# The Hamilton Spectator — user reviews > 62 indexed App Store user reviews of The Hamilton Spectator by thestar.com, rated 4.50/5 from 20 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-hamilton-spectator/id444566581/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-hamilton-spectator/id444566581.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 16 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 2 ## Newest reviews (12 of 62) ### 2/5 — Need more options for notifications *2023-10-09* I have both the CBC and The Spec app and I almost never open The Spec app cause I don’t get any notifications about new stories. ### 2/5 — Tired of signing in *2023-08-02* The app is fine, although it keeps asking me to sign in every time I open the app??? ### 2/5 — Too big *2021-01-02* Loved your previous app. It was easy to scroll around and read the different articles that I wanted to read. This one is too in your face! ### 2/5 — Does not work on iPhone *2020-07-09* The app appears fine on an iPhone, and breaking news can be read. However, for any article that requires a subscription it appears to be locked and says I need to sign in. Even when I am already signed in! I have reached out to the Spec, However I’ve been informed that their app does not work well on an iPhone, as their site does not work properly on Safari. ### 1/5 — App is terrible *2020-04-29* Does not fit the screen. Unable to read a headline. Also lost the ability to read horizontal or vertical an a tablet. Fix it. Bring landscape reading back! ### 1/5 — Landscape is missing? *2020-04-25* Please reinstall landscape mode - I hate it when I'm told how I must use my device ### 1/5 — Rarely Works *2019-11-27, version 5.2.3* Not a very nicely laid out app. Although it’s easy to navigate, it could be more functional. And half the time I find that it doesn’t load anything - it frequently just remains a blank white screen. Waste of space on my phone. ### 2/5 — Decent app, needs work *2019-02-10, version 5.2.3* Not a bad app but really annoying that it doesn’t return you to the same place you were after reading an article. ### 1/5 — Always closes! *2016-06-04, version 5.1.1* If I'm lucky enough for it to even open.... The app just closes either before it loads or just as I'm clicking on an article. There has been nothing but issues with every spec version there's been! ### 1/5 — Miss the old version huge *2016-05-16, version 5.2.1* On this version of the app, we can no longer share articles or favourite them. Furthermore, when scrolling through, should you select an article to read, then click 'back', it takes you to the first article in the scroll again, and you must scroll through all over again. It also seems there are not as many 'new' articles as before: the same articles stick around, and are not organized in order of most recent. Personally, I'm very frustrated to have lost the old app as well as all the articles I'd favourited. ### 1/5 — Bad layout. Needs constant restarts *2016-04-14, version 5.2.0* Weird new hard to use layout. What on earth is "main news" vs "latest news". App is often just a white screen that needs to be closed and opened again to load. Anther *on the very very long list* of awful spec app updates. ### 1/5 — Previous version was better. *2016-04-06, version 5.2.0* Bad update. Last format was much easier to use and cleaner. When you read an article on this format and hit back it makes you start over and scroll back to next article. With each update I move further away from trusting and relying on the spec for news. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Too difficult to access all parts of the news *2025-05-02* I’d like to be able to access all parts of the paper, but it’s difficult. And then some stories are listed for weeks on end and others show up multiple times. I feel like if I had the physical paper I’d be seeing a lot more news. ### 1/5 — Poor replacement for browser version *2024-03-07* Not even close to the access provided by the browser version. Misses direct access to Home and Obituaries for example. Some needs to update this code. ### 1/5 — Not free as described *2024-01-05* Can’t read the articles, the app indicates free to read, but it isn’t. ### 1/5 — Poor app *2023-01-22* The SpecEreader is a better format with easy access to all sections ### 1/5 — What did you do to this App? *2022-01-03* Used to be great, changes made are terrible ### 1/5 — Pay to read *2022-01-02* Was not a bad app for local stories for awhile but now have to pay to read articles, im out ### 1/5 — Don’t update *2021-12-31* Don’t update you lose the ability to read articles! Shame on you Spec ### 1/5 — Application Layout *2021-12-28* We find the layout poor in comparison to other e-papers we buy. Many papers show you a layout that is similar to the paper print version with each page of each section. For example, the screen splits and on the left showing the print version of the paper and when you select an article on the right side it appears and you can read and scroll the entire article to the end even if it rolls to another page. San Jose Mercury has this type of layout if you want to see it. Please consider an app layout like that as I am sure those apps are generic and can be procured for iPad and other renderings. We enjoy the content but the layout is not up to standard. ### 1/5 — Can’t copy and paste *2020-12-02* Still a Liberal propaganda piece ### 1/5 — Does not work on iPad *2020-05-01* Seems to work on iPhone, but not on iPad. Only in portrait mode and is cutoff. The other app in store that says is for iPad, once this update was released, is no longer supported. Very poor. The e paper app works but is hard to read on small screen. P.s. I have since discovered that if you open the app with iPad already in portrait mode, then it is not cut off. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Left leaning! *2025-10-31* The Spec would be a great local paper if it wasn’t run like a “Left Wing” rag. Articles and comments all the time knocking the Tories. If there was an alternative I would cancel my Spec subscription tomorrow. ### 5/5 — Spec: 5 stars *2025-05-01* wonderful local news coverage. hard-working reporters and editors. a valuable asset in difficult times, when journalism matters massively. thank you to all for … again … your hard work and diligence. 🙏 one quibble: while i respect and admire susan clairmont’s work *very* much, i do not think editors should permit her to use last names for the Bad Guys while using first names for the Good Guys. the value-laden inconsistency is at odds with straight-up news (and crime) reporting. i know SC is not doing straight-up reporting in the way, say, fallon hewitt is, but still, it’s too heart-on-sleeve for me and i suspect for some other readers too. ### 5/5 — Prefer Old Access *2022-04-10* I like this view , however I preferred having access to former papers I may have missed . ### 5/5 — Access *2022-02-27, version 8.33.0* As a Toronto Star newspaper and on line subscriber, I used to have access to the Spectator. While I’m logged in ok, I can’t open the news articles. Shall I just delete the app and forget about local news? This is very disappointing to one who just paid > $800 for an annual subscription to the parent company. ### 4/5 — Not as good as Toronto Star app *2025-06-21* Same company, different app layout. I’d like to be able to look up pages as I can with the Star. Alternatively, I must take a photo of the item, crop it to share. Please update the app so I can read it like I do the paper version. ### 3/5 — Well laid out and easy to read *2017-05-04, version 5.2.3* This left wing newspaper is informative and has interesting local news. ### 3/5 — Glitches with new update *2016-04-14, version 5.2.0* I don't mind the layout of the updated Hamilton Spectator app; I just have a few issues with its functionality. I believe the biggest problem is that I am no longer able to share news articles like I used to, unless this function is hidden somewhere which isn't very good either. I like the new sections, but I just find it difficult to scroll through them as the previews of the articles move too fast if you choose to swipe as opposed to clicking on the arrows. Overall, I like the updated look, but hopefully those two issues could be addressed in a future update. ### 3/5 — Working again ... for now, anyway *2015-10-11, version 5.1.1* Whatever bug or supposed 'fix' that was contributing to the app crashing appears to be solved (at least for iPhone 6 with the latest iOS 9 update). Initial startups might lag but when it works, site is as it appears on screen grabs. ### 3/5 — Great for news but crashes a lot *2014-08-07* I love being able to check the local news but I find the app is not completely loading properly or keeps crashing. I have just deleted and reinstalled it so we'll see if that fixes it. ### 2/5 — Spec *2025-10-02* Everything is repeated multiple times. Old news stays on for days. It should be setup more in a newspaper format. Not enjoyable at all. --- *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 2026-08-31.*