Curio - Trusted News Companion App Reviews

No free tier. The stories seem pretty good, but after I finished my free tokens I can’t view any more. I’d probably convert if there was a free tier where I could listen to a couple stories a week and be sure the value is there for me. But instead I deleted the app from being annoyed at notifications for stories I can’t listen to.

New app is horrible. I signed up for the previous version. The new version is some bad implementation of a pseudo AI interface that makes it impossible to scan the articles and choose what you read. It chooses for you. Once you get it to show you some articles you have to page through an incredibly slow interface to see what is available one article at a time. It’s unusable. I would have paid for this version of the application. It is fundamentally different and they should allow users to cancel. Maybe somebody wants it, but it’s not me. What a rip off. To get a refund outside of the 90 day limit, go to Apple support chat. Explain to them that the app is no longer usable and encourage them to look at the current reviews. They can submit a request to refund. Make sure they don’t route you into the normal refund request if you are outside of the 90 day purchase window.

Great Idea. I love the idea of this app. However, the library isn’t quite as big as I was hoping. It can’t yet serve as the primary way to consume your favorite media sources. I feel like I would run out of interesting content within a month. Also, as much as I appreciate accents as a part of someone’s character, I don’t want interesting accents in all of my recorded content. Even consistency of a single accent other than my own would be preferable.

Such an amazing app. I wish the price was cheaper all the time but this app got the job done without wasting much time to read and I don't have much time left for doing my things

So cool!. It’s amazing that I can access articles from so many news sources in one app! And I love that I can just listen to stories on the go. And the fact that content on the app is curated means I don’t have to search through dozens of news articles on the web to find just what I’m looking for. Bravo!

Good articles, poor reading. Curio has an excellent selection of articles, but the people who read them are terrible in terms of their pronunciation. Either they don’t look up pronunciations or they think they know the correct way to pronounce even common words such as “interlocutor” “teleological,” “Anaxagoras,” and “correlative.” I find this very distracting. I’m thinking about cancelling for this reason. Also the readers seem to treat all sentences as worthy of equal emphasis. Slightly better than a version read by a computer. The value to me right now is that I can find out whether I want to read the text myself.

New color. This is excellent app. However, I genuinely dislike the new icon color. Old one was much better. Edit: I think I’m getting used to the new color :)

Another cool app RUINED by AI. This app was fantastic before the latest update. No one asked for a stupid AI chat bot and horrible side scrolling format of the recommendations it gives. I WANT THE OLD CURIO BACK!!! You know… a visual representation of the audio articles with the magazine logos, being able to scroll DOWN the list and add things to the queue. There are no menus and no way to listen without interacting with the AI bot. Very frustrating.

Chatbot AI gone wrong to cover up slashing cutting catalog. The real reason for a subpar and annoying chatbot appears to be good old fashioned cost cutting on content. It is interesting to see how there have been no new Atlantic articles since July. They only seem to be retaining content from short form providers like FT and low circulation journals that lack any negotiating leverage over the price for content. Don’t use a parlor trick chatbot to hide a lack of good content. Otherwise, why not just go to another chatbot that’s free. This move definitely burned the trust bridge.

Good content, narration needs work. Pro: love the idea that I can consume in-depth articles while driving. There are other apps for listening to the news, but this is the best I’ve seen for long-form articles. Con (please fix!): Some narrators seem to act out the article, as if it were a performance. This takes away from the content I came here for. When I find myself listening to a dramatic reading, I close the app.

What to expect on the App.... It’s beneficial for anyone interested in expanding their horizons to invest in App like this one in question. You will be put in a trance, which in return learn new matters from many different discourse, and through enjoyable fashion. Learning doesn’t have to be boredom, or a remedial task at hand. Limitless potential here on this App for all education levels. You come to listen to articles, yet a impetus for a appetite to reach the stars in knowledge appears. I adore the psychology portions in the beginning primarily, then I got drawn to totally out my spectrums categories like art, history, and feminist articles. It’s like a Pandora box of massive enlightenment potential ready for the mortal to grasp, and attain absolute wisdom. Stay thirsty my friends, this App will quench your thirst!

Superb app. I have a hard time forcing myself to sit down and read but have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Curio is the solution- keeping me up to date while I am traveling, going to work, or just laying in bed. Glad it exists and am looking forward to its expansion and growth!

Seems useful but got charged for an annual subscription when responding to a 7 day free trial. That alone makes me less likely to recommend. There’s no immediate way to change even to a monthly charge or cancel the year subscription even though the charge went thru only moments ago.

add button doesnt work, glitchy. I have to push the button that adds a story to the queue 2-3 times for it to turn red (signifying that it has been added) and even then it shows up in my queue 50% of the time. Plus it freezes often. Feels like a beta version. Definitely not close to being worth $80 a year.

