Get help with The Economist on iPhone

Download the app

Our free iPhone app enables iPhone and iPod touch owners to listen to and read articles from each week’s print edition, starting Thursdays at 9pm GMT. To locate and download the app, please visit the App Store.

Economist subscribers have access to the full contents of each week’s print edition. (Print subscribers must first activate full digital access.)

Non-subscribers have access to selected editorial highlights from each week’s print edition.

Startup error message

If the iPhone app is launched on a network where signal strength is low, it becomes corrupted and fails on subsequent start-ups. When that happens, you'll see a "Startup failed" message on your device.

To temporarily fix this problem:

1. Delete the app from your device
2. Re-install and relaunch it while connected to a Wi-Fi network

We are working on a permanent solution and will update the app as soon as possible.

Register for an account

To register with The Economist and create your free account, please:

1. Open the app to view the Library screen
2. Tap the Account button at the top of the Library screen
3. Tap Log in or sign up
4. Tap Sign up and complete the form

Registration benefits

All readers may access selected editorial highlights from each week’s issue on the iPhone app. When you register, you may also log in to our website each week to read ten print edition articles of your choice.

You may use the same details to log in to the website.

Log in and out of the app

Current Economist subscribers must log in to receive full access to our iPhone app. (Print subscribers must also activate full digital access.)

You may log in to the app using your Economist online account details.

To log in, please:

1. Open the app to view the Library screen
2. Tap the Account button at the top of the screen
3. Tap Log in or sign up

To log out, please:

1. Open the app to view the Library screen
2. Tap the Account button at the top of the screen
3. Tap Log out

If you have registered online but are not an Economist subscriber, you may log in to the app using the same login details, but you will not receive any additional access.

Activate full digital access

Current print subscribers are entitled to full access to our iPhone app, but must first activate using the instructions below.

1. Open the app to view the Library screen
2. Tap the Account button at the top of the screen
3. Tap Activate print subscription and complete the form
4. Log in or tap Sign up to create your free account
5. Follow the instructions to enter your customer reference number and activate your account

You may also activate on our website.

If you are unable to activate your access, please contact your local print service centre.

Purchase a subscription or single issue

Purchase a subscription

Current Economist subscribers are entitled to full access to our iPhone app, which enable iPhone and iPod touch owners to listen to and read the contents of each week’s print edition. To purchase a digital subscription, please:

1. Open your app to view the Library screen
2. Tap any issue cover and select Purchase
3. Log in or tap Sign up to create your free account
4. Follow the instructions to purchase your subscription

Alternatively, you may subscribe on our website.

Purchase a single issue

iPhone and iPod touch owners may also purchase a single digital issue that contains all articles from each print edition in text and audio. To purchase a single digital issue, please:

1. Open your app to view the Library screen
2. Locate the issue you'd like to purchase
3. Select Purchase and follow the instructions

Manage my subscription

Current Economist subscribers are entitled to full access to our iPhone app, which enables iPhone and iPod touch owners to listen to and read the contents of each week’s print edition.

• How to manage your print subscription
• How to manage your digital subscription

Manage my account

If you have already registered at The Economist online, you may use the same details to log in to our iPhone app.

Similarly, when you create an account through the app, you may use the same details to log in to the website.

• How to manage your account

Download each week’s issue

Our iPhone app enables you to listen to and read the contents of each week’s print edition on your iPhone and iPod touch. New issues are available for download every Thursday at 9pm GMT.

Automatic vs. manual downloads

You may download new issues automatically whenever a 3G or Wi-Fi connection is available (this is the default option) or download them manually by tapping on an issue cover. You may also set different options for text and audio downloads. Please note that due to file size limitations, audio downloads are only available through Wi-Fi connections.

To change your download settings:

1. Open any issue and tap Settings at the bottom of your screen
2. Locate the “Download of text and images” and “Download of audio” sections
3. Tap the Wi-Fi and 3G auto-download buttons to customize your settings

New issue notifications

App users may elect to receive automatic notifications whenever a new issue is available. These notifications will appear on the Library screen after you open the app.

To sign up for automatic notifications:

1. Open any issue and tap Settings at the bottom of your screen
2. Locate the “Download of text and images” section
3. Tap Issue notifications to sign up for issue notifications

Manage storage settings

Our iPhone app enables you to download and store several issues of The Economist on your iPhone and iPod touch.

You may change your storage settings by opening any issue and tapping Settings at the bottom of your screen. From there, locate the “Storage” section to customize your settings for text and audio storage.

Access back or deleted issues

When you log out of our iPhone app, any issues that you’ve downloaded are deleted.

To reload them, or access issues that were deleted due to your storage settings, please follow the instructions below.

Subscribers

1. Open your app to view the Library screen
2. Tap the Account button at the top of the screen, then tap Log in or sign up
3. Locate the issue you’d like to reload and tap the cover to download it

Single issue purchasers

1. Open your app to view the Library screen
2. Locate the issue you’d like to reload and tap the cover
3. Select Purchase and follow the instructions (you will not be charged)

Access the audio edition

Our iPhone app enables you to listen to an integrated audio broadcast of each week’s print edition on your iPhone and iPod touch. These broadcasts contain professional recordings of all articles that are published in The Economist, and are available every Thursday at 9pm GMT.

Downloading the audio edition

By default, you must download each audio edition manually using the instructions below:

1. Open the app to view the Library screen
2. Select the issue you’d like to listen to and tap its cover to view the table of contents
3. Tap the red headset icon on the upper right corner of the screen
4. Tap Download

Please note that due to file size limitations, audio downloads are only available through Wi-Fi connections.

Automatic audio downloads

You may also opt to download each audio edition automatically whenever a Wi-Fi connection is available. To change your download settings:

1. Open any issue and tap Settings at the bottom of your screen
2. Locate the “Download of audio” section
3. Tap the auto-download buttons to customize your settings

Listening to the audio edition

You may listen to individual articles, sections or an entire issue by tapping the red headset icon on the upper right corner of the screen, which will turn black as the audio plays.

• To listen to an individual article, tap the headset icon within the article you’d like to hear.
• To listen to all articles within a particular section, tap the headset icon within that section’s table of contents.
• To listen to all articles within a particular issue, tap the headset icon within its table of contents.

You may pause the audio, control the volume, or skip ahead to the next or previous articles using the controls that appear at the bottom of the screen while the audio is playing.

To close the audio edition, tap the headset icon on the upper right corner of your screen, which will turn red once the audio is off.

Creating a customised playlist

To create a customised playlist within a particular issue:

1. Open any issue and tap Audio at the bottom of your screen
2. Tap the article titles to add them to your playlist
3. Tap Done to edit or clear your playlist, then tap the red headset icon on the upper right corner of the screen to listen to it