Article refresh schedule seems to have been tweaked and is much better. Lack of search for archives or the day’s paper is annoying, but search in general is a mess at the moment and frankly no search is better than AI searches. The ad inserts are problematic because they interfere with phone scrolling, being so oversized. The facsimile app allows you to print out crosswords and take ‘em on the ferry. Previous review: It cannot be this difficult to write an app that automatically yanks the full text of every posted article off a server and dumps it into the app. How many programmers are there in Seattle? Apparently the Times can hire none. No search. Incomplete content. Links open outside the app. Yesterday’s news today. No font size adjustment (for something whose readership certainly trends towards needing reading glasses). Come ON. Update: the late-to-never article posting has been fixed, but links still open outside the app. No good reason exists for a user to have to log in multiple times to read something referenced in a current article.
I originally began the online mode when I had a difficult time getting home delivery to a new address after thirty years of delivery at the old address. Very quickly, I appreciated the convenience and mobility and no mess aspect of the online edition. Physically, it is much easier to hold an iPad in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, than a newspaper with both hands. Online has been to both coasts and Hawaii. If our resting place has no WiFi, which is rare, a local bar can be used to download the news faster than I can finish a beer....well maybe. My recycle bin is less full and I will never have to walk up the driveway to grab a wet paper again. I am in my early 70s and as my visual acuity wanes I can easily make the print larger...Kurt
This app makes it easy to read articles, and you can bookmark articles to come back to. However, there are significant limitations. For example, there is no search function. The articles you can view are limited by what you can browse to, which means you often can’t find older articles or articles that are not being featured. Also, when using the app you can’t see any comments, or make a comment, or even see whether comments are enabled on the story - you would have to open the article in a web browser, which is not easy to figure out how to do from the app itself (if it is even possible). Finally, I subscribe to the daily newsletter to get the rundown on featured stories; but when you click on an article from your email, the link opens the article in a web browser, not the app, and once you hit the paywall, you have to log in every single time you want to view an article in a browser. In general, the app seems to be very poorly integrated with other technologies, and it is very challenging to use the app to find or track a story.
The app and its stability is pretty great, but the way they go about the articles feels a little cheap and unbecoming of the Seattle Times. I understand having to pay a subscription fee, and that’s not my beef with the app. My beef is the way they push notifications to your phone that seemingly have a full story, but then you click to open the story using one of your sixteen articles for the month just to find out the story is 1-2 paragraphs long. In fact, 1 out of every 4 articles or so is like this, and as a result makes the app feel cheap and like a money grab, especially when they’re constantly reminding you of how many you’ve read that month and then pushing you to subscribe. I enjoy a relevant, quality news organization as much as anyone, and understand the need to pay for news, but I think the non-subscription method could be fixed in order to draw in more people, people who would actually pay for the subscription at some point in time if it weren’t for the cheap, tacky feel the app gives off.
I use several news apps and Seattle Times is the only one that gives me consistent problems. Scrolling! When scrolling, if my thumb comes anywhere near an ad, it swipes instead of scrolls, which takes me back to the main menu, where I have to select my article and skim through the article to find where I left off. Super annoying, especially when I’m deep in an article and it happens several times in the same article. This is a daily occurrence. I thought an update might fix it, but nope. Also, the app consistently cuts off the last couple of sentences of articles which requires going back to the main menu and reloading the article. Also annoying. I appreciate having a local news source, but really hoping they can get these bugs fixed. Also, I am not seeing how to read or leave comments on articles. If this is not an option it should be, and if it is, they should make it more apparent on how to do it.
The app is only ok for reading the latest news, but I'm disappointed that content I receive for my paid subscription is the same as the free app. I even called your office to assist me in reinstalling the app because all I get is an abbreviated version of the print paper. We were loyal subscribers to the print paper for 20 years and wanted to continue our subscription when we moved to Oregon, but the cost was prohibitive, so we settled for paying for the online subscription. If you're going to offer a paid online subscription, I would like to see the app offer the same content since I only read the news on the go and don't have time to sit at my computer. I miss my comics and gardening sections! I'd like to see a search feature too. Please offer your paid subscribers a way to get more content. Otherwise, I don't see any benefit to paying for the subscription.