Incredibly disappointed. I would have bet money on how much I’d have liked What do I know? I love Gillian and I love podcasts. No brainer that this is a match made in Heaven. But it feels more like a school class with homework… things being read in monotone from a script. And Curio apparently doesn’t allow for changing the speed of play, so I couldn’t even zip through it quickly. Still adore you, Gillian. But I need something that feels real/genuine. I canceled my free trial within a half hour of signing up for it. Dang. Disappointed.

Would love to use this app but.... 1. PLEASE let me pay per article. I listen to 1 every once in a while, I don’t want to subscribe. Give me a per article option. 2. This app, just like the beta, makes it hard to find a specific article. I spot one online, jump to the app, use search but nothing comes up, search through the publication and sometimes find it, often not (even though it’s embedded in the site so I know it exists). Add an open in app links to your embedded web player please.

No I don’t want notifications. Hi, I’ve asked to have this fix, customer service said something would be done about it. Every time I open the app I have to click *no* on not wanting notifications. Please fix this Curio. No mean no. Also, how about a way to prevent these new blogger types from showing up in the feed? I signed up for this for the audio versions of traditional media. If I wanted a podcast I would’ve gone somewhere else.

Ruined by AI chatbot. The application has been updated recently, changing it from an explorable page to a chatbot interaction. The change reminds me of a grocery store that locked every valuable item in a store. Sure, one can still buy everything. But why do I need to ask to get access to the goods? I come to explore and check news/opinions that I’m not familiar with. All I want are good articles, view different curations and top trends. Yes, I can access them in the small portion in the bottom of the screen. I don’t want to chat with the bot at all. Why is it not an optional interface? Why can’t I just scroll through different headlines and outlets when I open the application?

A multitude of fascinating, very informative published articles.. Excellent important articles/information written by first class brainy writers, and read aloud by particularly well spoken/talented English accented readers. I enjoy Curio, while trying to “read along” is not easy especially for non nerds. Therefore, don’t be shocked by how difficult/ complicated it is to control and read along

Amazing but too expensive. The well of knowledge, wealth of information. Exactly what I’ve been looking for to satisfy my thirst for self-education. But $11/month or $80/year is just far too expensive for me. It is a shame that during the unprecedented times we live in, information come so high-priced. Hence 4 stars, otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate giving 5-star review.

Want Long form Journalism. Not interested in having short fluff articles read to me. Dear Curio Designers, Is it remotely possible to develop a category focused on serious long form journalism? Looking thru the current /categories takes too much time and proves frustrating because most offerings don’t fit... perhaps a category called ‘long form journalism? Thank you, -Dan /////////////////////// Dear Curio Designers, I was caught off-guard by your responsiveness. Of limited budget yet let my NYT subscription lapse... to witness your evolution. Happy 4th of July... Bang! Yours, in support of a ‘Long Form Journalism’ Option- Dan

Needs cleaning up and less clutter. Several of the listed publishers aren’t kept up to date. For example, the most current article for OpenDemocracy is from 2018. The publishers that are kept up to date tend to be the monolith corporate media like Wash Post, FT, Bloomberg, and WSJ or decidedly partisan like the Guardian, Vox, and Vulture. More problematic is the apparent inability to adjust my feed and only see articles from publishers that I explicitly follow. So it’s not really My Feed but Curio’s clutter.

5 stars but I have a suggestion. I love this app, it’s a great for a daily dose of interesting information. It’s simple and easy to use. I just wish there was an easier way to look up specific things/topics you’re interested in.

Best thing to listen to on my commute. I love listening to the high-quality articles on Curio. I don’t have time to actually read the long-form journalism articles but I love listening to them on Curio, while doing other things like commuting or cooking at home. If I want to understand a little more on what’s happening in global news, I tune into the Informed show. The show always gives me thoughtful analysis and commentary.

Love the content, super buggy. Fantastic content curation. Lots of fascinating articles and unbiased news. I love “Wake Up with Curio.” It’s always succinct and engaging. However the app is sooo buggy for me. I have to open and close it several times before it will update with new content. If I pause a story, it takes like a whole minute to get it to start playing again. I probably won’t renew my subscription unless the bugs are fixed.

User friendly. I am surprisingly satisfied with this app. The app makes it easy to find topics that you are interested in. I like that I can build an library to my liking and go back in to listen to it again. This app will definitely keep the curious mind informed of new discoveries, current events, and new topics from IT to psychology to history and much more.

