HCConnect vs Heraldnet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HCConnect
Stay informed about local government news, track community issues, and discover points of interest. This app provides personalized feeds, allows direct reporting of concerns, and offers helpful information for residents and visitors.
- Personalized local news feeds
- Track permits and crime
- Emergency alerts
- Report community issues (M311)
- Frequently asked questions (I Want To)
- Discover local points of interest
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For you, developed by Horry County IT/GIS, HCConnect is a local government first. Improving transparency while providing a direct channel for populace-driven communication and feedback. It's our mission to enable the country's most informed and engaged citizens to date. ------- Inform HCConnect's feeds keep you up-to-date with the latest local news and happenings in your neighborhood. Stay current with county news. Track permits, planning and zoning, and crime within your neighborhood. Receive personalized and localized emergency alerts during times of disaster. Personalize Only see the news that matters to you. HCConnect's feeds are dynamically built for the locations you actually care about. Subscribe to specific neighborhoods, even create and track custom locations to find highly-localized news and happenings in your feed. Engage M311 Putting power in the hands of the user. M311 takes brings community engagement into the digital age. You, the user, can now report issues you feel need attention directly from your phone. Choosing a category and providing relevant information like location and a photo, you're creating an actual case ticket. The ticket is then dispatched to the appropriate department, and we keep you updated with regard to its completion. I Want To I Want To answers your most frequently asked questions, and provides you with details, phone numbers and directions for you next course of action. Explore Visiting for the weekend and looking for a beach access with a shower? Or maybe your a resident looking for a local recreation center. Whatever the need, Explore Horry puts you in touch with the some of the best public points of interest in your area. Get directions, call for more information, and browse features all at a glance.
Heraldnet
Access local news from north King, Snohomish, and Island counties. Customize your feed, listen to articles, and receive breaking news alerts. View the digital print edition for comprehensive coverage.
- Customizable news feed
- Read-aloud news articles
- Push notifications for breaking news
- Digital print edition view
- Local coverage of sports, food, arts
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Download the Heraldnet app to access local news whenever and wherever you are. The Heraldnet app makes it easy to stay informed about what is happening in north King, Snohomish and Island counties including sports, food and drink, the arts, and more. PRODUCT FEATURES Customize your news feed to display only the stories and topics you want to read Have the news read aloud to you while you relax or work Receive push notifications to your mobile device with the latest news coverage View the print edition of today's newspaper; a digital version of the printed paper The Heraldnet app is included for free with your digital or print subscription to the Everett Herald. Activate your digital access at www.heraldnet.com/subscribercenter/. Not a subscriber? Subscribe to the Everett Herald in the app to unlock access to subscriber exclusive content. Questions? Please contact us at customersvc@heraldnet.com or (425) 339-3200.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Heraldnet at 91% against HCConnect's 9%. Heraldnet also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.4) and ratings volume (269 vs 34). HCConnect's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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.
Heraldnet holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heraldnet has 269 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of HCConnect's written reviews are positive against 91% of Heraldnet's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HCConnect | Heraldnet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (34 ratings) | 4.7 (269 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 9.1% of reviews | 91.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 34 | 269 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Horry County Government | Sound Publishing, Inc. |
Customer experience
HCConnect
Heraldnet
Bugs and requests
HCConnect
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Heraldnet
Reported bugs
8 issues- App won't open puzzles section
- Notification alerts link to non-existent stories
- iPhone format display issues
- Website takes multiple clicks to load current edition
- Puzzles menu disappeared from live news menu
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- Login authentication failures despite correct credentials
- App performance degradation on older iOS versions
- Subscription status not recognized after login
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to read app while using other applications simultaneously
- Full print edition with comics included in subscription
- Simpler subscription and cancellation process
- Better password management for elderly users
- More unbiased political coverage
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- Restore weekly local retailer advertisements
- Improved notification system with working links
- Dark mode option
In-app purchases
HCConnect
No in-app purchases
Heraldnet
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HCConnect free?
Is Heraldnet free?
Which has better reviews, HCConnect or Heraldnet?
Do HCConnect or Heraldnet have ads?
Which is updated more often, HCConnect or Heraldnet?
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