AppCorpus
Market US

Scientific American

by Springer Nature America, Inc.

iPhone · iPad

Active Last checked 30 Aug 2026

Quick verdict

What it is
Store information collected; independent summary not yet available.
At a glance
  • From $5.99/mo
  • Free to download
  • In-app purchases

Categories and search queries

Official categories

AppCorpus categories

Key functions

Function Availability Access Scope Evidence
Free app Yes Free Store published
In-app purchases Yes Limited free Store published

Screens

App Store

15 store screenshots

Scientific American ipad screenshot 1
Scientific American ipad screenshot 2
Scientific American ipad screenshot 3
Scientific American ipad screenshot 4

Pricing & paywalls

App Store

  • Scientific American - 1 year Subscription — $5.99/month
  • Scientific American - 1 year Subscription — $34.99/year ($2.91/mo)
  • Scientific American - 1 year Subscription — $49.99/year ($4.16/mo)
  • Scientific American August 2013 issue — $5.99
  • Scientific American February 2013 issue — $5.99
  • Scientific American issue for November 2014 — $5.99
  • Scientific American issue for September 2015 — $5.99
  • Scientific American January 2014 issue — $5.99
  • Scientific American October 2012 issue — $5.99
  • Scientific American September 2013 issue — $5.99

Ratings & reviews

App Store

4.8 10149 ratings · App Store

  1. 5/5Great content but not the app

    Love the content in general. However the app is problematic: recurrent problem over several iOS and different iPhones, I have to delete the app every month for my account to recognize my subscription. “Restore subscription” never works. Otherwise love the content and will keep the subscription despite the monthly hassle! Update: Looks like above issue was fixed. Also, the app stays at the exact page where I left it when I come back to the app after closing it (used to take me to the home page). 5 stars! Thanks

    ZakZQ · 30 Aug 2026

  2. 1/5This app is difficult to manage

    It is very difficult to manage or synch up ones subscriptions with this app. Throughout the year I am inundated with offers for new subscriptions from Scientific American, The main magazine, Physics, Mind, combination bundles, etc... Managing the that is a nightmare. If I want to add I need to go to the website and it is not reflected in the app. If I had an earlier subscription to one mag it does not reflect in the app and I cant get to it without a laborious process of linking accounts. Is there anyone I can talk too?? Forget get it! Send off an email and get a response next day... the start over again. When I am able to get things working within two months something breaks and the app refuses to download,, again!! The app looks good and when it works it is great.. but the only thing it is really good at is trying to charge me full price for each issue of a magazine. You are more trouble than you are worth. I am letting my subscriptions lapse. If I can see your magazine through some bundling service like Apple, that will be the way it goes... At least their service doesn’t break every two months and is designed to be easy to manage!! PS. I cant even post this without giving the app a stupid nickname!!!

    Difficult account management · 30 Aug 2026

  3. 4/5App is quirky

    Below is a review I wrote about 2 years ago. I still have problems with the app not retaining my subscription information. -— Seems like both the website and the iPad app have had problems for a couple of years that have not been addressed. I got an e-mail verifying my renewal today that contained a link to my subscription. Using that link, I got a page that said, "We have moved," and gave another link to get to the magazine. Since SciAm just sent me that link, why haven't they updated it to take me to the address that they've move to? Additionally, on the iPad app, I have to re-registered my subscription if I have accessed it for a few weeks. After I do that, I have access to the digital issues, but I don't understand why I have to keep re-registering. This annoying problem has been true for previous versions of the iPad app. Despite these problems, I think the SciAm content is great and it has kept me as a long-term subscriber.

    profmiket · 30 Aug 2026

  4. 1/5Content is fine but this app is not good

    Do not waste your time on this app. It’s genuinely shocking to me that this app has 4.7 stars. I’ll try to avoid invective here and just list some of the problems: - UI exposes apparent variable names in the bottom toolbar. Instead of (say) “Home”, “All Issues”, “Scrapbook”, you get “tab_document”, “tab_storefront”, “tab_scrapbook”, etc. - It does not save your place, so if you are reading an issue from a couple years ago and leave the app for a few minutes, it takes you back to the home page with no way to return to the same issue except by remembering what issue you were reading and scrolling to find it. If (like me) you put the app on your phone so you could read in 5-10 min blocks when you have time, you end up spending most of that getting back to where you were. (By the way, the app used to take you back to the same place when you opened it, so for unknown reasons they removed this functionality.) - Your only way to save your place is to star articles for your scrapbook, but you cannot use that method to then continue reading the issue. - If you click on an article in your scrapbook, the scrapbook has no more functionality until you restart the app. It lets you see that one article and dead-ends there, so if you click the “tab_scrapbook” button at the bottom of the screen it’ll just take you back to the article. You cannot go to a different article in your scrapbook or return to the scrapbook main page. I’ll probably cancel my subscription soon. It’s been like this for months with no sign of updates, which suggests that SciAm does not care about their mobile platform.