Great content. Great content. Will need to evolve a few features like Apple CarPlay, sonos or AirPlay features perhaps, and easier queuing up interested topics. But the content is solid and makes it worth it

Smooth functioning. This is my favorite reader/news app so far without annoying ads .Please keep it this way. And hats off to the developer... My goodness!. Thank you for creating a simple/awesome app with so many free features. Respect.

Not Journalism. Looking at a list of the alleged journalistic publications are fake news. If you’re a conservative American forget about this app just look at where the articles are from Financial Times, Economist and Washington Post. The developers might as well have added the DNC press releases as “news” sources to spread their propaganda. The articles you’re listening to are through the eyes of liberal fake news reporters so they’re guaranteed to be pro-liberal pro-global and anti-conservative and anti-trump. Just listen to cnn or msnbc!!!

New chat browsing experience is completely broken. It’s all chat based without an easily accessible catalog, so you’re stuck interrogating app for options. If you ask for a “long reads” to listen to while running it has no idea how to respond. If you follow up its suggestion of three stories for “latest business news” with prompt for “more” again, it can’t understand the request. I feel bad for people who had to tear down what was there to build this.

Why has this taken so long. Just love this. Can't understand why an app like this hasn't existed all this time. Can only hope you guys are getting more publications and expanding your offer.

robot readers. When I paid for an annual subscription last year, this service was pretty awesome. Now I guess to save money they have ingested the AI Kool-Aid. There is no way to download content for off-line listening. There is no way to search through recent article releases. Worst of all, instead of the illustrious and familiar narrators with human personalities, the narrator is now a generative AI that pauses randomly at punctuation. Definitely not worth renewing to me.

Love the app and the content.. Great app! I love listening to stories while I do mindless chores like walking place, doing laundry, drying dishes etc. Definitely recommend for anyone who struggles to find time to stay informed and is looking for a way to fit quality journalism into a tight schedule.

Like the app but only giving me results canned questions. Just installed and trying. Works great for the canned questions. When I try ask general easy questions gives me a network error. (Maybe trying to use my location)? Hope this helps

Without Apple car play it fall short of a killer app.. This would be a killer app if it had Apple car play. The ability to listen to these amazing narrated articles while on my commutes would be so extremely informative, helpful and fun. Please do consider introducing this feature. If it is introduced I’ll resub and recommend it to everyone I know.

Too few read articles from a single publication. In general is good. But there are too few articles from economists, FT and economists read daily in my opinion. Only 2-3 new ones on average.

Pedantic/patronizing selection and uninspired narration. If you listen to audiobooks, you know that narrators sometimes fail to give voice to the characters. In curio it feels like the narrators have no idea what they are talking about and place emphasis in a way that feels totally untethered to the significant facts in the articles. That aside, the articles themselves are often extremely anecdotal opinion pieces. They’re basically pieces where the author is just trying to sound smart without doing serious research. A lot of men are featured disproportionately to women, and there is a shortage of black and brown voices. Instead of making listeners smarter, curio makes listeners more pedantic. So far, non of the news “curators” are really optimizing for quality, they are optimizing for ideas that validate perspectives of the target audience. I give three stars because it is fundamentally a good idea and a good platform with decent execution, it just needs to make more of an effort to pick serious journalism from a more diverse set of voices (and not just some “star” authors and publications) with more facts and less speculation.

Makes it easier to stay well read. Revising review after recent update: The recent update completely changes how to read the news but not in a good way. The ai chat function forces you to ask a question before getting article recommendations which disrupts the browse-the-slow-news vibe I went to Curio for in the first place. Maybe I’m using it wrong but this pivot makes them a totally different app to what I signed up for. Why not just add the ai feature rather than replacing the tried and tested browsing view? Or use your app Rio as the ai chat and keep Curio as it was. Previous review: My eternal struggle to balance staying well read is an ongoing journey... podcasts are good but it's hit & miss, then Blinkist but 15 mins on a book is not deep enough, I sometimes buy a newspaper but the quality is variable and the time investment high. Anyway, tried Curio for a week after being incessantly targeted on insta and I am loving it. Basically they select top articles from a range of publications and read them out. It gives you a variety of writing styles, subjects and political balance. It's not just the news but slower journalism too. I'd recommend it. Sex, money, mental health, war, peace, plants, gender identity etc. For example I enjoyed an article today on desire. Def worth the trial and just signed up for a subscription

