# Fayetteville Observer vs The State Port Pilot

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The State Port Pilot at none against Fayetteville Observer's 6. The State Port Pilot also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). Fayetteville Observer's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 29 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Fayetteville Observer sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. The State Port Pilot asks for nothing beyond the download.

Fayetteville Observer ships an update monthly, The State Port Pilot every 29 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Fayetteville Observer | The State Port Pilot |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.3 (184 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fayetteville-observer/id1441073300/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **184** | — |
| Positive reviews | 38.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 29 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 186 MB | 64 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [USA TODAY Co., Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/404843797) | [The State Port Pilot](https://appshunter.io/developer/1691330814) |

## What reviewers say

### Fayetteville Observer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fayetteville-observer/id1441073300)

Access local news, in-depth journalism, and powerful photography. Get breaking news, sports scores, and weather alerts with real-time notifications. Customize your reading experience with features like offline reading and night mode.

**Highlights:** In-depth local journalism, Breaking news and weather alerts, Customizable reading experience, Offline reading capability, eNewspaper access, Real-time notifications

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Digital Subscription | $12.99 | per month |
| Monthly Digital Subscription | $14.99 | per month |
| Monthly Digital Rate | $14.99 | per month |
| Fayettteville Observer Monthly | $19.99 | per month |
| Annual Digital Subscription | $69.99 | per year |
| Annual Digital Subscription | $79.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great local news
- 👍 Smooth app navigation (some users)
- 👍 Good for hometown news
- 👍 Archives are great
- 👍 Push notifications for breaking news

**What reviewers complain about**

- 👎 Hard to cancel subscription
- 👎 Difficult to read the paper
- 👎 Content not impressive/same day to day
- 👎 Missing icons on iPad
- 👎 Billing issues/bait and switch

**Reported bugs**

- Cannot read e-newspaper on iPad
- Missing icons on iPad
- App doesn't work half the time
- Cannot enlarge screen when reading an article
- App will not load

**Requested features**

- Make cancellation easier
- Improve app navigation to allow reading the paper directly
- More aggressive and varied articles/content
- Fix iPad issues with missing icons
- Provide clearer billing information and honor trial periods


### The State Port Pilot

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-state-port-pilot/id6449978286)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Fayetteville Observer free?

Fayetteville Observer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is The State Port Pilot free?

The State Port Pilot is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Fayetteville Observer or The State Port Pilot have ads?

Both Fayetteville Observer and The State Port Pilot show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Fayetteville Observer or The State Port Pilot?

Fayetteville Observer ships an update monthly, and The State Port Pilot every 29 months. Most recently, Fayetteville Observer was updated on November 2, 2026 and The State Port Pilot on November 3, 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.*