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Newstand subscription download issues

So according to the apple iPad 2 page and info regarding newstand it says that:

Get new issues without issue.

With Newsstand, every new issue is delivered right to your Home screen. Daily, weekly, or monthly — Newsstand automatically downloads whatever’s new for each of your app subscriptions. And it all happens in the background, so you never have to interrupt what you’re doing.


However, nothing in newstand ever downloads in the background. In order to have a new subscription download I have to keep newstand open, along with the magazine subscription and have to keep scrolling or tapping the screen to keep it open and the screen on. If the screen dims or rests, then when I click on newstand again I have to start all over downloading my subscriptions from scratch. I have gone into my setting and all my subscriptions are turned on to automatically download.... But they still don't automatically download and downloads don't keep going/downloading in background. It drives me crazy having to keep the newstand app open for 10 or more mins just to download a subscription that is already supposed to automatically download. How do I fix this when there is no way to uninstall and then reinstall the app?

Apple, you have failed with the streamlining of this so called App.

iPad, iOS 5.0.1, Newstand subcriptiondownload issues

Posted on Dec 9, 2011 8:40 PM

Reply
40 replies

Dec 9, 2011 8:51 PM in response to Aquagirl7

1. Apple isn't here. You are talking to other users, just like you.


2. Newsstand seems to work just fine for most, so let's figure out what's wrong with your installation.


First, go to Settings> Store> and confirm that all publications you subscribed to are turned On for auto downloads.


If that's OK, then let's go thru standard iDevice troubleshooting.


Start with Resetting:

Press and hold both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears (ignore the Slide to Power Off that shows up first).


If still not working, move to Restoring:

Connect to your computer and Restore it from your backup on your computer. Assuming you were backing up your old phone.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414


Hope this helps.

Dec 14, 2011 4:42 PM in response to Aquagirl7

Thank you hollyfromnew york! It is nice to see some people still have some common sense to realize I wasn't literally speaking to apple. :). Sorry you are having the same issues with newstand. I will let you know if mine starts working properly or if anything changes.


As for Rysz- thanks for trying to help, sort of, but if you would have read my whole post then you would have realized I had already done basically everything you listed, but to humor you, I did everything everything all over again. However it did nothing "again" to fix the problem. I had a new subscription issue to download today and it took 35 minutes to download and I again had to keep scrolling or tapping the screen just to keep the screen open and on I order for the darn thing to download. Thanks for trying to help, but unfortunately it didn't work.


Mikeindc- nothing is being delivered to my iPhone either, but for now I'm just trying to get newstand to work on my iPad. As for the cost of magazines, I'm not sure what kind of magazines you usually purchase, but the ones I purchase or have subscriptions for are either the same price as if I were buying them at the grocery store or cheaper, and i dont have to worry about clutter. I would like my subscriptions on the iPad more, if newstand would work properly.


Hollyfromnew york and mikeindc, if you guys find a solution, please let know :)

Dec 18, 2011 3:17 PM in response to Aquagirl7

Yeah I'm in the same boat. Recently tried The Daily again after I read some were having better luck with background updates. Despite some help from The Daily support team I still cannot get it to work.


Personally I think it has something to do with subscriptions...it acts like Im not subscribed throughout the magazine and on the settings page as well. I have great WiFi at home and have tried leaving the app open in memory and closed and neither helped.


Please update us if anyone finds a consistent fix.

Dec 26, 2011 7:09 PM in response to Aquagirl7

I am also having the same problem. It is happening on my iPad 2 with National Geographic, Wired, Popular Mechanics and Distro. All are subscribed and set to automatically download but none do. Although there has not been a new issue of Distro since I downloaded the update with Newsstand support.


As for the others, I have been subscribed to them since the first week of iOS 5 release and haven't read past the first issue as the automatic downloading will not work. Like you Aquagirl, I have done all troubleshooting with no success in rectifying it.


I am actually the go to guy with family, friends and coworkers with any iOS or Mac questions or problems so this has been quite frustrating. Since there is very little I can find on the web about this issue we must be a small percentage affected by a bug.



I'd suggest that until someone posts a fix to this we all continue to contact the app developers and Apple about the issue and hopefully it will be addressed in an iOS or app update.

Jan 29, 2012 6:48 AM in response to Unfrozen

Same here with Wired subscription. Annoying as ****. Doesn't automatically download issues. Can't set multiple issues to download - must wait for one to download fully before having to tell it to download another. If iPad goes into sleep mode or I switch to another app the download is paused or cancelled. Once paused no obvious awy to resume download - only options are Cancel or View.