4.5 Stars - The Titles Aren’t Read. Just signed up and am loving this app except for one thing: the readers never read the titles of the articles(!). There’s an intro to each article, but surprisingly enough no mention of the article’s title. It’s like jumping into bed with someone without first getting their name. The title is indeed in the app itself or on my device, but I use the playlist/auto play function and can’t be bothered to look at my phone or iPad to find the new title every time an article changes, especially when driving or on my bike or walking the dog. Skipping the titles of songs would be fine, but not the title of written works/articles. Please read the titles of the articles and I will give 5 stars! Until then, I will try to get past having this huge chunk of context missing. I’ll try to remember the title of this app when recommending it. ;)

I have been a member since beta. I will probably never unsubscribe.. There are times when I am bored or doing something that leaves me wanting additional mental stimulation, and Curio is always there for me. It is great for falling asleep, too. The best part about Curio is that it is always a learning experience. The articles may not always be entertaining or accessible, but they are almost always profound, with new ideas to chew on. The excellent voice actors (except maybe a few) really bring the articles to life and immerse you in the story. I do wish that they hired their voice actors more diversely though. The app UX has improved dramatically in the past year or so, and I hope they keep making improvements—the interactions work well and are ok, but definitely not on par with major streaming apps.

Not Audm. I was looking for an alternative to what Audm used to offer, but this isn’t it. For $200 a year they add 3-4 articles a day, ranging from 4–15 minutes long. It is somehow completely random and over-curated at the same time. There’s no way to sort by audio length if you’re looking for longform content. Also who is demanding Olivia Colman narrate an article about sad nurses? The confluence of celebrity worship and hard reporting on actual problems is unsettlingly dystopian.

Great way of getting news in the busy world. I have been using curio every single day for the past month and it’s a fantastic app for getting the important news for me. I really enjoy the application despite some bugs here and there. I really would enjoy if they have a beta program as they could squash bugs even faster.

Legit. I’ve used it for about a year now, and it’s great. All their articles are narrated by professional readers. They have articles from various news sites. If anything, they need to add more daily articles.

Can you pls redesign the interface…. …so I can remove sections I neither want nor use? I’ve never listened to your shows and want to delete them from my interface, but I cannot. I also don’t like how stories disappear from view when I finish listening to them. Why can’t it just fade or be marked “Play” like Audm? Thanks.

Genuinely surprised. I went into this expecting to not even use my free trial and then cancel. By some odd coincidence I ended up driving for longer during the day than I normally would. I figured let’s use that free trial. I listened to one and then another and then another. It has been about a month and i’ve listened to the readings at least once every time I drive but it has extended to when I’m in the house. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on all of these articles and Curio has made it so accessible to me.I love this and I have no intention of removing my subscription.

Gotten pretty buggy.. I've been subscribed for years but in recent months the app has gotten really frustrating to use. Mostly stemming from its constant crashing on resuming playback. None of the app updates have fixed it. Having to go back into the app all the time to restart playback has gotten me to the point where I'm almost ready to unsubscribe. I enjoy the app otherwise, but it's bugs are awful.

Every new version gets worse and worse. How Not to Use AI 101: Replace every functional feature with a less functional, impersonal AI. I used to love this app for its simple interface that made it easy to navigate topics, categories, and sources. It enabled me to seek out topics I was actually interested in learning more about with intentional and was a nice reprieve from the mindless nature of other media apps. Now, it’s bloated with half-baked AI features that completely undermine its usability, charm, and value. The UI is no longer functional, and the AI-generated article readings are some of the most robotic and unnatural voices I’ve heard in 2024. Disappointed and ending my subscription.

Nice to have things in one place. Although I have subscriptions to some of the publications in the curio app already, I enjoyed the way that I can listen to them in a more selective way and in a single app, compared to switching between apps during my driving

HWW1012. This app gets me through my commutes everyday. Before I know it, my 30 minutes are up, and I'm left wanting to drive more to hear the end of these perfectly narrated stories!

Poor content, poor customer service. Not pleased with the fluffy content, attempted to cancel last year and removed subscription from my apple account but was just hit with another year’s subscription fee. Conveniently, the cancel feature on the app leads me to a broken page (after having already emailed them last year to cancel). Not happy!

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Unauthorised payments Curio refuses to refund. Beware this “free trial” scam. The moment I signed up for a trial, Curio immediately took 12 months’ full payment from my account. They totally decline to refund it.

Absolutely fantastic. I can’t stop recommending this app to people. I use it every day and listen on my way to work it while cooking dinner. Great stories from a wide range of sources and unlike many audio books, I am yet to find a narrator with an irritating voice! Well worth the monthly fee.