Hey Seattle Times I love your paper. I pay for a subscription but this app is really below the line and stinks in so many ways.. 1 THERE IS NO SEARCH . Want to find related articles or something you have read in the past? Nope can’t find it because there is no search bar. 2 LINKING FORCES you into the web browser. Really ? Dang well what’s the point of having an app ? 3. MISSING SECTIONS of the physical newspaper. Again really who designed this app? I thought I paid to see the entire paper. 4. STOPPING MID-ARTICLE. What ?Why ? 5. NOT UPDATED often enough. It’s only seems to occur when forced by a new release of operating system. I know there are many other frustrated readers. Yes, the internet destroyed so many newspapers Seattle Times YOU ARE DRIVING AWAY INTERESTED PAYING USERS? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE a fix this app and put in new features.
The Seattle Times lets you access there main page but after only a couple times that you read an article they want you to spend money to join. No other national news apps require this and when I checked further there are hundreds of other cities that do not require this monetary requirement. I feel that this should be free to the general public. The Times makes enough on advertising and other monetary ventures. Most people do not have the ability to pay and keeping news from the public is not good. I can view all of there national news content on other news network internet apps for free. I can read Seattle news on one of the news networks apps for free. So why bother to read the Seattle Times? More over why should I be made to pay for this news outlet, when KIRO 7 and KOMO both provide free news. Get with it Seattle Times and help the public by providing free access to current news!
The Times app does allow you to read news. But it lacks some features of other news apps. •lacks the ability to direct clicks to Times stories that are emailed to the app rather than a web page •lacks the ability to mark stories to a “read later” or favorite queue. I have the Times email me top stories. When I click the story, it sends me to a web page even though the app is installed. The app should allow me to designate in a setting whether I want to read stories I click on the web or the app. And if I designate the app, then it should automatically route my click to launch the app and open the story. It also desperately needs the ability to mark a story for reading later. Compare Apple’s News app. When apple news sends me a notification of a story I’m interested in, directly from the notification I can mark a story to be read later if I do not immediately have time. This app does not do that. Also, when in a story, I should be able to favorite it and/or add it to a list of stories to read later. If they add these two features, as a subscriber, I would be eternally grateful and able to give a 5-star rating.
Thank you Seattle Times for today’s much needed update, especially that it now includes screen optimization for the iPhone X. I would like to make just one suggestion regarding the layout though. Please make the top section more translucent (get rid of the top border section). That way as you scroll down you can still see the article and pages while still seeing it as it goes behind the iPhone indicators (clock, location, signal strength & battery indicators. A great example of this is the revamped CBS News app. This in my opinion is currently the best optimized app for the iPhone X screen. You’re almost there Seattle Times. Thank you and keep up the great improvements!
The app works well but not all of the Seattle Times content is directly accessible via the app. In some cases the app provides just the start of the content and then references you to the full article and this is just a web link. The Seattle Times web site viewed with a mobile web browser is horrific and consistently crashes. Current versions of Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox all report problems with various versions of iPhones on current OSes. If the mobile web page doesn’t fail it will only partially load or repeatedly crash and reload. Best case scenario is the page loads and the ads constantly change size and you read a moving target; that really is the best case. Non-mobile versions of the web page are much better and work for the most part.
Beware of the never ending request to cancel subscriptions…
You may never be able to cancel your subscription or grow old trying. It is routed through a “Developing” nation. They will intentionally not cancel your account multiple times trying to keep you subscribed and continue to draft payments (they must have learned some tricks while writing pieces on shady corporations that employ tricks like this). How would anyone ever believe a word written in this publication when their transparency of cancellation is completely absent. Shame on The Seattle Times being the news people in the Northwest receive about this amazing world. Seems to be a common trend at the Seattle Times, saber rattle about in-equalities and corporate boogeymen and then have a complete criminal cancelation policy to extort subscribers.
