Top picks just take from subscribed
When you can’t fix something as simple as not showing recommendations from things I am already reading, it shows how little you care about your user base. Quick check of: is it in the subscribed list, then don’t show it in top picks
Used to be wonderful, but keeps getting worse. Now awful.
I've been reading comics on Webtoons since 2017. I used to adore it, because it had great graphic novels with long lengths, interesting plots, and fantastic art. In many cases the authors would interact with their audiences. The entire platform used to also be free, and purchasing coins to read ahead was entirely optional. Overall the site had phenomenal and top-notch art, great stories, and long reading for free.
However, lately I can hardly stand reading on it. There's been so many poor changes and the site is getting almost unusable.
I'll give a summary and then a longer explanation below. This is the approximate order the changes appeared:
1 Giant pop up ads which disrupt the very end of reading an episode
2 Price increases for paid episodes
3 Made it more difficult in two different ways to find updates for the comics you actually read
4 Lots of comics now can't be finished without buying coins, when they all used to be free
5 Stopped showing which comics you hearted. This sounds minor but was a way most of used to use to find our favorite episodes easily and bookmark chapters; now it's a lot harder
6 Comics idealizing abusive and toxic relationships. This is probably far and away the worst change.
7 Random account suspensions without explanation
7 Ads blocking every chapter now. Makes it so you completely cannot have any reading flow whatsoever. They take up half the page and just have to be played, and they don't auto close, so you do have to interact with them.
The changes started slowly but continue to add up. The first was giant pop-ups pushing other series, which started to appear at the end of episodes you'd paid for. No chance to finish your episode in peace without closing the pop-up first. So much for savoring the end of a moment. The pop-ups also appear if you go back to the episode list, often causing you to click by accident and suddenly be reading an entirely different comic when you just wanted to check your place or reread the last episode.
Next came increasing the number of coins needed to read an episode from 5 to 7 on all series. Honestly, I would have prefered they raise the price of coins than raise the number of coins needed; 7 doesn't evenly go into anything and you always end up with some weird squirrely number leftover, and that drives me crazy.
Next came the way their home page was arranged. Now instead of being notified that your favorite series has updated, it tells you when the last thing you clicked on was updated. Often these are those comics you clicked on by accident (thank you giant pop-ups, mentioned above.) So you have a home screen telling you about a bunch of comics you don't care about, and have to go on a hunt to find the comics you actually want to read.
(At the same time they got rid of sorting updates by Day of the Week. I used to enjoy just going through and seeing what was new on a Monday, say. This one wasn't the end of the world, but made me a bit sad and did make it harder to find things.)
Lots of comics now can't be finished without buying coins, when they all used to be free. Goodbye, knowing what happened at the end of a story--unless you want to pay.
One of the worst changes happened slowly. They began to prioritize the publishing of already completed, translated stories, which isn't bad in and of itself. It does mean fewer stories where the authors interact with the audience, but that's not the actual problem. The wall problem is many of these previously-completed stories are also where some of the most toxic and abusive relationships are portrayed in a positive light. Many of Webtoons readers are very young and this is not a good thing to highlight no matter the age. It's dismaying to see this kind of thing represented as something desirable and normal.
Every so often Webtoons decides to suspend an account for a while. When they do, they don't offer explanations, the account is just suspended for an indefinite period of time.
For me the final straw was the ads which cover half the screen at the beginning of EVERY episode now. These aren't optional to unlock episodes. These ads pop up seconds after opening any and all chapters. They block half the screen if you're on a mobile phone. They autoplay and there's no skipping them. And they do require you to close them, or they don't go away, so forget about just ignoring them. Reading continuity is gone. Emotional moments completely interrupted. This, for me, might be the reason I actually drop Webtoons. I can dig for my favorite series and skip the comics about abusive relationships. But if I can't enjoy the moments which make up a story--really, what is the point of reading?
However, lately I can hardly stand reading on it. There's been so many poor changes and the site is getting almost unusable.
I'll give a summary and then a longer explanation below. This is the approximate order the changes appeared:
1 Giant pop up ads which disrupt the very end of reading an episode
2 Price increases for paid episodes
3 Made it more difficult in two different ways to find updates for the comics you actually read
4 Lots of comics now can't be finished without buying coins, when they all used to be free
5 Stopped showing which comics you hearted. This sounds minor but was a way most of used to use to find our favorite episodes easily and bookmark chapters; now it's a lot harder
6 Comics idealizing abusive and toxic relationships. This is probably far and away the worst change.
7 Random account suspensions without explanation
7 Ads blocking every chapter now. Makes it so you completely cannot have any reading flow whatsoever. They take up half the page and just have to be played, and they don't auto close, so you do have to interact with them.
The changes started slowly but continue to add up. The first was giant pop-ups pushing other series, which started to appear at the end of episodes you'd paid for. No chance to finish your episode in peace without closing the pop-up first. So much for savoring the end of a moment. The pop-ups also appear if you go back to the episode list, often causing you to click by accident and suddenly be reading an entirely different comic when you just wanted to check your place or reread the last episode.
