Smithsonian Magazine App Reviews

I currently live in a country that is outside of the borders of Canada or the United States. I have a two-year print subscription that is sent snail-mail and arrives at least a couple of months late. I would love to have access to the iPad edition, but the Smithsonian wont allow it. To authorize my subscription, I have to enter the mailing address as it appears on the mailing label. Smithsonians limited world view does not include any mailing addresses that could possible exist outside of Canada or the United States in the drop down menus. When I complained about this fact, the reply from Customer Service stated that since Adobe is banned in the country I now live in, I am unable to authorize the iPad edition. Categorically, I can state that Adobe is not banned in the country I live in. Even if it was, countries such as England, Germany, or France do not appear in the drop down menus. I would safely bet that Adobe is available there. If you want this iPad edition, move to the US or Canada. If you live anywhere else on the globe, you are out of luck.

Seems a trend. The app is free but what you get for free is a list of issues for sale. With this was said upfront. Well, after closing this I retread their copy for the app. Says there is a free issue. If you look about you can find the free content.

Since the October 7 update, this app has been very erratic. The December Magazine will start to download, pause at around 90% and then start to reload, then do the same again. I called the help line but they were not able to help. I have reloaded the app, rebooted the iPad still without success. I am considering canceling my subscription if there is not a fix soon.

Download continually pauses. Takes forever.

The content is excellent, but the app leaves a lot to be desired. It is slow to load, with icons and banners taking 15 to 30 seconds to fully appear. The process of downloading an issue is very erratic. Clicking download can result in a blank white screen with the app. locked up until the iPad is restarted. I have never been able to download the June 2015 issue despite numerous attempts.

I paid for one issue. It will not download w/o a "subscription". When I try to set up a subscription beginning with my current e-mail, it wont do it, just keeps saying enter valid e-mail address. I want my money back! (Using iPad Air.)

DANGER latest app update prevents access to past electronic issues on my iPad which were included with print subscriptions. Possibly because Im not a current subscriber? Fix this problem smithsonian! A great magazine should not unilaterally & retroactively change the terms of subscription!

Hoped to have something easy to carry for travel, with a paper subscription I could not get digital for my iPad. Downloading was a waste of time

The Smithsonian magazine has long been a favorite of mine. The digital edition was just "icing on the cake". When Im traveling the digital edition was perfect for me to read while on long boring flights. The print edition is perfect for me at home and to share the occasional article with my family. I do not like having to pay twice to obtain the same thing. So, unless the magazine changes their policy, Ill let my subscription expire on schedule in November 2016.

I just subscribed to the print version of Smithsonian. When the first issue arrived I picked up my iPad to download the app and then was surprised to find that I could not view the digital edition without paying an additional fee. Id like to meet the bureaucratic clown who made this decision and drag him or her screaming into the 21st century. I subscribe to many magazines including New Yorker, Business Week, Forbes, and Fortune. More often than not I glance at the expensive magazine and then download it to my iPad. Its more convenient, offers more features, and most importantly, it permits me to size the type that is more readable for my 75 year old eyes. I never pay an extra cent for this feature. Needless to say I will be a short term subscriber to Smithsonian. Ironically Ive never paid a cent for admission to the many fine Smithsonian sites in the capital. Strange that it should suddenly get so greedy for this new technology.

I paid $19.95 for a year of Smithsonian. Now whenever I open the app, all I get is a blank screen! There is no way for me to sign in or sign out, or find more than the last magazine loaded in the viewer. This app is badly in need of a fix! If the fix is not forthcoming, then how about a refund! Id also like to see the current issues available for download at the same time the print issues are sent out. I am very disappointed.

I am removing the app from my phone, and reconsidering my subscription to the print edition of this magazine.

Shame on you Smithsonian!! We have subscribed to this magazine for untold years. Having the added promise of the digital version to fall back on when traveling was a grand plus. The post office recently destroyed the most recent copy. Not to worry, say I...I can read online. Bah Humbug! I am disgusted with this development as are many readers. Thank you National Geographic for continuing the App version. And by the way, Smithsonian, I will not be sending the extra $$ you keep asking for. Do long time subscribers and donors count for nothing? There is no joy in Mudville.

This is not about the magazine but the app only. Extremely slow in loading. Magazines sometimes download but not always. Once they do download its great. But overall a horrible app for a great magazine

The Smithsonian requires supporters to pay separately for print and digital copies of the magazine. They have ended membership discounts. Worst of all I observed a Smithsonian security guard berate, humiliate, and photograph a disabled but recovering stroke victim and order him off all Smithsonian properties. She made fun of him because he had slurred speech and had physical balance issues. Argh!

Horrible redesign. The app went from a tablet-specific display to a straight PDF scan format (dont believe the example pages theyre still showing; youre not going to see that anymore). Cancelled and uninstalled; lost a customer.

Went from being one of my favorite magazine apps to my least liked. Its now merely a clunky pdf-based app: no quick way to move quickly to an article that interests you and you have to pinch-zoom to read any page. Im going to cancel my subscription.

Deleted all my downloads and wants me to pay for them again.

I always enjoyed the digital version of Smithsonian magazine. The text flowed smoothly and I loved swiping to reveal additional photos. I thought it was one of the best digital magazine experiences. The new update is awful. It is merely a snapshot of the magazine pages and is quite uncomfortable to read as you have to pinch and zoom to expand the page to the screen and photos are not contained with in the viewing window. Even worse, articles do not flow freely. If an article continues on a page farther on in the magazine, you have to physically go to that page. And the app does not remember where you left off reading. Please bring back the old interface. This is a quantum leap backward.

I used to be able to download magazines to read as I travel. Im a magazine subscriber, but can no longer download. The triple bar is supposed to restore the issues I downloaded. It does not work.