# theCHIVE — user reviews > 492 indexed App Store user reviews of theCHIVE by Chive Media Group, LLC, rated 4.60/5 from 167,892 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thechive/id448999087/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thechive/id448999087.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 136,645 · 4★ 13,469 · 3★ 3,934 · 2★ 2,803 · 1★ 11,041 ## What do users think of theCHIVE? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Fast content loading - 👍 Great community and charity work - 🚀 Smooth user experience (before recent updates) **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes - 🔋 High battery consumption - 💸 Excessive and intrusive ads - 🔍 Declining content quality and curation **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes and freezes - Redirects to App Store or other sites - Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions **Most requested features** - Reduce ads or offer ad-free option - Improve app stability and performance - Restore previous app functionality ## Newest reviews (20 of 492) ### 4/5 — Intrusive Adds *2026-08-20, version 2.9.5* Content is not as good as it once was but still ok. Adds are intrusive to the point of closing the app. ### 2/5 — Come on man *2026-08-19, version 2.9.5* There are too many ads that are taking up so much space that they look like they are a part of the photo gallery ### 3/5 — TMI *2026-07-23, version 2.9.4* I wish they would quit posting some fat guy in his underwear for weight loss as their advertising. ### 2/5 — New editors ruined it *2026-07-09, version 2.9.4* This used to be a great app with a great community and great galleries. This young generation is killing it. The sports guy for them doesn’t understand sports. Other young ones interject their poorly understood politics into every gallery. What once made this app and community great, unfortunately it is dying ### 2/5 — What happened!? *2026-07-06, version 2.9.4* This app is a shell of what it used to be. ### 4/5 — Bug fix please *2026-06-02, version 2.9.3* I’ve had this app for the last 10 years and absolutely love it. But within the last, at least month most pics won’t show up. Not all pics, only some. Some categories none will show and other categories a few will. I’ve tried different internet, deleted the app and reinstalled, signed out and back in and nothing fixes it. Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing this? Thanks. ### 2/5 — Ads getting out of control *2026-06-01, version 2.9.3* I have had theCHIVE installed for as long as I can remember.. like since before my children and have never ever complained about the ads as much as I have recently. You can’t even scroll anymore with out it trying to send you to the App Store. Super disheartening ### 2/5 — Occasionally funny but mostly cringe *2026-05-31, version 2.9.3* This app is buggy, flooded with ads, and the content has declined. I used to really enjoy perusing this app, but the new editors are sophomoric, simplistic and really just stupid. Tough writing this review as I used to consider myself a chiver. But this is trash. ### 2/5 — Captions *2026-05-21, version 2.9.3* Please fix the captions. Ideally, go back to putting them beneath the images. If you can’t do that, at least change your spacing so the caption above is tight to the image and the one below (for the following image) is not and has a gap. ### 1/5 — No pics after last update *2026-05-14, version 2.9.3* Several sections don’t display any pics on IPad. I see maybe 40% of pics ### 1/5 — Not Good Anymore *2026-05-12, version 2.9.3* This app used to be great but it is almost unusable now. They got rid of the pic counter on the top, which was annoying but not the end of the world. Then they broke the captions. They open over the pic now so you can either read or look but not both. If it’s a long caption it will open so high you can’t close it and you have to close the app completely and reopen it. And now the only galleries that work are DMA, DAR, and DER. The rest are just black screens. I’m not sure what happened but I don’t think I’ll be renewing my subscription. ### 1/5 — What happened? *2026-05-08, version 2.9.3* Used to be great. Not really funny anymore and quality has gone to the dumpster. ### 1/5 — Politics free! *2026-05-07, version 2.9.3* Flagrantly racist memes about black people stealing isn’t political I’m guessing because the Supreme Court ruled that racism no longer exists. I know it was just an “insane joke” and so funny I deleted my account. Politics free also includes blindly supporting such storied institutions as the US military and police forces. ### 3/5 — Ads and Paid Memberships??? *2026-04-29, version 2.9.2* Never thought I'd see the day The Chive became just like everyone else. ### 1/5 — RIP hotness *2026-04-02, version 2.8.8* This platform isn’t the same after no more hotness. It’s a shame to see it go ### 1/5 — Beware ‘ads-free’ promotions *2026-03-22, version 2.8.8* 2020(?): I paid for a 3-year ad-free membership about 30 months ago. Ads kept coming. About 6 months ago they announced, ‘no, we really mean it this time - ads-free!’ Since, theoretically, I still have an ads-free membership, I would expect an ads-free experience. Uh, no. Not renewing. 21MAR2026: I gave up on theChive, pretty much when the content underwent a dramatic and pitiful change; y’all know what I’m talking about. Recently, I decided to take a look to see if you’d come to your senses, but no, you haven’t. Then, last week, using the website instead of the app, I noticed more changes have taken place. It’s more or less illegible on a phone now, and the entry numbers don’t go away, often blocking punchlines, etc. So I guess the website has now been brought to yet another level of ‘suck’. ### 1/5 — Garbage, once was great! *2026-03-19, version 2.8.8* You are bud lighting yourselves and removing all the things your long time people came here for. Your new route cannot be sustained because your trying to attract the people that aren’t interested while pushing away your core. Shame on whoever is in charge. Almost feels like your running the diversity/equity/inclusion playbook. very easy to tell when something that was loved by many is suddenly chopped in half to appease a few. ### 1/5 — Love the app but… *2026-03-07, version 2.8.8* Iit’s very clunky and makes my iPhone 15 pro max too hot to touch, plus they’ve now removed a lot of content and it’s riddled with ads ### 4/5 — Agrovation *2026-02-14, version 2.8.8* Damn advertising. ### 2/5 — Downhill Fast *2026-01-17, version 2.8.7* How does The Chive want people to subscribe to the app when each update takes features away? Things that I used to be able to do on the app: scroll back and see if I already looked at a particular gallery, it would show that it was viewed. The search and favorites don’t work at all. If I’m paying for a subscription they need to work, this is very basic stuff. Seems like whoever runs the app is somebody’s nephew or friend who can’t get fired no matter how much they screw up. Lastly taking away the hotness all together, not even making it an option or subscription upgrade is a sellout move. I’ve been with the Chive from way back in the beginning. It’s a shadow of its former glory. