For most users experiencing the issues, the crash seems to occur almost immediately after launching the Apple News app. In some cases, the app is accessible for a period of time but crashes randomly and without warning. User reports indicate the issue is affecting most customers regardless of device model. iPhones and iPads alike are experiencing the crashing issue.

@AppleNews @AppleSupport opened up News this morning and it crashes. Reopened ... crash. Hard reboot then open News ... crash. I guess no news this morning. It did work yesterday though. — Eric Cirone (@ericcirone) March 26, 2019

@AppleNews News crashing on macOS 10.14.4 and iOS 12.2 this morning. Crash, reopen, crash, reopen, crash... back to RSS feeds. — austin diener (@diener) March 26, 2019

My experience with Apple News on iOS 12.2 on an iPad Pro so far... crash, open, crash, open, crash.@AppleNews hoping my device reports are making it to you. If you need any other information let me know. — Colin Devroe (@c2dev2) March 26, 2019

The problem doesn't appear to be present on the macOS version of Apple News, though the desktop app does have its own issues. According to developer Steven Troughton-Smith, the macOS app offers a preview of each magazine, even for non-subscribers, which is generated by pre-loading PDF versions of the publications. The PDFs can be accessed through the filesystem regardless of whether a person has an Apple News+ subscription.

The timing of these issues couldn't be much worse for Apple, as they have certainly stepped on what should have been a significant launch. Apple News+ offers users a full month of free access before the $9.99 per month charge kicks in, so Apple will have to hope the day one issues aren't enough to keep people away for day two and onward.