App Issues can Create Barriers

Amanda Walters

amanda.n.walters@gmail.com

Getting content on-the-go is now standard. As a news consumer, as well as journalist, I want my information to be fast and accurate – but even more than that – I want to be able to get it no matter where I am.

And I know that I’m not the only one. Smartphones make all of this as easy as can be with the invention of apps. That is, when they work correctly.

The CBS News app on the iTunes market has some definite glitches and bad marketing choices that get in the way of all the great journalism that is contained inside.

The first thing you notice when you open the app is that you don’t get to use it right off the bat. When you first open it, the app opens up a commercial that while you are able to close out of, seems really misplaced.

Other news apps have found ways of embedding the commercials and ads into the stories. Having it open up right at the beginning, can be annoying and could turn some users away before they even start to use the app.

Once you open stories, the page glitches every time it goes to a story. The screen flashes and it doesn’t want to open for a second. This should be easy for the programmers to fix but by looking at some of the reviews from the iTunes Store, it seems like it’s been going on for a while.

Once you get past these things, the app is great. It has a good variety of content and a useful interface. If CBS fixes these bugs, it will be one of the best news apps I own.

One of my favorite articles I read this week from the app was Meeting Ohio Republicans who Doubt Romney. It was a great article for an app as it was short and the information was on point.

The article talked to voters in Ohio who weren’t sure if they wanted to vote for Mitt Romney or not. It talked to people who were moderate Republicans and wished that Romney were closer to the center.

The one thing I was disappointed in was that when I went to the website to look at the article, they included a video that couldn’t be seen from the app.

It is one of those articles that you can read quickly while waiting for class to start and still be more informed after. And really, that’s all that matters.