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NYTimes - Latest News for Android

By The New York Times Company Free Editors' Rating

Editors' Review

shelbybrown Apr 5, 2018

With all the content freely available on Google News or Apple News, we wouldn't blame you for scratching your head at the idea of paying for it. But subscriptions to publications like The New York Times give them a more consistent source of income versus ads and sales of individual copies. And the Times offers a truckload of new and polished content every day, from the latest hot headlines to in-depth articles about interesting people and places. Does the mobile app live up to the reputation of the paper itself? Let's find out.

Pros

Well-suited for mobile devices: The mobile app version of The New York Times has intuitive navigation, section customization, specific notification settings, and balanced information density. Compared to the Washington Post app, you can see more stories on your screen at once, and the summaries are all concise but informative enough to give you a basic gist as you scroll through the vertical feed. The "Most Popular" tab presents a set of ranked stories that you can quickly browse, bookmark, and share. The menu in the upper right gives you quick access to settings like text size, notification, and customization.

Then there's a side menu that you can pop out to see the many sections of the paper that you have access to, from book reviews to travel, cars, recipes, and fashion. It's almost overwhelming how much content the Times produces on any given day, but its mobile app still manages to provide good tools to navigate it all.

A steady flow of major breaking news every day: It doesn't matter how well the app is designed if you're not doing much within it. But like the Washington Post, the Times app consistently earns its keep by alerting you of important stories before they show up pretty much anywhere else, including Reddit, Google News, and other aggregators.

Reasonably priced: The regular monthly price for the basic digital subscription is $16 a month, but the paper is constantly running promotions. Right now, you can subscribe for as little as $8 a month. The "All Access" tier currently discounted to $13 a month adds some of the Times' famously wicked crossword puzzles -- with an archive going back 20 years -- plus its Cooking department with piles of recipes so authoritative that they are regularly released in book form, and one extra All Access subscription that you can gift to whomever you like. Students and educators can individually subscribe for as little as $4 a month, and schools can set up access for everyone or just select numbers of people (minimum of 5).

The New York Times isn't as cheap as the Washington Post is for Amazon Prime users, but it arguably provides more content if you have the time to absorb it all, especially if you like crosswords and cooking. For reference, The Wall Street Journal's regular digital price is $29 a month. The Financial Times works out to at least $25.80. The Economist practically requires an economist to figure out how much they want to charge you; the lowest cost of entry, the three-year deal for $365, works out to $10.14 a month, but that's a pretty long commitment. However, you can do a 12-week trial for $12.

That said, we did note that the Times' discount offers were not consistent across the board. While I was offered All Access for $13 a month, another current subscriber in the office was only offered $18 a month, with both of us looking at exactly the same URL on our respective devices. So your mileage may vary.

Cons

Crossword confusion: Our account page on the Times website asserted that we had the All Access subscription that includes access to the paper's famed crossword puzzles, but after we logged into our account, the dedicated crossword app and crossword website both told us that we still needed to get the separate crossword subscription. The customer service chat system is operated by a bot that could not understand the issue. When we called the customer service number, they told us that the crosswords included in All Access are limited to their "mini" puzzles and the handful of full-size puzzles that they bring out of the archive each day.

The wording on the subscription sign-up page seems to indicate otherwise, with a specific call-out stating, "Play the puzzle for free on any device. Enjoy 20 years of Crossword archives. Solve in minutes with our bite-size mini puzzles." This could be worded better.

The Cooking section is separate, and the mobile app is iOS-only: Android users must view the cooking section at the Times' dedicated website, because it's not in the app, itself. iOS users must go to a separate NY Times Cooking app. The regular Times app has a Food section, but this covers things like restaurant reviews, celebrity chef profiles, and business reporting, rather than recipes or cooking advice. The regular Times app doesn't indicate that the Cooking section is not integrated into it, which can lead to confusion.

On the bright side, we appeared to have full access to the Cooking section, unlike the crosswords.

Bottom Line

The New York Times app offers some the best journalism in the world, in an accessible package, for a reasonable price. But we'd like a clearer description of what is included in the All Access subscription and more consistent pricing.

Full Specifications

What's new in version 6.20.4

What's new in version 6.20.6

* We fixed a crash that affected some readers on older devices.

General

Release November 12, 2018
Date Added November 12, 2018
Version 6.20.4

Operating Systems

Operating Systems Android
Additional Requirements None

Popularity

Total Downloads 589
Downloads Last Week 0
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Developer's Description

Download the free New York Times app to bring our reporting to life with our new augmented reality feature. Immerse yourself in David Bowie's personal archives, and see his costumes up-close: http://nyti.ms/2IH8xDM. Meet world-class Olympic athletes, including figure skater Nathan Chen, and learn what makes them the top in their sport: http://nyti.ms/2FQqVrd.

The New York Times app for Android delivers breaking news and award-winning journalism wherever you are. Read the latest headlines from today's news, and experience the world with our immersive storytelling formats, like augmented reality, audio, and 360 video.

The New York Times offers the following subscription options:

1) Basic Digital Access, which includes unlimited article access, for $14.99/month. Subscribe now and get your first 7 days at no cost via Google Play.* All subscriptions auto-renew.

Save over 25% with an annual subscription--$129.99/year.

2) All Digital Access: Basic + access to NYT Crossword and NYT Cooking for $24.99/month. You also receive 1 bonus subscription (a $25/month value) to give to anyone you'd like. Subscribe now and get your first 7 days at no cost via Google Play.* All subscriptions auto-renew.

Favorite Features:

* Breaking News alerts that link directly to developing stories

* Save articles for offline reading on any device

* Share articles, photos, and videos through your favorite sharing platform

* Watch exclusive videos and browse our award-winning photography

* Experience NYT stories through innovative formats, like augmented reality and 360 video

* International coverage of current events and cultural stories from our 50 bureaus around the globe

* Read our Spanish-language coverage with NYT en Espanol

* Redesigned navigation for swiping quickly across sections

* Interactive Comments: Write and recommend comments

* Best sellers lists at the top of the Books section

The NYTimes app for Android is built responsively and is formatted from 4" phones to 12"+ tablets. The app works on all devices running Android OS (4.4+).

The NYTimes app requires certain permissions to provide you with the best possible reading experience. Here's a little bit about what each one does:

* In-app purchases: This allows you to make purchases within the app.

* Location: In exchange for the free content provided through the NYTimes app, we compile demographic information about our readers in accordance with our Privacy Policy. This information is no more specific than the state in which you are located.

* Photos/Media/Files: This permission allows the app to cache images locally, reducing load times for pages you revisit.

* WiFi connection information: This item gives the app permission to use available WiFi networks rather than your mobile network. In the absence of trusted WiFi networks or if WiFi is disabled, the app will make use of your cellular network (if available). Normal bandwidth and usage charges apply as detailed in your service agreement with your wireless carrier.

Feedback? Suggestions? Issues? Please contact our support team at android@nytimes.com. We'll do our best to assist you. Your feedback is important to us.

* Promotional offers for new subscribers only. Smartphone and tablet apps are not supported on all devices. Does not include access to the print newspaper. Prices shown are in U.S. dollars, and local pricing is available in over 55 countries. Other restrictions apply.

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