# South China Morning Post: News — user reviews > 339 indexed App Store user reviews of South China Morning Post by South China Morning Post Publishers Limited, rated 4.60/5 from 2,221 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/south-china-morning-post-news/id623201967/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/south-china-morning-post-news/id623201967.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,795 · 4★ 237 · 3★ 52 · 2★ 35 · 1★ 102 ## What do users think of South China Morning Post? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 👍 Excellent news coverage - 🌐 Balanced perspectives on China and Asia - 🗞️ Informative and insightful articles - 🔍 Comprehensive reporting on global affairs **Cons** - 🔍 Excessive ads even for paid subscribers - 🔍 Intrusive ads that play audio automatically - 🔍 Frequent app crashes and stability issues - 🔍 Frustrating navigation and UI changes **Commonly reported bugs** - App freezes and crashes on launch - Subscription issues and lost access - Slow loading times and image/video issues - Compatibility problems with older devices **Most requested features** - Dark mode option - Improved iPad support and landscape mode - Ability to disable notifications and ads - Better article search and organization ## Newest reviews (12 of 339) ### 2/5 — Needs Dark Mode!! *2026-07-28, version 7.1.27* Can’t believe a reading app isn’t available in dark mode… ### 3/5 — Dark mode is needed. *2026-06-30* Most advanced news media apps provide a dark mode to ease reader’s eyes. But this one does not. Please update! ### 2/5 — Offline reading impossible *2026-03-19, version 7.1.17* The app keeps trying to load ads while offline. I ride the subway and it is impossible to read your article even when the article is loaded. Scrolling down to read more will result in the app freezing as it is “desperately” trying to monetize. They have ads inserted on every paragraph and it is super annoying to read. ### 4/5 — Transistor *2026-02-24, version 7.1.16* Very informative ### 3/5 — In APP advertisement *2026-01-04, version 7.1.13* I am a subscriber. I like reading your news for the breath and depth of coverage. But I am constantly interrupted by advertisement. I hope there is a feature to turn off these advertisements that is not even related to your newspaper. ### 4/5 — No dark mode *2025-09-20, version 7.1.4* Good, but no dark mode. ### 4/5 — SCMP gets me dialed in better *2025-04-29, version 7.0.7* Bringing this complex world into sharper focus is not easy task. by reading SCMP i can become more informed and confused everyday. ### 3/5 — Notifications *2025-04-16, version 7.0.6* I can’t understand how to turn off notifications ### 5/5 — Balanced views from China *2025-04-09* I enjoy reading SCMP as It provides me with a perspective that I cannot easily find in western media. For the same reason I am reading e. g. Al Jazeera and Jerusalem Post. A multipolar world needs multipolar sources of information, yet free of government propaganda. ### 3/5 — What happened to the audio version of which article? *2025-03-30, version 7.0.5* In the past, I have been able to click on the audio and listen to the article being read. I no longer see that option available. Please bring it back. ### 4/5 — Good news, slow app opening *2025-03-03, version 7.0.1* When clicking on notification to open app, it at times freezes at the loading screen and just doesn't go to the article. Can be annoying at that aspect ### 2/5 — App now take very long to start *2025-02-25, version 7.0.1* For the past 2 months I have noticed the app takes very long time to start and there is no way to report this problem or to ask for help. No problem with the content, only it is very difficult to access the page… ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Horrible UI/UX and No search Feature *2026-05-24, version 7.1.22* Horrible UI/UX and No search Feature in this app. This app needs serious UI/UX revamp and decluttering of nonsense advertisements ### 1/5 — Terrible customer service, iOS app keeps crashing *2026-04-01, version 7.1.18* iOS app crashes daily, when clicking from home page to a news link. Used in-app chat and live chat staff just says problem is with iPad go talk to Apple without asking me any questions. By the way, none of other apps have this problem, including the 3 other daily news apps I use. SCMP needs to do better in more ways than one! ### 1/5 — Grrr *2026-02-28, version 7.1.16* I’m sick of getting links to stories that don’t work ### 1/5 — Too much propaganda *2026-01-21, version 7.1.14* The editorial as deviate so much from the SCMP I know from the 1970s to 2015. Few hard hitting stories but lots of thinly disguised articles which serve as nothing more than PR for the various interests of the Alibaba groups. And even more propaganda. I find it hard to justify a paid subscription or even resubscribing to the print edition if there is no sound journalism left. ### 1/5 — Too many ads in the article *2025-11-01, version 7.1.7* 4,5 ads in one piece article with subscription, it is ridiculous! ### 1/5 — Apps won’t load *2025-06-12, version 7.0.10* Tried opening the apps on my iPhone 16 with updated iOS and updated apps but apps won’t load ### 1/5 — Doesn't work at all *2025-03-29, version 7.0.5* In multiple devices installed, various problems. crashes, white big banner blocking that cannot be removed, frozen screens. ### 1/5 — Broken *2025-03-06, version 7.0.3* Used to work wonderfully. Now broken since the last update. Cancelling my subscription. ### 1/5 — Do not renew - they only reward those threatening to leave with discounts *2025-01-30, version 6.3.18* Content is so-so but I would have been fine with it if not for the horrid way they treat renewing subscribers. The discounted rate is only offered after you threaten to leave so the loyal reader who auto-renews is penalised with paying the full rate. Do not have this feature on. ### 1/5 — Subscription Disappeared *2024-12-03, version 6.3.14* I bought a subscription last month when they had a big sale. It did work shortly thereafter. I just went to read an article & it will not open. So I try ‘restore purchase’ & it says nothing found under my Apple ID. I did not think it was even done through the App Store but through a link on their page. So I went to look for the screenshot of my receipt. On inspection there is a long weird email shown which I did not put in. I did not notice it on the confirmation page. So now I do not have any access, & I am worried about where that payment went. I will have to follow up with my bank. Beware. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Grateful *2026-08-25, version 7.2.2* l am an American reader for many decades when I was first reading in print over my morning coffee while on business in Asia. This old man is happy it is still around! ### 5/5 — Wide variety of Reliable news at low cost. Don’t trust free news *2026-08-16, version 7.2.1* Great job ### 5/5 — Farooq *2026-05-27, version 7.1.22* A great source of world news with some focus on China in English. Special attention to business, technology and society, long term subscriber! 😊👍🏽 ### 5/5 — new version is much better *2026-03-24, version 7.1.18* the app is getting better . Keep up with the good work! ### 5/5 — Good news network *2026-03-10, version 7.1.17* Relatively balanced abit mainstream ### 5/5 — =^_^= *2025-10-13, version 7.1.6* Meow! ### 5/5 — Wo bu xihuan meigo ren *2025-09-14, version 7.1.4* Unlike the terrorist organization called the “United” states, Chinese news is actual journalism. ### 5/5 — Fine News Service *2025-09-13, version 7.1.4* South China Morning News Provides Timely and Pertinent Reliable News ### 5/5 — Balanced Reporting *2025-07-20, version 7.0.14* As a British and Australian citizen, now living in Thailand’s north east region, I get a strongly US and Western influenced flow of news that needs serious analysis to understand cultural, national, and political influences. After several months of reading the SCMP reporting and published articles and opinions I have found what I think is a clearer picture that provides the best balanced representation and perspective on world affairs. ### 5/5 — Great insights *2025-04-11, version 7.0.6* Solid reporting with interesting stories. Surprised that the candor expressed has not been suppressed. Worth reading to understand what’s happening in the China sphere. --- *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 2026-09-10.*