# Variety — user reviews

> 80 indexed App Store user reviews of Variety by PMC, rated 4.50/5 from 1,717 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/variety/id416179538/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/variety/id416179538.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,364 · 4★ 158 · 3★ 52 · 2★ 34 · 1★ 109

## What do users think of Variety?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 👍 Customizable newsfeed
- 🚀 Trades on the fly!
- 💡 Manager

**Cons**

- 🐛 Crashes, shows no content
- 🐛 Buggy ads
- 🐛 Slow and buggy
- 🔋 Battery Drain
- 🐛 Multimedia Always Fails
- 🐛 Unstable on iPad
- 🐛 Banners Constantly Covering Story Content

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Articles don't open
- Can't read entire articles
- Only the first paragraph/sentence loads
- Articles Wont Load
- Only the first sentence of every article is displayed
- Can't use app without notifications on
- VIP+ Membership is useless on iPad
- Navbar too tight on iPhone 13 mini
- Freezes at start on iPad
- Doesn't have OneTrust data to show Banner user interface
- Impossible to Use
- Site keeps crashing
- Awfull app crashes constantly
- 50% of the time, this app just shuts down, out of the blue
- Incredibly slow and glitchy
- Crashes and stutters
- Very unstable on my iPad
- Keeps crashing
- Soooo slow. Problems loading pages
- Unstable
- Article disappears right after you open it in the app

**Most requested features**

- Real Time Alerts Feature
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Ability to access magazine issues for direct subscribers

## Newest reviews (19 of 80)

### 2/5 — Doesn’t load articles fully anymore

*2024-07-31, version 24.6*

Ever since the last app update only the first sentence of an article will load.

### 1/5 — Can’t restore

*2022-10-24*

No matter what I do I can’t restore my subscription through the App Store. Tried to go to support, but it takes me to some totally unrelated site. Guess I’ll just have to cancel my subscription.

### 3/5 — Navbar too tight on iPhone 13 mini

*2022-08-05*

Its very narrow at the top and sometimes It takes several tries to press a new category. There is a large margin at the bottom so its a bit frustrating that everything is crammed at the top.

### 1/5 — Worthless…keeps freezing!

*2022-04-05, version 24.2*

The content is great, but the app freezes after one use. Tried rebooting my iPad, downloading again, etc. Freezes on a regular basis. Too bad.

### 1/5 — iPad version freezes at start

*2022-01-16, version 24.1*

What a missed opportunity for Variety

### 1/5 — What is this?

*2021-12-14*

After installing message popped up: 
“Notice
Doesn’t have OneTrust data to show Banner user interface. Please fetch OneTrust data first.”
What the heck is that! Can some one please explain?!—thanks. Rating reflects difficulty to run the app. I’m a Variety reader and would like to be able to use the app.

### 1/5 — No access to mag issues for direct subscribers!

*2021-04-26*

A bizarre app in that it does not seem to allow linkage/login to “print + digital” Variety subscription accounts, only Variety subscriptions made via the Apple app store - a ridiculous limitation resulting in inability of direct (Penske) Variety subscribers to access the “Issues” feature.

### 1/5 — MISSING: Real Time Alerts Feature

*2021-01-27*

The app states there are real-time new alert push notifications you can turn on via the settings menu. This is 100% false. There is absolutely no way to do this. There is actual absolutely no alert feature at all. I’ve emailed support 5 times with no response, so I’ve decided to leave a review to inform others that are expecting this feature. If I’m incorrect, please reply to this review with instructions on how this can be done & I will revise the content. Below is what they state, but the feature is completely nonexistent. “REAL-TIME NEWS ALERTS: Keep up with breaking stories as they happen with push notifications, easily toggled on or off in the app settings menu. “ In fact the screenshots show a “bell” icon next to the “gear” icon, which does not exist in the actual app. Please respond with how to active the real-time news alerts. Please. Thank you.

### 1/5 — Impossible to Use

*2020-12-05, version 21.0*

The Variety app is impossible to use. It is extremely laggy, seems to make my phone hot every time I use, and is an endless barrage of advertisements.

### 1/5 — Buggy ads

*2020-11-25, version 21.0*

I couldn’t finish an article because the ads kept restructuring the page as they loaded, until the page goes dark and I have to reload it and start over.

### 1/5 — 用不了

*2020-10-01*

根本用不了啊 打开什么东西都没有

### 1/5 — Slow and buggy

*2020-09-21*

Awful app. Loads slow and reloads while you’re reading (presumably to load more irritating ads!).

### 1/5 — this app is an embarrassment

*2020-07-12*

Not sure why Variety bothers to publish articles through this app. It’s unusable. It’s slow to load simple TEXT. When it does, it lasts for about 4 seconds then goes blank. My iphone actually heats up when trying to handle the instability of this app.

