Leave a Review The Economist
Podcast Feed Please
I like the newspaper/magazine. I like it he content and I enjoy their prescriptive tone (telling world leaders what they should do). I love the letters from readers - frequently rebutting the paper’s liberal bias. The science section is a real treat.
Holding back from 5 stars because the listening experience for the audio edition is ok. It’s good. But it’s not great. On the other hand, my podcast app provides a great listening experience, so I’d really like a subscription feed so I can just listen to the full audio edition in whatever app I want to. Also, there’s no Apple Watch app from the economist and a podcast subscription feed would address that gap.Show lessMV94941
Very unbiased, Economics is the perspective
I love this mag. I mean I really do (Econ Major at UCO btw). The only complaint I have is the excess of ads despite me paying the full price. Otherwise I think that this is the most worthwhile news source to date. A lot of people used to consider The Economist to be a conservative newspaper, but truly I tell you that it has done a 180 in 2020, they really just use economics alone as their guiding subject. They were supporting the vaccine when it was first out and mostly a political issue. They don’t pander to leftists or conservatives very often or really at all. Also they take good critical letters from respected individuals in their letters section. I truly enjoy disagreeing with an article and then finding someone smarter than me who wrote exactly why it is wrong, I could go on and on about this magazine. I love the formatting (shorter less fiddly articles, with all of the facts and as little opinion as possible) and I’m definitely a lifelong customer as long as that Economist quality is retained. I also really enjoy how the economist never says we think that (…) they always say this is the way to fix it or just state things how they are based on economic indications. There is actual evidence to back up economics, rather than some crazy conservative conspiracy theory, or a radical leftist rant. I don’t think they’re always right but this leads to a level of honesty. Excellent customer service also.Show lessBennieCas
Audio playback has been fixed, but additional features would be appreciated
I’ve been subscribed to The Economist for several years and the audio edition has become my primary method of consumption. It’s very convenient to listen to the articles during my commute or while working around the house.
The latest update seems to have fixed the audio playback issues where article audio would take forever to load and then crash somewhere in the middle, losing your progress. I haven’t had any of these issues since updating to the latest app version.
I would give the app 5 stars but have taken off a star due to the lack of AirPlay support for the audio edition. I can play all my music and podcasts through my AirPlay speakers, but not The Economist - please add this.Show lessteehale
Developer Response
Thanks for your feedback, it's good to know that the latest fixes are making a difference. We're continuing to work on audio improvements, so thanks too for the useful input. - LauraAudio edition unusable
Excellent content, terrible app. I use the app (and subscribe to The Economist) solely to listen to the audio edition. Usually I listen while doing something else: driving, riding a motorcycle, in the gym, on an airplane, etc. Usually I am also using other apps such as for navigation , and often with no or intermittent internet access. In older versions of the app, this was not a problem. There is an option to download the audio file and play it back through the app. However, updates over the past year have made this feature virtually unusable. Often it will randomly stop playing, and I need to pull over, restart the app (which restarts from the beginning of the edition) and then advance it to the right article. Sometimes it just doesn’t play at all. Why it would have such difficulty playing an already downloaded file is unclear, but I suspect there is some sort of over-aggressive anti-piracy feature interfering with smooth playback. If this is not resolved and the app remains unusable I will have no reason to maintain a subscription.Show lessuridiidjeifn
Developer Response
Thanks for your feedback and sorry that you've been having these problems. We're aware of performance issues with audio and we're working on resolving them, so I hope you'll find your experience improves soon. - LauraBugs in latest release
I have loved this app and made it my primary means of accessing the content for more than one year now. With the latest update the audio playback seems ruined. Though the audio opens with each new issue and appears to automatically download, the playback takes several seconds, almost a minute in most cases to begin. It is almost as if the download restarts each time I open the app, and the audio files are not actually saved. Moreover the playback lasts for about half of an article, and if my screen turns off or I lock the phone, the playback and the app seem to crash. I am not sure what changed, but the stability of the app is terrible all of a sudden. Particularly with regard to the audio playback.
