Radio Times Digital Magazine 17+

Very good but flawed

A very good substitute for the print version although the method of marking programs for watching (setting pins) could be much better. Apart from the big yellow blob being too big to distinguish specific programs in, eg, the squashed up listings for the satellite TV channels or the Radio 4-extra listings, setting the marker is very frustrating as sometimes no amount of screen pressing coaxes it out and sometimes after it's been set when you open a page all the markers have temporarily vanished, causing you to miss the program.

For many people (myself included) marking programs for future viewing or listening is such a key part of using a listings magazine that excellence in this area is vital.

It’s also losing features - you can use a link to skip from a programme to it’s review, which is great, but the ability to then skip back to the programme has been dropped. Why?

In all the time I’ve had this app I haven’t noticed a single improvement, just this removal of a very good feature, and the problem with the yellow blob, which I commented on many months ago, persist.

And it gets worse- do not buy

So I go to the list of days and press for any day. It takes me to an enlarged list of days and so I press any day. It takes me to an enlarged view of the photo printed just to the right of the first list of days. When I go to Saturday, I still can’t mark programs. Does anybody test this rubbish out? Or is it just given to a group of monkeys to see what they can randomly produce for next week. This app is not value for money or fit for purpose. Can’t we go back to the previous version, which while it wasn’t best quality, at least gave a semblance of what we needed. I will be cancelling my subscription unless you come up with a working combination of app and issue. I would advise everybody else to do likewise. There is no information to warn of problems, if that is what you have. Why not? We don’t even know what you are trying to produce - if it is what you have supplied, I don’t want to know.

Developer Response ,

Hi there, thanks for your feedback, we’re sorry to hear you’re unhappy with the new app. We have been reviewing the marking tool in more detail and are currently working on returning this function in the app. In the meantime, we have introduced a bookmark feature in which you can bookmark a page to return to easily later. The bookmark button can be accessed in the issue view, and then bookmarks can be accessed via the sidebar on the homepage, under ‘Bookmarks. Additionally, we had a problem with navigation inside the app. This has since been fixed, and should work correctly inside the issues now. If you continue to have problems, please delete and redownload the issue.

Why the poor update?

The latest update has added a bunch of annoying features or removed useful functionalities. For example, while I can click the bookmark option there is then no obvious way to find bookmarks later. Why was yellow blob removed with helpful quick access to link? I saw something saying you could go to home page to see bookmarks but I don’t know where that is as it doesn’t jump out obviously.
Secondly the nice way to tap at bottom of screen to flick through pages has been removed. I keep tapping there forgetting that you have moved it and it jumps me into some advert. Also if you don’t touch the screen right to move on a page it will put the page into a very odd reading view that doesn’t enhance the experience at all as you have to go out again to get to next article.

Developer Response ,

Hi there, thank you for your feedback. We're really sorry to hear you're unhappy with the new app.

Bookmarked pages can be found by entering the App and then selecting the hamburger menu in the top left corner - from there you can select bookmarks. We also have been reviewing the yellow dot marking tool in more detail and are currently working on returning this function in the app.

Our new Read Mode format optimised for even the smallest of screens and includes features such as dark mode and text adjust to make the reading experience more personalised. For more information on these features head to our App Guide in the hamburger menu on the left hand side of the App.

If you have any further feedback please do get in touch with us at appsupport@immediate.co.uk. Many thanks.