On top of this, every magazine has its own annoyingly inconsistent and unintuitive UI. Obnoxious, interactive ads that are difficult or impossible to skip throug. Newstand, so far, is worthless.

Jan 31, 2012 9:56 AM in response to Aquagirl7

It's the end of January and I'm having the same problem with Newstand and the New York TImes. I have everything set to autodownload - settings double checked everywhere. I have rebooted. However, Newstand has to be opened then NYT opened and THEN it starts to download. My iPad was left plugged in and in its sleep (not turned off) mode. It does autosync this way with iTunes. I contacted the NYT. Their support says that their app has to be on (running) to download -- if so, what is the point of Newstand.


Are there other users out there where the New York Times works perfectly? If so, I'll do a restore -- otherwise, not worth the time given what I've read on the internet. It is an iPad1 if this matters - up to date software.

Jan 31, 2012 5:34 PM in response to Aquagirl7

Just checking back in to say this has not resolved for me and it's clear that we are just going to have to live with this for the foreseeable future. I don't understand why more people are not annoyed by this. The idea of having to sit there and watch my magazines download for upwards of 15 minutes -- it's just worthless.


I have noticed that with some of my publications it works pretty well to start the download and then click View as soon as it becomes an option. I am able to read the magazine while the rest of it downloads. This works pretty well with Martha Stewart Living. It works less well with Allure (every time I come to the beginning of a new feature I have to wait for the download). For now this seems to be the best I can hope for. I can't believe they aren't fixing this.

Mar 12, 2012 8:32 PM in response to Aquagirl7

Here we are in mid-March with Apple announcing the NEW iPad already, and we still have no fix for Newstand. I have performed the same old reboot and restore catch-alls that have been suggested (already quite familiar to us former Windows users) and still have yet to experience a single auto download of the NYTimes, New Yorker or any less popular subscriptions. Do you suppose Apple bothers to monitor this stuff, or is it too busy churning new products that don't work as advertised? iCloud is way worse than Newstand, and it hasn't been fixed either. Not only does it not sync correctly, but it still insists my email address on my iPad is one it gave me back in MobileMe days that I never used--ever, honest.

Mar 12, 2012 8:39 PM in response to mputzel

Obviously they arent working on it. Have you tried it out on the new IOS 5.1? I assume so but thought I would ask. I think for anything to noticed by apple enough to give it attention, it has to be widespread and a loud group of people wanting change. I think the issue is widespread but this shows just how few people are using Newstand, much less are expecting it to update without pressing a "refresh" button.

Mar 23, 2012 7:48 AM in response to godsidekurt

Having this issue too across nearly all subscriptions on the iPad. Have tried all resets etc. Of note, NY Times doesn't "update" at all over night. The New Yorker will show the new cover in Newsstand, but the magazine doesn't download in the background. It downloads when I open the app, which is frustrating considering each magazine is close to 200 MB. Spin Magazine never has downloaded automatically. Interestingly, Bloomberg Businessweek downloads properly every week; the blue banner appears and a notification appears in the notifications pane alerting me to a new issue. Perhaps these problems rest with the magazine publishers/developers themselves. The NY Times iPad app has been frustrating to work with since day 1. Updates seem to cause more problems. Ditto for the New Yorker app. I've had to reinstall and redownload all issues several times due to crashes/bugs. Spin is finally working properly, though it took several months and several email exchanges with their tech help to get up to speed.


As a point of comparison, I subscribed to a magazine through the Kindle store/Kindle app on the iPad. Every month, the magazine shows up on time, without any hassle. Granted, there are few bells and whistles in the magazine, but I get to actually open the magazine without frustration and read it. Kudos to the Amazon folks for focusing on the reading.


I hope Apple and the developers figure this out at some point. Definitely frustrating to hold my breath while opening an app wondering if it will open or crash.

Apr 6, 2012 10:16 PM in response to Aquagirl7

Newsstand is an exasperating mess. I also cannot get auto downloading to work. A few of the magazine icons update properly. The rest stay stuck on one month or worse display a blurry icon that appears to be a temporary placeholder. What's that about? And every time I open a magazine, it treats me like a new user and it tries to sell me a subscription. I already bought one! Why does every magazine have it's own interface?? So confusing. I cannot believe Steve Jobs oversaw this product before he passed away. I love my iPad but Newsstand makes it feel like a Windows machine.

Newstand subscription download issues

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