Scam. This app took a full years subscription payment from my bank account out of the blue after I cancelled my subscription months prior. Do not sign up for a “free” trial and do not give this app your bank details.

Excellent app. Really great source of interesting news, read by calming voices. Highly recommend.

Almost perfect. It would be five stars if it had more international content. Australian articles in particular...

New app is buggy and terrible. I used to love Curio. Now my old home page and follows have all disappeared and the app crashes repeatedly. I want my money back.

Strange UX choices. There's no way to add something to queue from the For You page?

Short and timely. I am a huge fan of audio books and this is great as the articles have been well selected, there are a broad range of topics and not too long - great for getting an across the board view of current affairs.

Love the way it works. Numerous interesting articles would inspire you and give you the power to get over every single trouble , I swear

Terrible app. Thrown together listens, nothing valuable. Charged me $7 after I cancelled my 7 day free trial. I have never left a bad review but the entire process with this app is shocking, don’t waste your time on it.

A must have app. At first I was a bit skeptical about using this app but i was wrong. The male voice is really calming and impressed me

Stable app. Huge collection. App starts fast. Great quality audio

Just what I have been looking for. In a time when we have who-knows-how-many low quality podcasts being pumped out of living rooms and makeshift recording studios on a daily basis, Curio provides a refreshing alternative. High quality, well produced journalism from a variety of outlets, in audio format, all in one subscription. My only feedback would be to see even more media sources on the platform, but I’m sure that is a work in progress.

Used to be great, such a shame. I loved this app. I could choose from a library of articles using many things like title, category and how long the article was. Now it’s hard to see what’s available, it’s not intuitive. No way to see how long an article is until you start playing. I have kept trying with e changes for months now but will no longer. Just a waste of time.

AMAZING work. This app is really great to get basic info about a specific article when you don't have much time to go through it all.

Emma Beddington has a foul mouth-this has spoiled my Curio experience. As above

The most informative app. I cannot recommend Curio highly enough. The content, the quality of the readers ensures a concise and interesting listen. When you don’t have time to sit and read all of the underlying material - Curio will do it for you.

Way better than its competitor. I work in real estate so I am always on the go. I need an application to hear news conveniently and Curio is exactly what I'm looking for

Glitches and asks for subscriptions multiple times. Not happy with subscription and can’t use it! The content is also outdated

Favorite audio news. It never fails to disappoint me. I really like the ability that I could tell it the amount of time I have for listening. Then just select the article you like to hear

Fantastic for triggering research. Love this app. It’s helped me find pathways for my research. Well done.

Indeed helpful. Thank you for making such a reliable app for listening news on the go. It's also a really good way to pass the time if you have much time left to wait for someone

Great service!. Wasn’t sure at first re ‘curating my content for me’, especially not having loads of time to front for new content reviewing (though ironically this is exactly what this app offers).. but very soon found that it does deliver on its promise!

New app is poor. The old app was curated content, from top titles, delivered in audio. The new AI version is poor. The experience is glitchy and the effort is with the user to think about what they want to learn about. Google or ChatGPT is where we go for that.

Why have I only just discovered this gem!?. Insta advertised this to me and absolutely nailed it. I signed up for a trial week but after my first listen I knew I’d be signing up for the year. You get access to audio stories from a range of fantastic publications. I used to subscribe to the economist chiefly for their audio content (they read all of their stories which I love) but it was so expensive and I didn’t want to pay so much for just ONE source of content. This is the answer! I can get stories from so many sources I love at a really reasonable price point. I also love the variety of topics, (tech, design, current affairs...) and length. From 5 min stories during a coffee break to a 35 min playlist for a morning run, this is now the soundtrack to my life. I can rarely be bothered to leave reviews on apps but I couldn’t wait to do it this time! Love it, thank you Curio!

Wasn’t able to listen. I signed up for the 7 day free trial but wasn’t able to listen to anything. I tend to cancel subscription straight away as I have a habit of forgetting to cancel and end up paying for apps I don’t need or want. Maybe thats why I couldn’t listen to anything. I deleted the app.

Moof is back. Gday it’s ya boi moof

Used to be brilliant - unfortunately not any more. I used to absolutely love Curio - for years, it helped me stay on top of headlines as well as the news in my profession in an engaging and brilliant way. Sadly the UI is now bland and hard to use, expecting users to know what they want to see before they see it. The voice actors also used to be brilliant, particularly the variety of accents. Now it’s the same digital American accent that doesn’t take the subject matter into account with its tone, and causes you to tune out with the repetitive inflections. I also really miss the podcast style “waking up with curio” that used to summarise the headlines in a personable and entertaining way (with a real human). So sad to see the app go in this direction, it felt like one of the only non-partisan ways to receive real news left.

