Review Insights · App Store
USA TODAY: US & Breaking News
USA TODAY · 241,444 ratings · ★ 4.5
4.5
★★★★★
241,444 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 35 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
"news"
11 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
2
"free"
8 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
3
"subscription"
6 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Crashing. Lately, the app has been crashing a lot. Also, it limits me on crossword puzzles per week even though I have a subscription that promised unlimited crosswords. Signing in and out or restarting my phone doesn’t seem to fix the issue." - Dogstar1986
4
"articles"
6 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not a sports fan. I have no interest in sports and don’t like sifting through dozens of sports stories to find the few news articles lower down on the page. You have a section called sports. Use it!" - Aluicious 593
5
"today"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
6
"read"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
7
"update"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
8
"crosswords"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Crashing. Lately, the app has been crashing a lot. Also, it limits me on crossword puzzles per week even though I have a subscription that promised unlimited crosswords. Signing in and out or restarting my phone doesn’t seem to fix the issue." - Dogstar1986
9
"doesn"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Crashing. Lately, the app has been crashing a lot. Also, it limits me on crossword puzzles per week even though I have a subscription that promised unlimited crosswords. Signing in and out or restarting my phone doesn’t seem to fix the issue." - Dogstar1986
10
"work"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
11
"article"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not a sports fan. I have no interest in sports and don’t like sifting through dozens of sports stories to find the few news articles lower down on the page. You have a section called sports. Use it!" - Aluicious 593
12
"trying"
4 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Much Better than the First Tru. Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now. The August 2017 u…" - washme
📋 All 35 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").
Not Much Better than the First Tru
Am trying again, June 2026, with USA Today but once again the thing is not so hot. I pay for the ad-free version and my account says that is in effect but I had four pop-up vid ads just trying to read the news just now.
The August 2017 update is absolutely horrible. Am dumping USA app as my usual daily news source. Just horrible. Why do you always think it is necessary to change what works! Goodbye
The August 2017 update is absolutely horrible. Am dumping USA app as my usual daily news source. Just horrible. Why do you always think it is necessary to change what works! Goodbye
Not a sports fan
I have no interest in sports and don’t like sifting through dozens of sports stories to find the few news articles lower down on the page. You have a section called sports. Use it!
AD FREE Subscription is NOT AD FREE. Hoew many times do I have to say this?
This is at least the 5th time I've said this in s recite. I pay for AD FREE and USA TODAY inserts ads anyway, as well as countless SHOPPING articles throughout. What a rip off! USA TODAY always shows my Ad Free Subscription as Active. Then why all the ads?
Please stop
Please stop letting ads look and pretend to be articles, try and use the app from our side and you will delete is fast as well. Why are all news outlets so greedy? Entertain us and we will stay equals more actual revenue!
Recent Update Review
Around mid-way through scrolling and reading the news the APP starts to hesitate, stops scrolling and eventually crashes as well as actually overheating the back of the iPhone!! Just awful APP. Also for the last few weeks ever since the previous update the crossword notice that you have 2 crosswords for the week starting on Monday is wrong!! After you finish that first Monday puzzle the notice says your out of puzzles!! Nonsense! You only get ONE!! Fix this APP with a new update which it seems you rarely do because I guess you don’t care!
App doesn’t open
I have to close and open it several times before it opens! I will be asking for a refund!!! Trash!!!
Subscribed for first month. Didn’t work at all
It had no problem taking my money. Then it literally stopped working once I got on the plane. So much for enjoying crosswords during my travels. And I’m out a little cash as a bonus.
Spreading lies
All your articles suggest it will be Raman facing Bass in November but so far Pratt has a sizable lead. Are you supporting election fraud again.
Hope you all fall into the sea.
Hope you all fall into the sea.
Bad press
No follow-up from headlines. Miami is getting smaller
Too many advertisements
Too many adds
Too many ads, and the app doesn’t work
It’s bad enough that you have tripled the number of ads that I have sit thru to play a game. But at least make sure the app works correctly before you release it.
ads
cant scroll down page without selecting ads. frustrating!
Crosswords broken after update
I get 2 free crossword puzzle per week. Last week and again this week I play only one and then the message says I played my limit for the week.
Paid Media
As a believer in free press, I doubt much of what USA Today prints now that it has become so focused on revenue-generating rather than delivering the news.
UPDATE: Yup. Still extremely biased.
UPDATE: Years later, USA Today is still all fluff & bootlicking.
UPDATE: Now it’s a platform for bootlicking editors to publish BS pieces that are actually ads. It’s a vicious cycle.
UPDATE: Yup. Still extremely biased.
