Name: Orlando Sentinel
Rating: 4.48925 (3117 reviews)

User Reviews for Orlando Sentinel

4.49 out of 5

3.1K Ratings

5 months ago, Tchopatolous

Digital

I would rather have home delivery than digital because the ad inserts are annoying. I understand the business model of selling ads but they pop up right in the middle of a read. Like a two year old they demand attention. I’ve been told I can’t have a home paper. Bummer. Please restructure the ads to the side or something. Thanks

4 years ago, swildhack

Incredible expense for little content presented in a crashy app

You can tell the Sentinel, once part of the proud Chicago Tribune chain, is owned by a venture capital company. There’s no investment in the paper, just in its overlords’ profits. I pay $16 a month for a subscription to electronic content only, but trying to read the paper is nearly impossible. The website is stocked with filler, old news, brief, never-followed up police reports, and short paragraphs rewritten from Twitter. The e-newspaper, a replica of the print version, has some substance, but the damned thing crashes or produces a black screen whenever I try to access it. I pay twice as much for my Sentinel subscription as I do for my Tampa Bay Times ($7 a month) and Washington Post ($100 a year) e-subscriptions. If the e-paper just worked I would grumble but put up with it to support local journalism. But to cancel I have to spend a minimum of 30 minutes on hold before I can talk to some guy in India who functions as the circulation department. Maybe I’ll just cancel the credit card the subscription is attached to. That might be easier. Seriously, think twice about purchasing a subscription here. The Sentinel was a good paper 20 years ago. Now with cost cutting to the bone, there’s very little left, and good luck trying to find a way to read it.

10 months ago, Alex Alexson

Just use the website

Update: I canceled my subscription last year and recently been getting charged again. Very annoying to have to do a charge back every month. OS has just been going down hill since they were bought out. I don’t really understand why but the Orlando Sentinel app is terrible. Too many alerts even with most setting turned off. Every article gets opened in web view, requiring me to login again everytime I open the app. Until finer notification control and proper app integration are added I will be uninstalling and exclusively using the website. To add to this review, even when articles open in the app on my iPad they still ask me to login and subscribe despite already doing both years ago. Orlando sentinel is great at reporting but they might want to outsource their iOS devops

1 year ago, BB&BW Fan

No Access

After countless attempts, calls to customer service, emails and finally a snail mail to the finally responsive customer service, I have tried to call it quits. Customer service reached out and for one day, I could access the epaper. Today, once again, I get the pop up shield that informs me I must subscribe to continue reading. I have paid their introductory charge, have it on my credit card statement, but cannot access beyond page one. This is very frustrating, as customer service appears either overwhelmed, understaffed, or practically nonexistent. This has been the case since May 23. I’m not sure where this review will go, but if you’re considering their one year for $3.00, good luck, as I have had none.

5 years ago, Spunkybear1

Great way to keep in touch as a former resident

As a former Central Florida resident with friends and family still in the area, it’s a great way to keep in touch as to the comings and going‘s and notes of interest in the area. More than once I’ve been told I know more about what’s going on in the area than those that live down there do. The only thing that I miss is the way it used to be organized because to me it is now a little bit harder to find sections of interest that I used to enjoy reading. Other than that I enjoy the app.

3 years ago, CerveasDiablo

Terrible online content , app never works right

Extremely poor app, finding the days news is extremely difficult beyond a few top stories. The only way to really read everything is to use the e edition, which frequently crashes and doesn’t let you view all the pages. Happens almost daily. The e edition is stuffed with so many ads, not only do you get all the ads in the print version you get lots of extra ads, this is very disappointing as a paying subscriber. I also subscribe to the Daytona Beach news journal and their app is a thousand times better. You would think a company such as the Orlando sentinel could have an app that functions correctly , maybe they need to check out what the news journal is doing.

5 years ago, Jimsafan

Bugs persist

I get an email with links to stories and tap on the one I want to see. It opens safari and then tells me I have reached my monthly limit (I am a subscriber- I should not have a limit). At the top of the safari screen it provides a link to open the app. Tap the link and the app opens at its home page, not at the article I wanted. Been doing this for many months, one would think that it’s an obvious bug. If a subscriber (or not) gets an email with links, and their phone has the app, it should open the app, not safari. Please fix this annoying bug. Otherwise the app seems to work well.

