App Profile: BLOCK Magazine by MSQC

lakf53

Rating: 5/5

When I first subscribed to Block, I was so impressed that I went back and purchased all of the past issues. The concept (all projects and information - no advertisements) is a breath of fresh air and the photography! I was very impressed. Block is an excellent value, too, and as a retiree I appreciate that I can afford to continue to subscribe. Having the ability to have all of the issues of Block handy when shopping or when speaking with other guild members is a win-win! (There are a number of times when I’ve had a pattern from Block pulled up on my iPad while shopping on my laptop.)

Enthous

Rating: 2/5

I was so excited to get this, but the first time I opened it I tried to find my issues. What? No list of what I own? I can't filter the interminable list of all issues available to see just what I own? I've got to look at icons? Really? Okay, I found one and started reading. Very nice. The magazine looks beautiful. I see a link to the instructions for a table runner. Only wait, it's not an active link, it's just text. I can't click it, I can't even copy/paste it. I have to retype in Safari to get there. Finally, after several tries, because it's not extremely short, I type it in and get sent to YOURLS - your own URL shortener site and they want me to log in. I've still not found the tute. Yikes. Yes, the magazine looks good and I can read it, but the active experience needs some serious work. I don't think it's setting the bar too high to expect the links to actually work. I don't want to have to get a userid/pwd to follow them. I would also like to insert bookmarks. These are pretty basic ereader features.

Pottergal55

Rating: 3/5

In every issue I find the directions for the more complex projects are repeated. First with pictures and then again with drawings. One set looks like an overview of the pieces and the other goes into more step by step detail, but i always need to figure that out as they aren't labeled as such. Sometimes it's hard to know if I'm supposed to do all those steps again or if it really is greater detail of a previous step. Then in the details steps there is usually something missing or the pictures aren't labeled to match up to the written directions. Go with one or the other, and i would suggest full detail and drawings as they are more explicit and can have things like stitching lines easily shown.