# Des Moines Register — user reviews > 165 indexed App Store user reviews of Des Moines Register by Gannett, rated 4.30/5 from 2,879 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/des-moines-register/id524153305/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/des-moines-register/id524153305.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,785 · 4★ 573 · 3★ 211 · 2★ 77 · 1★ 233 ## What do users think of Des Moines Register? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🌟 Best local news - 📰 Like reading the paper - 🗞️ Excellent newspaper - 🔍 Great source for up-to-date local and state news - 📰 Excellent news - 🗞️ High quality journalism and up-to-date news - 📰 Great paper - 📰 Staying up with the news - 📰 Love it! **Cons** - 🚫 Doesn't work well for paid subscribers - 🚫 Useless - 🚫 Every Article Needs a Subscription - 🚫 Terrible app that replaced Print Edition app - 🚫 Hard to enlarge and read - 🚫 Horrible app - 🚫 Terrible - 🚫 Unreliable - 🚫 Extremely difficult to log in when credentials change - 🚫 Slow to load - 🚫 Awkward! - 🚫 Awful app - 🚫 New tactics to get money out of you - 🚫 Obnoxious - 🚫 Poor App - 🚫 Terrible **Commonly reported bugs** - Login screen freezes - Incompatible with older devices - Page crashes when video is embedded in article - Can't sign in - Keeps asking for renewal though I have done that - Frequently asking to log in again when already signed in **Most requested features** - Dark mode option - Advanced analytics dashboard - Search function - Ability to pause subscription - Option to turn off sports news ## Newest reviews (13 of 165) ### 2/5 — Too many ads, too many pop ups *2025-12-31, version 8.6.0* Just started trial subscription. More time searching for news content than reading stories. Ads veiled as feature content. Videos requiring you to view 2 or 3 ads prior to the news video. Need to do better. ### 2/5 — Doesn’t work well for paid subscribers *2025-11-19, version 8.6.0* Subscribers can’t get into articles even if they are paid subscribers. Very frustrating!! ### 5/5 — Best local news *2025-10-30, version 8.5.4* I can always count on the Register to have the latest news. It’s updated throughout the day and does a great job covering news, sports, weather plus national topics with more content. ### 5/5 — Like reading the paper *2025-10-10, version 8.5.4* in this app ### 5/5 — More subscribers, please *2025-09-26, version 8.5.2* There is some news only reported by the DMR and I hope more subscribers will join to read and support this kind of coverage. ### 2/5 — It’s a crapshoot… *2025-09-18, version 8.5.0* This app used to be so much better. Now it randomly decides when it wants to work. Give me paper. Update: dropped from 2 to 1 star. These people have made no effort to fix their app. They should be embarrassed. ===========================/==/ Sept 25 update: bumped up from 1 to 2 stars as it has been more sable as of late. ### 3/5 — New version *2025-09-11, version 8.5.0* I do not like the new version. I liked the old because I could see more headings at a time and easily pick which I wanted to read. ### 5/5 — Excellent news *2025-08-25, version 8.1.0* I read the register every day. All types of news from state, national, sports to human interest. I rely on the paper!!! ### 5/5 — High quality journalism and up to date news *2025-07-25, version 8.1.0* I moved to Ames last year and subscribed to the Register shortly after. Having the app and getting notifications has allowed me to stay up to date with local happenings and plug into both breaking news in real time and interesting Iowa features and investigative reporting. Never fails to inform and entertain ### 5/5 — Improved *2025-07-16, version 8.1.0* Daily reader of the DSM Register and USA Today. Both are easy to navigate and read. The content of both is comprehensive. ### 5/5 — Local news *2025-07-15, version 8.1.0* It is always good to remember national news and local news are not the same. By starting each day with the DM Register, I am reminded of all of the Iowa acts of kindness and forgiveness we are surrounded with each day. ### 2/5 — eNewspaper *2025-07-08, version 8.1.0* I enjoy the paper but felt it was a better value at $10.00 per month as apposed to the new rate at $20.00 per month. ### 5/5 — Des Moines *2025-07-07, version 8.1.0* Love it. We live in Carrollton, Tex. Read it on my Des Moines Register phone app . ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — THE NUMBER OF ADS RIDICULOUS *2026-07-07, version 8.10.2* I’m a paying subscriber and the amount of ads I have to scroll through in any story is nearly as much screen space as the news content. Incredibly infuriating and insulting. ### 1/5 — Unimpressed *2026-01-24, version 8.6.0* I really don’t need to see “All ISU, all the time”. ### 1/5 — It sucks *2026-01-09, version 7.10.0* This clunky app sucks. ### 1/5 — A tired newspaper in many ways! *2025-12-24, version 8.6.0* I have subscribed to this newspaper since the early 1980’s when it was a shining star of journalism and a champion of customer service. Over the years, high quality journalists left due to lower pay, higher demands and a lack of strong vision. Customer service is absolutely non-existant, phone calls and emails reaching out for help are completely ignored. Promises of refunds for missing deliveries never are reflected on our billing. Calls about missing and/or poor delivery service are ignored. We cancelled our subscription and heard not a word from the newspaper Iowa used to depend on. Very sad. ### 1/5 — This is bad *2025-11-21, version 8.6.0* I liked it when I could see the front page of the paper when I hit the Register app and then I could scroll through the entire paper and click on what I wanted to read. Now all I get is a page saying I need to subscribe even though I am paying a monthly bill. I try to speak with someone about help and I don’t get anyone. If I don’t get a response from this I will just cancel my subscription. ### 1/5 — Useless *2025-10-14, version 8.5.4* I am a subscriber who lives half the year overseas. I am unable to login and access content - login is not available in the European Union. The help desk has been completely useless. ### 1/5 — Every Article Needs a Subscription *2025-07-23, version 8.1.0* Any article you want to read they make you pay for. ### 1/5 — Horrible app that replaced Print Edition app *2025-05-09, version 7.11.2* The print Edition app was pretty good and actually worked. This one won’t even load on my iPad. I’m going to have to cancel my subscription. ### 1/5 — Room for improvement *2025-04-25, version 8.1.0* The least reliable news app I have ever used. Constantly does not recognize my return. Oh boy ### 1/5 — E-newspaper problem *2025-04-16, version 7.11.2* I’m logged in. Tap e-newspaper comes up and asked do you want to customize size of reading fonts to a blank screen and does not come up. The print edition app works good why get rid of it. On the verge of canceling my subscription. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great paper *2026-08-19, version 8.11.0* The Register is still one of the finest papers I have ever read. I subscribe to the “e” version and find it easy to navigate and read. The reporting is very balanced, which I’m sure is difficult in a red state. ### 5/5 — App needs to maintain a history! *2026-08-14, version 8.11.0* I am an employee here, so there’s your five stars. This, however, is not a five-star app. My biggest issue (aside from the only sections being news, sports and business — no education? Politics??) is that the app maintains no history. If I close out of a story I’m reading, I will need to go fishing for it later if I want to finish it (unless I saved it, but I’m not going to remember to do that if I need to attend to something quickly). And as I noted, stories are hard to find because of the app’s lacking organization. It’s maddening for the user experience. ### 5/5 — Great paper *2026-07-19, version 8.10.2* Register is a great paper! ### 5/5 — Easy to read. *2026-05-21, version 8.8.1* Writing is right on, most of the time. you announced that there was a nw university in northern Iowa coverage person. UNI deserves to have as many stories as the other two state universities. It’s been like that since I entered the university northern Iowa as a freshman in 1968. Nearly every day you have a off-season story of Iowa and Iowa State basketball or football. It would be nice to see some stories of UNI personnel. To improve the comic section, introduce “Tumbleweeds” and bring back “Get Fuzzy” to the audience. Thank you for this opportunity. ### 5/5 — Iowa State lover even after U of I men’s goes farther *2026-03-29, version 8.9.0* Deleting ### 5/5 — We need this news source *2026-03-08, version 8.8.1* Good investigative reporting and coverage of local and Iowa news ### 5/5 — The Best *2026-01-26, version 8.6.0* I start my day with the excellent work of the journalists at the Des Moines Register. Great work guys. ### 5/5 — Captain, JAGC, US Navy *2026-01-10, version 8.6.0* Great read! ### 5/5 — Great newspaper *2025-12-18, version 8.6.0* Robust source of information prepared by professional journalists. ### 5/5 — DSM Register App *2025-12-09, version 8.6.0* This app is the worse app I’ve ever used! --- *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 2026-09-01.*