3 weeks ago, Lee-sue

I’m paying for constant pops

I paid for a physical delivery subscription over a year ago. It is basically a donation to keep local news. I want to support Orlando Sentinel really. I finally figured out on my own how to have access digitally with my subscription. Now I am finally reading the news and the pops for ads are almost constant. I can read maybe 5 words in between each pop up. I am paying!! If there has to be ads too then how about one short clip for every story and not this constant interruption. I am probably going to cancel yet again as what am I really getting. No delivery and constant ads.

5 months ago, grayciemay

No Landscape??

Why remove the landscape orientation in the latest update? Really? Who benefits from the removal of an OPTION in favor of a mandate? This makes absolutely NO sense. I use landscape orientation for ALL of my apps on my iPad and have had no issues reading Sentinel articles that way. What’s more, my iPad case when opened sets optimum viewing for landscape mode. Not only is it annoying and inconvenient to turn my iPad for just one app, it makes my iPad unlevel and uncomfortable to use. Please restore the landscape option! For the life of me I can’t comprehend any harm to anyone in doing so.

6 months ago, gwaid1

Terrible app functionality

After the Sentinel changed the way their login was authenticated and would no longer work within the News app, I was forced to download this garbage app in order to use my subscription. I have to constantly log in, force close the app, and log in again in order to read more than one article because for some reason the app can’t maintain my session for longer than a minute. Not only that, but when I try to read articles using my PAID subscription, I am constantly assaulted by video popup after video popup, making trying to catch up with the local news next to impossible. There is also no “local news” section within the app, so I have to sift through a combination of Associated Press articles from around the country to figure out what is happening in Central Florida. Overall, this app is worthless. It may even be frustrating enough to cause me to cancel my subscription to the Sentinel.

3 years ago, Monkey2kitty

Terrible App

I live in Orlando so like to read the local newspaper and subscribe to this app. But it is frustrating because it often assumes I’m not a subscriber and I have to login repeatedly. Sometimes twice in one session. Now it keeps having videos pop up to the point that I can’t read an article. Also many of the news items that are in the actual print edition take me to the Sun-Sentinel website and ask me for a different login. I would like to support our local newspaper but if the app doesn’t improve, I’m going to have to drop my subscription.

2 years ago, SifuJon

Buggy app

My wife and I are part time Floridians, and this is the closest newspaper to our home. Accessing the online edition is OK, but if i try to open any article individually, it goes into an endless loading cycle on my iPad. Tried deleting/reloading multiple times and no change. IOS is up to date. Can only read paper by constant pinching and zooming. The app also has an annoying tendency to randomly kick me off and tell me I have no subscription, causing me to have to log in several times.

8 months ago, xhd45!

Terrible customer service

Despite not having access to my account due to a bug for weeks/months, I was charged the full amount for the duration and refused a refund. I first tried to contact them by email and never heard back. Then called. The guy on the phone was impatient and put in a ticket for IT to email me. It took days between messages to get a response. I am currently disputing the charges with my credit card company. I would not recommend subscribing to this newspaper. After the intro offer expires, it is overpriced for the content and the app is apparently prone to technical issues.

2 years ago, LHFour

A good app that’s declined.

This used to be a perfectly serviceable news app that I liked using as an Orlando sentinel subscriber. After the last few patches, I’m plagued by full screen video ads that come back as soon as I exit them, I constantly have to log back in, and it’s hard to find the stories that pop up as notifications if they don’t load right the first time, which happens often. I really wish the app associated with a service I pay to support worked more reliably with fewer bugs and annoying design decisions.

2 years ago, Victor Bird

Not Worth the Money

One of the worst apps on my devices. It’s never works. I’ve been a subscriber for years and the only way I can read the digital paper is through the link I’m emailed. If I don’t get the link (days like today) there no way I can get the paper through this app. It opens fine and on the second page there is a sign in notice. Once I sign in there is another notice that I’ve reached my free limit. Forget about customer service. All they do is give you instructions how to sign in. I can’t imagine the number of subscribers they’re missing by not fixing this app.

