Observer vs PGe
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Observer
Access daily news for Washington County, Greene County, and the Mon Valley in southwestern Pennsylvania. This app delivers localized news content directly to your mobile device.
- Daily newspaper coverage
- Washington County news
- Greene County news
- Mon Valley news
- Southwestern PA news
- Mobile access
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The Observer-Reporter is a daily newspaper covering Washington County, Greene County and the Mon Valley in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania. Get your Southwestern PA news when you want it through our customized app for your mobile devices.
PGe
Access complete news coverage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, presented in a traditional newspaper layout. Enjoy daily editions, interactive puzzles, and access to past issues.
- Traditional newspaper layout
- Seven-day-a-week coverage
- Interactive puzzles
- 30-day past editions archive
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Complete news coverage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, published seven days a week in a traditional newspaper layout. Feature include: Traditional newspaper layout Available seven days a week, including holidays Interactive puzzles Find past editions over a 30-day period Pittsburgh Post-Gazette subscription is required
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Observer at none against PGe's 3. PGe's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. PGe sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Observer asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Observer against 4.2 for PGe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PGe has 3.6K ratings behind it against 504, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 12% of Observer's written reviews are positive against 28% of PGe's.
Observer ships an update every 4 months, PGe monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Observer | PGe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (504 ratings) | 4.2 (3.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 11.5% of reviews | 28.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 504 | 3.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Observer Publishing Company | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
Customer experience
Observer
PGe
Bugs and requests
Observer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
PGe
Reported bugs
4 issues- Blank screens when trying to open articles
- Jumping back to previous day's edition when using back button
- Inconsistent behavior when downloading new editions
- Puzzles and crosswords not working properly
Requested features
4 requests- Portrait mode option for iPad
- Ability to quickly browse and overview articles
- Automatic deletion of old editions to save storage
- Restore previous app features like toggling linked headlines
In-app purchases
Observer
No in-app purchases
PGe
- Post-Gazette Monthly Plan$11.991 Month
- Post-Gazette Annual Plan$129.991 Year
- Post-Gazette Day Pass$0.99
