# Black vs Smashviews

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Smashviews at 100% against Black's 67%. Smashviews also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). Black's advantage is ratings volume (675 vs 5) and chart position (#199 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Smashviews holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Black has 675 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Black's written reviews are positive against 100% of Smashviews's.

Black ships an update fortnightly, Smashviews every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Black | Smashviews |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (675 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/black/id1282248048/reviews) | **[5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smashviews/id1625392671/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **675** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | 67.3% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | **#199** | — |
| Size | 94 MB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 14.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Langston, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1190022731) | [Evan Hedding](https://appshunter.io/developer/1623693042) |

## What reviewers say

### Black

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/black/id1282248048)

**Currently charting:** #199 Top Free · News (US App Store)

Discover news and stories from influential voices in Black culture. Curate your personal feed, share content with friends, and receive timely updates. Explore content tailored to your interests from top publications.

**Highlights:** Personalized news feed, Story recommendations, Share stories with friends, Push notifications, Explore by interest, Curated publications

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Excellent app for news about the black community
- 🌟 Informative and inspirational content
- 👍 Clean and user-friendly design
- 💯 Promotes black unity and excellence

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional app crashes and freezes
- ⏱️ Slow loading times and content refreshing issues
- 💸 Too many ads and pop-ups
- 🤖 Compatibility issues with older devices

**Reported bugs**

- Login screen not functioning properly
- Inconsistent article loading and display
- Notifications not always triggering as expected

**Requested features**

- Customizable notification settings
- Reader mode for easier article reading
- Social sharing and discussion features
- Dedicated sections for specific topics (e.g., finance, entertainment)


### Smashviews

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smashviews/id1625392671)

Get unbiased news delivered instantly from sources you choose. This app prioritizes user control over content, avoiding algorithmic filtering and data exploitation. Stay informed with real-time updates and easily search or save articles for later.

**Highlights:** User-selected news sources, No algorithmic content filtering, Real-time news delivery, Article search functionality, Save articles for later

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Black free?

Black is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Smashviews free?

Smashviews is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Black or Smashviews?

Smashviews is rated higher. Black averages 4.7 out of 5 from 675 ratings, while Smashviews averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.

### Do Black or Smashviews have ads?

Neither Black nor Smashviews shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Black or Smashviews?

Black ships an update fortnightly, and Smashviews every 4 days. Most recently, Black was updated on September 26, 2026 and Smashviews on June 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*