Scam. It’s a scam

Very limited number of articles and OUTDATED. I cant find current articles published in their partners websites. Info seems limited and outdated. Then i was charged a year instead of a month

Used to love but now I’m lost. I have loved Curio for so long but this year they introduced sweeping changes and so much of what was great has gone. I’m now completely lost and likely to cancel my subscription. Very sad.

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Expensive in app purchase. Not willing to pay that much for this when I can just listen to free news podcasts 🤷🏻‍♀️ wish they had the options to use it for free with ads and then switch to a paid ad free version like Spotify.

Best app. If you’re looking for a personalized experience, with beautifully curated content - this app is for you.

Recent change. This app was until recently my favourite app on my phone. I do a lot of long hauls driving and I had hundreds of articles of interest downloaded for offline listening. As I said, I used this app probably more than any of on my phone and would have happily gotten rid of podcasts, audiobooks, etc in exchange for Curio’s content. NOW, however, the app is garbage; recent update means all AI driven (although mediocre system at best), no offline listening, whole downloaded collection gone, app crashes every time you open it anyways, etc. It really is a mess now. SOOO disappointing, as I will now be removing my subscription (app has no value for me anymore). THERE ARE ALREADY 50000 NEWS APPS IN THE WORLD, why would we want another when there was a wonderful, unique listening experience with the original Curio?!

Love it. Recommend

New update is disappointing. I loved the only Curio and how it was curated and laid out for you. The new layout is awful. I hate having to search for absolutely everything and lot be able to just see the lot of everything and find what’s cool. The new AI UI is interesting but should be an option and not the only thing. Really disappointing.

Great watch experience. But I used "sign in with apple" to Sign Up on my watch. Then I downloaded the iOS app to my phone... How do I sign in with apple? There's no button like that in the phone app?

Excellent & Refreshing!. Curio is as fitting a curated set of brain food for the curious human condition within me. Highly satisfied. Highly impressed. Better than Flipboard, IMO.

Subscription. I wanted to do the subscribe option for a shorter time period, but it automatically subscribed for one year. I feel cheated. Not only did I lose the week of free trial, I have over-subscribed. Even if I like it, there is no way I will continue thereafter unless someone can explain how this can be refunded.

No free trial On the monthly option. Was going to try it, but monthly works for me best, since I’m only at work where I can listen to it some of the time. Would have liked to try it, oh well.

UX issues started in November. Love the audio but it’s not been updating the feed so I’ve been seeing the same stories since Sept 20. Bait and switch for an annual plan purchase.

Good concept, confusing app with poor AirPods support. Love the idea of the app and it’s content. But it’s confusing to use. And if you’re an AirPods Pro user it’s always a battle to get the audio working. Why doesn’t the app offer a way to choose your output device like every other audio app?

Curio ... love it!. I feel inspired to learn something new everyday! This has a broad selection of topics that have short, manageable time frames to deliver knowledgeable, credible information to digest. I make jewelry (more than ever since the pandemic). My hands are busy and I love listening to podcasts or Ted talks to quench my thirst of relevant interesting and newsworthy topics👍

Great audio content. Great content that’s provided in audio format. The topics are engaging and the selection changes regularly. Some articles are a bit older (I just listened to once published from 2013), but I still find it relevant. Great concept! Only negative thing is that the playlist doesn’t remove the previously listened to pieces, meaning you have to remove them manually to get an unrepeated stream. Otherwise, I’d love to see (maybe in the future) articles not just from the anglophone world, but also from other well respected magazines from other cultures.

Lots of quality content, mediocre UI, no free trial with out renewal enabled. The content is quality and there is a good deal of quantity. The UI is mediocre, a bit confusing. And the free trial requires renewals to be enabled. Free trial only available with 250/year renewal enabled…

Still paying even though not subscribed. They have charged my credit card, I do not have a subscription. Waiting to hear back from customer service for a $60 refund.

The iPhone App is Still Buggy. It is unclear why after a number of versions and a number of years, the curio app remains so buggy. One you start playing an article you cannot then make any attempt to control the app. Basically the menu for settings and adjustment of sleep timer etc just disappear and the app just keeps playing without any way to modify the settings. The only way to work around is to bring the app up in your phone, shut it down, and then restart the app. You can then change a setting before starting a new story but once the article begins playing the settings menus are no longer available. Content is good but control is non existent. It needs to be cleaned up.

