Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How is the Daily a few weeks after launch?
- Thread starter Branskins
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I had it for a couple weeks. It was nice but the content just seemed more superficial than I cared for; plus a lot more Hollywood and sports than I had an interest in. I found that The Economist has a nice iPad app, so switched to that instead.
I don't think it costs anything to try The Daily, but don't go in expecting the second coming of periodicals. Layouts and pics are very nice, and if the content suits you then you may enjoy it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
I don't think it costs anything to try The Daily, but don't go in expecting the second coming of periodicals. Layouts and pics are very nice, and if the content suits you then you may enjoy it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Does the Daily have actually its own news/journalism/analysis/material or do they just recycle what you can find on the web anyway for free?
It's awesome. As a guy who uses his iPad for about an hour every day, it's the only downloaded app that I open every single day.
I am working my way through the news apps and i have found that the wall street journal and USA today are my favorite so far. I had the day but I found it to not have as good of a layout as the USA today and the application seemed buggy. I deleted it before the end of my free supbscription.
Are there any other newspapers/magazines that use in-app subscriptions yet?
I might try the daily out for a week and see if I like it. If not I might go to WSJ or USA Today. I need to start getting involved in world news/news in general so I hope the iPad can facilitate this. Reading newspapers seems too cumbersome to me (and messy with the ink!) and the iPad seems so perfect for this kind of thing! I guess we just need to wait for that great app to come along and wow us!
I might try the daily out for a week and see if I like it. If not I might go to WSJ or USA Today. I need to start getting involved in world news/news in general so I hope the iPad can facilitate this. Reading newspapers seems too cumbersome to me (and messy with the ink!) and the iPad seems so perfect for this kind of thing! I guess we just need to wait for that great app to come along and wow us!
I've had a "Like/Hate/Like/Starting to Hate Again" relationship with The Daily since it first came out. At this point though, its looking increasingly likely that the relationship is going to be ending soon.
At first, I was initially impressed with the concept: A "daily" digital newspaper, that downloaded content for later (offline) reading, one that took advantage of the iPads unique capabilies. I don't mind paying for good content, and The Daily's dollar a week model suited me just fine.
Within a week or so, however, I noticed the first problems: A software update had made an already slightly-wonky App into the most unstable, crash-prone nightmare ever to grace an iPad screen. It was literally unreadable - the App would frequently crash while loading. Moving between stories was laggy. And more often than not it would simply crash while you were in the middle of reading a page. Thousands of negative reviews on the App store must have told them to fix things.
Because they did. A new, far more stable release came out about ten days ago. One that required you to delete the old App first (something I'd never encountered with an iPad app before.) They also extended the "free trial" period another few weeks. This release, and the one after it, seem to have resulted in an App that works pretty well.
But as far as actual content goes? Its very heavy on sports, fashion, and celebrity gossip. Three things I really don't care much about. It does have three or four daily snippets aimed at iPad owners: examples of new and intersting Apps, a feature of whats Apps are on various celebrity's iPads. There is a Crossword and Sudoku - but even these are a bit weak. The crossword isn't exactly of the "Feline - three letters beginning with C" type - but its not far off.
The Daily is also partially advertising-supported. Normally I don't mind ads. But The Daily's are particularly annoying. Unlike most other content, they seem to take an inordinate amount of time to load. Its annoying to flip to the next page, only to be confronted with a 15-second wait while the same ad for Landrover or Pepsi or Johnny Depps "Rango" you've seen a hundred times before loads.
But there is NO "business" section at all. There IS a "History" page, which is interesting sometimes, but frankly goesn't belong in something masquerading as a "newspaper." And more recently I've noticed an Editorial and Opinion slant that is beginning to show some of The Daily's Fox News DNA.
At first, I was initially impressed with the concept: A "daily" digital newspaper, that downloaded content for later (offline) reading, one that took advantage of the iPads unique capabilies. I don't mind paying for good content, and The Daily's dollar a week model suited me just fine.
Within a week or so, however, I noticed the first problems: A software update had made an already slightly-wonky App into the most unstable, crash-prone nightmare ever to grace an iPad screen. It was literally unreadable - the App would frequently crash while loading. Moving between stories was laggy. And more often than not it would simply crash while you were in the middle of reading a page. Thousands of negative reviews on the App store must have told them to fix things.
Because they did. A new, far more stable release came out about ten days ago. One that required you to delete the old App first (something I'd never encountered with an iPad app before.) They also extended the "free trial" period another few weeks. This release, and the one after it, seem to have resulted in an App that works pretty well.
But as far as actual content goes? Its very heavy on sports, fashion, and celebrity gossip. Three things I really don't care much about. It does have three or four daily snippets aimed at iPad owners: examples of new and intersting Apps, a feature of whats Apps are on various celebrity's iPads. There is a Crossword and Sudoku - but even these are a bit weak. The crossword isn't exactly of the "Feline - three letters beginning with C" type - but its not far off.
The Daily is also partially advertising-supported. Normally I don't mind ads. But The Daily's are particularly annoying. Unlike most other content, they seem to take an inordinate amount of time to load. Its annoying to flip to the next page, only to be confronted with a 15-second wait while the same ad for Landrover or Pepsi or Johnny Depps "Rango" you've seen a hundred times before loads.
But there is NO "business" section at all. There IS a "History" page, which is interesting sometimes, but frankly goesn't belong in something masquerading as a "newspaper." And more recently I've noticed an Editorial and Opinion slant that is beginning to show some of The Daily's Fox News DNA.
