Smithsonian Magazine

DANGER latest app update prevents access to past electronic issues on my iPad which were included with print subscriptions. Possibly because I'm not a current subscriber? Fix this problem smithsonian! A great magazine should not unilaterally & retroactively change the terms of subscription!

I paid for one issue. It will not download w/o a "subscription". When I try to set up a subscription beginning with my current e-mail, it won't do it, just keeps saying enter valid e-mail address. I want my money back! (Using iPad Air.)

The content is excellent, but the app leaves a lot to be desired. It is slow to load, with icons and banners taking 15 to 30 seconds to fully appear. The process of downloading an issue is very erratic. Clicking download can result in a blank white screen with the app. locked up until the iPad is restarted. I have never been able to download the June 2015 issue despite numerous attempts.

Download continually pauses. Takes forever.

Since the October 7 update, this app has been very erratic. The December Magazine will start to download, pause at around 90% and then start to reload, then do the same again. I called the help line but they were not able to help. I have reloaded the app, rebooted the iPad still without success. I am considering canceling my subscription if there is not a fix soon.

Seems a trend. The app is free but what you get for free is a list of issues for sale. With this was said upfront. Well, after closing this I retread their copy for the app. Says there is a free issue. If you look about you can find the free content.

I currently live in a country that is outside of the borders of Canada or the United States. I have a two-year print subscription that is sent snail-mail and arrives at least a couple of months late. I would love to have access to the iPad edition, but the Smithsonian won't allow it. To authorize my subscription, I have to enter the mailing address as it appears on the mailing label. Smithsonian's limited world view does not include any mailing addresses that could possible exist outside of Canada or the United States in the drop down menus. When I complained about this fact, the reply from Customer Service stated that since Adobe is banned in the country I now live in, I am unable to authorize the iPad edition. Categorically, I can state that Adobe is not banned in the country I live in. Even if it was, countries such as England, Germany, or France do not appear in the drop down menus. I would safely bet that Adobe is available there. If you want this iPad edition, move to the US or Canada. If you live anywhere else on the globe, you are out of luck.

App crashes whenever I try to open it. Please fix immediately.

As much as I’d like to get a digital version instead of killing trees to have a paper edition, I can’t subscribe because the stupid button to double click is off the screen. Good web design, Smithsonian!

The magazine is great and the app is really good, too. But, could you please allow us to look at each back issue’s table of contents before purchase so we can tell exactly what we’re buying? It’s very hard to tell from just looking at a thumbnail image of a magazine’s front cover, even on an iPad.