I’m a subscriber and I’m increasingly finding articles that are incomplete. I then have to clumsily find a way to open the article on the website to complete it. I would really like to be able to search for an article in the app. Another feature only available on the website unless it is buried somewhere in the app menu. Overall, app needs a bit of a refresh. I never use the My ST, Trending, and Latest tabs at the bottom of the screen. Would prefer search and a summary of what’s happening in Seattle today (events and important state, county, city decisions being made) tab.
My family lives in Bellevue. Generally when I land at Seatec it’s a quick ride to the Factoria exit,and then the thrill of pulling into their driveway. We easily flow and start our reunion and visit. This grandmother has to wait for hugs and her Girl Scout cookies. I love your newspaper. Here in New York, I get a flavor of my family’s hometown. The photos and reporting keep me connected. Until Kennedy and Seatec reconnect, I’m grateful, every day for your quality coverage of the day’s’ events. Joni Brenner Huntington New York.
Slow to load, hard to navigate, and not enjoyable to use. I often get the impression that your Web developers do not actually use the apps you create; pages often do not load completely whether on fast Wi-Fi or my cell network. The big ads you have in the middle of many of your articles are easily mis-clicked and then I’m taken away to some ridiculous add that has nothing to do with anything I’m interested in which I find to be slightly obnoxious because I pay for the honor to use the Seattle Times app via a subscription so I don’t understand why I need to be bombarded with more ads.
Apparently the subscription you buy through apple for 9.99 isnt full access. You cant access past articles with a search bar, and you cant access articles through an device other than your iphone app. I called the Seattle Times to Verify and they said even though Ive been paying 10$ a month for over a year that Im not considered a subscriber because I didnt buy it through them. Misleading and explains why Ive never been able to click through their email updates to read an article. Full digital sibscriptions should be purchased directly through the seattle times for 3.99/week
Overall decent content. Don't like that I can only read a few ads online before getting blocked. You need to have advertisers fund the option of online viewing vs having customers pay. As an FYI, the way around....I now click on your app icon, when I see an article that looks interesting, I go to google and type in your headlines...read your article in google, get what I need, and it's great- but you sent me somewhere else. If you didn't limit how many articles one could read on your ap, and not make the pay, yet charged advertisers... news "papers" might not be in the positions they're in. You're behind the times.
This is literally the first app that I go to when I wake up in the morning, and I use it every day. Overall I like it, but it’s got a persistent bug that doesn’t happen with any of my other news apps. When I’m reading a news story, and I try to scroll down, many times the news story closes and I’m taken back to the main screen. There’s some bug with the scrolling function that treats it like a back button. I consciously try to avoid it, but it still happens all the time.
The Seattle Times app is a poor clone of the website. Most of the content is the same, but the app has functionality problems. For example, I’ve found that some articles are cut off prematurely and that it is way too easy to exit out of an article I’m reading. Once you swipe right out of an article, you have to start the article over. You also can’t see comments on the article from the app. I really want to like the app, but I’m better off reading the mobile site rather than dealing with the infuriating app.
This is a MAJOR flaw. The font on the articles in the iPhone app is very small. iPhone has a setting called dynamic font. It means apps should use the font setting from there - especially a reading app. I am questioning my entire reason to subscribe to the electronics/mobile newspaper. Content that I see on Seattle Times Facebook is not on the app. Breaking news is updated after every other newspaper has already reported on it. I get this is local to Seattle, but still - I have turned off alerts for news due to that. Finally - if I see an article on Seattle Times Facebook and want to read it in this app, I cannot because I can’t find it. And there is not search button. This means even as a paying customer, unless Facebook tells me, I’m only reading a few curated articles using this app.
