I'm with you on those downsides, they all bother me too. The value add for me is that I get access to publications I'd have to pay separately for otherwise; e.g., WSJ, Wired, etc. My use case is primarily to open it and navigate to the content I want under the Subscriptions tab.
>>divean+(OP)
Yea definitely. I like the idea of it, I just wish I could turn off all suggestions and discovery unless I go search for something. Oh and turn off ads too if I'm paying.