5 Things vs The Swarthmorean
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
5 Things
Discover personalized recommendations for news, restaurants, events, and more. This app learns your preferences through interaction to provide tailored suggestions.
- Personalized recommendations
- Learns user preferences
- Content discovery
- Pull-to-refresh home screen
- Machine learning-based suggestions
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5 Things is an app which shows you random 5 things like news, restaurants, events, movies, reminders, sports scores, services, deals and many more based on your interests, age, gender, time of the day etc. Over a period of time we learn your likes and dislikes (left swipe/right swipe) by how you consume the content/services using machine learning and start showing you more of your preferences along with new suggestions. On the home screen Pull to refresh :) we don't have endless scroll.
The Swarthmorean
This community newspaper, published since 1893, delivers local news for Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and its surrounding areas. Stay informed about your community with the latest updates.
- Local community news
- Serving Swarthmore, PA
- Published since 1893
- Digital newspaper format
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The Swarthmorean, continually published since 1893, is a community newspaper serving Swarthmore, Pennsylvania USA and surrounding communities.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: 5 Things at none against The Swarthmorean's shown. 5 Things also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 26 months) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). The Swarthmorean's advantage is ratings volume (73 vs 1). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for 5 Things against 4.9 for The Swarthmorean. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Swarthmorean has 73 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
5 Things ships an update every 2 weeks, The Swarthmorean every 26 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | 5 Things | The Swarthmorean |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.9 (73 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 73 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 26 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rohith Bheemaiah | The Swarthmorean Inc |
Customer experience
5 Things
The Swarthmorean
In-app purchases
5 Things
No in-app purchases
The Swarthmorean
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is 5 Things free?
Is The Swarthmorean free?
Which has better reviews, 5 Things or The Swarthmorean?
Do 5 Things or The Swarthmorean have ads?
Which is updated more often, 5 Things or The Swarthmorean?
Other comparisons
