Comparison

nine.com.au vs The Age

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

nine.com.au

Stay informed with breaking news and custom alerts from a trusted source. This app delivers local and global news, with features like 'News Near Me' and personalized notifications for topics like sports, politics, and weather. Easily manage your alert preferences for a tailored news experience.

Highlights
  • Breaking news updates
  • Customizable alerts
  • Geo-targeted 'News Near Me'
  • Local weather forecasts
  • News by category subscription
  • Ad-supported news delivery
Features
Read full description

Stay up to date with the best breaking news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle and the best videos with the new nine.com.au app. Join over 10.5million Australians who trust nine.com.au to stay informed and entertained. What you’ll enjoy about the new nine.com.au app: EVERYTHING YOU NEED ALL IN ONE PLACE All the trusted local and world news from our dedicated team of journalists, together with the best of sport, lifestyle and shopping, entertainment and travel in a new streamlined app. YOUR NEWS, YOUR WAY Follow the topics you love using our ‘For You’ feature. ALERTS Never miss a breaking news story with our real-time alerts. PREMIUM VIDEOS ON DEMAND Stream the latest breaking news, viral moments, and exclusive stories anytime, anywhere. Our mission remains the same: providing a trusted environment where you feel part of the story, not just informed about it. Questions or feedback? We’re always evolving. Reach out at contact@9news.com.au. Note: This app features Nielsen's proprietary measurement software which allows you to contribute to market research. See www.nielsen.com/digitalprivacy for more information.

About

The Age

Stay informed with breaking news and in-depth stories. Customize your news feed with topics you care about and listen to exclusive podcasts. Access premium content and daily puzzles with a subscription.

Highlights
  • Breaking headlines
  • Push notifications
  • Podcast catalogue
  • Customizable news feed
  • Today's Paper
  • Daily crosswords
  • Daily Sudoku
Features
Read full description

Get straight to the stories that matter with The Age app. Top Stories and push notifications keep you up to date with breaking headlines while our Podcast catalogue lets you tune into thought-provoking audio storytelling and discussions from our newsroom. My News lets you customise your feed, showing the topics you're interested in, in the order you want them. The app is free to download. You can unlock unlimited access to all content with a Starter Digital subscription through the App Store. To unlock premium features such as Today's Paper and puzzles including Daily Crosswords and Daily Sudoku, you can subscribe to Premium Digital via in-app purchase. Additional information about Apple subscriptions: - Purchase of an auto-renewable, monthly subscription is required to access content on The Age app - Starter Digital subscriptions are available for AU$25.99 per month (or local currency equivalent) - Premium Digital subscriptions are available for AU$37.49 per month (or local currency equivalent) - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your iTunes App Store Account Settings after purchase - Your iTunes account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Terms of use and privacy policy apply when accessing content via The Age app - Privacy policy: https://login.nine.com.au/privacy?client_id=theage - Terms and conditions: https://login.nine.com.au/terms?client_id=theage

Screenshots

nine.com.au4 screens
The Age4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: nine.com.au at none against The Age's 2. nine.com.au also leads on ratings volume (896 vs 31). The Age's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The Age sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. nine.com.au asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for nine.com.au against 4.7 for The Age. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nine.com.au has 896 ratings behind it against 31, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 27% and 27% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

nine.com.au ships an update every 5 weeks, The Age every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
nine.com.au versus The Age: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameternine.com.auThe Age
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (896 ratings)4.7 (31 ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.9% of reviews27.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings896 — better31
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB134 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperNINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA PTY LTDFairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Limited

Customer experience

nine.com.au

All ratings892 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews297 reviews
Positive26.9%
Neutral6.7%
Negative66.3%

The Age

All ratings31 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews154 reviews
Positive27.3%
Neutral7.8%
Negative64.9%

User reviews

nine.com.au

From 896 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Happy with the app
  • 🚀 Fantastic, great
  • 🚀 Variety
  • 🚀 Wide coverage
  • 🚀 Keeps me up to date

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Click bait ads
  • 🔍 Biased international coverage
  • 🐛 Latest version not playing videos
  • 🔍 Bad news
  • 🐛 Self starting stories

The Age

From 31 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🗞️ Trusted news source
  • 📰 Comprehensive news coverage
  • 🗺️ Useful local news and information
  • 💯 Excellent journalism and reporting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
  • 🤖 Lack of user-friendly features and poor navigation
  • 💰 Expensive subscription with diminishing value
  • 📦 Frustrating download and offline reading experience
  • 🔍 Lack of search functionality and personalization

Bugs and requests

nine.com.au

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Latest version not playing videos
  • Self starting stories
  • No notifications
  • 5 years later and still no option for audible breaking news notifications
  • Too much annoying Advertising
Show 5 more
  • Extremely jumpy with numerous unnecessary background refreshes
  • Clunky, Confusing and Clicksore
  • App doesn't refresh without WiFi
  • Videos not related to content
  • Needs some work on alerts

Requested features

4 requests
  • Start an All Day News Channel
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Search function

The Age

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between sections
  • Issues with downloading and accessing offline content
  • Unreliable login and authentication processes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Bring back the old iPad app design and functionality
  • Improve article saving and bookmarking capabilities
  • Add more customization options for content display
  • Enhance crossword and puzzle experiences
  • Provide better support for offline reading

In-app purchases

None

nine.com.au

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

The Age

Subscriptions2
  • Starter Digital1 Month trial$17.991 Month
  • Premium Digital1 Month trial$24.991 Month

Questions

Is nine.com.au free?
nine.com.au is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Age free?
The Age is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, nine.com.au or The Age?
The Age is rated higher. nine.com.au averages 4.6 out of 5 from 896 ratings, while The Age averages 4.7 from 31 ratings.
Do nine.com.au or The Age have ads?
nine.com.au shows ads; The Age does not.
Which is updated more often, nine.com.au or The Age?
nine.com.au ships an update every 5 weeks, and The Age every 3 weeks. Most recently, nine.com.au was updated on October 20, 2026 and The Age on October 20, 2026.

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