theSkimm vs Iris
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Daily news summaries
- In-depth articles
- Podcasts
- Personalized calendar integration
- Curated recommendations
- Career, health, and finance topics
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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
Iris
This app transforms articles and newsletters into personalized audio episodes using AI-powered text-to-speech. It automatically discovers subscriptions from your Gmail and allows you to schedule daily audio briefings. Listen to any web article by sharing it directly to the app.
- Article to podcast conversion with AI voices
- Automatic Gmail subscription discovery
- Scheduled daily audio episodes
- Share any web article for listening
- Background playback and queue management
- Light and dark mode support
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The reading app you've always wanted. Iris turns your favorite articles into personal podcast episodes. Connect your Gmail and Iris discovers your subscriptions automatically. Using AI-powered text-to-speech, it transforms written articles and newsletters into studio-quality audio you can listen to anywhere — while commuting, working out, or getting ready in the morning. Your Personal Podcast, On Autopilot Schedule alarms that wake you up with fresh podcast episodes generated from your latest articles. Set your preferred time, pick your sources, and start every day informed. If you're the type of person that forgets to read what you bookmarked, add it to your alarm, it'll be in your next episode. Listen to Any Article Share any web article (if your within the paywall) to Iris and hear it read aloud with natural-sounding AI voices. Build a listening queue just like a podcast playlist. (eg. Yahoo News, NYT, WSJ Key Features - Turn any article into a podcast episode with AI voices - Automatic source discovery from your Gmail inbox - Scheduled alarms with personalized audio episodes - Share extension to listen to any web article - Background playback with full lock screen controls - Built-in player with queue management - Light and dark mode support Iris Pro Upgrade for unlimited episodes, premium AI voices, and multiple daily alarms. Privacy First Iris accesses your Gmail solely to identify sources you already follow. Your email content is never stored permanently or shared with third parties. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Terms of Use: https://joiniris.dev/terms Privacy Policy: https://joiniris.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Iris at 100% against theSkimm's 41%. Iris also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). theSkimm's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 4) and chart position (#183 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. theSkimm sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Iris sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Iris holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. 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 point the same way: 41% of theSkimm's written reviews are positive against 100% of Iris's.
theSkimm ships an update every 2 months, Iris every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | theSkimm | Iris |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (13K ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #183 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | theSkimm | Iris Audio LLC |
Customer experience
theSkimm
Iris
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
Iris
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
theSkimm
- theSkimm Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- theSkimm Yearly$29.991 Year
Iris
- Iris Pro - Monthly Subscription$8.991 Month
- Iris Pro - Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year









