The Charlotte Observer NC News

The latest update is now crashing on my iPad. I’m going to reinstall it. My wife reinstalled it and it worked for two uses. The update to 9.1.1 fixed my issues. Lots of complaints about not finding formats users were familiar with; I had to try the new controls at bottom of the screen to find what I was looking for. I’m not sure the developers were using Agile management for this app. If so they didn’t get enough user input.

The latest update took away the option to read the paper outside the app in the browser, which was the only way to actually see what would have been printed on Saturday. Now this awful app is forcing you to open the paper in app and is putting banner ads on top, shrinking further what you can see. This paper already has ads to the point of a 2 page spread giving you 1/4 page of actual news. Why must we have a stupid banner ad on top of the other ads, when I AM PAYING FOR THIS. I AM A PAID SUBSCRIBER. I support local news and have to argue bill cycle after cycle that it is worth the money, when it goes up and up. But I am losing my patience. I am close to killing this and sending the money to NPR. Fix the app or I am done.

This is the easiest newspaper app to navigate that I have encountered. I especially appreciate the variety of options I have available to help me choose what I want to read—many ways to interface. Another plus is that not only is this a local paper, but also includes important state news, national news, and international news. I live in far western North Carolina, and this type of news, whether in print, online or broadcast simply isn’t available there. With this app, I can keep informed about my wider world, especially in regards to North Carolina’s state situations and politics. My only suggestion would be: make it possible to use the up & down arrows on my iPad’s Bluetooth keyboard in order to be able to scroll down the screen. Having to use the touch screen so often, as I do now, is hard on my arthritic thumbs.