TechPulse by CNET Group vs theBrief Daily
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TechPulse by CNET Group
Stay informed with the latest tech news, expert reviews, and product recommendations. Make smarter purchasing decisions with in-depth analysis and video guides. Get breaking alerts and discover the best deals on technology.
- Featured tech stories
- Latest technology news coverage
- Product review galleries
- Breaking news alerts
- Extensive product reviews
- Best product recommendations
- Product search functionality
- Video product reviews
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TechPulse helps tech enthusiasts follow trusted industry insights with a customizable, algorithm-free feed. Welcome to the new CNET app. TechPulse gathers world-class journalism from the internet’s most respected technology and lifestyle publishers. Instead of managing multiple sources or fighting unpredictable feeds, you can customize your daily dashboard to display exactly what matters to you. Stay informed with unbiased video, analysis, news and reviews curated by human experts. Main features: • Filter the publication sources you want to appear in your unified feed for easy navigation. • Make tech buying easy with lab-tested reviews from CNET and PCMag experts. • Get the latest breaking tech news from reporters who share objective takes on what you need to know. • Stay ahead of internet innovations with trending digital culture and entertainment news from Mashable. • Streamline your daily routine and unlock practical hacks and science-based productivity tips from Lifehacker. • Track disruptive professional tech breakthroughs and emerging industry trends from ZDNET. • Get the most from your tech and gadgets with CNET’s product updates and troubleshooting guides. TechPulse is built for readers who value journalistic integrity and direct sources over cluttered news streams. Backed by decades of independent editorial experience from trusted industry names, TechPulse is built for readers who value journalistic integrity and direct sources over cluttered news streams. Your feed remains transparent, accurate and free of bias. Download TechPulse today to control your technology news and explore what matters to you. Our Privacy Policy: https://www.ziffdavis.com/ztg-privacy-policy Our Terms of Use: https://www.ziffdavis.com/terms-of-use
theBrief Daily
Get daily news briefings in audio format, tailored to your interests and time constraints. Choose from 5, 10, or 15-minute summaries of important stories across 13 topics, delivered in a calm, informative voice. Features CarPlay support and personalized content.
- Personalized audio briefings
- Customizable brief lengths (5, 10, 15 min)
- CarPlay integration
- Trending and Live Pulse feeds
- Calm, newsroom-style delivery
- Topic selection
- Listening stats and streaks
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Stay Briefed. theBrief is a new kind of news app — one that respects your time, your attention, and your intelligence. Instead of endless scrolling or 45-minute podcasts, you get short, beautifully produced audio briefings on the stories that actually matter to you. A living newspaper, in your ears. Open the app to a clean, magazine-style grid of today's stories. Tap play and the news flows — one story into the next, like a smart radio show produced just for you. Your Daily Brief, on demand. Pick your length — 5, 10, or 15 minutes — and theBrief assembles the day's top stories across your topics, with a calm host to open and close the show. Perfect for the commute, the walk, the workout, or the kettle. Calm by design. No sirens, no outrage, no "BREAKING" in all caps. Every story is written and read in a measured, newsroom-calm voice. You'll finish informed, not anxious. Pick what you care about — skip what you don't. Thirteen topics: AI & Tech, Finance, World, Politics, Health, Climate, Space, Culture, Sports, Science, Crypto, Business, and Gaming. Plus Trending — what the world is talking about right now — and Live Pulse, the fastest-moving stories from around the social web. Made for the car. Full CarPlay support: your brief on the dashboard, with real artwork and one-tap play. It learns what you love. Likes, listens, and skips quietly tune your brief over time. Your listening stats and streaks live in your profile. Features: • Personalized audio briefings across 13 topics • Short, Standard, or Long daily briefs • CarPlay with full playback controls • Trending & Live Pulse feeds • Beautiful magazine-grid home screen • Full-screen player with Up Next queue • Listening stats, streaks, and played indicators • Sleep timer and playback speed • Save, like, and share stories • Sign in with Apple or Google Stay informed without burning out. Stay Briefed.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: theBrief Daily at 5.0 against TechPulse by CNET Group's 4.3. theBrief Daily also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). TechPulse by CNET Group's advantage is ratings volume (3.4K vs 2). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.
theBrief Daily holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TechPulse by CNET Group has 3.4K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | TechPulse by CNET Group | theBrief Daily |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3.4K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 16.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.4K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | — |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CNET Media, Inc. | Gunjan Sood |
Bugs and requests
TechPulse by CNET Group
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes and freezes frequently
- Notifications don't lead to the correct article
- Videos fail to load consistently
- Login issues and account syncing problems
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to filter content by category
- Improved search functionality
- Better organization and navigation
- Syncing of bookmarked articles across devices
theBrief Daily
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
TechPulse by CNET Group
No in-app purchases
theBrief Daily
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is TechPulse by CNET Group free?
Is theBrief Daily free?
Which has better reviews, TechPulse by CNET Group or theBrief Daily?
Do TechPulse by CNET Group or theBrief Daily have ads?
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