Readly UK Reviews 2,162

New app is terrible
Why can't I access the supplements in the guardian newspapers now in only get the news and sports and missing half the newspaper with no style / what's on/ weekend etc
I still cancel this is a disaster go back to the old app

What’s happened to Readly… changes are a backward step & sure to deter readers from continuing with the subscription. I was all nicely set up & now it’s an impossible struggle to get on the app!! I’m a long standing subscriber but looks like I’ll need to think again

Worked well until they launched the new app in April 2026. Now it won't work on my Chromebook and my tablet version is glitchy and nowhere near as good as the old version.
I'm cancelling my subscription - I can't use what I have paid for!

I've been a customer for a few years and always thought it was great. But after a recent "upgrade" the app is now quite appalling. Quality is rubbish, just avoid!

I think this is a scam. Lots of recent ads on Facebook for a 2 month free trial. I signed up, showed my trial runs until 24/06/26 after which I'll be charged.

I go to read a magazine and screen comes up asking to choose a subscription, I assume its part of the process, choose a subscription and they charge my card for £12.99. Wait, what happened to the free trial?

So tech support tell me to do the usual stuff, logout, delete the app, try again. Same screen, wants me to subscribe. So they've just taken £12.99 and I still can't have a subscription. I know if I hit the subscription button I'll get charged again.

Despite the Readly ads offering 2 months free trial still showing on Facebook, tech support tell me Readly no longer do a free trial. But because they've charged my card and still can't access Resdly the matter has to be escalated. I send the screenshots of the free trial ads but they're not interested.

Tech support sends me a support article, I click the link and it's a French support site in French.....helpful.

Forced to report it as fraud to my bank.
Be very careful. Been advised that it's a new company running Readly. Don't get ripped off.

UPDATE: In respect of the response from Readly, interesting that they can find the time to respond to this review without offering a solution, yet after five days of emailing their support team I've not had a single response that has resolved anything or refunded payment, I have no account to log into and they've debited my account for £12.99. I'm going to say it again; this is a scam!

disappointed that I can no longer get readly on my tablet, they didn't give me any noticed it was not going to be compatible, so I have had to cancel my subscription after 8 years, looking for an alternative or I may just have to go back to paper magazines

What an absolute disappointment the new service is. We have gone from the Library of Alexandria to a fortnightly mobile book service! I have been a subscriber for about 9 years but I am now looking for an alternative to Readly. The app is a massive step down from what we are all used to. It looks like it was designed by somebody with rudimentary IT skills. Navigation is appalling - I have to work extra hard to find anything, be that new publications or previously saved publications and bookmarks. Functionality is minimal - as one person said, it's little better than a PDF reader. Customer services is infuriating - though I imagine they are run off their feet due to the sheer frustration of customers. This is not just of concern to Readly customers; surely media publishers themselves must be worried about how their titles are published now that Readly has taken this turn! Previously I would recommend this app to anybody with an interest in reading. Now, all I can do is condemn it. It is an absolute shadow of it's former self and I will cancel my subscription the moment I've assessed the alternatives.

The recent merger/takeover by Cafeyn and introduction of the new app has been abysmal.

Previous reviewers have outlined a litany of things that are wrong with the Readly app so I will not repeat them. Instead I will provide two examples.
The home page lists my favourite titles. With 30 favourites it would be nice to arrange them in alphabetical order (like the previous Readly app). Unfortunately that is not available.
It has errors as well. One of my favourites is Men's Health - UK. Recently a 'new' issue appeared in my favourites list. However, although the magazine was listed as Men's Health UK, it was in fact Maison Romantique magazine...(I have screen shots as proof).

It should be a case study in how not to introduce a new app makeover. There was no advance warning of the changeover. It happened overnight and was a forced change to the new "improved" app. I cannot recommend this app in current form and am considering cancelling my subscription as there are plenty of other options (Zinio / Magster / Press Reader / Apple News etc).

I don’t like the new site think I am going to cancel to much like hard work now

Used to be absolutely brilliant until the new app came along. Now I am not able to access Readly on my kindle through the app and have to go through the browser which does not always upload and is now a very glitchy and unpleasant reading experience. When I do get it to eventually upload, the pages are too small and it is very clunky to enlarge them. Readly used to be such a daily treat and now it is just hassle. What a shame to ruin something that was fine in the first place.

I used to love Readly and have subscribed for many years . This new app is vile I can’t get on with it and it’s jittery not smooth . I am seriously thinking of terminating my subscription

Readly was perfect / the app was perfect.

Now it’s broken and impossible to use. The lay out is confusing and unstructured plus it keeps forgetting my saved magazines and not saving downloads 🙄🤷

How did this new app get tested and approved it’s the worst app transition I have ever seen or been forced to try.

Please go back to the old layout and fix these issues as I will have no choice but to leave otherwise and cancel my subscription permanently.

The new app is terrible!!

This new update is absolutely useless. The support team are no help whatsoever. Please reinstate previous functions!

Since the recent update, the search function within individual magazines has disappeared - this has made using the app pointless and painful for me. Pls re-instate, or I will cancel my subscription. Awful!!

EDIT: I have emailed their support desk AGAIN, as requested. But don't expect any response or the problem to be solved. They have, so far, been spectacularly useless at giving an adequate response or replying at all.

Since Cafeyn took over, it's become unusable. If you're thinking of taking out a subscription, don't. It's become impossible to search for anything accurately, which is such a shame as it used to be so reliable. I've tried MANY TIMES discussing my issue with them but now they are totally ignoring me - and the issues remain unsolved. It's highly likely, after many years of loyal custom from me, that I'll be leaving.

Since Cafeyn merger two weeks ago, I am less satisfied with the experience. The website no longer works on my managed office system. Since my role depends on research this is a major inconvenience. The layout of the new website is not immediately intuitive and I have to work hard to find what I want. Cancellation of subscription is under consideration

WHAT HAS HAPPENED!
been a subscriber for 9 years, was a great app, was forced to download a new app, which now won't let me sign in! Tried to talk to them via webchat, which was useless, managed to reset my password via website rather than app, app won't accept new password, so tried to cancel subscription all together, met with a message stating "Cancelling your subscription isn't possible right now, but you'll be able to do so within the next few days" after some research i found someone else had mentioned this in a review 4 or 5 days ago! So hardly a few days! I should be able to cancel when I want, not wait for them to tell me!

** EDIT Readly, Your support are still ignoring my requests to cancel! Absolutely no help whatsoever!
Contacted bank to now cancel their end!

I have loved this App and introduced dozens of users. I detest the "new" version it is really horrible and virtually unusable, why change what works so well? I would cancel my subscription but my wife assures me it must go back soon! In the meantime no more recommendations.

The new app is a disgrace and should never have been released to end users, subscription payers. I hope someone on their development team is currently looking for a new job!

I cancelled my subscription in March as I was never really reading anything.
I got the confirmation email. Then today, I got an email, saying thank you and welcome to Readly. I am now paying again.
I hate this company