what happened to the Drudge Report app

The Drudge app was deactivated last June. If you had it you got updates for a while, but then Drudge stopped sending updates over 6 months ago. No one knows officially what happened to it, but, as Matt Drudge has not attacked Apple for censoring him, the most logical answer is that Drudge decided they did not want to pay their development contractor to update it to be compatible with their relaunched website that is specifically tailored for smartphones. You can see the new "responsive" site by going to https://drudgereport.com in Safari. It's really pretty nifty, as it adapts to whatever screen size you have. You can also create an icon on your Home screen that launches it directly, just as if it is an app.

Note also that many people have directly asked Drudge what happened and have been met with deafening silence. Which leads to an alternate conspiracy theory: That the app was stealing user data, which violates Apple's terms of use for apps. The App is still available for Android, but Google has much lower standards for protecting user data.

Sure, I can access Drudge through Safari, but I'd still like to transfer the app to my new ipad pro. I'm ordering a USB to USB C cable as we speak, so I can connect it to itunes and use the backup/restore from my old ipad, which is supposed to 'clone' all the ipad2 apps to the new.

It does not "clone all ipad2 apps to the new." There is nowhere in the documentation that says that. It copies app data, then downloads the app from the app store. And if it isn't in the app store you can't get it.

It's strange that yours is working, because in another thread at least a dozen users said it stopped working last June.

The one way you might be able to get it if you have a Mac is to install Apple Configurator 2 from the Mac App Store. It will let you manipulate apps on your iOS device, and I think it can copy the app to your computer, when it can then be installed on another device using the Configurator.

Hmm, I thought it said it transferred apps too. Guess I'll find out tomorrow when I get my adapter cable.

DrudgeReport has a viewership of:

035,357,289 PAST 24 HOURS

907,361,894 PAST 31 DAYS

10,813,832,847 PAST YEAR

That's 10.8 BILLION hits last year. (I think it got up to some 12 Billion during the 2016 Election). So it's not as if this is some obscure website. In one glance you can see every major headline of what is going on in the world on one page.

It's not hard to imagine that Apple has joined the "Censor the Conservatives" group, joining Google, YouTube, Instagram, FarceBook, etc. I suppose next they'll be following the UK's footsteps and arresting us for posting a true story about Islam on FarceBook. https://nypost.com/2017/08/21/how-apple-and-google-are-censoring-the-mobile-web/

If they were out to censor they would have blocked access via Safari. Face it; Drudge killed the app. It wasn't Apple. If it was Apple Matt Drudge would be all over the Internet about how Apple was censoring him. Use your brain.

If you are convinced that Apple is in "Censor the Conservatives" mode, why did Al Gore's "Inconvenient" app disappear?

St8kout wrote:

That's 10.8 BILLION hits last year. (I think it got up to some 12 Billion during the 2016 Election). So it's not as if this is some obscure website. In one glance you can see every major headline of what is going on in the world on one page.

So, obviously, the lack of an app isn't hurting them any.

Re the conversation about whether the Drudge app is still working.... I have an iPad and I have two Drudge apps on it. The icon that reads "Drudge Report" is not updated. After the ads, the first line reads "Please visit the Drudge Report at drudge report.com via your mobile browser". The second app simply has a big black "D" with a white background. It works properly.

If clarification is needed, both apps were purchased from the Apple app store as being from the Drudge Report. The app that functions is identical to the one that I see in my MacBook utilizing my browser. Again, all words and stories are identical.

I used "encrypted backup" on my ipad2, then plugged my NEW ipad pro into itunes and used "Restore from ipad2 backup" to fully clone everything from the old to the new ipad.

Worked like a charm, Drudge app included. All my setups/settings/passwords got transferred; email settings, sleep number bed, music, security camera logs, etc. Everything.

You HAVE to use "encrypted" to save and transfer passwords.

You will need an adapter cable to plug the new ipad pro into your computer, unless you happen to have a USB C jack on it. Mine didn't and I just rebuilt it last year with a new motherboard. Guess USB C wasn't in full swing back then.

Yep, that 2nd one is the one I've been using for several years now. It transferred from my old ipad2 to my new ipad pro through itunes. I backed up ipad2, then when I plugged in my ipad pro it asked me if I wanted to restore it from ipad2 backup.

All I needed was a USB C to USB cable to connect to my PC.

First time I've heard of this. The Drudge Report works fine on my IP XS and my new iPad Pro 10.5. Today I dug out an old IP 6S without a simcard, but with a working wifi. I uploaded the late iOS 12.2 and that worked fine. Then I went to click on the Drudge Report and I got the "update" circle of death. Let it run for a while with no change. I then deleted it from my IP 5S, thinking I would reinstall it. That's when I found it wasn't in the Apps Store anymore.

I guess I'm one of the few that just found this out today (April 22, 2019). My first thought was the Libs got to Apple which then removed it. After reading the notes here, that doesn't seem likely. As far as the Drudge Report being updated daily, I can also verify that. It's not everyday that I check Drudge as I give it a quick check in the morning via it's web link (drudgereport.com).

I still think there's more to the story here. There used to be several different DrudgeReport apps out there, and for ALL of them to vanish and nobody fill in the niche, is highly suspicious.

I need to find someone who can create apps, and have them make a DR and see if Apple rejects it. I'm going to start asking on various websites and see if someone can tell us if Apple is the culprit here.

It isn't suspicious at all, if Drudge decided to not pay for an app anymore (quite likely) they also aren't paying for any links for updates to their app. The other apps merely were clones that piggybacked on that service, if the service is no longer in existence there is no reason to continue the app. Not everything is a conspiracy.

It IS indeed suspicious.

Btw, I STILL use mine EVERYDAY, so how come it's still up and running if there is no service? How come it still auto-refreshes every few minutes (which I've always found annoying because the page jumps while I'm trying to read the headlines.)

But don't worry. Already found some people to look into making the app, and see if Apple stops them from posting it on the Apps Store. I'll be sure and post the headline here if it comes out like that.

I got fed up with the Drudge app. Every time I clicked on a story there would be all these pop-ups and ads that were too numerous and annoying that I stopped using it. I went back to accessing the site via safari. But then I found this http://www.drudgereportfeed.com/ which is a little more small-screen responsive than the main site.