3 years ago, PhotoMusicLED

Lack of consistency in app

Is this lack of consistency a lack of testing or an inattention to detail? I am a subscriber who receives email notifications about news. When I click on the link in the email, I get a message saying I have exceeded my free reading. If I log in, I get the general news and not the particular one from the email. If I open the App, which is yet another selection on the same page, I still don’t get to the news I was looking for. This behavior is incredibly annoying.

4 years ago, KSOhara2

Finding an article

It is difficult to find an article published in the Sentinel even with the exact headline...which is very frustrating! I have tried to find articles by specific columnists with the headline of the column...without success. It is really annoying!

5 months ago, PhlashyBlair

Love The Sentinel, don't love the app

This app throws up a lot of advertisements. Scroll two paragraphs into an article, BOOM. Full screen ad takes over. Sometimes articles display in web format, sometimes in app format. In a word, it's clunky. A real shame because this kind of experience could drive away subscribers, especially at the price we're paying. We can't afford to lose our local paper!!

5 years ago, MMM828

Reached my limit with OS

Very frustrating. I have a digital subscription, which charges me without fail, but it never stays logged in. I receive alerts that I can’t actually read in the app. They open in Safari. I’m repeatedly blocked, saying that I’ve reached my monthly limit of free articles, prompting me to sign in. I sign in, but I still can’t view the articles. I can use the app fine, if I’m just browsing, but opening a targeted article never works. I have to search for it, defeating the point of the alerts.

12 months ago, Okieto

I’m a subscriber, so why are articles being blocked?

I see this is a common issue, that has been occurring for months. Why has it not yet been fixed? It doesn’t matter if I’m on the iOS app or logged in through a browser. In fact I just logged in on Safari to read an article and when I clicked on it, I got the pop up again. This is a terrible reader experience that might necessitate canceling my worthless subscription.

2 years ago, RaceAgainstPain

Always appreciated

As a longtime reader of the Sentinel via hard copy and digital, I can wholeheartedly give the Sentinel team 5 stars for consistently providing the vital information citizens need to live, work, and contribute to the community. Please keep up the great work. We trully appreciate the y'all🤙🤟🙏

3 years ago, Unfitbit

As a subscriber I am inconvenienced at least once a week to login. This request comes in the form of the 3 article limit for non subscribers. I am not a non subscriber; please fix this issue of annoying login for subscribers. I am a subscriber to another newspaper for a longer period than the 10 years I have been a Subscriber to this paper and I have not been asked to login again once in all these years. Please fix this annoying problem.

1 year ago, Wally Krebbs

Recent updates now spam me with notifications

I have the app configured to send me notifications for news events, so I am kept up-to-date on big news events. I am now getting many notifications per day about the “Ask Amy” advice column, even though I only have notifications enabled for news stories. Apparently I have to mute notifications now, which reduces the value of this app. I am a paid subscriber of the newspaper, by the way.

3 years ago, WxCurious

Great source of Orlando & area news

The writers/editors get it …they bring relevant local, national & intl news daily. News you can use - and do the right balancing act between the pop-news and stories that affect the community and Florida. Journalism - Well done !

1 month ago, Bob Nickell

Thank you!

Thank you for bringing back landscape to iPads. What a nice surprise to open the paper this morning and find that landscape is back. Now, if you could just fix it to where the app works on my iPhone.

2 years ago, Pinecastle

Can’t read any articles

This app is not updated. Can’t open any articles for a month even though my subscription is for full digital access. Haven’t received an email link in months for the e-newspaper. I just have to refresh my browser to get the daily edition. I often have to login even though I was already reading the newspaper. No help at all from the outsourced customer service. Price doubles every year.

5 years ago, Navel Gazer

Too many ads

Downloading the digital version of the Sentinel is much better than the unresponsive design of the online product that interrupts the reading experience with too many ads.

