Curio - Trusted News Companion

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.

I loved Curio Then I updated to this ridiculous AI interface

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Omg. You guys ruined a great app. We do not want or need a chatbot.

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

I’ve loved Curio and recommended it to friends for years, but unfortunately, as soon as the free trial of this new version is over, I am planning on canceling my account. I usually find it a silly when people leave reviews about cancelling accounts when something changes—usually an aesthetic or otherwise inconsequential update most users quickly get used to anyway, myself included. In this case, though, the overhaul Curio recently pushed live takes all the autonomy out of the app. It is essentially a chatbot that does exactly what the “search” function previously did, i.e. finding stories to listen to…except this AI iteration does it much, much worse, and you can’t browse easily on your own. I’ve use AI for work, I’m not opposed to it as a tool, and I wouldn’t dismiss it as a fad by any means. But when it’s unnecessary, it just makes a company seem desperate to appear modern. Have they considered there’s a reason platforms—Netflix and Hulu or Apple Podcasts and Spotify—allow people to browse and don’t require them to make small talk with an LLM to get its automated recs? It’s a huge bummer that such a great platform—one that previously functioned well and was organized intuitively—got transformed into whatever this is. I apologize to any product folks who had to work on this (nobody blames you!) and likely at the behest of someone who ignores the feedback of the product team, if they communicate w/ them at all, and doesn’t know what “UX” means.