    mororrorom · 30 Aug 2026

  5. 1/5Worse Again and Again

    Once again I had to re-authorize which is not a smooth process. When I complained last time I was told they want you to reauthorize every thirty days. These people are really greedy, obnoxious idiots. Review September 2019. Password lost again. Cannnot restore. These guys are true incompetent morons. They are able to charge my credit card but not actually able to deliver what I paid for. They seem to have fixed the disappearing password problem. After a week or two and several tries I eas able to get back in. The interface still seems less smooth than it could be. Even Newer Review Restore does not work. They should change the name to “Incompetent American” New review: They supposedly made it better. Not really. It worked for a few months and then lost my subscription. It still won’t hold the password and won’t restore. Some of the issues I can read and others want me to subscribe. The way you view the content when it does work is strange and irritating. They will not respond to requests for help. They have my $99 and I have an app that does not work. I do at least get the paper version. Old review: Irritating and unusable. If it was free it would be a waste of time. Get the paper version. Hard to believe how bad it is.

    S in Austin · 30 Aug 2026

Privacy & accessibility

App Store

Privacy

  • Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Diagnostics — Crash Data Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Diagnostics — Performance Data Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Identifiers — User ID Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Usage Data — Product Interaction Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Diagnostics Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Identifiers Developer declared
  • Data Not Linked to You — Usage Data Developer declared

Accessibility

No accessibility labels collected yet.

Versions

App Store

  • 1.0
  • 1.1

    Bug fixes: - Addresses a critical bug with iOS 6.1 New Features: - Background downloading - download issues in the background, while doing other activities. - Bookmarking - bookmark your favorite articles for later reference.

  • 1.2

    iOS7 support and bug fixes

  • 1.2.1

    iOS7 support, iPad 1 support, bug fixes

  • 1.3

    This version supports iOS 6, iOS 7 and iOS8. iOS5 and iPad1 support has been discontinued.

  • 1.4

    Fix to help improve download problems on slower connections

  • 1.41

    - Fix to help downloads on slower connection speeds - Update icons / splash screen - Updates default app title on library view

  • 2.0

    - Now available on iPhone + Tablet (iOS 7+) - Text resizing for articles - Add to scrapbook: Tap the star icon to save your favorite articles from any issue

  • 2.0.1

    - Added new help screens - Added forgot password link - Style changes for image captions - Various bug fixes

  • 2.0.2

    Improved archiving and download functionality - Automatic archiving of issues after 3 months - Press and hold on downloaded issue cover to access option to archive Added push notifications Various bug fixes

  • 2.0.3

    - Optimization for iPhoneX users to improve the usability - New edition labels on the buttons within the storefront - New filter bar to highlight filters found in your feed.

  • 2.0.4

    Support for Firebase Analytics

  • 2.1

    Exciting news! Scientific American is consolidating our Scientific American and Scientific American Mind apps to bring app users a more enriching and easier experience. This means that regardless of the subscription you have, only one app is necessary to access your subscription. For existing in-app subscribers to Scientific American, your subscription will renew automatically at the same price you paid for your app-only subscription.

  • 2.2

    Minor bug fixes and performance improvements.

  • 2.3

    New toolbar design for easier navigation

  • 2.4

    - New toolbar design for easier navigation - Performance improvements

  • 6.0

    -Updated look and feel to app sections and magazine issues -Performance improvements

  • 6.1

    Bug fixes and performance improvements

  • 6.2

    Bug fixes and performance improvements

  • 6.3

    Bug improvements and fixes.

  • 6.4 · 9 Jan 2025

    Bug fixes and performance improvements

Alternatives

Availability by market

Data quality & evidence

Page completeness
Live store listing
Last verified
30 Aug 2026
Sources
App Store

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