As a 19 year subscriber, I have seen a significant deterioration in the content and objectivity of the paper. The news section is a cut and paste essentially from The NY Times, Wash Post, and LA Times. I choose to read the news and make my own conclusion, not have the paper’s agenda strewn throughout each article. We aren’t stupid out here but the paper treats us that way. The Local news and Sports sections are ok but I can get that news online. The saddest part is when the editor uses a full page to pat himself on the back for winning the state-level print awards against such tough competition as the papers in smaller cities across the state. And the price for this keeps increasing.
Pulitzer Prize winning writers, Nina Shapiro, for one on complex stories, her spouse, Dominic Gates cracking Boeing scams 737Max and many other stumbles, one too many advice columnists having to read both, good comics which should be in color like the LA Times and include Sherman”s Lagoon, not just on line. Perfect local and national coverage, concise along with just two brief sections, News and Sports, quick easy read, great Blethan Family paper that beat out Hearst’s PI. OK, remember, Sherman’s Lagoon, icomics in color, perfect.
Kate Steinle verdict @ 6:00pm, Seattle Sounders final score @ 8:00. News next morning? Sounders game win! Steinle verdict no mention!!! Really? Not even manslaughter and you think not worth reporting? Don’t sell yourselves down the tube. You must see beyond your bias. We are not racists to see the injustice in the verdict and yet you don’t even report on it until 2 days later!! Really?! Important verdict but you stuff the reporting! How can we trust your reporting the news when you avoid timely reporting on issues that your customers might agree or disagree with. Your job is to report the news irrespective of the underlying bias you may have. Otherwise you become a “rag”! U r better than this!
If you live in the Seattle area you cannot know what is going on unless you read the Seattle Times. Big Stories, environment, arts, social justice and politics, economics and business news, State news, real estate, gardening...the best columnist-Danny Westneat...oh and sports! And photos of your backyard, crosswords, and even some pretty good chatter around town from Nicole Brodeur ... and excellent syndicated journalism from around the world.
I was recently advised the number of articles I could access would be limited just like it has been on the paper's regular website for sometime. So, I held my nose and paid for the app...about $10 per month through the Apple Store. But, this makes me a subscriber only on the app. I am still persona non grata on the website. $10 is a lot for a poorly written and worse designed app. I moved away from Seattle years ago and only want a way to check in on the sports teams. I'm looking for another source.
When are you going to fix the scrolling bug that closes the story I’m reading and returns to the main page? My daily reading experience is continuously disrupted by reloading the story from the main page and finding the place where I left off, sometimes multiple times . ST app is also the slowest and bandwidth hungry of all the newspaper apps I use. Seattle Times subscribers deserve a better iOS app, particularly from the tech center of the universe. Take a look at the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) app which is excellent.
The Seattle Times is a good paper, but this app is a disappointment. It is hard to find the stories that the editors have selected for the front page and other key sections of the print paper. Old news is mixed in with current news. (And today I saw only Opinion pieces that were three days old or older—not even today’s Opinion pieces.) There is no search function. There is no way to adjust font size. There are recurring Zergnet ads that cheapen the reading experience (the same app appears after every fifth or sixth sentence.) Apps from the WSJ and NY Times could provide good guidance for how to improve this app.
Why does a mostly reading based news app need to steal your audio? Every time I open the app to read an article, my music or podcast in the background stops, which is extremely annoying. Maybe some articles have video or audio in them but why steal the audio when reading unless I’m watching a video or listening a news audio clip? I want to be able to keep listening to my music while also being able to read my Seattle Times. This will make me delete the app if not fixed soon.
Started to read Seattle Times in 1950. First article I can remember reading entirely was Hugh McElhaney running wild in UW victory over the Cougars that Nov day. Over the years I have tried to read it daily while I lived in the area. Does the ST struggle at times? They do politically but always manage to get through it. I hope they don’t fold, cuz sports, travel, entertainment & local news always excellent.