6 months ago, jallen1804

Decent News Outlet - The App Needs Work

I enjoy reading the Orlando Sentinel. They do good job reporting the local news. The App lacks features that many other papers provide. I also subscribe to the Washington Post which actually costs less & is a better platform that provides many more features.

4 years ago, Tpb718

It’s like they’re trying on purpose to make a terrible App

I have a regular subscription to the Sentinel. Using the online version is super frustrating because of all the ads that constantly pop up and make it hard to read even one article. I thought downloading the app would make it difference but it’s the same experience. To make it even more annoying the app won’t let you stay signed in. So lame! Get your act together.

5 years ago, chanhasen

Frustrated by digital OS!

Why does the format keep changing? Why am I reading from a little dinky column when the whole page is there doing nothing, etc.? Nancy Ball

11 months ago, Mt Hood visitor

Worst website ever

I’m a subscriber but the app never lets me sign in. I get daily emails with links to news stories, but I still have trouble viewing the stories on the web site. (It says I’ve reached my limit of free articles) So I try the app and get stuck in a never-ending loop of “you’ve reached your limit” and “Subscribe now!” Even though it was a cheap subscription deal, I should still be able to sign in, no?

2 years ago, sub since 86

Yet another missed paper🤮🤮🤮

Have subscribed since 1986 but totally ready to stop delivery - meant awful delivery.. No paper AGAIN - then of course the number of times I’ve asked for paper to be delivered again it NEVER happens.. so how can I even tell if we’re getting credit for yet another missed paper??? Customer service is a JOKE - a bad one.. No Thursday paper so no access to grocery ads much less news..

7 months ago, pandora 247

They refuse to cancel the subscription

Don’t download! there is other ways to get news and for free!. Apple says I have to reach out to Orlando sentnal Orlando says I have to reach out to Apple. Orlando is no help and charges us over $70 for this and no way to cancel. I have had to call the bank to block future payments from them. Hopefully that will work. Other wise we will have to send them a legal letter.

6 months ago, avivfagan81

Fix this annoying mess

As a paid subscriber, the amount of video pop up ads that I have to deal with while trying to read an article is maddening. Leave it to a horrible company like Tribune Media to just gut the paper and then nickel and dime people’s time even after being a paid subscriber.

1 year ago, Frustrated Golfer

Poor

I am forced to keep my print subscription as it is nearly impossible to read the news in this app. I am constantly asked to log in when I click on links from within the app. What’s up with that??? The print edition is still a valuable source of local news….need to invest in the app so that one can get the same value online.

4 years ago, Suzimcg

Digital paper

I can’t get anywhere with you digital paper. Have been trying to get the epaper and will not work. So frustrated.

5 years ago, Wetware aware

Update made it slower

Updated recently and pages load so slowly that I have to leave app and come back to read pages (7 and higher) later in the day Today they won't even load . Will try unload and reload ... any other suggestions for ipad user

11 months ago, Sweet2Potato

Disappointed !!

I just signed up & paid for the $3 for one year digital subscription, but every time I click on a news article, a pop-up says “you’ve reached your limit of free articles for the month”, blocking my ability to see anything on Orlando Sentinel 🤨🤔 ‼️

5 years ago, Ealey

Sharing

I would like to be able to share articles. Why are we having trouble reading articles beyond the header?

2 months ago, gbarx

What’s the point?!?

I have been supporting local papers since college. A few months ago I stopped the hard copy as I found I was almost exclusively reading the digital Sentinel. Until now. You can’t view individual articles. I have to read it like I downloaded the PDF version!! Please fix quickly! No reason for this terrible update!

2 years ago, Sonic15E

Left Leaning Publication

I cancelled my subscription as I could no longer stomach the leftist bent to the Sentinel. Most of the views expressed are hard left and no balance is offered.

5 years ago, jackseay

Can’t read even one article

I tried subscribing and unsubscribing at least 3 times. If I tried to read anything, it would ask me to subscribe, even though I already was. It would say I was already subscribed, then give me an error message, and not allow me to see anything but the headlines. So I would unsubscribe and resubscribe again, then the same errors all over.

