Not suitable format for iPad
Just page images from print magazine. Two- and three-column text layout means small font, difficult to read without zooming, then you need to scroll all over to read the article, then unzoom to change to the next page. Repeat. Annoying every time.
Photos are sometimes spread across pages so you can't see the whole photo, or the captions aren't on the same page.
Online magazines should be reformatted for single-column reading with adjustable font size that alters layout as size changes. Each article gets its own page.
Photos are sometimes spread across pages so you can't see the whole photo, or the captions aren't on the same page.
Online magazines should be reformatted for single-column reading with adjustable font size that alters layout as size changes. Each article gets its own page.
Show more
Useless 85% of the time
This app worked great at the beginning. Now I download so I can read offline while traveling. And every time it stalls out. Even while at home and you click on a link and return to the app it crashes. Been very frustrated with this app the last few years!
Never works first time
Every time I enter this app, it spins. I have to kill the app and restart it. Every single time. It NEVER knows where I stopped reading. NEVER. It seems reasonable that it should know where I left off and work when I return to it.
Amazingly, however, it does provide the content. How AOPA can continue to allow this grossly substandard app is beyond me.
Amazingly, however, it does provide the content. How AOPA can continue to allow this grossly substandard app is beyond me.
Show more
Can’t zoom in anywhere but the center of each page
Good luck if you want to read this on your phone. You can zoom in, but only on the middle of the page. No scrolling or moving it around to read the writing on the sides of the page.
Good, not quite great
To be better, when I return to the app after an absence, it would be on the page I was reading when I left. To be great, no matter which issue I visit, it would start on the page I left off at. Like a dog ear. Only no crease. And zooming is sometimes wonky too … but a good app.
Well, that text was written a couple years back. It’s not better, it’s worse now. If I leave the app and come back after an hour or more, it spins. I have to kill the app and restart it, and once again it doesn’t know where I am. Why the heck is it getting worse?
Well, that text was written a couple years back. It’s not better, it’s worse now. If I leave the app and come back after an hour or more, it spins. I have to kill the app and restart it, and once again it doesn’t know where I am. Why the heck is it getting worse?
Show more
Downloads
It says I’m offline when not. Want open mags when offline. What’s the point of downloading it?
Ghosted Buttons
After downloading the “Read” button is ghosted but you can delete it but when you go back to home page all buttons are ghosted.
R Terry
R Terry
Clumsy app. Freezes, slow to load, difficult to use
Unfortunately this app is so bad that it makes me want to switch back to paper. It freezes up, takes forever to download a magazine, and is not intuitive to navigate. I have had major issues scrolling / moving around a page. The app will freeze up when I try to zoom in on a page. It’s difficult to get back out of a magazine to view other issues. I am using this app on the newest iOS software. Does not work well at all. Would not recommend.
Show more
No WiFi
I paid the extra for the digital version of the mags so I could download copies to read anytime anywhere.
At one time I could do that but not any more. It almost works when I am at home or somewhere with access to a fast WiFi.
Even though I have several mags downloaded...it will not let me get to them without WiFi.
Don’t waste your money on the digital subscriptions.
At one time I could do that but not any more. It almost works when I am at home or somewhere with access to a fast WiFi.
Even though I have several mags downloaded...it will not let me get to them without WiFi.
Don’t waste your money on the digital subscriptions.
Show more
Absolute Garbage
Update - 2/18/21: I either get an error every time I try to read or download the latest issue, or just a blank screen.
When zoomed in enough where you can actually read the text, it winds up being too blurry. Even zoomed halfway in, it’s still too blurry. Zoom all the way out, and it’s too small.
When zoomed in enough where you can actually read the text, it winds up being too blurry. Even zoomed halfway in, it’s still too blurry. Zoom all the way out, and it’s too small.
Doesn’t work at all now
I’ve suffered through the clunky app, random crashes, and login/logout issues for a few months. Not it won’t display any of my past issues at all. Completely useless. Time to call & switch back to the paper magazine (can’t AOPA even allow us to make that change via their website rather than requiring a phone call?!).
Show more
Doesn’t work
6th generation iPad. App is not functional even after deleting and reloading.
bad user experience on iPad, near useless on iPhone, no real improvement over time
Updated review:
Nothing has improved about this app since my last review. It’s still terrible.
——
This app is generally frustrating. The gestures are non standard, it’s slow on the latest iPad, and it’s unintuitive.
If you are deciding to go digital... don’t. Unfortunately, though it wastes money that could be used for advocacy, the printed edition is still significantly superior to what this app provides. Sadly this does not have to be. There are numerous magazine apps out there (Apple News+, Amazon, specific publication apps) that have useful magazine apps.
The app is also useless on an iPhone. You cannot zoom in on text close to the edges of a page, so you cannot read many articles (iPhone 11 pro max).
Also, the app does not work with the built in voiceover accessibility features of iOS. If someone has poor vision, are they assumed to be uninterested in aviation and supporting advocacy for GA? I won’t add a shame on you here... but think about it.