Font is too small, barely scroll off center and you are sent back to the Home menu, too often the end of articles are cut off. I get the print version as well because a digital only subscription was going to cost me more(?). The content is good, headlines follow the print edition, and categories are fairly broad but the issues mentioned above are very frustrating. Please fix what I would consider fairly easy if other newspapers are able to do it. Dave O
The app works pretty well but they send out too many push notifications for stories which aren’t actually breaking news, that newsworthy, or even that interesting. Latest example: “what happened when an underground drill hit a rock”. Yesterday it was something like “woman retires on cruise ship to save money”. Seriously? Be more selective, or give me an option to customize what kind of stories I get notified about.
Really want to like this app but it feels like a neglected stepchild to the physical paper. Rather than embrace technology and improve the functionality of the app, Seattle Times starts stuck in the past, hoping day will come when Seattle residents will abandon their smartphones and tablets to embrace reading the printed paper front to back each day. Design hasn’t been updated for years, ability to share or print articles does appear to work, and information is poorly organized. Better just to view paper through its website.
The news and editorial staff such as Danny Westneat despise Republicans and consider those of us who disagree with their views to be ignorant country buffoons who are dependent on the mighty wise urban benefactors to survive. Those of us in the hinterlands have a different view. We’ll be fine on our own if it comes to that, but we would prefer a more equitable arrangement where we provide you with what you need to live happy and safe in your urban domain and we get to be free and happy in the hinterlands without your interference. Also, without those damned Californians... they can’t seem to leave their politics at the border when they move here...
I have edited this App Store review several times over the years. The app is much improved, with fewer intrusive ads. It’s still a bit buggy and fails when other news apps I use don’t do this. However, I want to support my local newspaper and now I’m rating the app a 5 star for effort and continued improvement.
There is a bug in the application caused by the banner advertising that shift the text on top of the images so you can not read the article's title. I contacted Seattle time2 weeks ago and they are aware of the problem without fixing it. As a paid subscriber I would expect better customer service and a working application.
As a native Seattleite I appreciate keeping in touch. I was born and raised there mid-century. My kids, grandkids and other family members are still there. I retired to Central Oregon but read the ST daily. My brother and I were paper boys in the 50s. I always helped him carry the big load on Sundays in the neighborhood around NE 65 Street above 25th Ave NE. I visit there often and appreciate the Corona Virus updates, not to mention everything else. I love keeping up with what’s going on there as it affects me and my family. Things are different there now. Gone are the simple days of my childhood in the Wallingford area just north of Ravenna. I still love Seattle and all it represents. It is my hometown. Best Regards, Janice Huber Taylor
I love to read the Seattle Times, but lately, even after checking for bug fixes in the latest app updates, the full stories fail to load after I click on the headlines. I have an iPhone 11 Pro with fast starlink Wi-Fi. I end up having to log into the times on the safari app and read there instead of through the app. Can you fix this problem?
This local resource is a treasure like none other, journalists that could be working anywhere, but putting their skills to work in a city and region with many complicated and critical issues... from Boeing’s Max problem to Amazon’s world dominance to the throngs of homeless. Great combination of hard news and features, plus sports coverage and best of all, Danny Westneat.
It needs lots of work! The same stories appear in several different sections. Much of the news in the local section is not local. Sometimes there is just one tiny paragraph that says nothing more than the headline. And often the article just stops in the middle of a sentence and the rest of it won’t come up. I like reading the Seattle Times to keep up with what’s going on locally but you make it very difficult.
No search, no comments, poor formatting. Embarrassing.
Very out of date app, especially without the ability to see comments, and search. Want to see the election results? Can’t search - you have to click around until you find a similar article and then hope to find the related article. It’s clear this is a 3rd party purchase - you frequently have to re-login and even then the app will launch web page versions of its own articles…..requiring you to also sign in there.
When I click on a FB headline it should be able to prompt to open the app instead of leading to a new page. And actually open that particular link. A lot of other sites do this, ie. Reddit, Instagram, etc. Also am I dumb or is there no search function?!!! I’m constantly just using a webpage on my phone to read articles since I can’t seem to find the articles I see on social media quickly! I hate scrolling thru a bunch of stuff to try to find what I’m actually looking for.
