Speak News vs Surfboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Speak News
This app reads news stories from various sources aloud using text-to-speech. It offers hands-free listening, offline access, and customizable display options. Seamlessly integrate with Siri for voice commands and enjoy a personalized news experience.
- Text-to-speech news reading
- Siri integration for hands-free control
- Offline story access
- Customizable display styles
- iCloud bookmark syncing
- Background feed updating
- Media controls on lock screen
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Speak News reads stories from RSS/Atom news feeds, web pages, Wikipedia pages, or Google News queries to you using text-to-speech. Speak News app is built for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Use Siri to open Speak News and listen to news stories hands-free using the earphones remote control. Just say “Hey Siri, Open Speak News” and the app will start reading your current news stories. Complete Features • Use Siri to open the app and listen to stories. • Use Siri Shortcuts to perform several common activities with voice commands. • Bookmarks can be RSS/Atom news feeds, web pages, Wikipedia pages, Google News queries, or Speak News keyword queries. Speak News queries can be created and performed while offline, searching the stories cached on the device. • iCloud bookmark syncing • Import bookmarks from a Feedly OPML feed library URL. • Multitasking allows updating news feeds in the background while reading or listening to news in the foreground. • Automatically selects appropriate international speech voices based on story language. • Toolbar functions in a feed view include Play/Pause, Stop, Previous, Next, Update All Feeds, View Mode, Share, Settings. • Share news headlines and links, or entire news feeds through the standard iOS Share social media activities view, including Message, Mail, Notes, Reminders, Twitter, Google+, Flipboard, Facebook, Evernote, etc. • Current story info and Play/Pause, Previous, Next functions are available in the media player controls in the device's lock screen and Control Center. • Speak News automatically rotates through available voices for the current language for each story. This gives more variety and distinction in the sequence of spoken news stories. For instance, in English, this gives U.S. , U.K. Ireland, New Zealand, and Australian voices. • All stories are saved on your device for later reading and listening while offline. • Efficient text-only story display makes loading and reading faster, and saves money on your cell phone plan by downloading minimal data. • Display Styles include White, Light Gray, Sepia, Dark Gray, Dark Red, and Black. The "dark mode" Black and Dark Red styles are ideal for reading in dark environments. • All text is responsive to the user's preferred text size as set in Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size, and Settings > General > Accessibility > Larger Text. • Toolbar functions in the Bookmarks view include New Bookmark, Go To Section, Find, Settings, Library, and Edit. • Today Widget displays scrolling list of stories from current feed. • Use the remote control on earphones to speak and pause stories, move to next or previous stories, or select a new RSS feed from your bookmarks. • Create your own bookmarks and bookmark sections. • Import bookmarks from Imaja’s Speak News RSS Feeds Library featuring a broad selection of essential and informative news feeds. • Settings includes many controls for news story display, auto-reload, speech and auto-scrolling behavior, and user-interface sounds. • Keyboard shortcuts are supported for Speak News functions for use with external Bluetooth keyboards. • RSS feed details are viewable in the Edit Bookmark view. • Word Usage action displays statistics on word frequencies in a story or a complete feed. • Speak News supports a custom URL scheme for adding bookmarks. Remote Control with Earphones Tap the center button: • One time to play or pause the speech. • Two times to skip to the next story. • Three times to skip to the previous story. • Five times to enter Bookmark Selection Mode. In Bookmark Selection Mode, listen for the desired bookmark name and tap one time to open and start speaking the feed. Settings Use the Settings view to configure the text display, graphic style and behavior of Speak News. Visit imaja.com/speaknews for more details and screenshots. Follow @SpeakNewsApp on Twitter.
Surfboard
This app acts as a personalized news aggregator, allowing users to easily organize and curate content from various online sources into a single, streamlined feed. It offers a customizable reading experience with features like dark/light mode adaptation and respects system text size settings for accessibility.
- Effortless URL management
- Customizable content curation by topics
- Streamlined single feed
- SwiftUI interface
- SwiftData for reliable data handling
- System setting adaptation (dark/light mode)
- Accessibility-focused design
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Surfboard - RSS Reader is not just an app; it's your personalized news concierge. Designed for the savvy, on-the-go individual, Surfboard transforms how you interact with the online world of news, blogs, and stories. Effortless Organization: Easily add and manage URLs with our Feeds feature. No more jumping between sites - get all your favorite content in one streamlined feed. Customized Content Curation: Our Topics feature allows you to categorize your feeds, ensuring you only see what interests you. Tailor your news experience to your personal tastes and preferences. State-of-the-Art Technology: Enjoy a smooth, responsive interface crafted with SwiftUI. Experience quick, reliable data handling thanks to SwiftData - all leading to a more enjoyable reading experience. A Reading Experience Tailored to You: Surfboard automatically adapts to your preferred system settings. Whether you're a fan of dark mode or prefer light mode, the app adjusts to your choice, ensuring a comfortable reading environment. Accessibility-First Design: We recognize the importance of accessibility. That's why Surfboard respects your device's text size settings, making it easier for everyone, including users with visual impairments, to read and enjoy content. Why Choose Surfboard? In a world overloaded with information, Surfboard is your personal filter, bringing you directly to what matters most. It's not just about staying updated; it's about staying informed in the most convenient, personalized way possible. With Surfboard, you control the waves of information. Dive into a world where content meets convenience. Welcome to Surfboard - RSS Reader. Your news, refined and defined by you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Speak News at 33% against Surfboard's 0%. Speak News also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Surfboard's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). On ratings volume, 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
Speak News costs $9.99 and Surfboard $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Surfboard holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Speak News's written reviews are positive against 0% of Surfboard's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Speak News ships an update every 2 months, Surfboard fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Speak News | Surfboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #56 — better | #117 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Imaja | Ian Leon |
Customer experience
Speak News
Surfboard
In-app purchases
Speak News
No in-app purchases
Surfboard
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Speak News free?
Is Surfboard free?
Which has better reviews, Speak News or Surfboard?
Do Speak News or Surfboard have ads?
Which is updated more often, Speak News or Surfboard?
Which is more popular, Speak News or Surfboard?
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