Still waiting for old issues!
I have used this app for years because it allows me to keep digital versions of the mags. The latest update has ruined this. All my purchased issues prior to 2020 are lost. The publishers, who updated the app, say speak to Apple. Apple say they can’t troubleshoot a third party app, which seems reasonable. This is very poor customer service from the publishers. Update (Feb 2022) - in Oct 2021 a message on the app said the older issues would be uploaded by the middle of Dec 2021. Still waiting. UPDATE Mar 2022 this message has now disappeared. Until this is done I can’t even have a chance of getting my older issues back. Every time I ask for help, I get much the same “restore purchases” spiel, which is useless. Poor, poor, poor.
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Titles keep disappearing
It’s chaotic and it keep losing my subscription
Frustrating
The magazine is brilliant but the App is proving to be a nightmare list too long suffice to say the support by the developers has been stretched
J D
Very useful and much needed publication for keeping up to date and in the know as a boat owner.
PBO online
Very convenient way to read a great magazine....
Slow and buggy update
Version 6 is really slow on my iPad 3 - especially scrolling through the list of issues. Initially, after "upgrading" I lost access to content I had access to in the previous version (through an iTunes subscription - so Time will not investigate and asked me to take this up with Apple); this has now been fixed. But I still don't plan to renew my subscription.
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Oh no - backward move
This used to work okay (late delivery accepted). Update has added nothing and taken a step, or two, backward. No longer fits to screen on my (old) iPad. Opens and presents with details of the latest magazine available, rather than the one I am still reading. Go to open the previous version and it starts again at the front page rather than remember where I was in the magazine. This is such a fundamental error as to almost make the app unusable again. Please sort this out asap - remember where I have got to in each magazine as a minimum.... (hard copy excluded!)
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Another update destroys functionality
Forced to update app to read downloaded past issues - except now they are all locked and I cannot access them.
Despite downloaded PBO back issues taking 7.8 gB of memory ( more than 40,000 photographs) in my iPad. This issue means I have a full memory but I was told by PBO technical that I cannot save/download magazine articles to flash memory.
Doesn't matter now as I cannot see them either way.
Despite downloaded PBO back issues taking 7.8 gB of memory ( more than 40,000 photographs) in my iPad. This issue means I have a full memory but I was told by PBO technical that I cannot save/download magazine articles to flash memory.
Doesn't matter now as I cannot see them either way.
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App rated
The app is easy to use with only one snag that when double tapped to magnify. It doesn't remember this when turning to the next page.
PBO continues to be a useful and entertaining publication which the app helps by reducing paper copies, I do miss them but I miss the clutter more. It would be useful to subscribe and get both so that occasionally on an isolated mooring one could plan ahead by having the hard copy to hand. It would only take a simple coupon to prove subscription handed in to the newsagents or supermarket.
PBO continues to be a useful and entertaining publication which the app helps by reducing paper copies, I do miss them but I miss the clutter more. It would be useful to subscribe and get both so that occasionally on an isolated mooring one could plan ahead by having the hard copy to hand. It would only take a simple coupon to prove subscription handed in to the newsagents or supermarket.
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A good read on paper or tablet
This is a magazine with plenty for the DIY sailor to read. Some of the writers are well known for their advice and knowledge. There is a good ratio of articles to advertising which has blighted many other upmarket magazines. I prefer the paper version on my saloon table but use the online version if away from the uk.
As for the price it is fair for carefully edited content. Free online information is all very well but it varies widely in quality and not always reliable.
As for the price it is fair for carefully edited content. Free online information is all very well but it varies widely in quality and not always reliable.
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Needs improvement
As another reviewer said, this App works ok as a simple page-turner - given the quality and nature of the content however, it is a great pity that it does not do much more. I would have preferred to have downloaded the content into Kindle or iBooks. Main things lacking are: 1. the ability to automatically frame the text intelligently when zooming in on a section (this is currently clunky to read) 2. keyword linkage to a dictionary or web-search (there is obviously a lot of technical or specific vocabulary which if you don't remember or know, there's no easy lookup offered) 3. a straightforward way to print a page or two (other reading Apps tend not to either but with useful checklists in the content it's a pity this isn't more direct)
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Disappointing customer service
I bought the subscription and downloaded the app on June 18th but it wasn't until mid-August that I was actually able to download an issue despite repeated emails to Magazines Direct. They kept sending a stock email response saying that it would take time for the subscription to kick in. Two months!! Don't buy unless you are prepared for a long wait to get anything in return for your money.
