Microsoft Start

I have to say the news coverage is really good both domestic and global. It’s my goto news app. Having deleted apple news. The only thing that lets this app down, is the picture gallery. When it gives you extra pictures to view sometimes it’s from a completely different topic or a lot of times there’s no picture at all. Shame really but that’s Microsoft for you, almost there but not quite.

Update to my review below; review 2: I have got used to the new version of this app, but I miss the old one. Saying that, there are less issues with it. When I click on a story, it is the story. Whereas before, sometimes I would click on a story, and it wouldn’t be that one! It would be the story before! And it continued like it for the rest of the page. They couldn’t even make sure that the story and the title matched! There are quite a few mistakes and misspellings still, but hey, everyone is a reporter now, not just the trained professionals. Even I make mistakes, but then I’m not reporting to the world, professionally. Review 1: At least the pictures section has changed it’s pictures at last! It’s been months! I don’t like the new version. It’s not the app I’ve enjoyed for many years. It’s too white, and the format is like it’s another app. Stories lead on from stories rather than you going into each separate story. I will give it time to get used to it, but I might just look for a more pleasing to the eye app instead!

response required

I’m writing this because, having had to sign back in, yet again, it immediately asked me to rate and write a review. Well, it asked. I would have once given it 4 or even 5 stars but now it’s merely the best of a bad bunch, so one star for that at least. However, it constantly crashes, signs itself out but implies I did it myself. It opens in the wrong orientation and has to be closed before it will correct itself. Often slow or fails to load stories. Far too much click bait, deliberately positioned amongst proper stories in order to increase the chance of you opening them. More stories from quality sources would be nice too. At least the issue of topics not being weeks seems to have been fixed.

The updated and refreshed Microsoft News app (formerly MSN News) is surprisingly good- says I who is someone who is not a great fan of news apps. One star short of a full house, simply because like all other news apps, other than RSS Feed reader apps, it only does reverse chronological ordering of items. Hands up everyone who wants to read who won the World Cup before reading which countries are in the competition in the first place?

The native Apple News app offers far better targeted content, although I keep this for some less mainstream articles, which is good - if you're going to read the news, it's essential not to just read within your own bubble. But why does every article encourage me to install the very app I'm reading the article on? Get with it, Microsoft: stop advertising something I'm actually USING!