Cook’s Illustrated App Reviews

Wish this app supported horizontal rotation.

I have this app on my iPad and it clearly needs more development. Not really sophisticated enough for streamlined use. Some of the problems: the app can only be viewed in portrait mode so if you have a iPad case that stands your iPad up in landscape (which is handy for in the kitchen!) this app wont work that way. Another total design flaw is that the recipe is organized in tabs with the ingredients and instructions on different tabs. So if youre measuring things out as you go or you want to doublecheck your measures in the recipe you have to keep going between tabs which can be annoying especially if your hands are covered in flour or raw eggs or what have you. These are only two of many other flaws that beg for improvement. Is this app for cooks? Not really. Shame on you, CI. The website and magazine are much more superior layout you would think a home run app would follow. Not.

I use this app mostly to refer to the "Taste Test"....when I go out shopping and cant make a brand decision, I consult this app, which makes it easy to see what brand the Cooks Illustrated taste panel recommends. I looked at the recipes, and do hope they allow the user to view recipes on landscape.

No cloud syncing between devices, tired interfaces. Seems they dont care about this at all.

Crashes when loading an issue. Complete failure in iOS 8. I expect an update soon, so I havent given up hope. Until then, however, its unusable.

Does not work with iOS 8. Saw the earlier post, but anyone hear of an update to this app? Uninstalled and reinstalled and lost all my favorites in the process, but still holding out that they will update...

I love the shows, but the app is a dud for the following reasons: -it crashes a lot -the videos usually crash on the iPhone even with wifi -the search function is faulty -the taste test results are inconsistent with the video tests and web results Ive complained about these problems and months ago I got a response that they were fixing the problems. Nothing has been done. Instead of putting out a new cookbook, how about fixing our app and two websites?

I am a paying subscriber, the app shows that Im logged in but every recipe I pull up prompts a message to start a new membership. Too bad.

A very poor app. Yes, its free, but we expect much more from Cooks Illustrated. Id glad pay more (above and beyond what I currently pay for the magazine and in-line access) for a useful, high-quality app. And there needs to be an iPad version.

I enjoyed this app until it required I pay a duplicate yearly membership. I think there is a problem with this app.

Pros: -taste tests are good -you can select recipes as "favorites" Cons -you cant search within favorites for recipe names or ingredients...well actually, no searching whatsoever -favorites arent categorized in any fashion - protein type, appetizer, etc., its just a list of recipes you have to scroll through to find what youre looking for. -not sure if the recipes and tests are updated monthly as the magazine is published. Maybe it is, but it theres no way to know in the app. -hasnt been updated in a very long time

Unlike many others, I can login in just fine. The search function for recipes is very difficult to use. I tried to search for "apple sauce" because I wanted to make homemade apple sauce and it have me over 1500 results, most simply had "apple" or "sauce" in them, but not what I was looking for.

Im a paying member. This App lets me login, but still doesnt load the recipes - Worthless.

Would a serious cook not gather the ingredients and prep beforehand? Everything is working smoothly for me! My account was accessed with my password just fine. Very functional and easy to use. Cooks Illustrated has always been my Go To source and remains my favorite.

I use this app frequently to access my "favorites" and to create a shopping list for my favorites. It could be so much better. Ive saved 50+ favorites but they cannot be organized into any categories or even listed alphabetically. That would be first upgrade. Organizing recipes into a menu would be second. Shopping list is very basic, but does allow easy editing to remove ingredients that you might typically have on hand, like salt or water. Oh, and you have to have Internet access to retrieve your favorites or any other recipes. I would love to rate this a 4 or 5 star. The recipes are so well tested and fail-proof.

Im surprised with some of the negative reviews here. This is a great app. Yes it looks a bit old and would be even better with an update. But, it allows me to access all the recipes I would normally get from the Cooks Illustrated website - I can save them for reference on my phone. PLUS, the ability to add a recipe to your shopping list is fantastic. You can simply do so twice to double the portions and it automatically doubles everything on your list. Im really pleased with the app. Yes it could be newer but Ive had no bugs.

Definitely needs work. Timer goes off if you move to another app. Video freezes. Related recipe links dont work. Limited recipe selection. Come on, ATK, bring us the much-needed update.

You guys really need to step up your game here and develop an iPad compatible app so you can actually use this in the kitchen while cooking. This app is 1st generation iPhone at best. I love the recipes but my annual membership fee may start going elsewhere if I cant start using this in the kitchen. You can do it! Please?

Love being able to quickly and easily find and email to my cook-husband the recipes he likes while hes on his way to the store to buy the ingredients. Hell call or text and say, "Find me a recipe for scalloped potatoes and send me the ingredient list." Happy to comply! Also, there are so many unreliable recipes on the Internet that one must have a trusted source of information or else risk possible illness, aggravation, or even just wasted time, money, and food. Or worse.

For what you pay I thought youd get the magazine edition. Needs work.