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Great mag in a great app
Returned to sailing now the kids have flown the nest. Great to see PBO still as good as it was way back and having it to hand on the iPad is even better as I can read it anywhere and have my whole library of back issues with me
Simply most useful
Not new to sailing but new to PBO, I have found the magazine, helpful, informative and uniquely interesting for me the day sailer.
I find PBO unlike big glossies to be full of interesting true life own experiences and helpful professional hints to get the best from our boats.
Keep it up.
I find PBO unlike big glossies to be full of interesting true life own experiences and helpful professional hints to get the best from our boats.
Keep it up.
Great magazine
I like the magazine which tries to cater to all types of sailor. It is suitable to others perhaps more 'practical', as the name of the magazine suggests, than me. Even so, it doesn't patronise like other sailing mags that I subscribe to. The app for the IPad is invaluable to me, as I can pick up past issues without storing paper magazines. This has proven very useful in the past where I needed a reminder of something I had read. I can't find the problems others seem to have had, although 'forcing' a review is counterproductive and only gives the mag itself a bad review instead of the problem itself. Overall though, I am a happy IPad subscriber to the PBO.
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Great magazine
I've bought and subscribed to PBO for many, many years and am still an avid reader. Great magazine for tips and 'how to's'. Well worth the money. Thought I'd try the iPad digital version. Tried it via another PC app a couple of years ago and found it a bit tedious.
Good, But.....
Great to have all your mags in one place and much more convenient to read. Also stops waking she who must be obeyed with paper rustling. However, pain that the app always has to start in the library and you have to re-load rather than start where you left off. Also, the last update had me re-install all of the copies which was a pain. Is there no way to keep the copy in the library?
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Poor app
App updates wipe subscription information and all downloaded magazines. After update - but before you have found all the paperwork and reinstated it, the app keeps threatening about a last chance to update the app, and warning that you are on an old version of the app - both errors are wrong and misleading.
And the app update has not altered what I get from this, I want to read my magazine, I don't really care about the added features - there wasn't much wrong with the old version.
Apple and ipc need to remember who pays their salaries and do a better job with updates and look after subscribers better.
And the app update has not altered what I get from this, I want to read my magazine, I don't really care about the added features - there wasn't much wrong with the old version.
Apple and ipc need to remember who pays their salaries and do a better job with updates and look after subscribers better.
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Round in circles
As a print subscriber I really thought this was a great idea to read the latest mag when out and about. But ohh the process of trying to get the mag to appear in the newsstand. I have gone round in circles following the printed instructions.
Looking at other comments i may have fallen foul of using a different email address than held by the subs department. This mag was bought for me as a present so I have no idea what email address they hold. If any. Life is too short to mess about and I will just read the printed copy. Have you ever got the impression the publishers really don't want you to go down the route of emagazines and have therefore made the process as obstructive as possible? Here is an excellent example.
If you have been sailing for years, navigating the installation of these magazines is like beating against a yachtsman's gale in mid November. You will get there in the end but you may decide to sell the boat on arrival and buy a caravan instead!
Looking at other comments i may have fallen foul of using a different email address than held by the subs department. This mag was bought for me as a present so I have no idea what email address they hold. If any. Life is too short to mess about and I will just read the printed copy. Have you ever got the impression the publishers really don't want you to go down the route of emagazines and have therefore made the process as obstructive as possible? Here is an excellent example.
If you have been sailing for years, navigating the installation of these magazines is like beating against a yachtsman's gale in mid November. You will get there in the end but you may decide to sell the boat on arrival and buy a caravan instead!
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Dumb Primary Key for print subscribers
I've just downloaded this PBO iPad app from the iTunes Store. I clicked Get It Free, entered my subscriber details and signed in. I've now got an empty Library, with no apparent means of getting content other than the sample.
Later: it seems you have to use the same email address as on file with the subs department, how dumb is that! They should use the subscriber number, it is unique, doesn't change, and is more secure.
When this nonsense is fixed, it will deserve 5 stars, but not until.
Later: it seems you have to use the same email address as on file with the subs department, how dumb is that! They should use the subscriber number, it is unique, doesn't change, and is more secure.
When this nonsense is fixed, it will deserve 5 stars, but not until.
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