# New WR app on iPhone--awful!



## cary204

Is anyone having problems with the new WordReference app on iPhone? It's now impossible to find simple phrasal verbs or idioms!!! Anybody else notice this? 
Dear WordReference, 
     Please please go back to your original app format. Maybe it wasn't as clean and pretty but the functionality was MUCH better. Please.


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## mkellogg

I'm sorry. There are obviously very bad bugs in this new app. And we will obviously get them fixed.  The Apple review process takes time. If we are lucky, they will approve the bug fixes within three days, but it could be as long as two weeks before they approve a working version.

Please just use www.WordReference.com in Safari for now.  Apple doesn't have control over me there.


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## cary204

mkellogg said:


> I'm sorry. There are obviously very bad bugs in this new app. And we will obviously get them fixed.  The Apple review process takes time. If we are lucky, they will approve the bug fixes within three days, but it could be as long as two weeks before they approve a working version.
> 
> Please just use www.WordReference.com in Safari for now.  Apple doesn't have control over me there.



Thanks for the quick response! I understand these things happen, just glad that you're aware of the bugs. Fingers crossed and I look forward to the new and improved app soon. Thanks again.


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## thewoolleyman

mkellogg said:


> I'm sorry. There are obviously very bad bugs in this new app. And we will obviously get them fixed.



So, the new release obviously DIDNT get them fixed.  The app is still unusable.

At this point, I think it's fair to say that you should have very little confidence in the ability of your iOS development team to properly test applications before delivering them to the App Store or to fix critical bugs in a timely manner.

This app is relied upon by countless users including students and teachers on a daily basis.

The App Store is full of one star horrible reviews for the last two releases, bringing down your review average.

Plus there are other complaints about the usability of the new design (scaling on different devices, it's not obvious how to actually search for words - clicking the dictionary name is NOT intuitive)

And this is after 8 months with no release, apparently working on this new and "improved" design.

Given all these flaws, who knows how many other glaring problems there will be once the app is actually usable?

My professional advice at this point (I'm a software developer) would be to just release the old 4.0.5 version, and have the iOS dev team take a long hard look at their design, development, and testing processes, and up their game before attempting to release this version again.

Good luck,
-- Chad


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## cary204

thewoolleyman said:


> So, the new release obviously DIDNT get them fixed.  The app is still unusable.
> 
> At this point, I think it's fair to say that you should have very little confidence in the ability of your iOS development team to properly test applications before delivering them to the App Store or to fix critical bugs in a timely manner.
> 
> This app is relied upon by countless users including students and teachers on a daily basis.
> 
> The App Store is full of one star horrible reviews for the last two released, bringing down your review average.
> 
> Plus there are other complaints about the usability of the new design (scaling on different devices, it's not obvious how to actually search for words - clicking the dictionary name is NOT intuitive)
> 
> And this is after 8 months with no release, apparently working on this new and "improved" design.
> 
> Given all these flaws, who knows how many other glaring problems there will be once the app is actually usable?
> 
> My professional advice at this point (I'm a software developer) would be to just release the old 4.0.5 version, and have the iOS dev team take a long hard look at their design, development, and testing processes, and up their game before attempting to release this version again.
> 
> Good luck,
> -- Chad


Couldn't agree more. "This app is relied upon by countless users including students and teachers on a daily basis." I'm a teacher and this problem effects me in a big way. Please go back to the old version.


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## mkellogg

When working on the website and on Android, these issues can be fixed immediately or near immediately.  With iPhones, it takes about a week for each fix to go through.  Try one thing and it doesn't work. Sorry! You can't get a new version out there for another week due to Apple's review process.

I'm very sorry and extremely frustrated.  The website should work very well in mobile Safari.  I suggest giving that a try.


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## thewoolleyman

mkellogg said:


> When working on the website and on Android, these issues can be fixed immediately or near immediately.  With iPhones, it takes about a week for each fix to go through.  Try one thing and it doesn't work.



Thanks for the reply.

I understand that's Apple's review process.  But it's not like your iOS dev team didn't know that before pushing this app, and the non-fix, resulting in the app being broken for weeks now.

My point is that  - ESPECIALLY because of this known delay - you iOS dev team should perform adequate testing on a variety of devices before pushing a major release out to the App store.

But I can understand things happen.  But to push it AGAIN with it STILL not working is baffling.  It literally doesn't work at ALL for anyone, how could you have thought it was fixed?  Was it tested on any real device?

And yes, people can use the website, but the point is this was a major continued disruption for countless people.  You should have a higher bar for testing, especially if you as a company are concerned about the perception (and review average) of your app and product.

Anyway, thanks for the service, I'd gladly pay for the app, because the basic content and functionality is great, but you really dropped the ball on this rewrite.  Just giving feedback.

-- Chad


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## thewoolleyman

Thanks for finally reverting.  Sorry for being harsh and insistent, but I knew there was no way that version would fly.

This interface is fine, just give me a way to pay you, and I will 

Heck I'd even do a subscription, it's a great app, please just never break it again.

-- Chad


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## Jean-PaulH

I have on my iPhone (5s, latest iOS) the universal version of the WR app (latest version). However, all of a sudden it stopped working, when I launch it, it crashes after a second. I've installed the iPhone version of WR, and that one works, but I would prefer using the universal version, the interface is more convenient, no ads... Any idea about what could be done?

Jean-Paul


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## mkellogg

Jean-PaulH said:


> I've installed the iPhone version of WR, and that one works, but I would prefer using the universal version


We only have one iOS app, and I believe it is for all iOS devices, so I'm not sure what difference you see.  Maybe you had a very old app installed that we haven't offered for a few years. I'm not sure.  Whatever the case, you will only find one official app in the app store.

The ads? Nothing in life is free...


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