subscribers to see how they would like to read an online “newspaper,” because this app is not that functional. As others have described, I personally would like to see the headlines and maybe the top paragraph first, rather than large graphics that do nothing but slow down my reading. Please get some input from actual subscribers, not programmers and designers. Thanks..TriedItbut…Version: 5.0.1

✓ This app just keeps getting worseIt is so much harder to use the Globe app than it used to be. If an article starts on one page and finishes in another you have to manually find the continuation, rather than following a link. You can open the article, which then makes it continuous, but if you try scrolling, that way you get the same article over and over again. When you go to close it, you have to remember the clothes for the articles on the right clothes for the apps on the left and I often find myself back to the homepage. You also have to find the navigation to go from section section that should be easily available at the top. This app feels like something we’d see if the late 90s not 2023!.CruiseLolBVersion: 2.9.14

✓ Love the Globe, app not working for meI’m not sure if it’s my account or something with the app . a month agoI had to re-login with a new account (I had let my old digital subscription expire and apparently I used a different email address so I ended up with a whole different account when I signed up again).Now the app is asking me to re-login every time I click a link from the home page - and when I login it takes me back to the homepage and does the same thing all over again. It says I’m logged in on the home page but doesn’t remember it when I try to read an article. So it’s completely useless to me at the moment -The only reason I still have it on my phone is to get the alerts,But if I want to read the link attached to the alert I have to go find it manually on safari or from Twitter or something..OGlEastVillenVersion: 2.4.0

✓ Not properly testedI’ve been in s/w quality control my entire career. It is unprofessional and a slap in the customers face to role out poor s/w. In this new version you are changing a key feature I cherish…being able to see the entire page before honing in on the article I want to read. This is a slap in my face. I want this initial perspective because it gives me context. I want to 1st see the forest, per this change I can not see the forest from the trees. An analogy is how tv incorrectly covers sports. The camera perspective is so close that the viewer doesn’t get the context of the play. That is, the viewer can’t see how the play developed because the camera is too close. Too many engineers involved and not enough users. In fact I would be delighted to help test future s/w releases with the globe in order to avoid future screwups like this. Long time Globe enthusiast, Dean Koulouris, Reading.S/WuseabilitymanVersion: 5.0.0

✓ Remembers subscriber status but could be better experienceI’ve been a Boston Globe subscriber for 7 years, and despite paying them every month for the privilege of unlimited access to articles, I keep getting the paywall and being asked to log in. This app is the only thing that seems to remember my subscriber status on mobile. If you can’t track my cookies across Facebook, Twitter, Safari - I would like the ability to always open Globe articles in the app. It’s really annoying to get blocked from an article on Twitter, having to open the app, and searching for the headline of the article I wanted to read. The search isn’t that forgiving, it doesn’t autocomplete. Feels like old technology from the company that brought us the first responsive news website years ago..CyanMagenta4Version: 2.2.0

✓ E-paper glitchesThose who enjoy the Globe’s e-paper format may be less than enthused with a couple details compared to the classic app. The most inconvenient change is that all of each issue’s pages are numbered 1-100 instead of by section, so readers have to do math in their head to get to the jump page of a story. It also freezes periodically while flipping through the pages, so you have to exit the edition and reload it to resume..JPendakVersion: 5.0.2

✓ New Globe App is Pretty BadThere are two major problems with the new Globe app. The old app gave options to view the e-paper in either portrait mode or landscape mode. No longer. T he new app allows only portrait mode. That means the type is smaller. Tapping on a story brings you to the non-e-paper version, which is easier to read. But then, tapping on the link that brings you back to the e-paper takes you to the front page instead of the page you were on. This follows weeks where the e-paper type was low resolution. Very frustrating. Have the developers ever heard of user testing? Does the Globe actually want me to renew my subscription? Doesn’t seem like it..Frustrated Longtime ReaderVersion: 5.0.1

✓ If you prefer the ePaper view, do not install the March 2024 update!I installed the recently hyped update yesterday and the ePaper is so buggy I wish I could back it out. Page counting starts with A2, not A1 (fixed after I reported it). And the pages view shows multiple blank pages after the last actual page - confusing. Selecting a Section doesn’t take you to the first page of the section, but a random page within it. Sunday comics were 90% Black and White?! Even though Pages view showed color. That’s inexplicable. Randomly stops allowing me to turn pages, and then the Pages view is blank, so I can’t select a page either - I have to quit and restart. Either invest some work into the ePaper, or scrap it altogether..VaBelle54Version: 5.0.0