I do like the new arrangement and layout of the ability to access the different audio articles, but there is no point if the articles won’t play.Show lesslonghornchaser
Developer Response
We're sorry to hear that you're having issues with the app. If possible please share the device and operating system version you are using and your exact steps in the app when this issue occurred, via email to appfeedback@economist.com. Alternatively we'd love to reach out directly to ask a few questions by phone - in which case please share a contact number to the email address (not as a response here). This will help us fix the issue quickly.Latest app broke audio playback across articles
Update: The developer responded and said this issue will be fixed in the next release. Bumping from 2->4 stars, and will go to 5 once fixed!
The 3.0 version of the app broke the ability to listen to multiple audio articles with the phone in your pocket. I used to be able to pick the first article in a section and then they would all auto play. Now when on cellular data, if the phone screen is locked, it isn’t able to load the audio for the next article; it shows a “Something went Wrong” error. This means at the end of every track I have to unlock the phone and click the retry button for it to work.Show lesskillamajig2
Feedback
The Economist article on Economics topics are generally of high quality and well documented and researched BUT those on the middle conflict and in particular those presenting facts about the actual events are biased and distorted. They cover up Israel crimes. Fir example when reporting about Gaza, the article don't miss to mention that Gaza is ruled by Hamas. Israel is also ruled by criminals. The article miss to mention that the people in Gaza are under siege and are in an open prison imposed by the racist and criminals ruling Israel. There is no human face of the Economist when reporting about Israel crimes. How do the Economist consider the Oppressed and the eco pied at the same footing as the oppressor and the occupier. "Conflict" is a dishonest way to report in an occupation where a whole generation of a whole nation was destroyed, killed, put in prison, dépréciés of basic human needs and even water just to be racially eliminated and deported from own home to live, if managed to survive, as refugees in foreign lands.Show lessTj56432
Horrible app. Stick to the print edition
The Economist has great news content. Unfortunately, they treat their app like a complete afterthought and their non-print subscribers like second-class citizens. Every few months, it is updated, and inevitably, one cannot log in again until numerous calls, emails, and reinstalls are undertaken. It looks like they have now done away with email support so you can call a phone tree with all your abundant free time. For a magazine that charges a substantial subscription price, one would think they could spend a few bucks (or pounds) to hire a reputable app developer.Show lessvpn4932
Brilliant Topics Keep Me Thinking Well Afterwards
I may be disabled from health issues. In the past couple years, I may have had to walk away from my CPA Firm I worked so hard to build, but my brain still wants to learn... just on its own timeline.
The Economist App provides that for me... and how ever my body needs to take it in!! Days when my eyes struggle or concentration is tough due to pain, I can put in my AirPods and immerse into learning about the economic world via listening! If I can’t take in full articles, the morning briefings are perfect.
Best if all, it gives me things to think about. And the ones that are still lingering around at dinner time, provide my husband and I something intelligent to discuss and mull over. Feels as if I may still “have it” ... Thank You.Show lessMitzi0666
Cancellation process is horrendous
This a good news source. It’s very well done hence the two stars, however 1. It’s really expensive ($220 a year unless you complain and threaten to cancel) 2. I’m not sure what’s harder, a divorce or cancelling this news subscription. First you can’t do this easily on the app you have to go to, “contact us” on the app, look in the FAQ’s where you can then log in. At that point you find, “change my subscription”. There’s a button that says, “cancel my subscription”, you’re asked why, then you’re given a sales pitch in writing based on your reason. In order to move forward with the cancellation you’re required to chat with them! A sales representative joins the chat, then I was asked AGAIN to provide my name and address and why I wanted to cancel, they tried to keep me again by offering a discount. Finally the rep cancelled my subscription. This entire process took me over 20 minutes. Making it that hard to cancel on purpose so people give up and keep giving money is bad business.Show lessmngal20