Sorry Rupert, I deleted it after only a week. The content just isn't there and the interface is an interesting try, but with the amount of money and time thrown at it, I would expect a lot more stable software. You're going to need to do a whole lot better to get my money.
I use a news aggregator (first Fluent News, now News360) to get my daily glimpse of the events and several other much more trusted and proven sources for in depth analysis in their areas of expertise.
I use a news aggregator (first Fluent News, now News360) to get my daily glimpse of the events and several other much more trusted and proven sources for in depth analysis in their areas of expertise.
How long is the free trial until?
If it's over, do you all think they will reinstate it for iPad 2 launch?
I had it before I sold my iPad and it was a great app. Kept me entertained and hooked unlike any other "for iPad" news app has. I love that once it's downloaded, the use of an internet connection isn't required.
If it's over, do you all think they will reinstate it for iPad 2 launch?
I had it before I sold my iPad and it was a great app. Kept me entertained and hooked unlike any other "for iPad" news app has. I love that once it's downloaded, the use of an internet connection isn't required.
To each their own
The Daily is also the one App that I use every single day. The free trial has been extended until the middle of March so all iPad 2 users will be able to try it out. I think the content has gotten better over the last few weeks, they are starting to have "exclusive" stories and the stability of the app is greatly improved. Give it a shot, especially for free!
The Daily is also the one App that I use every single day. The free trial has been extended until the middle of March so all iPad 2 users will be able to try it out. I think the content has gotten better over the last few weeks, they are starting to have "exclusive" stories and the stability of the app is greatly improved. Give it a shot, especially for free!
Totally agree and would like to add one small pet peeve: Horoscope, and on the weather page no less.
why do people use apps for news if the ipad gives you the full internet in your hands? why not just use one app....Safari....and go directly to CNN, MSNBC, etc?
The Daily doesn't regurgitate newswires like the news sites do. It has it's own reporters and reports on a couple big issues of the day rather than give you a run down of all the news. It's good and bad. Good b/c it give you a "fresh" take but bad because it's time consuming and who has time every day.
But Daily aside, a well informed person needs to read different takes on the same story b/c otherwise you are literally getting a one-sided view. If you read different wire service reports you take in new facts, see conflicting one, etc., etc. To stick w/ one is nothing more than blind faith.
I tried it on my dad's iPad once. I think the layout and presentation were very nice, but the content wasn't worth it. As I said when I first heard about it, nobody is going to pay that money for some national news app when there are tons for free. The editorial page was basically what you'd expect out of News Corp., and there was zero local content.
Until people offer local, unique content, there won't be decent paid news apps.
Until people offer local, unique content, there won't be decent paid news apps.
The content was fine for me. Interesting idea to have a staff with original articles designed for the iPad.
However, the app is buggy and crash-prone. This ultimately caused me to give it up.
However, the app is buggy and crash-prone. This ultimately caused me to give it up.
Typically because the apps provide a better experience that Safari. A web browser has to handle every possible kind of page it might encounter, while a site app can organize content in more efficient way (e.g., the BBC "News Slide" format) and streamline the rendering of content because the layout will be consistent. Loading is faster and more convenient and, as has been noted above, you can load a whole news site collection at once so that it can be read on the plane or in the woods where you lack a connection. If MR had an app, I would certainly be interested, especially if it handled the forum well.
I didn't really notice the "Fox News" slant that others are seeing. I think the content was generally enjoyable and pretty unbiased. I was reading the Egypt articles when it was first released.
I especially liked the video they had from the Congresswoman from Tuscon, AZ that was shot. They had a video of her with her iPad before the shooting. I had never actually seen a video or picture of her before then.
I especially liked the video they had from the Congresswoman from Tuscon, AZ that was shot. They had a video of her with her iPad before the shooting. I had never actually seen a video or picture of her before then.
The app has improved quite a bit and is much faster and less crash prone now. The look of the content is beautiful with nice layout and photography but as many have said the content is just plain lacking. There are no in-depth articles, even for a periodical that seems to want to ape a paper like USA Today, and the writing itself is amateurish without a proper tone in such serious sections as world news and business. I also find that despite the thought that "I wanted" a digital newspaper, I know believe I would much rather just hop around on cnn.com, msnbc.com etc. where I can find better writing and more in-depth features that are even more up to date.
They need better content fast and even then I don't know if it can succeed.
They need better content fast and even then I don't know if it can succeed.
A new version came out last night and so far is much more stable.
I don't see any evidence of editorializing one way or another in this App.
I would like to see a "Fox News slant" as that would be a slant toward reality. You Fox slammers just keep drinking the mainstream media kool-aid until the government takes over another huge part of your life (education, housing, auto industry, wall street, healthcare) wake up people !
I don't see any evidence of editorializing one way or another in this App.
I would like to see a "Fox News slant" as that would be a slant toward reality. You Fox slammers just keep drinking the mainstream media kool-aid until the government takes over another huge part of your life (education, housing, auto industry, wall street, healthcare) wake up people !
Last edited:
The New York Times website. The CNN.com website. The USA Today free app.
I can't think of a single thing The Daily offers that I can't get in those three places any day of the week on my iPad. In my opinion those three things are all anyone needs for news on their iPad, and it's all free.
I can't think of a single thing The Daily offers that I can't get in those three places any day of the week on my iPad. In my opinion those three things are all anyone needs for news on their iPad, and it's all free.
I tried it, and really wanted to like it, but it just seemed really sluggish at times and the news stories were very surface level. It's USA Today with a Rupert Murdoch/Fox News twist (which is a huge negative) and a nice but sluggish tablet interface. I won't pay for that but I hope others do so that we can get some much better competition in tablet form.