The Sun + Goals App has been reviewed as A Football News, Info & TV Apps
Value for Money – 4/10
The Sun + Goals App has been produced by the Sun is a leading British newspapers and as with all newspaper outlets in recent years they have been gradually moving into online media to keep business running smoothly in a time when readership is falling. In the past few years The Sun has made a big deal about the fact that they acquired the rights to show Premier League goals on mobile and handheld devices and have plugged the app to death in recent months with TV adverts and the like. But is the app worth it? Does it deliver?
In essence yes but there are a few glaring errors and issues you would need to consider before deciding whether to use this app. As you would expect from an app made by such a huge company as News International, everything works and looks well but the need for the subscription to Sun Plus runs the app almost entirely.
Graphics – 9/10
This is the one area where the app will have to score low as I think, in terms of whether you get a good value for your money here, this app fails. The app itself costs 69p which is not bad for what you get – a constantly updated, live and well-functioning app that works well on every device I have tried it on. However, the 69p isn’t the only outlay you need to make. You need a Sunplus account and the version of the account you need to watch the videos of the goals, which is the main draw here, is not cheap. The rates will depend very much on the packages you take out with it but at the end of the day the app may mislead customers into thinking they are getting free goals.
For the basic 69p and with a basic account the news stream is good, but it is nothing that the likes of the BBC Sport doesn’t do better!
Playability – 8/10
From such a large media company you would expect the best and that is what you get here. Firstly the comment on the menus is positive. Everything is colourful, bright and with high definition photos. It looks great on all the devices I have tried and it functions smoothly. The menus are easy to navigate and use and everything looks professional.
Within The Sun + Goals App the goals sides of things works well too. The videos are as close to high definition as you can get here. Loading times are low, the app works well and the goal action flows superbly. On wi-fi and 4g I have had no slowdown when watching the goals fly in,
Longevity – 5/10
There are two ways to look at this. If you are on the move, don’t have TV access and desperately want to see the goals from that day’s football then this would score maximum points for you as there is nothing else like it. It will be a key source for up to date news and provide you with everything you need to keep you updated whilst you are away from normal media.
However, if you are, like most people, home most nights, have access to a laptop and/or TV then this app doesn’t do anything that will make it essential to you and you probably won’t be able to justify the cost. Hence it won’t last long.
Before investing and committing to the app and any subscriptions….have a think about whether this is essential in your circumstances.
Social Media Interaction 10/10
The Sun + Goals App scores exceptionally well here in that SM all ties in nicely and functions effectively as you would expect. No issues to report.
Originality Score – 7/10
The originality of this app is difficult to judge. On the one hand, no other app offers you goals as quickly as this app does. Indeed, no other app has streaming video of this quality, consistent updates and effective menus…..yes, the news and such like are not particularly new but the Sun owns the rights to show goals first on mobile devices and hence, again, if circumstances suit, this will be the only app you need.