✓ Epic Login FAIL for Subscriber. Time to end subscriptionI love this paper. But I hate this app. It recognizes my subscriber login 10 percent of the time. When I try to read a section, away from the main landing page, it indicates that I’m not a subscriber. I am! I am pathing much more than my New York Times subscription! It only recognizes my login if I clear my cache every time I try to open the app, which is several t8mes a day. By the way, I’m computer savvy and clear my cache regularly. I contacted customer service and they were patronizing & not helpful. I’m calling ASAP to end this subscription. Btw, it’s sad and sneaky that I can only unsubscribe by calling them directly..BellaNiseVersion: 2.3.0

✓ Why fix something that is not broken?I don’t want to think of what these changes cost. Who had the power to go in this direction……the software guys looking for new challenges!!!This is the first time I’ve considered dropping a paper all together because one is now deciding to force me to change my comfort level in wanting to keep a long standing tradition of newspaper format and comfort level in reading one. Now on being forced to look for an alternative e-paper that will meet my needs and not choose to make changes without at least getting feedback from its customer base before making such drastic changes..Rouget de LisleVersion: 5.0.1

✓ Poorly formatted for iPad ProReading on an iPad Pro is pretty annoying if using a keyboard—which is the typical way to use an iPad Pro. The main page is horrible. Each article has a full screen image and a headline. The headline doesn’t even fit on the screen because the image is so large. Give me an option to hide the image. I’m not looking for a picture book. Stop making me scroll so much to see the headlines. Check out the NYT app for decent formatting. Maybe the Globe just doesn’t have enough subscribers to pay someone to format the front page daily. That is fine. At least let me hide the useless pictures. I Just scrolled through and 6 of 7 pictures are just dudes and only one is someone I recognize. Why do I need to see these people. If they didn’t something important, tell me what they did. Just give me the headlines so I can choose what story to look at..Dave MoVersion: 2.0.5

✓ ‘Town’ paper. Little sense of the world.It’s mind boggling how little news the Globe reports. Essentially none. In fact it’s a huge source of embarrassment for Massachusetts literati who have no choice but to read the NYT for actual news. Seems that all the globe cares about is scoring points with wokies. In fact, the less rational the better. In short , if a person or subject is woke, they can do no wrong, and any questionable ethics are ignored. In contrast, if a topic or person are independent & pander free rational, the globe will either bury it on page 100, or not mention it all or report 1/2 of the story, to skew the message to their wokie bias. To appear balanced they will publish the extreme wacky right fringe, but not the moderate, calm minded cerebral centrists. Sad, actually sad..Cancelling pandoraVersion: 2.9.8

✓ UsabilityThe latest version is probably the worst this app has been especially the e-paper. Continually loses track when expanding an article and then will not return. Sometimes force closing the app will resolve it but not always. On my 3rd attempt today to try and go forward reading and it will not allow. This after rebooting as well using an iPad with latest OS and upgrades. Though it was the same before the latest OS update so it’s the app that is not very useful at all. Sometimes have to wait till the next days paper to go back and read yesterday’s news…. Not ideal by any measure..IwasborninbostonVersion: 5.0.2

✓ Terrible-Repetitive and FrustratingI’m very surprised at the number of positive reviews of the Globe’s app, as I find it a very unpleasant experience. Rather than streamlined and clearly labeled sections like top stories, politics, metro, business, etc, the app seems to first have top stories, and then as you scroll down, the same stories are repeated over and over. This is frustrating and makes no sense at all. I realize one can navigate by selecting the sections on the left side menu, but even here the stories appear up top and then again below. As a result, I rarely read the Globe, and stick to the NYT and Wash Post. They both have excellent apps that the Globe would do well to study and emulate..StarmanDCVersion: 2.6.2

✓ New app harder to navigate and read paperI updated to the newest app on my iPad and immediately couldn’t find the Sunday comics on the list of Sections as it had been on the old app. It took awhile to realize how to find thumbnails and only scrolling through all of them to the end led to comics. Couldn’t even find the comics section by search. C’mon! Also can’t figure out how to get a single page full width view for any page of the paper without manually enlarging the page I get in the two page view! Good grief! This is not an intuitive app and does’t provide easy navigation shortcuts to everything or better page viewing options for people with poorer eyesight. Plus it wants all my personal info to use including financial! I resent that! I’m outta here!.Vintage ReaderVersion: 5.0.0