Next came increasing the number of coins needed to read an episode from 5 to 7 on all series. Honestly, I would have prefered they raise the price of coins than raise the number of coins needed; 7 doesn't evenly go into anything and you always end up with some weird squirrely number leftover, and that drives me crazy.
Next came the way their home page was arranged. Now instead of being notified that your favorite series has updated, it tells you when the last thing you clicked on was updated. Often these are those comics you clicked on by accident (thank you giant pop-ups, mentioned above.) So you have a home screen telling you about a bunch of comics you don't care about, and have to go on a hunt to find the comics you actually want to read.
(At the same time they got rid of sorting updates by Day of the Week. I used to enjoy just going through and seeing what was new on a Monday, say. This one wasn't the end of the world, but made me a bit sad and did make it harder to find things.)
Lots of comics now can't be finished without buying coins, when they all used to be free. Goodbye, knowing what happened at the end of a story--unless you want to pay.
One of the worst changes happened slowly. They began to prioritize the publishing of already completed, translated stories, which isn't bad in and of itself. It does mean fewer stories where the authors interact with the audience, but that's not the actual problem. The wall problem is many of these previously-completed stories are also where some of the most toxic and abusive relationships are portrayed in a positive light. Many of Webtoons readers are very young and this is not a good thing to highlight no matter the age. It's dismaying to see this kind of thing represented as something desirable and normal.
Every so often Webtoons decides to suspend an account for a while. When they do, they don't offer explanations, the account is just suspended for an indefinite period of time.
For me the final straw was the ads which cover half the screen at the beginning of EVERY episode now. These aren't optional to unlock episodes. These ads pop up seconds after opening any and all chapters. They block half the screen if you're on a mobile phone. They autoplay and there's no skipping them. And they do require you to close them, or they don't go away, so forget about just ignoring them. Reading continuity is gone. Emotional moments completely interrupted. This, for me, might be the reason I actually drop Webtoons. I can dig for my favorite series and skip the comics about abusive relationships. But if I can't enjoy the moments which make up a story--really, what is the point of reading?
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New advert strategies destroying functionality
7/19/26 UPDATE: If you’re thinking of downloading a platform, this one’s cursed itself and everyone involved. Find a better webcomic app or you’ll just be investing in heartache. The screen-covering ads were gone for a minute but now it’s back worse than ever. Every other episode you click is a half screen pop up. Most creators are getting wretched contracts and many series aren’t finishing out or are rushed to end prematurely because of webtoon reps’ cuts. I’ll have to wait 3 years (when artist gets their IP rights back) to see the end of MANY of my favorite series’. Many others are on permanent hiatus because of medical issues from attempting to complete episodes on a weekly schedule with too low of pay to afford assistants.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I’ve been an daily webtoon user for years, but there’s been an unsettling rollout of changes in front and behind the scenes lately… i’ll leave the authors to discuss IP-predatory contracts and inflexible output parameters, but from the reader’s side, the new types of ads are just infuriating. Ads when loading, popups on the main page, popups when you start reading, un-Xable ads if you don’t click to watch an ad to read every single page now. Massive banners overlay more than 1/3 of the reading screen, which after adding in the top/bottom bumpers means only 1/2 the screen is viewable. And THEN, that obnoxious popup isn’t even graced with a tiny X, but a little ‘collapse’ arrow. So if for any reason you scroll upwards in the slightest while going through a page, that ad is still there, just now 1/4 of the screen. Webtoons, respectfully, what is this, a joke? It’s one thing to consent to an ad for a free ep, another for a still frame at the bottom to scroll through and another at the top, but this is outright obnoxious and has stopped me from even reading the ep I’m on in full out of disgust and frustration. If you’re trying to tank views on the eps you flag, it’s succeeding.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I’ve been an daily webtoon user for years, but there’s been an unsettling rollout of changes in front and behind the scenes lately… i’ll leave the authors to discuss IP-predatory contracts and inflexible output parameters, but from the reader’s side, the new types of ads are just infuriating. Ads when loading, popups on the main page, popups when you start reading, un-Xable ads if you don’t click to watch an ad to read every single page now. Massive banners overlay more than 1/3 of the reading screen, which after adding in the top/bottom bumpers means only 1/2 the screen is viewable. And THEN, that obnoxious popup isn’t even graced with a tiny X, but a little ‘collapse’ arrow. So if for any reason you scroll upwards in the slightest while going through a page, that ad is still there, just now 1/4 of the screen. Webtoons, respectfully, what is this, a joke? It’s one thing to consent to an ad for a free ep, another for a still frame at the bottom to scroll through and another at the top, but this is outright obnoxious and has stopped me from even reading the ep I’m on in full out of disgust and frustration. If you’re trying to tank views on the eps you flag, it’s succeeding.
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Love
What if you like to read I am all about it
Greedy Company
Webtoon is increasingly making the experience for the community worse. Episodes used to be entirely free and gradually they’ve changed things to the point that now you have to either watch ads or pay coins for every episode of nearly every comic. And you can only do 15 ads a day now because they want you to pay the exorbitantly overpriced coins. Even worse is that they have a “financial incentive program” where they give you coins if you agree to let them mine and sell your data. Absolutely shameless and avaricious. They will drive away their entire consumer base acting like this.
