The Providence Journal, R.I.

New “upgrade” if that’s what it is is awful. App tells me I’m not a customer. Called the 800 number. They “reinstated “ my account. It’s almost impossible to navigate the app on iPad. Had this for many years. Don’t waste your time. I deleted the app thinking to reinstall may help. All it does when you go to the App Store is open the app. Does not appear on Home Screen.

I stopped reading the paper version of the Projo years ago. Instead, I used the iPad app. Then, within about the last year, they came out with a second app but never clearly explained the difference. About a month ago the version of the app I was using stopped working, and the other, newer app never worked at all. So today I called for tech support, turned out to be worse than a total waste of time. The agent -- Carla in Ohio -- had a script. But she was worse than clueless if there was even the slightest variation from the script. For example, she told me to delete all the cookies and history from the iPad. After several minutes wasted because only specific apps have cookies or history, but the iPad itself does not, she told me to Google it. Only then did it become clear she was talking about Safari rather than the iPad. When I told her I never use Safari, she started arguing, claiming iPads are Apple devices and therefore they are required to use Safari. She wasted my time, lecturing me about her personal Apple devices, which inherently use Safari. After close to an hour wasted with someone whose only apparent qualification for giving technical "support" was that she owns her own iPad and iPhone with stock configurations, she started to claim my newspaper subscription does not promise that the newspaper's app will work. I suggest instead: (1) replace such amateur agents with a well-documented set of instructions on a website, (2) state a recorded disclaimer when users first reach the support line (e.g., "If you're calling about our app, please note that we do not guarantee support for our app"), and (3) at least hire support staff with technical degrees and training in the fundamentals of contemporary computer technology.

Unfortunately there is no way to select zero stars. I thought the previous version was a little clunky but useable. This latest version that I was required to download is horrible. Zooming and fit to screen of pages is not friendly and inconsistent. Browsing form page to page sometimes skips pages and makes them unreadable. Like the Sunday comics? Good luck in reading all pages. Maybe some who actually reads a paper should be the one who designs and quality assurance of the app that gets published to the readership. The Providence Journal has destroyed the print version and now they are on their way to wrecking the digital also. Gannet should be ashamed in what they have delivered.