A joy. Wonderful.. Has always been unique and great, but with each update the app keeps getting better and the content range expands. If you like podcasts, or reading, you’ll like Curio.

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The app was so much better beforehand. I was a paid subscriber. Loved it that interesting articles came my way without the need to answer annoying questions or choose the topic that’s interesting to me. Super bummed with the latest version. So much so that I won’t use the app even though it’s free.

Figured out how to speed it up. I initially rated this low because the pace was so slow and I didn’t see a way to speed it up, but support contacted me several times to let me know how to speed it up so I am updating the review.

Beware the trial! Crooks. I missed the trial window by one day. Was charged a full year and no response to repeated inquiries on prorating a refund. I could stomach it if there was more content and curated playlists of stories, but overall poor all around, especially customer service.

No way to cancel without paying $70. The fact that you’re automatically charged a full year’s subscription after 7 days is bad enough - what’s worse is that the subscription doesn’t even appear in your Apple ID until AFTER you’ve been charged almost $70, so you have no way to cancel until after you’ve paid that fee. DON’T DOWNLOAD UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE FORCED TO PAY JUST SO YOU CAN CANCEL.

Another cool app RUINED by AI. This app was fantastic before the latest update. No one asked for a stupid AI chat bot and horrible side scrolling format of the recommendations it gives. I WANT THE OLD CURIO BACK!!! You know… a visual representation of the audio articles with the magazine logos, being able to scroll DOWN the list and add things to the queue. There are no menus and no way to listen without interacting with the AI bot. Very frustrating.

There’s barely any content. Waste of money. Very small library. They automatically opt you in for a year subscription following the trial instead of a month which cost me a lot of money for something I didn’t want. It feels incredibly scammy.

Doesn’t work. Waste of money. Curio has not refreshed or added new content for a month or more. I contacted support 2 weeks ago. I just updated the app and now i have zero stories. You charge a lot of money for nothing. They won’t give me a prorated refund for the month their app didn't work. A refund must come through Apple and it is all or nothing.

Convenient and informative 💯. Great listening while I’m on the move from noteworthy sources. Love the quality of readers as well. It’s become a staple in my morning routine.

Fabulous App. Enjoying it more and more each day. So much to explore. Just ordered a one-year subscription for my sister.

Still pretty buggy. In my first 5 minutes using this app it was very buggy. Apple Watch app crashes, playback controls get confused easily and even signing up for a subscription returns an error message.

My one indispensable app. Now I finally have the time to listen to all the great writing, from all the great publications, that I never had the time to read.

Love this!. Still so simple to listen to and the articles that get recommended are always commendably easy to listen to.

Just okay. I love the idea but it all feels so underwhelming. The news stories lack branding or any sort of production. It makes it feel hollow and lifeless. I wish there was more effort put into the recordings, especially with a subscription. I’ll stick with NPR instead for free.

Great Idea. Curio is my go to app for news/information. The breadth and depth of the articles is very impressive. Highly recommend!

Curio 2.0 looming. I hope Curio 2.0 will not be their other App Rio in most part, because that app is the absolut worst. I fear the worst and see a grim future for Curio if it comes out like this. Let's revisit the issue after the launch... I expect carnage in the comments. Prove me wrong 😉

Not free. Thought there was a free version, like I would have to listen to ads, but not an option. Deleted before the 1st free 7 tracks, then I was concerned after having read the wording that I would automatically be billed, so I had to waste a bunch of time figuring out how to cancel. PS. It doesn’t download and work solely on watch. Way too complicated getting signed in.

Wonderful app. Beautifully designed, simple, perfect. My go-to app in the evenings when I want to relax and listen to some of the best articles from my favorite magazines/journals.

Fantastic concept and app. Love this app - I love all of these magazines and news sources, but don’t have enough time to read them all. Now I listen on my commute and the time flies by!

Misses the mark. Mostly personal development fluff I skip when reading any of these newspapers. It’s enjoyable for a day or 2, then it becomes way too expensive for what I’m really looking for. I’m basically paying 5% the cost of each publication for the 5% I don’t read.

Everything it promised to be.. Great articles, with great narrators from a dizzying array of sources. I saw an ad while scrolling through Instagram and was immediately interested. The app itself does not disappoint.

Totally worth it. Great to listen to while I exercise, drive, and get ready for work. Really high quality articles that are well chosen and well read. I use this everyday! Really worthwhile.

Very good quality narration. All the recordings are of great quality. I would love to see more scientific articles from respectable science magazines.

High Quality app. Good diverse content delivered in high quality voice.