Also, the use of AI (which the app itself features) is disgusting.
Also, the use of AI (which the app itself features) is disgusting.
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Covington: Sacrifice and the Stone
Interesting so far, and the illustration is great!
Advertising Overtop
I’ve loved this app for so long, been a long time user for over half a decade and just now starting to get annoyed by the ridiculous amount of ads, especially the ones that cover half the screen whenever you read a new episode, all in all great app, hate the tracking and ad design
Review recommendations
I don’t really like the bl or the gl section but overall it’s so good you can find so many gorgeous
Art style and stores. “It’s too good “
Art style and stores. “It’s too good “
What happened
As a previous canvas author who used to write and illustrate my own stories- this app has become a corporate mess, what once used to be for the creatives by the creatives has now become littered with Ai and corporations being pushed front and center. The app is now so hard to use and you can barely find anyone fresh and new. I’m dissatisfied and disappointed as someone who has used the app as early as 2018.
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WEBTOON FIX YOUR APP
So I’ve been reading star catcher a lot lately and today I was in the middle of reading a episode and the slides didn’t show so I’m like oh maybe it’s my WiFi so I get rid of the tap so I can reopen it and it was loading and suddenly the app crashed so I get rid of the tab again and it’s still crashes. I don’t know if it’s my iPad or if it’s just the app but whenever I try to go into other apps like YouTube and TikTok, it doesn’t crash like Webtoon does. please fix your app so I can go back to reading.
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😜
hands down one of my favorite apps, I genuinely could be on here for hours a day
PLEASE.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP MAKING ME WAIT MONTHS FOR YAOI I JUST WANNA READ IT I PLAYED OUT A WHOLE MONTH AND I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER PLEASEEE I DONT HAVE MONEY
Amazing app but..
This app is amazing. However, recently whenever I leave a chapter or after one of the banner ads finishes my music stops. This problem stopped for a while but now it’s back, and I don’t want to have to keep unpausing my music. This problem is keeping me from getting immersed in the reading and enjoying it to the full extent. Another thing, the coins. I find it incredibly annoying when a finished webtoon proceeds to get blocked the a paywall. As I don’t have money I can spend on this app nor do I have time to do quests to earn very little coins. I do understand that they need to earn money but it’s very upsetting to be interested in a story only to not be able to read it.
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Awesome
I would read this five stars even if I was a baby. This is so good. It gives you the trauma stories you always needed and it’s an easy five stars you can even pick what kind of stuff you like and it will turn them into stories for you and just you and it’s awesome so you can see all of your favorite stories you think of in your technology
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Ads are too much
I've been using Webtoon for years, but the ads have recently become unbearable. Every time I open the app, I'm inundated with ads. There are a million popups and I can't read a single episode that isn't blocked by an unskippable video ad that covers half the screen. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Too many ads
Good collection of stories and I’ve been a recurrent member and have subscribed for monthly coins regularly, but they started to shove ads at the start of every chapter now and it’s pretty upsetting. Might leave now that I’m seeing their greed on the rise if nothings done to differentiate between those that pay and those that use it freely
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Wow
I love it and I would spend so many hours reading and I absolutely love it.
Nice, but useless (download ep)
I’m gonna compare the app to the website most of the time.
The ads are nice, still there but doesn’t bother the reading experience, but that doesn’t mean much compared to the website.
The main benefit of the app is downloading episodes to save, but it’s really bad. You can’t do anything while it downloads. Can’t read something rise, can’t even leave your phone or it stops the download, which takes longer than just reading it. It’s just not worth it.
Other than that, there really is no reason or use for the app, And sometimes it’ll just close for no reason.
Everything rise is really small details, but they purposefully make the text noting episodes that need to be unlocked with money really small, And you can’t tell how many free episodes you have left by just reading it. You also can’t download canvas stories, but there’s probably a reason for that.
I love webtoons, but the app is just not good.
The ads are nice, still there but doesn’t bother the reading experience, but that doesn’t mean much compared to the website.
The main benefit of the app is downloading episodes to save, but it’s really bad. You can’t do anything while it downloads. Can’t read something rise, can’t even leave your phone or it stops the download, which takes longer than just reading it. It’s just not worth it.
Other than that, there really is no reason or use for the app, And sometimes it’ll just close for no reason.
Everything rise is really small details, but they purposefully make the text noting episodes that need to be unlocked with money really small, And you can’t tell how many free episodes you have left by just reading it. You also can’t download canvas stories, but there’s probably a reason for that.
I love webtoons, but the app is just not good.
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Too many ads now
Look I’ve used WEBTOON for more than a couple years and well….theres too many ads now! Especially when you open a new chapter and immediately there’s a header ad that won’t disappear after it’s done! You have to click it to go away it’s so annoying when you’re just trying to read 😩 can we just not have any ads when opening any chapter! I’m fine with all the ads in the rest of the app but not in the actual chapters
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Great
Pretty darn good