UPDATE: Years later, USA Today is still all fluff & bootlicking.
UPDATE: Now it’s a platform for bootlicking editors to publish BS pieces that are actually ads. It’s a vicious cycle.
Unusable
So many pop ups on a small screen. Sometimes 3 popups on an iPhone!
Unusable
Unusable
App doesn’t refresh
No matter what is set for updates, the app doesn’t do it. I have to close the app and restart it.
This is for the three different apple devices i have
This is for the three different apple devices i have
Crosswords
Some are good, but some are just not good
Jeopardy notifications
I had to block all notifications to get rid of annoying Jeopardy news pop-ups
Poor layout
Text overflows onto itself when reading an article preventing legibility. Known issue that publisher isn’t fixing with app.
Paid subscription is not worth the money…
So I subscribed to USA Today service hoping for a better experience. Yes I do get to read articles marked "For Subscribers Only" but there really weren’t that many and a majority of them were not of interest to me. So there are so many ads it’s actually hard to follow the gist of the article. You read a paragraph of news and then there is a half page ad and then another paragraph and then another ad and so on. It’s distracting, and definitely not worth the money. And to go ad free costs a small fortune (to me). I will be trying to cancel and get some of my money back and definitely will not be renewing and certainly not giving any level positive rating. Disappointed.
Just want to plat sudoku
'going round' round with endless ads and/l login loops and 1 pay for this!
Subscription problems
I find it difficult to enjoy your publication because it is driving me crazy trying to figure out my login/subscription info. I believe you are deducting $9.99 from my account each month (whatever happened to the 99c I was supposed to be charged?)….I have been paying the $9.99/mo but I get a message that I do not have an active subscription! I spend ,15 -30 minutes trying to log in each time I try to read an issue. If not resolved very soon, I am going to unsubscribe!
Touch screen only works for 5 out of 100
Since the last update when I touch the screen above an article I want to read it does not work
When you get it fixed let me know then I might reload the app
When you get it fixed let me know then I might reload the app
Beware of scam advertisements
This legitimate news app includes advertisements that are scams. I realize newspapers like USA Today run on very tight budgets snd need ad revenue, but it is a disservice to their subscribers to run advertisement which, when looked into closer, appear to be scams. Very, very disappointing and a good reason to NOT renew.
No Ads!
I pay for no ads and that’s all I seem to have!!!… it with it.
Paying for ad free, but still have ads
Disappointed that I pay for an ad free experience and ads constantly pop up while trying to read an article! No wonder why people stop reading news
Worthless
This app is the worst app on the AppStore. Constantly peppered by ads, 90% of the time articles won’t even load.
Not VPN Friendly
If you use a VPN do not bother with this site as it will not load. Waste of resources.
Subscribed? Paid. No benefits?
The app offered me 99 cents for 6 months, so I figured heck why not. Welp, now it says “where sorry, we don’t see your subscription”
Waste of my money and time. Terrible app. I’ll go to Fox News and see what they’ve got going.
Waste of my money and time. Terrible app. I’ll go to Fox News and see what they’ve got going.
Did not work on my watch
It just would not open on my watch.
Frustrating!
Once again I have deleted my app and reinstalled hoping to have the ad-free access I pay for. No luck. Why am I paying for ad-free access when I still have ads? FRUSTRATING!
Crashing
Lately, the app has been crashing a lot. Also, it limits me on crossword puzzles per week even though I have a subscription that promised unlimited crosswords. Signing in and out or restarting my phone doesn’t seem to fix the issue.
Subscription
I’ve been a subscriber for 8 years or so. My subscription is always without ads. About once a year I get locked out saying this section is for subscribers only. The app recognizes me but asks to restore purchases. When I click the link it doesn’t work. This is only with my iPhone. I move to my iPad and everything seems fine.
Stop with the full page pop ups without warning!
I'm a paying customer. These full page pop-ups which appear when I'm in the middle of reading an article are ridiculous! I'm going to give the devs free advice: 1) don't show pop-ups when someone is reading an article, at least wait until the go back to the aggregated headlines screen. 2) show a little countdown at the top of the screen informing the reader they'll be a pop-up in 3...2...1. Try and respect your paying customers,
An essential breath
I have several ways of attempting to survive the daily chaos around me. This app allows me to turn down the sensation created in tv news and social media. Updates keep me in the loop regarding “what I need to know.” I keep abreast of life around me without suffering everyone’s opinions before I determine my own. It pays for itself and cheaper than therapy.
Sentiment summary
90%
Positive (4-5★)
5%
Neutral (3★)
5%
Negative (1-2★)