Good News Network

Opening the app for the first time

The splash screen appears for about three seconds. Then the main feed loads. Nothing is cached from the previous session. Every launch forces a fresh pull from the server. The top bar shows the Good News Network logo and a menu icon. Below that, a row of topic filters: All News, This Day in History, Quote of the Day, World News, USA News, Good Talks, and Animals. Tapping any filter reloads the entire list. The default view is "All News." Stories appear as cards with a headline, a short excerpt, and a thumbnail image. The thumbnails are small on phones. They look better on tablets. Scrolling is smooth on newer devices. Older phones experience stutter. The app does not preload images. Each image loads as you scroll past it. This causes a slight delay. The delay is noticeable on slower connections. The search bar is at the top. Typing a keyword returns a list of related articles. The search is fast. But it only searches article titles. It does not search the full text. The app does not have a dark mode. That is a common complaint across user feedback. The settings menu offers limited control. You can turn notifications on or off globally. There is no per-topic toggle. You cannot set quiet hours. You cannot choose between instant alerts and daily digests. The notification sound is the same for all alerts. There is no way to customize it. The settings also have an accessibility option to adjust font size from "normal" to "large." This is a nice touch. But the settings often do not work. One reviewer noted that the settings were non-functional nine times out of ten.

Positive news and aggressive ads — a frustrating combination

The app delivers exactly what it promises: positive news stories from around the world. The content is uplifting and heartwarming. It is a refreshing alternative to the doom and gloom of mainstream media. The stories cover a wide range of topics. There are feel-good human interest stories, scientific breakthroughs, and acts of kindness. The concept is excellent. But the execution is problematic. The app is free to download and use. However, it relies on advertising for revenue. The ads are not subtle. They are intrusive and aggressive. They cover the content frequently. They refresh every two seconds. This causes flashing that can trigger migraines. One reviewer noted that the ads could even trigger epilepsy in severe cases. The ads are also low-quality. They have been described as "2010 scam ads." Some of them are disturbing. They make it impossible to focus on the positive news. The only way to remove the ads is to purchase a subscription. The subscription costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. This is a reasonable price for an ad-free experience. But the aggressive ad implementation feels like a bait-and-switch. Users come for positive news. They are met with negative ad experiences. This undermines the app's core purpose. The app also has a bug that prevents it from opening on some devices. It gets stuck on the logo page. Reinstalling and restarting the phone do not fix it. This has been reported by multiple users.

Performance, crashes, and the sluggish interface

The app is not fast. The initial load takes between four and eight seconds. This is longer than most news apps. The delay comes from the server response. The app makes multiple API calls on startup. It fetches the latest news, the topic list, and the user's saved articles. These calls happen sequentially. They do not run in parallel. This makes the startup time worse. The app also reloads the entire feed when you switch topics. It does not cache the previous feed. So switching from World News to USA News triggers a new network request. The USA News feed takes another three to five seconds to load. The app does not show a loading indicator during these requests. The screen remains blank. Users think the app has frozen. They tap the screen again. This sometimes triggers a crash. The crash is more common on Android 7 and 8. The app targets a minimum API level of 24. That is Android 7.0. But the app does not handle low-memory conditions well. It crashes when the device has less than 1GB of RAM available. The app also leaks memory over time. Leaving the app open for a few hours causes the memory usage to climb. The system eventually kills the process. The app then restarts from scratch. This resets the feed and loses your scroll position. The scroll position is not saved between sessions. You have to scroll down again to find where you left off. The app does not offer a "mark as read" feature. So you cannot track which articles you have already seen. The content is also not updated frequently. One reviewer noted that World and USA news often had a delay of up to three days before new reports appeared. This makes the app less useful for staying informed.

The permission request screen and what it asks for

The app requests two permissions on first launch. It asks for storage access and notification access. The storage permission is used to cache articles and images. The notification permission is used to send push alerts. The app does not request any other permissions. It does not ask for location, camera, or microphone access. The privacy policy states that data is encrypted in transit. The app shares location and personal info with third parties. The developer does not specify which third parties. The policy also states that you can request data deletion. The app does not offer an in-app option to delete your data. You have to contact the developer via email. The email address is provided in the Play Store listing. The app does not collect data from children. The content rating is not specified. The app is free to download. But it requires a subscription for full access. The subscription price is not listed in the app. You have to visit the website to see the pricing. The app does not support in-app purchases. So you cannot subscribe directly from the app. You have to subscribe on the website and then log in. This creates friction. The login process is also slow. It takes you to a web view. The web view does not remember your credentials. You have to type your email and password every time. The app does not support biometric authentication.