The Sydney Morning Herald

It may be hard to implement, but decent search option would make it real world class. And now, the recent 2022 updates brings the print replica, like the desktop PC version on to Android.

I wanted to like the SMH android app but I found the useability poor. 1) The app leaves old news mixed with current news. When you pick up today's paper you want today's news. The result of this mixing is you have to read the articles to see when it was published and it just wastes time. 2) The interface on table for Good Food / Travel is horrible. It starts out as tablet and then reverts to desktop. 3) If you can sign up online, you should be able to cancel online. I had to call or em.

Unfortunately this version is not usable for me. With the previous version I could download the news while connected to my wifi then read it later on when I was out of network access. This version does not appear to provide offline access. Additionally, this version appears to load up the network even when the app is not being used and there does not appear to be an option to stop that. It is a pity that a good and useful version has been replaced with this. Keeping both would be good.

The user interface is only optimised for an Android phone. If you are using it on a tablet it's clumsy and unpleasant to use. The main issues are not taking advantage of the extra screen real estate to present a two dimensional display, and the inability to scroll through the whole newspaper, for some reason you have to keep bouncing back and forth through seperate sections. I would give it a UX score of 2 out of 10.

This is a step backward for the online SMH. Its boring and makes accessing content much more confusing than the old App which was a pleasure to use. I dont understand how content is laid out - it's just lists which puts the pressure back on the reader to understand the editorial perspective. I may as well just use Twitter or any number of other similar news feeds ...

Waste of time as it does not include what subscribers have been wanting for years. Looks a lot like an RSS presentation style. Get an RSS reader such as Feedly which can connect to a huge number of news sources. Thanks for the response. I do keep the app updated. Well, I reinstall it every now and then to see how it is going.

I have to join the general android consensus, this app is rubbish. Why? It lacks content. Half the web articles are missing. Sestions are missing. Cannot get to the quizzes, crosswords, Sudoku or target word. I am a subscriber. I sent an email to android@ and got basically an advert back. Bring back the old Android app! It was much better.

If there was a zero star rating it would better describe the frustration of using this app. SMH app went from a perfectly functioning newspaper to something that continually crashes. In a time when we are looking for news and up to date information this has become the last place to go.

The My News function needs work. It currently only takes you to the Top articles in each section, which often don't reflect my interest and are not regularly updated. Eg the Culture articles have not changed for a week, despite abundant new content if one digs deeper. Please let us choose which specific sections we want in My News, not just the algorithmically determined 'Top'.

The dark mode doesn't work in this app for Android 12.

Works well for me. I like it and layout is easy to follow. However, it doesn't go into dark mode even though I have it enabled on my Android 10 phone. This is the same when viewed on Chrome. Scrolling also seems to get "stuck" sometimes too.

This is an absolutely miserable substitute for the old tablet app and cannot even be installed on older devices. Offline readability is dreadful especially for bigger stories when you have to scroll all about, even to other pages; there is no way to save articles of interest for future reference, there is no relationship between the offline and online articles, and more... The SMH is just trying to cut every cost by not having to curate the app even though we're paying for a subscription.

Excellent, well designed, free (for now) news app. Better than accessing the SMH web site. Ad free & easy to set up and use. Would like to see some fun elements added such as movie reviews with trailers, puzzles & games, competitions, gadget reviews, gossip, new music with samples, etc.

Excellent news reports and special Investigations

Great app with one glaring issue, scrolling. I'm often scrolling down the screen, while it does up...!? Repeatedly trying to stop it moving or getting it to move on the direction I want. An unhelpful & frustrating solution to a non existent problem.

Rubbish app. Only displays a fraction of the articles in the print edition. The older app was much better. Update 2 November 2020: after an update, the app now won't load the paper and I am getting an error message. Nice one SMH. You have broken your own app.

Only a new user, so an early rating. Seems to do the job although is perhaps a bit light on features. 3 stars is the most I can give considering the notifications are not customisable in the app, and it's already a bit spammy. Can only shutoff all the app's notifications from Android's settings.

New app is very disappointing compared to the original user-friendly version. This has been a big step backwards for me! The old app was so well set out with a clear vibrant overview and easy access to all stories and sections.

Very easy to see the main news stories but less do to see all the news. With paper u can see the mix of all stories while reading from front to back much easier. You can see all the stories with this app but need slightly more effort. The articles are first class though.

Previous version of app allowed you to view the complete printed version of the day's paper. It also allowed you to view complete printed versions of the newspaper that were not the current day's paper. This app has lost that functionality. A BACKWOOD step in my view. ...... Not happy Jannnn !!!!

Forced onto this app after the old tablet app was deprecated, and its a woeful downgrade in experience. Non responsive UI so just get a stretched phone layout, no offline mode...just terrible. Why dont we get the updated iPad app ported over? If you cant do this then either bring back the old app, or sort out this mess, otherwise my subscription will be gone. Awful way to treat your paying customers :(

I am extremely disappointed with the new app. I have been a subscriber for years and found the old app easy to navigate with a layout similar to the print version. I have previously used the app on an iPad and am currently running a Samsung tablet. Unfortunately my tablet updated recently and I am now left with the new app which is not intuitive at all. Please bring back the old app.

The tablet app was great and a true successor to the broadsheet paper version. Now, the tablet app has been removed from Google Play to be replaced by this small screen app that is even a poor substitute for the web site? Is this the sign of a media organisation so far in decline that it doesn't even place any importance on a readable, future-safe distribution mechanism? Very sad.

The number of articles is limited compared to other news services & when you opt for more items, a lot of articles are repeated, sometimes more than once. Compared to say the ABC, The Guardian or BBC, the level of reporting is very basic. I live overseas & am daily looking for news content & analysis from Australia but find the SMH disappointing. It's on the level of the Daily Telegraph. It has deteriorated since the masthead was sold to Channel 9. I'm on the verge of cancelling my subscription

An exercise in frustration. After opening once or twice it just won't function/open. Uninstall, reinstall and same thing happens. Rinse, repeat - several times. This time I won't bother reinstalling!

App doesnt support split screen or multiwindow mode which is unacceptable for large screen phone and tablet use. App doesn't offer the tablet versions download function. This apps content doesn't match the tablet apps. The continuous scrolling interface design doesn't support viewing content in a section other than via what was selected for the scroll. The newspapers magazine content sections aren't displayed. If I'm paying for content I expect to able to access it.

Oh Dear. The new UI is retrograde, as other reviewers have commented. "Today's paper" in what appears to be pdf format has reduced usability. Your main competition for my demographic is the ABC. While both organisations are under threat for different reasons, my subscription dollars are seeing less value for money. I want to support independent journalism, but it's getting less attractive when the content is harder to use than previously. Over to you...

Excellent presentation and efficiency. Oddly, only problem is that I loose a page if I pinch to expand near right edge of viewing page. Is this an App or Tablet problem?As all App designers would say, " I would value your feedback!". Many thanks, Eugene