Comparison

theSkimm vs Longform Reader

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

Head to head
About

theSkimm

Stay informed with daily news summaries, in-depth articles on career, health, and finance, and engaging podcasts. Discover personalized recommendations and integrate events into your calendar to live smarter.

Highlights
  • Daily news summaries
  • In-depth articles
  • Podcasts
  • Personalized calendar integration
  • Curated recommendations
  • Career, health, and finance topics
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Meet: theSkimm app. We’ve got you covered on all the news and info you need to start your day. Think: news, podcasts, curated picks, and a personalized calendar to help you live your smartest life. Try the app for free. After that, pay less than a cup of coffee a month. Wake up with us. It all starts with the Daily Skimm – the morning newsletter that connects the dots on how the biggest stories affect your life. Dive deeper. We help you navigate the complicated topics around your career, health, and wallet. Listen in. Meet our podcasts: “Skimm This” explains the week’s biggest stories. “Skimm’d from the Couch” features advice from female leaders. Stay up-to-date. Our calendar integrates with yours so you never miss important moments, like awards shows, elections, and more. Discover more. We Skimm your shopping cart, streaming queue, and bookshelf. We'll help you discover things quicker, so you can spend your downtime smarter. ------- In-app purchase subscription required. All monthly subscriptions begin with a free trial, after which a recurring charge of $2.99 per month. All yearly subscriptions are charged $29.99 at the time of purchase, with a recurring charge billed annually. Details: - Subscription options: monthly subscription of $2.99 per month, or yearly subscription of $29.99 per year - Payment will be charged to 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 - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - theSkimm's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use can be visited at http://theskimm.com/privacy - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication

About

Longform Reader

Access curated long-form articles from top publications. Enjoy a clean reading experience with features like dark mode and automatic reader view for linked content.

Highlights
  • Access Longform.org articles
  • Fast load times
  • Dark Mode support
  • Automatic Reader View
  • Curated from top publications
Features
Read full description

Longform Reader is an app for reading articles published on the official Longform.org website. Longform.org curates long-form articles (over 2000 words) from various publications such as The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, ESPN Magazine, etc. Features: * Fast load time * Dark Mode support * Automatic ‘Reader View’ for linked articles Because this is an unofficial app for Longform.org, we are not able to include certain features such as viewing past articles, browsing by category, podcast support, etc. If you enjoy using Longform Reader, please consider taking a moment to rate it. Thanks for your support! *We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Longform.org. The official Longform.org website can be found at: https://www.longform.org.

Screenshots

theSkimm4 screens
Longform Reader2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: theSkimm at 4.8 against Longform Reader's 3.8. theSkimm also leads on ratings volume (13K vs 4) and chart position (#42 vs unranked). Longform Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (67% vs 41%). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. theSkimm sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Longform Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

theSkimm holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: theSkimm has 13K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of theSkimm's written reviews are positive against 67% of Longform Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
theSkimm versus Longform Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametertheSkimmLongform Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (13K ratings) — better3.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews40.7% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#42 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB2 MB
Age rating17+4+
DevelopertheSkimmStand Up Apps, Inc.

Customer experience

theSkimm

All ratings13,230 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews150 reviews
Positive40.7%
Neutral7.3%
Negative52.0%

Longform Reader

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

theSkimm

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashes and freezes
  • Issues with 'Do Not Sell My Information' feature

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline content access
  • More international news coverage
  • Customizable news preferences
  • Ability to remove ads for paid subscribers

Longform Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

theSkimm

Subscriptions2
  • theSkimm Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • theSkimm Yearly$29.991 Year
None

Longform Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is theSkimm free?
theSkimm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Longform Reader free?
Longform Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, theSkimm or Longform Reader?
theSkimm is rated higher. theSkimm averages 4.8 out of 5 from 13K ratings, while Longform Reader averages 3.8 from 4 ratings.
Do theSkimm or Longform Reader have ads?
Neither theSkimm nor Longform Reader shows ads.

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