Review Insights · App Store
The Guardian - US & World News
Guardian News and Media Limited · 112,287 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
112,287 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 31 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
"guardian"
9 negative reviews mention this · 29% 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
2
"read"
8 negative reviews mention this · 26% 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
3
"news"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% 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
4
"subscription"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% 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
5
"support"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% 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
6
"update"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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." - Firemoonrage
7
"articles"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% 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
8
"page"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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!" - Lxsinmarin
9
"account"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Account. Now requires you to sign in with Google to read an article" - Amongusexy
10
"iphone"
4 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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?" - SpudnLA
11
"stories"
4 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App constantly locks up and stops scrolling. You have to keep restarting the app to read stories." - Jadwin
12
"content"
4 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor quality 😔. The app is clanky; it lags and gets stuck all the time ; the content is produced by amateurs; subscription extraction paywall is almost on all articles. That’s sad, I still like to read conventional media and try to avoid social networks 😔" - goodsasha
📋 All 31 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").
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
False alarm
The Guardian does not verify information and falsified stories aimed at vilifying trans people and the LGBTQ community.
Run stories w/o verifying evidence
Contributed to inflaming hate and misinformation with false and unverified claims, placing innocent people in danger. Low quality journalism. Realizes their misinformation, quietly adds an Editor note that hardly anyone sees, no apologies. I used to be a subscriber. Not anymore.
Woke News
Anti- Trump leftist woke news. Blocked this trash.
Bad Tech support
You failed to help me with an issue where you failed to recognize my subscription & blocked me from links sent by friends. I’ve had a paid subscription since last March. I used your chat with, I presume a stupid Bot named Matthew. He cut me off 3 times & made me repeat the same information over and over and over again. This is the worst service that I have ever had. You keep asking me for subscription money when I’m a fully paid customer. This is really bad; I’m mad. Shame on you ‼️
Poor quality 😔
The app is clanky; it lags and gets stuck all the time ; the content is produced by amateurs; subscription extraction paywall is almost on all articles. That’s sad, I still like to read conventional media and try to avoid social networks 😔
No memory
App does not remember where I left off reading and resets to home page. Useless!! Guardian content gets five stars.
Deceptive billing
The Guardian is compartmentalizing “memberships” and “subscriptions,” under the same account/log-in, resulting in double billing.
Additionally, the app subscription will be tied to your “device” not your Apple ID, so if you get a new iPhone, the subscription will not carry over. I know this sounds crazy and I must be mistaken but look it up, it’s true!
Additionally, the app subscription will be tied to your “device” not your Apple ID, so if you get a new iPhone, the subscription will not carry over. I know this sounds crazy and I must be mistaken but look it up, it’s true!
Deleting - Now requires an account
The Guardian used to be a go to app for impartial journalism & confidentiality - not any more. The only reason any app/website requires an account is to track, profile or profit from their users interests. There are plenty of other sources of news, bye bye Guardian.
Prompts you to enable notifications
The content appears to be good, but every time you go back to the main page you are prompted to enable notifications. This alone is a no go for me. This app has been deleted!
I want to love this, but
Is it ‘working as intended’ when I have to close a popup asking me to enable notifications every single time I go back to the main page after reading a story?
Definitely some formatting issues
I'm not sure this is the app for me. There are too many formatting issues. Column is formed with literally five letters. Very difficult to read.
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.
Doesn't work for me
I subscribe to the digital Guardian, however much of the time, I'm following a link shared in Discord or on Mastodon. When I open these links in Safari, I can use the Listen to Page option to have Siri read it to me.
I was excited to receive the email saying that the new version now had audio support. I downloaded the new version righe away.
The very first link I followed did not have a link to audio, and when I picked Audio from the navigation menu, it took me to a menu of audio content. I immediately deleted the app, though I was unable to reply to the email I'd received, as it was sent from an unmonitored address.
I'm not lazy, I'm low-vision. And the app still doesn't work for me.
I was excited to receive the email saying that the new version now had audio support. I downloaded the new version righe away.
The very first link I followed did not have a link to audio, and when I picked Audio from the navigation menu, it took me to a menu of audio content. I immediately deleted the app, though I was unable to reply to the email I'd received, as it was sent from an unmonitored address.
I'm not lazy, I'm low-vision. And the app still doesn't work for me.
Sentiment summary
98%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
1%
Negative (1-2★)