There are literally hundreds of news-based apps that work great. Is it really that hard for Variety to get this together? If not, they deserve to go extinct.

### 1/5 — Variety

*2020-06-09, version 20.0*

Site keeps crashing!!!!   Please fix it!

### 1/5 — Awfull app crashes constantly

*2020-05-04, version 20.0*

To rate this app with one star is giving it way too much.  The ads are so annoying and the interface constantly crashes and restarts.  I literary hate this app.  It is a torture to access it due to its mediocre interface.

### 2/5 — Please fix this app

*2020-02-25*

I love the content. But wow this is a terrible app. Constantly glitching, reloading, you can’t read for more then a few lines without the screen jumping everywhere. 82 million adverts constantly popping up. Please make this better

### 2/5 — 50% of the time, this app just shuts down, out of the blue

*2020-01-20, version 13.0*

Out

### 1/5 — Unusable - littered with ads

*2019-12-06*

Littered with ads - totally unusable

### 1/5 — Incredibly slow and glitchy

*2019-09-23*

This is one of the worst apps on my phone. It slows down the whole system, making it impossible to screenshot and share without waiting 10 minutes. Really disappointing for such good website and content.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — AWFUL (in giant font)

*2026-07-17*

Each article takes up the full screen when scrolling. The UI is cooked in times of serving — ahem — VARIETY. Just the same five articles and each tab you hit brings you back to the top when you go back to where you can from so you can’t avoid those articles no matter how hard you try. Bring someone new in to design this.

### 1/5 — Unsearchable, un-useable

*2025-11-19, version 24.6*

Only a tiny fraction of movie reviews available on the app that are available on a simple Google search of Variety movie reviews. And the search function on the app simply doesn’t work.

### 1/5 — Please fix

*2025-09-30, version 24.6*

Articles don’t open

### 1/5 — Can’t read entire articles

*2025-08-29, version 24.6*

Only the first paragraph/sentence loads. Useless.

### 1/5 — Articles Wont Load

*2024-10-01, version 24.6*

You read the first paragraph, see a bunch of ads, and then nothing. Cant scroll or anything. Fix it!

### 1/5 — Useless

*2024-08-27, version 24.6*

Only the first sentence of every article is displayed.  Deleting app. It’s useless now. V

### 1/5 — Articles Won’t Load

*2024-08-17, version 24.6*

Only the first sentence of every article will load ever since the latest update. The app is basically useless now.

### 1/5 — Only One Paragraph

*2024-08-16*

When I try to open an article, all that I get to read is the first paragraph and that’s it. If I want to read the article, I have to go to the website. This problem seems to have come after the last update about a month ago and it still hasn’t been fixed.

### 1/5 — Can’t use app without notifications on

*2023-09-29, version 24.5*

Every time you launch the app you are prompted to go to the control center and change the notification settings.

Currently, my notifications are turned off for this app, which is my choice. If the notifications are turned off by the user, the third-party app should not continue, prompting the user to turn on notifications.

Fix your code. The latest 17 OS doesn’t fix this.

### 1/5 — VIP+ Membership is useless on iPad

*2023-05-25, version 24.2*

The app is useless for the $40/month VIP+ subscription if you signed up online (not the App Store). Just access it through Safari and save yourself the headache.

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Much Improved - fast and user friendly

*2021-01-15*

Variety is my go-to for entertainment news.  This update is a big improvement, it’s faster, easier and has new features. I love that I can customize my newsfeed.

### 5/5 — Trades on the fly!

*2019-07-24, version 13.0*

Still the grand dame of E-news

### 5/5 — Manager

*2019-03-24, version 13.0*

Love this app ❤️

### 5/5 — A voyeur’s best friend

*2018-10-12, version 4.0*

The content is great.

### 5/5 — What’s happened?

*2018-08-31*

Okay, I appreciate the fact that we are getting these great reviews and show biz news for free - fair enough. But what was a terrific app has become lumbering and terribly slow to load. Please fix!

### 4/5 — Article disappears......

*2018-09-07, version 4.0*

......right after you open it in the app.  Please fix!

### 4/5 — 好

*2018-02-21*

希望小图标的图像可以加载出来

### 4/5 — Worst App

*2017-10-26, version 3.0.3*

This App needs to be upgraded. Worst app on my phone. If it’s not upgraded soon I will be deleting it. The gallery section is even blank.

### 4/5 — Great content -- but unable to share story links

*2015-03-27, version 3.0*

Variety, always great content, but the share button does not include a link back to the story---you are leaving a huge portion of readership off the table with this dysfunctional feature. Please fix ASAP.

### 4/5 — Nice

*2013-09-06, version 3.0*

This app must've been recently updated because all of the problems regarding links taking you outside the app seems to have been addressed. App has full articles and even when you click a link for a related article it opens that one up fully within the app. So far very nice.

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*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 2026-08-26.*