I have been on occasion (less and less so) checking for useful updates only to find that the app continues to be pretty terrible on an iPad and useless on an iPhone... so, generally speaking, I do not read what I’m assuming are great articles and I get a little less value out of my membership. This leads me to having a less tangible sense of value in terms of what I’m paying for.
Please revise this app to behave like a normal Apple iOS application. Download a copy of the official Apple HIG. It’s free and it’ll give you clear guidelines on how an iOS app should work. This app’s behavior compared to the HIG is like a pilot who’s never bothered to read the AIM.
Nothing has improved about this app since my last review. It’s still terrible.
——
This app is generally frustrating. The gestures are non standard, it’s slow on the latest iPad, and it’s unintuitive.
If you are deciding to go digital... don’t. Unfortunately, though it wastes money that could be used for advocacy, the printed edition is still significantly superior to what this app provides. Sadly this does not have to be. There are numerous magazine apps out there (Apple News+, Amazon, specific publication apps) that have useful magazine apps.
The app is also useless on an iPhone. You cannot zoom in on text close to the edges of a page, so you cannot read many articles (iPhone 11 pro max).
Also, the app does not work with the built in voiceover accessibility features of iOS. If someone has poor vision, are they assumed to be uninterested in aviation and supporting advocacy for GA? I won’t add a shame on you here... but think about it.
I have been on occasion (less and less so) checking for useful updates only to find that the app continues to be pretty terrible on an iPad and useless on an iPhone... so, generally speaking, I do not read what I’m assuming are great articles and I get a little less value out of my membership. This leads me to having a less tangible sense of value in terms of what I’m paying for.
Please revise this app to behave like a normal Apple iOS application. Download a copy of the official Apple HIG. It’s free and it’ll give you clear guidelines on how an iOS app should work. This app’s behavior compared to the HIG is like a pilot who’s never bothered to read the AIM.
Show more
Difficult to use
I have tried to use this app on three different iPads. In every case, once I zoom into a page, the view locks and cannot be panned to the desired spot. Occasionally, I can briefly scroll vertically but not laterally. To correct, I must zoom out to full page view and then attempt to re-zoom to the desired view. However, it is very difficult to zoom into a specific portion of a page. Invariably, part of the text ends up off screen and again cannot be panned. I have several digital magazine subscriptions on my iPads, and this app is the only one that exhibits this defect.
Show more
Worthless App if you need to enlarge the type on an iPhone to read the articles.
For a group that prides itself on innovative modern avionics, etc, this App is like a Cessna 150 with a compass only. Move onto the 21 century and fix this thing so we can read the articles across all devices.
Not quite there yet.
I have two main problems with this app. First, the magazines in my library aren't all visible. I have to click on one of them for another to display - I originally thought it was deleted. Secondly, you can't bookmark where you left off. If you wait too long to resume reading you have to remember where you were. Then you need to start at the beginning of the magazine and navigate to it which is a hassle even when using the page menu icon. I read Flying on Zinio and have none of these problems. I hope AOPA will offer Zinio as an option soon.
Update 3/5/20
The bookmark feature was fixed on a previous version but with the latest release I can’t return to the page I last read. I have to remember and navigate there every time.
Update 3/5/20
The bookmark feature was fixed on a previous version but with the latest release I can’t return to the page I last read. I have to remember and navigate there every time.
Show more
Terrible implementation
This is one of the worst reading apps I’ve ever used.
After the last redesign, there were only two zoom levels - in or out. In was too small, out was way too small.
Then there was an update where zoom started working as you’d expect on the iPad, only it was very slow and clunky. I would zoom in and there was a default location where the page would zoom, regardless of where the zoom was initiated. Then I would try and scroll to where I wanted to read but it wouldn’t work and took many tries. Sometimes scrolling would only work in one plane at a time - horizontal or vertical. No diagonal scrolling.
I’ve never understood why AOPA can’t get their act together with respect to their reading app.
After the last redesign, there were only two zoom levels - in or out. In was too small, out was way too small.
Then there was an update where zoom started working as you’d expect on the iPad, only it was very slow and clunky. I would zoom in and there was a default location where the page would zoom, regardless of where the zoom was initiated. Then I would try and scroll to where I wanted to read but it wouldn’t work and took many tries. Sometimes scrolling would only work in one plane at a time - horizontal or vertical. No diagonal scrolling.
I’ve never understood why AOPA can’t get their act together with respect to their reading app.
Show more
Carry it with me ....
There are several things I love about eMags, and the major one is that I can carry them with me, and they are no burden to the environment.
BUT ..... my wife loves it even more ..... no more “clutter.”
BUT ..... my wife loves it even more ..... no more “clutter.”
Useless on the I phone
The ability to zoom to a legible size has been lost in the apps rewrite. On an iPhone the maximum zoom is barely enough to be legible so reading has become impossible.
AOPA mag app
Content and videos are terrific but app is slow to download, seems to take forever compared to other apps.
