NewsMemory app review: read the digital version of a newspaper for which you have a physical subscription

Introduction

When you go on holiday, you might miss the morning edition of your newspaper for a week or even more. This means when you get home, you will have catch up on what happened in the area covered by your newspaper by reading through all the different editions that have been delivered to your mailbox. In the digital age, this problem is in the past. With NewsMemory by Tecnavia you can add your local newspaper subscription to a list and you will get a digital version delivered to your device every day. 

Created for Local Newspapers

When I was browsing through the list of available papers, I noticed instantly that this app is designed for the newspapers from the United States. Not many international newspapers use this service. You will need to log in to NewsMemory to add a subscription, but as the listed newspapers have a deal with the company, you will get every edition in digital form for free. Most of these newspapers are local newspapers, which cover the news for only a county or a state. You do get to try out the app before using it, meaning you do need a subscription to the NewsMemory service before you can try out the free e-Editions. 

 

Speed and Design

When I was playing around with the app, I found that the app is really slow. It took around 30 seconds to populate the list of available newspapers, and when  I tried to subscribe, the log-in page took even longer to load. The app is also not very well-designed. It only gives you the option for a few different views, and doesn’t allow you to read the news by article. You can, however, search by article and see an overview of the pages, which is a nice addition.

You can maneuver through a paper as you would with other apps, using all kinds of touch-based gestures to get to the pages that you want. The only addition I would like to see is that you can fill in a crossword, although that might be a bit far-fetched.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Get your local newspaper in digital form
• Don’t pay extra if you already have a subscription
• Never miss an issue

 

Cons

• Slow app and bad design
• Not designed for the digital age
• Very focused on the United States

 

Conclusion

If you already have a subscription, you might as well get the free ones delivered to your device every day. The app is painfully slow, which can get on my nerves pretty quickly. On top of that, the design of the app is a bit outdated, so I would guess it is easier to just wait until you’re home and can read the physical edition. The app works on both iPad and iPhone and takes just under 4 MB. Downloading your local newspaper will take up space as well.