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — hypocrisy *2026-09-06, version 2.9.5* Love the community, hate that they take blood money to promote smoking while claiming to run a medical charity. They should fix their business instead of sacrificing their core values. ### 1/5 — Bad ads declining content *2026-08-23, version 2.9.5* This app used to be funny every now and then. Now it’s hardly ever. Content has declined in quality and gotten dumber. Worst of all are the ads. If you ever wondered what sub-Temu quality marketing via AI slop looks like, by all means download this app. ### 1/5 — Ad apocalypse *2026-08-12, version 2.9.5* The app has been so overly filled with ads it's getting unbearable to use. ### 1/5 — Used to be good *2026-08-12, version 2.9.5* Ever since this app switched up it is not good. Bring back the old Chive! ### 1/5 — Probably, the worst app in the world *2026-07-08, version 2.9.4* Delete it fast ### 1/5 — C'mon man! *2026-05-26, version 2.9.3* I love the Chive. I support the Chive. I'm a Chiver for life. But the app.... Just when I think things are starting to get better - bam! It gets broken again. Most of the photos do not load/display. I can see them if I tap the grid view, but cannot see them normally. And the captions are still not fixed. I think it's been a year now. One step forward, two steps back. I still love you guys, though. KCCO. ### 1/5 — Terrible layout pt 2 *2026-05-24, version 2.9.3* I can read the captions, but now pictures do not appear. So pretty much 98% of the posts and content are blank if there’s an image with captions at the bottom. Please fix! ### 1/5 — Glitchy *2026-05-17, version 2.9.3* iPad app. Most/many of the posts do not have the descriptions for each slide so there is no context and they don’t make any sense. Pull down to refresh doesn’t work, so I have to close and reopen the app to see anything new. Not the end of the world, but I find myself opening this app less and less often because of this. Latest update there’s some text but no images. ### 1/5 — Done with CHIVE for now after this update *2026-05-16, version 2.9.3* Everything you’ve read is true - after a terrible update that made the app glitchy and difficult, they found a way to make it even worse. I’ve enjoyed it for years but now it’s useless. This lifetime member is moving on until it gets straightened out. How did they mess this up so bad? ### 1/5 — Broken, again *2026-05-16, version 2.9.3* Once again, it’s broken. This time, images don’t even show up. So for years it’s been impossible to read the captions and see the 8mage, and now the images are just dark. How is this possible, in the age of AI? It’s actually kind of a disgrace. A drunk college kid could do better vibe coding. Anybody who worked on this project should quit. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — I want to come back, BUUUUT *2025-03-06, version 2.7.7* The app reviews say otherwise…looks like it got worse. I deleted it a WHILE ago because it was crashing my phone. (Seriously removing “the chive” made my phone run faster) I love the original platform and idea…but apparently, users have spoken. Not just here. Keep up the great work though…honestly! ### 5/5 — Zoom *2024-10-24, version 2.7.4* Yay you fixed it. Thank you. ### 5/5 — Recent update broke images *2024-10-24, version 2.7.4* I have trouble seeing so I have to zoom often. New update doesn’t allow you to do that. Another app I can’t enjoy using. Edit: they fixed it ### 5/5 — the Chive *2024-10-08, version 2.7.2* Just read the update information. It says less heating? I do hope y’all mean less heating of the device and not the content! Otherwise keep on Chive ing on! ### 5/5 — Caption gets in the way! *2024-05-28, version 2.6.0* Can you please fix the Caption at the bottom of the screen from cutting off the bottom or most recently, all of the screen? Otherwise, awesome app and luv it! ❤️ ### 5/5 — Done! *2023-06-21, version 2.5.3* Browsed the chive from the beginning, recently the app only works for a few hours a week, every time I open it I get the “ oops something went wrong “ message, now when I open it I get text and no images, done the usual, shut down/reboot, delete/ reinstall numerous times. Not good, I’m done! ### 5/5 — Nastalgick *2023-02-01, version 2.4.103* Had the app in 2011 on 3gs ran like a nugget ### 5/5 — Happy Chiver. *2022-06-26* Hi guys, great app, love the iPad app. However, the latest update has made it run like a sloth, to the point it freezes and I have to restart the app. Any updates for the update? ### 5/5 — Fun *2020-09-12, version 2.4.82* Fun and interesting app. ### 5/5 — Great site terrible app. *2020-06-21, version 2.4.75* I’ve followed the chive since 2010 and I love the site, the content and everything the chive has done and continues to do for so many people. The app is the problem, first off just opening it cuts off any music or podcasts that is playing which is annoying. The biggest problem is the f@$!ing ads. I don’t click on them but either I scroll past them or just don’t touch my phone (iphoneX) and they pop up open my safari and or App Store and just redirect in a loop until I just close out the app and my internet/App Store. I love the chive but the ad problem with the app as turned me from a 5-7 day a week user to maybe one or two days. As soon as the ad monster tries to take over I’m out for the day. John you have done amazing things for a lot of people. Please fix the app so more chivers can enjoy your work without the frustration. --- *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 2026-09-09.*