Black vs SFGATE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Black
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.
- Personalized news feed
- Story recommendations
- Share stories with friends
- Push notifications
- Explore by interest
- Curated publications
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Black® collects the news & stories from the world’s greatest influencers of black culture. With all of your black news in one place, it has never been easier to discover the stories that keep you informed, engaged, and inspired. JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO CHANGE THE GAME. - Create your own feed of stories from the publications you know and trust. - Read, recommend, and share stories with your friends using Facebook, Twitter, iMessage, and Email. - Explore stories that are just for you and based on your interests. - Receive timely push notifications that will keep you in the know. Featured Publications: - The Root - Atlanta Black Star - OkayAfrica - News One - Blavity - BET - Black Enterprise - Ebony - Essence - HuffPost Black Voices - Hello Beautiful - and more! We'd love to hear any feedback you have about Black®. Reach out to our team at team@black.news. Oh, did we mention that we're 100% Black Owned?
SFGATE
Access in-depth Bay Area news and culture with an ad-free reading experience. Unlock exclusive content and connect with the places that matter most to you.
- Ad-free reading experience
- In-depth news coverage
- Bay Area culture insights
- Exclusive content for members
- Connect with local places
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An ad-free reading experience, plus a handful of extras designed to bring you closer to the places you care about. The stories behind them, too. Become a Friend of SFGATE to unlock it all.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Black at 4.7 against SFGATE's 4.5. Black also leads on ratings volume (675 vs 150) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). SFGATE's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly) and chart position (#100 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Black holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 675 and 150 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Black's written reviews are positive against 76% of SFGATE's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Black ships an update fortnightly, SFGATE weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Black | SFGATE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (675 ratings) — better | 4.5 (150 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.3% of reviews | 76.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 675 — better | 150 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #100 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Langston, LLC | Hearst Newspapers |
Customer experience
Black
SFGATE
Bugs and requests
Black
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login screen not functioning properly
- Inconsistent article loading and display
- Notifications not always triggering as expected
Requested features
4 requests- Customizable notification settings
- Reader mode for easier article reading
- Social sharing and discussion features
- Dedicated sections for specific topics (e.g., finance, entertainment)
SFGATE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Black
No in-app purchases
SFGATE
No in-app purchases