✓ I wish they presented the news in a fairer way.I understand that the Boston Globe leans left. That’s fine. I also read papers that lean right. But I do wish it at least proffered some news that wasn’t so politically biased. I wish this because of two primary reasons. First, the audience is disrespected. We’re treated as too ignorant to get the news straight and factual and decide on our own the ramifications. We also so get all the news, not just the news slant that favors any bias. Second: All newspapers should clearly identify their opinion pieces. Far too often the Globes news stories are really opinion pieces. Fine, but be honest and label them as such..Rooster3095Version: 2.0.5

✓ Still great, but...I love the Boston Globe and have read it every day for 45 years. I still don’t miss a day, even though I don’t live in Boston anymore. My one concern is that it increasingly seems determined to enter the culture wars, more as a participant than as an observer. I am not a habitual critic of the press, and I don’t look for liberal bias under every leaf. But I think the Globe’s news articles do tend to be slanted, and the selection of what to report or omit seems to reflect an agenda at times. In the opinion pages, liberal perspectives outnumber conservative ones by at least 4 to 1. Many columns are preachy and repetitive, more hysterical than thought-provoking. I hope the editorial board will occasionally self-reflect and remember that its more strident members do not hold a monopoly on truth and justice. Still, I love the paper and probably always will..Quincy raiderVersion: 2.0.3

✓ Not working properly todayI’m subscribed digitally, and I often read an article from a link received in an email from the Globe. Sometimes the link goes to a browser, sometimes it goes to the app. It’s not always easy to switch to the app, which is what I would prefer, but most of the time I can read what I want to read. Not today with the Covid history in MA article. The link from the home page in the app doesn’t work, and when arrive at it from other ways of searching, it constantly refresh, and I either lose the video embedded - it happened several times - or lose my reading position in the article, and even lose access to the entire article and need to start the search again. I am giving 3 stars because it is usuathis bad.NewbostonianVersion: 2.1.0

✓ Search and linking to the app need improvingThis review is specifically for the app, not for the Boston Globe newspaper. It is a good newspaper and Boston people auto subscribe. But it is a constant source ofAnnoyance that when I received the Boston Globe newsletter, and click on an article, it does not open the article in my app. Instead opens the website which I then have to log into. OK, so I can go to the app and search for that article. But—unless I put the exact title of the article in the search field of the app, I usually can’t find the article. When I do search for an article in the app, I get what seems like a random list of possibilities. If there is a way to sort these to show the most recent articles first, I hope someone will tell me about it..A fun way to learnVersion: 2.6.2

✓ Search function seriously flawedWhile the app does a decent job of presenting the news in an organized manner, the search function is nearly useless in trying to access older articles or stories one may have missed. Basic search terms fail to produce results showing stories matching the search, but instead yield what appear to be a host of unrelated articles. An effective search function is attainable, as the one on the New York Times app works great. I don’t understand why the Boston Globe can’t offer the same results on its app..Tom BockyVersion: 2.9.3

✓ Ads suckYou can’t scroll past an advert without it switching apps and loading in the browser..M_rmwatsonVersion: 2.0.5

✓ Great articles but dislike disconnect between email notifications and app.Articles but dislike disconnect between email notifications and app: I really enjoy reading the Boston Globe articles. The problem is when I get an interesting title in my email, I click on the hyperlink only to be brought to the website which demands my login information. When I try going in through the app, I can no longer find the story that I wanted to read that was sent to my email. Would be great If developers could do a “handoff” between email and the app where my login information is saved..JATerrellVersion: 2.3.0

✓ Constantly interrupts my readingAfter a bad experience with reading on a mobile browser, I sought out this app in hopes that it had the problem solved. Nope. The problem is that every 10-20 seconds while reading, the app re-generates (re-flows) the page. So what I was reading disappears briefly, and then once it’s re-drawn, my spot has moved elsewhere, possibly even off the page. I also can’t zoom into a photo without the page going off the rails - doing this seems to induce a re-flow and I’ll end up zoomed in to some other section entirely. It is so bad that it leads me to stop reading entirely..GrockleFlipVersion: 2.9.18

The Boston Globe works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact The Boston Globe.