Review Insights · App Store
The Guardian - US & World News
Guardian News and Media Limited · 112,723 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
112,723 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 27 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"update"
8 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t update!. Latest update makes my phone hot and drains the battery, avoid the latest update!" - EnglishVegan
2
"read"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible. There is no need to require an account to read an article." - Former user #12843
3
"latest"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t update!. Latest update makes my phone hot and drains the battery, avoid the latest update!" - EnglishVegan
4
"guardian"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Latest Update 5/26/2026 Broke It. The recently released update to the “Guardian Editions” app does NOT work. On my Apple iPad, this app’s prior version worked fine a few days ago. Today (5/27/2026), the app fails(it just starts, displays a blank screen with the dreaded sp…" - TinkerTots
5
"news"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Selling your data now. Suddenly requires you to sign in to view news articles. Already seeing ads so you can only assume it is to sell your data. Makes you wonder what else is being sold out. So much for integrity and keeping people informed. Uninstalled." - Lapseinreality
6
"account"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible. There is no need to require an account to read an article." - Former user #12843
7
"sign"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Log in issues. Beautiful app but I have to log in to the site before I can do so on the app. Amateur design" - Orgoch
8
"articles"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Selling your data now. Suddenly requires you to sign in to view news articles. Already seeing ads so you can only assume it is to sell your data. Makes you wonder what else is being sold out. So much for integrity and keeping people informed. Uninstalled." - Lapseinreality
9
"subscription"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Watch out. Love Guardian coverage and insight.it’s the app that needs caution. However if you pay for a sub within this app, you cannot use your access with an android device (something that is not made clear when you pay for sub within app.) likewis…" - Cord Cutter 101
10
"support"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Useless - mandatory sign-in. I’d kept a subscription going to support one of the few non-rubbish news sources, but it seems they will prioritise customer profiling and the generation of marketing intelligence in their cash flow model so maybe they don’t need subscriber…" - grandgeezer
11
"makes"
3 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t update!. Latest update makes my phone hot and drains the battery, avoid the latest update!" - EnglishVegan
12
"latest update"
3 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t update!. Latest update makes my phone hot and drains the battery, avoid the latest update!" - EnglishVegan
📋 All 27 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
The final review
I love you!
Don’t update!
Latest update makes my phone hot and drains the battery, avoid the latest update!
Hot phone and battery drain
This app made my phone warm and rapidly drained the battery while running in the background.
Terrible
There is no need to require an account to read an article.
Log in issues
Beautiful app but I have to log in to the site before I can do so on the app. Amateur design
Over engineering the app
The recent update has caused a number of issues, including the lost of always on dark mode within the app setting. Happy to update this review when these bugs have been squashed. Don’t break what works with unnecessary updates!
Latest Update 5/26/2026 Broke It
The recently released update to the “Guardian Editions” app does NOT work. On my Apple iPad, this app’s prior version worked fine a few days ago. Today (5/27/2026), the app fails(it just starts, displays a blank screen with the dreaded spinning icon.
Selling your data now
Suddenly requires you to sign in to view news articles. Already seeing ads so you can only assume it is to sell your data. Makes you wonder what else is being sold out. So much for integrity and keeping people informed. Uninstalled.
Where did Dark Mode go?
The latest update removed the ability to set the Guardian app to appear in a “Dark Mode”setting. Very disappointing. Please bring it back.
Crashes nonstop
Latest iPadOS
App not working
There’s nothing wrong with the app on my iPhone 17ProMax. When to touch the app it just turns off. It doesn’t connect. It was doing that a few days ago and then came back. But now it’s down again. Anyone else experiencing this?
App won’t open
App won’t open on my iPhone after the last update.
App not working
Since most recent update, APP won’t open. The area on the APP page where you should be able to get help is also not working. Please fix!
Useless - mandatory sign-in
I’d kept a subscription going to support one of the few non-rubbish news sources, but it seems they will prioritise customer profiling and the generation of marketing intelligence in their cash flow model so maybe they don’t need subscribers. Apparently you can be the customer *and* the product at the same time. I’ve cancelled my subscription. Sadly, that still means last 8 month of subscription down the drain. You can read headlines. Then again, you don't need the app for that. C-. Update: even after dropping your subscription and deleting the app, they will send you mails (forwarded by apple)
App crashes and there is no way to report it
I’ve been using this app for years. I have the latest version. I have the latest version of my iPhone. As of about two hours ago, the app started crashing. You cannot contact support without using the app, but you cannot access the app to contact support. Other than the fact that I can’t use it it’s a nice app.
Account
Now requires you to sign in with Google to read an article
Articles because ming ever more divisive
On students at York university complaining about ‘southerners ‘ making them feel estranged is absolute nonsense and made me very angry. Britain and its higher education system is open to all able to accomplish the necessary ‘A’ level grades. . Why are the northerners complaining as if it is their god given right to hold sway ? I’m appalled. I was a York university student in the late 70s and the delight was the huge mixture of regional accents yet the same focus of academic enquiry. Why create cultural divisions which are nothing but hostile and destructive to the nature of intellectual pursuit.
Can’t read stories anymore
I don’t know when this became a requirement, but I’m not signing in or creating an account so that Big Brother can monitor the news stories I read. If you can’t accept that, I’ll get my news elsewhere.
Notification forcing
Deleting this app as every time I close an article, it asks me to turn on notifications. Not worth it, one prompt per article is ridiculous. Will get my news elsewhere
Problem
Not sure when a $15 monthly subscription started but I want it to stop asap. You make it impossible to find the way to cancel this.
Please cancel my subscription with you immediately.
Thank you
Please cancel my subscription with you immediately.
Thank you
Guardian App
Terrible app. Won’t let me get complete access to articles without telling me I’ve reached my limit. Very left wing political viewpoint
Another sign in App
Had to dump this one too! They went to a sign in so they can collect your information and then email and text you! Good bye
Crashes all the time
I like the app normally, but over the last few weeks the app crashes daily. I have the most recent update.
Watch out
Love Guardian coverage and insight.it’s the app that needs caution. However if you pay for a sub within this app, you cannot use your access with an android device (something that is not made clear when you pay for sub within app.) likewise if you subscribe within the app downloaded from google play, you cannot use access on iOS devices. This the management calls “third party subscription” and will not refund if done in error. Makes one consider not subscribing at all.
App constantly locks up and stops scrolling
You have to keep restarting the app to read stories.
No longer free
I was happy to use the app to read up on any news, but I was forced to create an account AND pay for a subscription after reading a number of articles. You guys are asking for support like it’s optional, not really optional. Very disappointed
I miss the Guardian
The Guardian died in August 2013 when GCHQ marched in and Alan Rusbridger bellied up. I will happily renew my financial support of the Guardian once GCHQ leaves. I look forward to the day that the Guardian ceases to be yet another propaganda mill for the Zionist controlled corporate military establishment and returns to its roots. I miss the real Guardian.
Sentiment summary
98%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
1%
Negative (1-2★)