Espresso from The Economist

The Economist Espresso has become a valuable part of my morning routine. It provides the same quality global reporting and commentary in flowing prose that I have come to expect from the Economist Group. It survey’s recent stories I should know. And it is especially effective at covering global news which others fail to cover. The most valuable part of the Espresso app is its brevity. The app allows me to read the news in a tight morning schedule without going down the online news rabbit hole. Like many, I strive to get the quote every morning as a reward for reading all six pages. Keep up the good work!

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I’ve always loved the Economist and have read the print version religiously for over thirty years. But their apps (and their subscriptions department) are truly terrible. This app will refresh only about 70% of the time. Every third day, good luck getting the news. It’s also the only app on my phone that regularly crashes. On my phone it looks fine, on my iPad it doesn’t expand to fill the whole screen (it’s “iPhone-sized” but in an iPad screen). The app won’t rotate from vertical to horizontal, even if Screen Aspect is unlocked. Finally, there are different versions floating around in the App Store, so you have to be careful about which one you are getting. My advice: stick to the print edition. (IF it ever shows up on the front doorstep, it’s a great read!)

In the morning, I tend to make my coffee, meditate for 10-15 minutes, then read Espresso before moving on to something else whilst sipping my bean-water. As part of my morning ritual, Espresso gives me a good boost in thinking while making me a laugh out loud every so often. It’s well-informed data and links to Economist articles furthers my understanding of what’s going on in the world today. Plus, as a sucker for a good quote, the last page of the report makes me happy. Overall, a great use of time every day.

I spend a lot of time reading the economist articles, and find them quite interesting and knowledge dense. Of course, sometimes I do not have the time to read my daily article, and this is where ‘espresso’ saves my time. The articles presented in the espresso version of the economist are, knowledge dense and short. They have made my daily intake of news a lot easier and a lot faster.

I have used the app for at least 5 years now. It’s my usual cycling companion. Little by little I have watched the engineering decline and judgement grow worse. Bluetooth buffering has been a consistent flaw that they can’t seem to get right. On certain devices when there is a pause, the resumption is delayed. Poor QA practices. UI is not really improving and in the audio section is plain bad. I pay for the subscription. Can I expect not to have to “swipe left” to avoid the upfront ad? The swipe is poorly done so 3 out of times you end up clicking. That’s called a clickbait - is that Economist wishes? When first introduced, it was annoying. Now that it is always shown even when you are simply returning to continue on the article you were reading or listening to, it’s just plain offensive. You think that extra half a cent worth the damage to you brand’s image? Poor judgement on the app diminishes a great magazine.