Coming from the Windows Phone version, I find the iOS version much easier to use. I have been a digital subscriber for years, and easily recommend this app to everyone in Washington State to get the local angle and avoid the nationalization of the news - have a balanced diet!
I was a regular subscriber until pop-up ads were included. What is the point of paying for a newspaper subscription and being hamstrung by dozens of pop up ads? Either make it free with pop-up and access to stories or take off the annoying pop-up ads. I canceled my subscription and now rarely is this app. I'm sad to see another newspaper die, but the editors of large publications just don't get how to be responsive to readers and advertisers. Update: I’m uninstalling this worthless paper. It’s 90% Sports and very little news. Newspapers have gone to $#!t.
The font size for the article content cannot be changed which makes articles very difficult to read on iPhone. This app is advertised as working for iPhone and iPad but it was designed to work with iPad only. What the point of having an app and electronic newspapers article if the font size cannot be changed. This app is just the worst ever and could me make unsubscribe because I cannot change the font have difficulties to read articles… so bad
I always like to read David Brooks’ column; he is a thoughtful Republican, maybe the last. I do fault him for denial however. In looking at the shift of government to local initiative. Which is fine. But. Local efforts cannot address our overriding cancers: climate change, racism (as Brooks noted), wealth nondistribution, Fox News and religious terrorism. These devils are trying to kill us. Ignoring them will not help. Frank Carsey Bremerton WA
Every morning I look forward to keeping informed by reading the printed Seattle Times . It has local, national, and international news. In this era of online news where it is difficult to know if the information is accurate, the Seattle Times uses journalists who take pride in the reporting. This newspaper needs to be supported.
I especially love their investigative reporting. I have subscribed since the 1980's. I do wish they would feature "ordinary" homes in the Sunday section. The architectural behemoths they feature are interesting, but what about the more average abodes? I suggested that to the paper, and the response was that it wouldn't go over with certain subscribers. Sad.
The Seattle Times provides a vital and singular service to Seattle area residents. It is a critical voice supporting our democracy and local activities, culture, business, politics, and institutions essential to our lives in the greater Seattle area. Long live local newspapers with professional journalists and editors!
The app would actually be 5 stars but for this one issue that’s been present for years. Even medium length articles have the last few paragraphs cut off and longer articles can have quite a bit more. I wind up having to switch to the web site to finish reading. Otherwise I prefer the navigation features and the organization of the app over the website.
This most recent update is terrible! The app is even less navigable than before. • Gone is the iOS standard double tap to zoom on photos. • Zoomed photos can no longer be dragged, making looking at graphs a nightmare. • Pulling down at the top of a section causes a reload, no matter how slight the pull. • Making the back button smaller and leaving in the far left corner of the screen means I have to use two hands to navigate the app. Apple demonstrates outstanding design language in their News app. I urge the ST app developers to adopt those concepts for a far more user friendly app. Oh, and one more thing: please, please, please stop sending me push notifications for articles I just finished reading! Don't you collect any metrics!?
Get Northwest news that matters — faster than ever. The new and improved Seattle Times app is superfast to get you right to the news you want. We deliver the fastest news experience possible, with content you won’t find anywhere else. - Lightning-fast load times, quick-scan headlines and a clean, streamlined experience - Push notifications for the latest breaking news as it happens - The same award-winning content you expect from The Seattle Times, even faster - Breaking news and trending topics - Stories that dig deep, and have a direct impact on our local community - Customizable feed to quickly access your favorite topics - Easy ways to share your favorite content with your friends - Complete local sports coverage of Mariners, Seahawks and Sounders, so you never miss a play. Users can read up to 15 articles free per month. Seattle Times subscribers can log in for unlimited access to all of our award-winning content. Users can also subscribe to get Unlimited App Access straight from the app for $9.99 per month. Your subscription will automatically renew each month, with the credit card associated with your iTunes account being charged. Cancel anytime by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Full terms of service: http://company.seattletimes.com/notices/notice1.html