Five star rating for Curio. It’s what I want. The articles are interesting and they come from an intellectual perspective that is biased toward a British viewpoint. That’s fine with this American.

Love Curio. Flat-out awesome app. Such a reasonable price for the quantity - and quality - of the content you get. And this latest version fixed all the little bugs!

Good app but I had to cancel but they charged me fir a year. I cancelled my subscription but they had charged me for a year already and I didn’t know. Please refund my money. Thanks!

An app made by dumb people, performed by robots. Wasn’t sure how much worse Curio could have been to Audm, and have been awarded with this: the single greatest performance in Dumb-Infuriating-Silicon Valley Inventions. It’s so dumb you should download it, show it to your kids, and tell them this is why everything is dumb now.

Love It. I'm hooked on listening to non-fiction, and Curio offers so many interesting options in varying lengths shorter than books. I have had no issues with the app.

Good idea. This is an excellent, well designed app for both my phone and ipad pro. Easy to use and saves me from using my eyes too much just for reading news

New AI version is horrible. I really liked curio! But this new version with AI is terrible! It is not working! And not every thing needs to be AI chatbot! I liked being able to explore the articles and choose the ones I like in a matter of seconds! I don’t like to talk to a chatbot! Plus the chatbot that crashes and not work! Very disappointed!

Seems interesting but the app refuses to play downloaded tracks. I seem to have problem playing the tracks that i downloaded when not connected to wifi. they won’t start.

Great concept. This is not a podcast. Rather long and interesting articles from premium journalism in audio format. Adnan

Decent articles, wish there were more publications featured.. Also, mistakes in the reading should be edited out no? Repeatedly reading a sentence two or three times because of stuttering or skipping over words although relatable, doesn’t make for easy listening on the ears.

Clunky. Roll back to traditional discovery UI/UX and chat for those with too much time on their hand…no one has time to chat to listen to content. I chat to get succinct answers…you’ve strayed; now don’t stray till you’ve lost all your customers. Already cancelled…I’m asking you to win me back!

WONDERFUL. In the age of technology this is a great app to have for anyone bother about their safety when driving the car and reading news

Excellent app. Awesome, well designed app, but the CarPlay version crashes whenever I click on downloads. Hopefully y’all can fix this.

Snooze “news”. This app is NOT a newsfeed, as news is delivered timely. Content is not added frequently enough to use as a go-to source for news. I also agree with several users who found the narrators to be flat.

EXCITING. this app is amazing! just discovered, will have more to say later. but on first blush, this is a GOLD MINE of learning. i idea: all pieces need to be dated so listeners can know if it is new or old.

Could not handle the mispronunciations. Would suggest if the news readers are going to be presenting this material to a sophisticated audience, they should not grossly mispronounce common words. I’m going to hold off and see if this app evolves

Tremendous. The editorial team curates a stellar array of articles and the narrators set a gold standard that put most audiobooks to shame. This app is now an indispensable staple in my life. – Brian Neff

Five stars because.... Visually appealing, easy to use and navigate to find articles I'm interested in and truly high quality podcasts!!! This is truly life-changing

My new best app. I'm addicted. Knowledge is power and this is where to get it! Anything you could want in one place anytime anywhere...!

Disappointed. The app interface is frustrating and most of the articles are AI voices which is beyond annoying. Articles are hardly curated. I’m paying way too much for what the offer today. I liked the previous interface and article selection.

New AI feature doesn’t work. My most fav app on the phone. Love the selection and hope they continue to grow the library with long essays. Thanks!!

This is freaking awesome. Curio is informative and a convenient way to hear great articles from great journalism . The quantity of the article is rather not important as its quality, so just keep updating only great articles

Highly appreciate its usability. One of my favorite apps that helps me get information and find inspiration for a new project effortlessly. It's actually my life-changer

Very helpful. Listen my favorite articles on the move. So helpful for a busy business man like me. Big thanks to the creators. I would love to recommend it to my friends and my clients

WARNING: Misleading free trial page.. The free trial page indicates that you will be charged after your seven day free trial. I was charged immediately for the full price of a year’s subscription. Curio should correct this immediately or be pulled from the App Store. Otherwise this is an excellent app. Please fix your misleading free trial page.

I’ve changed my mind. Kiss your empty podcast queue goodbye. This is now my favorite app! It’s like having awesome long form journalism read to you by the most talented audiobook narrators! Loooooove.

Manual Refresh. The app does not refresh reliably on open and does not provide a way in app for the user to force a manual update (like swipe down). It is very frustrating. On content, it’s good. Financial Times and other high quality content providers. Needs more content, sooner. Low stars because app design.