# ARRL magazines — user reviews > 123 indexed App Store user reviews of ARRL magazines by ARRL, American Radio Relay League, Inc., rated 1.80/5 from 258 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrl-magazines/id531766442/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/arrl-magazines/id531766442.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 28 · 4★ 13 · 3★ 8 · 2★ 27 · 1★ 182 ## What do users think of ARRL magazines? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Fast and responsive - 👍 Intuitive interface - 💡 Offline reading support **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes - 🔒 Authentication issues - 👎 Unreliable login/logout - 🔋 High battery consumption **Commonly reported bugs** - Downloading issues causes app to freeze - Inconsistent behavior across devices - Disappearing downloaded content **Most requested features** - Seamless integration with ARRL account - Ability to resume reading from last page - PDF export option ## Newest reviews (18 of 123) ### 1/5 — App is not dependable *2025-02-11, version 6.1.2* I never know what I will get when I open this app. Issues disappear issues need update and now I have nothing but the IPad says I have 13 gB of QST data and I can't see anything! Not dependable. Trouble downloading. ### 1/5 — Disappointing!!! *2025-01-21* Downloaded the app and magazines to my new iPad mini so I could look at digital QST’s on a flight. Download were smooth and had no issues… Get up in the air, no WiFi, open the app, and it needs me to login before I can view anything I downloaded. Obviously, I downloaded everything in advance because I knew I would not have connectivity at 36,000 feet. So, I was not able to review the QST’s until I had connectivity. One back on the ground, I logged in and tested when I had connectivity and it worked. Just a junk app. No reason to have to log back in after the initial login to download the content… ### 1/5 — Waste of time - it doesn’t work *2024-12-14, version 6.1.2* Just another failed app. I can log into the web page but this app says my login/password is invalid. Another ARRL failure. ### 1/5 — Disconnected from ARRL *2024-12-06* The app requires you to have a second, completely different login than your ARRL account. Every month between issues it logs me out and I have to figure out which name the hosting is done under (it’s not listed on the app info) so I can log back in. I wish it could just use the same login as my ARRL account. Other than that, the other reviews here are correct about usability issues with the app. It’s a solution looking for a problem. ### 2/5 — Difficult *2024-08-21, version 6.1.2* Using my iPhone 14pro I find moving around the magazine very difficult! I can’t find where they hid the help screen either. I gave up and read the magazine on my computer. 73 ### 1/5 — Authentication Broken *2024-08-10, version 6.1.2* This seems to be an ongoing problem. Not sure if it’s the app or the third party authentication. Noticed today 8/10/24 you access magazines through the website. The authentication ARRL is using flaky. ### 1/5 — Bad app *2024-08-03, version 6.1.2* As with most of ARRL, this app doesn’t work for downloading publications. When I tried to register, it said my callsign doesn’t appear in its FCC database search. I’ve been licensed since 1987 continuously. Very disappointing, much like the rest of ARRL’s services. ### 1/5 — Did anyone test this? *2024-05-07, version 6.1.2* I get the splash page and nothing else. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling with same results. ### 1/5 — login *2024-01-12, version 6.1.1* I can not seem to log in to this app. On the other hand, I am able to log in and read the magazines using Safari. Are the credentials not the same between the two? ### 2/5 — Search needs fixing *2024-01-12, version 6.1.1* Search will not work across all the different publications. I wanted to search “On the Air“ but it only searches QST. Search inaccurately warns that you must have the magazine downloaded, however, results include those from undownloaded ones. Useful, but inaccurate. The app is OK if you just wanna browse the magazines. 73 ### 2/5 — Can’t log in *2024-01-12, version 6.1.1* I can log in on my iPad mini but my iPhone just doesn’t work at all. Won’t even let me sign in ### 1/5 — Nope *2023-09-05, version 6.1.0* Password for ARRL does not work in the app. I can access ARRL mags via my browser using my password, but not the app. So, nope, this won’t be an app I use until that gets fixed. ### 3/5 — Fuzzy Pages *2023-08-31, version 6.1.0* Ok except for the continuing fuzzy pages problem. When a page goes fuzzy you have to scroll off of it and then back on to get it crisp again. PLEASE FIX THIS ### 1/5 — This app is why I keep getting the hard copy of QST! *2023-07-05* Update July 2023: nothing has changed since last review. Still terrible and ARRL appears to not care about quality. They want to raise membership dues but they don’t spend anytime reading the feedback here and making improvements. Besides all of the bugs previously reported by others, the application doesn’t seem to be very sharp. No matter how you zoom in or out the fonts appear blurry and make reading challenging to say the least. ARRL if you want people to give up their hard copies to save funding, spend a few bucks to get this right. Maybe try a platform that many newspapers use or CQ magazine. ### 1/5 — Text input Fails with IPAD IOS *2023-04-27, version 6.1.0* The login screen will NOT ACCEPT text input so its impossible to enter my user ID information. PLEASE FIX ! PREVIOUS APP VERSIONS WORKED FINE. Currently IOS is the latest version on a new ipad. ### 1/5 — each new version sets a new low on how poor the app works *2023-02-18, version 6.1.0* Periodically all down loaded copies disappear. Periodically the app loses the log in credentials. I can't down load all copies of QST or QEX. why can't every thing be provided as a pdf download? ### 1/5 — Worse than old version *2023-02-15, version 6.1.0* Not even able to log in. Glitches. Had no problems with old one, how do I get it back? ### 4/5 — Updated *2022-12-17, version 6.1.0* Seems to be working fine except cannot down load to read off line. That needs to be fixed. I do most of my reading offline, because of slow/no internet access. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Broken *2026-03-10, version 6.1.2* I can login, but viewing content doesn’t seem to be working. I recommend using the website. ### 1/5 — Never stays logged in *2026-03-06, version 6.1.2* Have constantly login and do 2-factor, seems to be a hassle. Why can't it remember for more than a few days. ### 1/5 — The worst iPad app ever *2025-10-21, version 6.1.2* Reading ARRL magazines on a web site is a snap. But using this app is frustrating. I end up having to reset my password every time I use it (every couple months). If you get the password reset, then you get two factor authentication (2FA), which is overkill for simply reading a magazine. The 2FA sends and email with a code, but if you switch to your email app, the ARRL forgets what it was doing and you have to try again (this time reading your email on another device). Then, when you click the blue login button, it just sits there. But you need to wait, because if you click the login button again, you end up with a completely white screen (with the ARRL logo at the top) and you’re dead in the water. Just a horrible buggy app all the way around. Skip it and use your browser. ### 1/5 — Unusable. Shockingly bad. *2025-08-17, version 6.1.2* Insists on using 2FA: either email one-time passcode, or by using Authenticator. Nowhere does it allow you to get the necessary key in order to create one on Authenticator. Using email requires persistent re-logging in, because “remember me” doesn’t work and the app is impersistent. ### 1/5 — Nothing works *2025-07-19, version 6.1.2* Just renewed. No access to magazines in either iPad or iPhone. It’s not 1975 any longer. Reading the reviews, this issue has been going on for years. Maybe there needs to be a change of leadership to people who understand who pays their bills. ### 1/5 — Bad APP *2025-07-14, version 6.1.2* When the APP worked it was poor, had to log on every time you used it. Now it doesn’t work at all. ### 1/5 — Bad database *2025-07-05, version 6.1.2* Got a message that my callsign wasn’t in their FCC database. Been a ham for 47 years. ### 1/5 — Will not open on my iPad *2025-05-07, version 6.1.2* Does not work in iPad , just freezes upon starting app ### 1/5 — Difficult to log in *2025-03-22, version 6.1.2* The app gives me an error message that my call sign isn’t in their FCC database. I’m also an ARRL member. I’ve had my call sign for many years. I’m very frustrated. W7CMH ### 1/5 — WB9PRG *2025-02-19, version 6.1.2* Nightmare - I could not get the digital magazines to work . Arrl is going the wrong way … After many years, I joined again just to see . They seem so concerned with securing everything that access is hard (if possible) … Harley Davidson has a magazine that is easy to use . ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Review as of October 2025 *2025-10-13* I didn’t experience the app years ago when it racked up all the negative comments. It’s working perfectly fine for me (on iPhone 15), great image quality in each publication, does download publications for true offline use, and is quite a fast and responsive app. Hoping this review can convince more folks to give it a go (or a second chance) ### 5/5 — Works great *2023-08-01, version 6.1.0* Works great with my I-Phone and I-Pad. Magazine editions load fast, and are easy to view. The negative reviews look to be based on old versions. ### 5/5 — Love it! *2022-02-18, version 6.0.3* All the old reviews are talking about performance issues but as of 2022 it works like a charm for me. Magazines can be downloaded and enjoyed on the go. Love it. Thanks ARRL! ### 5/5 — Works great. *2020-05-21, version 6.0.3* Just installed and everything I tried worked great. ### 5/5 — New Version 5.1 Works Great! *2019-03-26* New Version 5.1 works great! Can download and read issues offline! QST app is a great way to carry a library of issues going back to 2012 for easy reading on a tablet, and has additional multimedia features like videos. It’s still great to get the print issue in the mail too. ### 5/5 — Works as expected, no problem *2019-03-26, version 5.1* A few pages were slow (10 seconds) to load. But that could be my Wi-Fi limit. ### 5/5 — New ver 5 crashes. *2019-03-25* As of Mar 25: I have loaded and tested the new ver 5.1 and can download issues very well. The new version seems to download faster and flip between pages better. The program works fine. I had complained to the developer via the app feedback and got a reply and even tested a beta for them and today got an email telling me that the new version was available. The process took a while, but I really appreciate the contacts and good service that seems so rare today. My Mar 12 review: It's now been over a month and still no fix. If you can't fix it then at least pull it back and restore the previous version that worked. This is very poor practice for a professional organization and a professional developer. My Feb 18 review: I actually got a reply when I sent feedback through the menu in the app: Apologies for the inconvenience you've encountered. We're currently working on resolving a known issue with the QST app some users are experiencing. Thanks very much for your patience. It shouldn't take weeks to fix such an obvious problem. My original review: The new version immediately crashes when you hit download. I'm using iOS 9 on a 3rd gen iPad. ### 5/5 — Latest Version Works Well *2019-03-25* I had contacted the developer because I could not download content for offline viewing. I’m happy to report that the developer notified me of a new version, which I have installed, and the problem is resolved! On my devices the app renders the content very well, with an intuitive interface. It does what it should do, makes the magazine readable on my mobile devices. ### 5/5 — I’M ENJOYING IT *2018-03-10* It delivered what it should and did so flawlessly. It downloaded in a short time even though I was only on 4G and it was 148 pages. I like the clear colorful pages. I can’t complain about any of the functions or quality of the app. It was better than expected. I like the ability to go back in history back to January 2012. QST at your fingertips. GREAT JOB! 73 K5GNT ### 5/5 — Qst app works fine *2014-12-26, version 2.1.0.459* The app works just fine with my iPad mini and iOS 8.1.2 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-06.*