3 months ago, ImJackBauer

Ads are out of control

I’m a paying subscriber and the app is unusable due to the amount of auto play video ads. You can’t scroll through an article without 4-5 full screen video ads from being played. I’ve since cancelled my subscription. Why pay a premium for articles with obtrusive ads?

2 years ago, 1oo8

No support available

Don’t waste your money. Used to work well, but hasn’t for awhile. I’m paying for unlimited digital access & NOT getting it. When I contact iTunes/Apple they only tell me to contact app mfgr. When I contact Orlando Sentinel, no one knows a thing about my subscription or this app. I can’t even access via their website!

5 months ago, Landscape orientation

WARNING! Removes landscape orientation!!!!!

I read my paper on my ipad using a case that only works in the landscape position. This update removes that option so now it is near impossible to read the paper. Why did The Sentinel do this? Probably so their ads show up on every page. Not a good choice if I stop reading the paper out of frustration!

2 months ago, ImaginaryFool

Ads make reading imposssible

Every time I try to read an article in the app, video ads pop up making it almost impossible to get through an entire article without extreme frustration and persistence. It shouldn’t be this difficult to read content I already pay for.

2 months ago, Ronmancvu

Constant full-screen ads

Reading a single article means swiping away 5 or more full-screen ads that randomly pop up as you scroll down the page. It’s a huge detraction from the otherwise excellent journalism people like Scott Maxwell put out.

5 months ago, Lz S S

Bring landscape orientation back please

I find easy to read when in landscape mode not to mention easier for the cover I have. Now the app doesn’t offer landscape mode anymore. I read it on an iPad. Why remove it? Please roll this feature back. It doesn’t even make sense to remove for the iPad version.

2 years ago, marcus304j

Tough to Cancel

Don’t subscribe to them even if they give you the $1 for 6 months deal. They will auto renew your account at the full rate even when it says otherwise. Also, you have to call overseas to cancel any subscriptions, which seems odd for a paper located in Orlando. No wonder newspapers are dying with practices like these!

4 years ago, Dkirsch78

Really awful app

I gave the Orlando Sentinel a try recently given the increase in local news. The content of the articles is somewhere between mediocre and satisfactory, but the app itself is straight garbage. Why do you need pictures to take up literally the entire screen and then some? On an iPad Pro no less! Absurd. I will be cancelling within the month.

Description

Now there's a simple, elegant and customizable way to get all of the Orlando Sentinel's exclusive, in-depth local reporting on your iPhone and iPad. FEATURES: • Stay informed with Orlando's best source of news, sports, business and entertainment • Sign up for push notifications to get the latest news from our newsroom as soon as stories break • Enjoy exclusive videos and photo galleries • Edit the section list to be in your preferred order • Save must-read stories, photos and videos for when you have the time to enjoy them • Keep track of what you've read and what you haven't with Progress Report • Turn your device sideways for an entirely different visual view of the news (iPad only) • Get the latest breaking news from our newsroom in your notifications • Share stories easily with Twitter, Facebook, or email • Offline reading: Download and read content offline • See your progress: Articles that have been read are greyed out to make your reading experience more efficient SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: • Download the app to enjoy a sampling of free stories each month. For full access, try a free month of Unlimited Digital Access to the app, the Orlando Sentinel website, and our eNewspaper; then it's only $19.99 a month. Make sure to create a registration while in the app so you'll be able to log in to the website and eNewspaper when you visit them in web browsers. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable • Your subscription automatically renews each month unless auto-renew is turned off within your Account Settings at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Your iTunes account will be charged $19.99 for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period • You can read our Privacy Policy here: http://www.tribpub.com/privacy-policy/ • You can read our Terms of Service here: http://www.tribpub.com/central-terms-of-service/ • Questions about your subscription, including adding or removing Web access to the Orlando Sentinel website from your app access, can be directed to Customer Service: 407-513-4055. CRASHES / PROBLEMS? We've been working hard to fix any and all crashes in the app. If you're still experiencing crashes or freezes after installing this update, please contact us at [email protected]. A quick email to our support team helps our developers identify and resolve crashes faster.