San Francisco Chronicle 12+

Since our daughter lives overseas, we have joined her for a couple of months to reconnect in the waning (we hope!) days of the pandemic. It has been very comforting to stay abreast of the news both nationally as well as in the Bay Area. As an older person I love having the option to flip through the paper page-by-page as through I was sitting in my wing chair back in the Bay Area. It helps both of us feel connected to both friends and family on both sides of the world. Having the daily news sourced both locally and from SF gives us a broader perspective of world event.

I’m a Bay Area native, but currently live out of state. I still enjoy keeping up with Bay Area news and sports, and the app generally works fine for that. However, I’ve found it nearly impossible to cancel a subscription after the promotional offer is up. There is no way to cancel a digital sub without a phone call, and the number only stays open until 2:30 pm PT. And when you do call, no one answers. It is easier to get ahold of your state Unemployment Dep’t! I sent an email to complain, and the reply was filled with lies and false information on how to cancel using a web browser - which does not even give the option. Despite all my efforts to cancel, my sub is still active. This is obviously the intent of corrupt management to make it as hard to cancel as possible. I finally had to call my credit card to block future charges, and might even have to close the card to guarantee it won’t be charged again. These types of unethical and fraudulent business practices should not be allowed on the app store!

Love the chronicle, but the app needs work. The worst problem is when you download an issue to use offline. I do this all the time. You need to keep the issue up because if you return to the home page or settings page, you can’t get back to the saved issue without an internet connection, which is presumably why you saved it in the first place. The screen is sensitive and if you accidentally touch the wrong place you’ll get thrown out of the issue and not be able to get back in, which also happens sometimes after taking a break. Also, on the home page it lists stories in the online edition but won’t let you read them except for one monthly. Hey, I’m a subscriber! It let me link my subscription but still won’t let me access the stories through the app, only the daily paper. To read the online stories I have to go sign into the chronicle site on my computer.