The Nation Magazine User Reviews

What users say

Top reviews

Unusable

The constant pop ups block out so much content. While trying to read something, the screen just jumps around because of all the ads. For a paid subscriber, this is a horrendous experience. I want to read what The Nation publishes, but it is frustrating beyond belief and I have stopped even trying to read this.
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Wow…terrible app.

Way, way too many ads and pop ups. I paid for a subscription to help support good journalism, but I can’t even read the articles without being endlessly hammered with distractions. Won’t buy another year, that’s for sure.

Ads ruin the experience

As many have expressed the ads are out of control. If I have a subscription the web version should not be overwhelmed by ads. The web version can’t even take my login from the app. It asks for me to login again.

Interesting stories, terrible app

Video adds takeover the entire screen, buttons to navigate often do nothing (I usually just close and reopen the app to start over), and the search functionality is really bad.

One of the least user-friendly news apps I’ve seen

I’m a proud Nation subscriber, but I can barely read it anymore. The app is incredibly glitchy and the ads are completely out of control. You cannot get through half an article without pop-up’s and a self-destructive crash. I’ve stopped recommending it to people because it really is just impossible to consume anymore. I really hope the Nation can soon prioritize upgrading its app to be half decent — with a bare minimum of readability.
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Bothersome ads

I like that you can navigate either through the most recent magazine or the most recent articles. However, the number and placement of ads is overwhelming. I find the ads which pop out of the app in a separate window to be particularly bothersome. I would pay more to have fewer ads in this experience.
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Required to share data; can’t read due to ads

This app is an absolutely terrible experience. Static ads are embedded in the articles. Video ads are embedded in the articles. Video ads pop up on top of the articles, and start auto playing even though I have autoplay turned off.

As a subscriber, I resent having to see any ads in the first place — but to pay good money and then not be able to read because of all the ads is ridiculous. Canceling my subscription and deleting the app.
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Invasive App Permission?

The Apps Permissions feel too invasive…

Terrible app for a great magazine

Boy do I wish this app were good. I primarily read news on my phone, and I would read The Nation daily if I didn’t have to contend with an impossible and ugly interface that keeps kicking me out of each article I’m reading, requires I log back in continually, shows me many ads (as a subscriber!) and is just genuinely unwieldy. If anyone is listening please make a totally new app your top priority!

(The best magazine app interfaces, fwiw, are The New Yorker and The Atlantic, even though the latter has outdated politics)
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App is a bit clunky

The magazine tab in the app works great. You can export articles to Instapaper and there doesn’t seem to be any ads.

The website tab with the more recent articles is a mess, however. iOS Subscriptions are not recognized and the ads are relentless. As long as you stick to the magazine part of the app you’ll be fine.
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ads and tech issues everywhere!!

With a paid subscription, my expectations were that there would be no ads that popped up while reading articles, and yet it happens every time! I pull up a news story and an ad for a puzzle game overtakes the whole screen. Whenever I temporarily move off the Nation app, (usually to play music or to check notifications) it resets completely to the home screen and I have to scroll back to find the article I attempted to read. It’s such a shame because I heard so many good things about this publication, but the technical issues and overblown ads (even with a paid subscription) are limiting my ability to read the articles on this app!
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App is a mess

Why are there more ads after subscribing? I can't even read an article without the app trying to get me to accidentally click on some ad. Fix this

Works well on iPhone

Presents the magazine issues and articles in reader format, and even allows for exporting pdf versions. Of course, the content is stellar. The Nation is a beacon in the darkness.

Confusing and inconsistent links

Hard to keep in the app when ads pop up and merely grazing the link tips me out of the app. The ads are distracting and often bizarrely unrelated to The Nation’s and my demographic so I’m not sure why they are paying for space (even though I don’t click on ads anyway). Also, the app assumes I’m not subscribed and it’s easier to go down that route than to log in which annoying. Lastly, hard to track particular authors like Mystal and to search for key phrases. No worse than The NY Times app where I go to Google to do the search, too.
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Login process

Is absolutely terrible

Terrible App

I am a subscriber and this is making me consider canceling my subscription. Flashing ads load over and over. I cannot access stories and it keeps prompting me to log in.

Ad problems…

I’m a paying subscriber but the app is completely disrupted by ads and useless. It is better on the website but the ads are more intrusive than on other news sites.

App is a total mess; rife with inappropriate adverts

The Nation Magazine is an iconic news and criticism source, and I’ve been a print subscriber for at least four decades. The digital version, however, is a singular mess of flashing adverts at the top and bottom of a phone screen, coupled also most problematically to a advert video that launches at the bottom right hand margin every ten seconds or so. The net effect is a visually disturbing mix of obscured and jumping text that is constantly resizing the text to accommodate more advertising.
I’ve attempted to contact staff at the magazine close to a dozen times with comments on these problems with ZERO response. And I am being polite!
This lack of attention to an absolutely critical detail is dire and alarming as the future is digital, not print. Readership and funding depend on a suitable, reliable platform. This app, unfortunately, doesn’t ensure that there will a Nation Magazine in the future.
I love my print monthly version, but I’m too frustrated by the brutal digital experience when attempting to read the “online home” section that updates daily.
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Keeps asking to unlock content after I subscribed. Privacy policy should be more privacy protective

Annoying that I paid for the subscription and still get asked to pay 5.99 to read articles

New user, A lot of techy issues

I’m having trouble accessing subscriber content. In trying to understand and resolve the problem, I’m finding other problems. Finally, I emailed Support, and I received a discouraging reply that automatically redirected me to another resource. BUT that hyperlink didn’t even work. Also, there was no hint that a person would reply to me later.

Finally, the moving advertisements while trying to read what I COULD access are too distracting! I selected “no” on the “auto play” option, but from the looks of things, that’s not applicable to every nook of the service area.

What is happening at the Nation? I expected better.
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