IGN Entertainment vs SwitchBuddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IGN Entertainment
Access the latest gaming news, in-depth reviews, gameplay insights, and trailers for games and movies. Log in to bookmark your favorite content for easy access later.
- Browse news and reviews
- Watch gameplay and trailers
- Bookmark articles and videos
- Login with IGN account
- Simple navigation
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The official IGN app offers simple navigation to make it easy to quickly browse news, reviews, gameplay, movie trailers, game trailers, and more. Log in with your IGN account to bookmark articles and videos to save the news and reviews you care about, and quickly get back to them.
SwitchBuddy
This app serves as a companion for your gaming console, offering features like game wishlists with sale notifications, faster media transfers, game discovery, and customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. It also provides access to game news and pricing information.
- Game wishlist with sale notifications
- Faster screenshot and video transfer
- Game discovery and release tracking
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
- eShop price tracking and region switching
- Game news and articles
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*Not official app. Not affiliated with Nintendo* • No account required • No ads • The companion app for your Switch & Switch 2. What can you do with SwitchBuddy? - Create wishlist and get notification when game is on sale (+ you can view price history) - Transfer screenshots & videos from Switch 1 much faster. - Discover new games released for your console - Add countdown and other widgets to your Home Screen & Lock Screen - View all the games rated "Mighty" by OpenCritic & much more! Most of the app is totally free; try it today! :-) # Transfer Scan just the first QR code to transfer from your Switch 1 console. You can transfer up to ten screenshots or a single video. Select Photos or iCloud Drive as the export destination. Are you playing on a TV? No problem; with zoom, you can comfortably scan the needed QR code from your sofa. # Gallery View the screenshot & videos you transferred in a convenient gallery; items are grouped by game and can be quickly shared. # Games - Discovery & database Track upcoming game releases - view screenshots, trailers, and more about games you can play soon! Favorite games for quick access and easily share them with friends. # Widgets SwitchBuddy has a variety of widgets - release countdowns, Switch 2 coutndown, Up Next, Calendar, Transfer shortcuts... And some of them also work on your Lock Screen. # eShop prices + wishlist Easily see game prices, current deals, and wishlist games to be notified about price drops. You can also change eShop region to view prices for different countries. # News Articles & Videos Stay up-to-date on the newest game releases, reviews, hardware, and more! And more Make the app yours with themes and alternative icons. Themes inspired by Mario, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, and Switch OLED are available. #SwitchBuddy+ Get all the extras and remove the limit of favorite games with an optional subscription. You will also support this one-person team :-) SwitchBuddy is not affiliated with Nintendo. ---- Privacy Policy: https://impresskit.net/p/b20391f2-0e94-4db3-81dd-d366e0c7f87c Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SwitchBuddy at 81% against IGN Entertainment's 44%. SwitchBuddy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). IGN Entertainment's advantage is ratings volume (20K vs 1.6K) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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. IGN Entertainment sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and SwitchBuddy sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SwitchBuddy holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IGN Entertainment has 20K ratings behind it against 1.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of IGN Entertainment's written reviews are positive against 81% of SwitchBuddy's.
IGN Entertainment ships an update every 2 weeks, SwitchBuddy every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IGN Entertainment | SwitchBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (20K ratings) | 4.8 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.6% of reviews | 80.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20K — better | 1.6K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 78 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | +9 |
| Developer | IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Filip Nemecek |
Customer experience
IGN Entertainment
SwitchBuddy
User reviews
IGN Entertainment
From 20K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast app
- 📰 Good source for news and reviews
- 🎮 Useful for gamers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 💤 Slow performance
- 📺 Excessive ads and auto-playing videos
- 🔍 Lack of search functionality
SwitchBuddy
From 1.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy and fast photo/video transfer
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🚀 Convenient way to manage Switch games
- 👍 Helpful for discovering new Switch games
- 👍 Great app for Switch owners
Room to improve
- 🐛 Issues with deleting/managing stored media
- 💰 Paid subscription required for full features
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes reported
- 🔒 Concerns about privacy and data usage
Bugs and requests
IGN Entertainment
Reported bugs
5 issues- Login issues and frequent sign-outs
- Video playback problems
- Freezing and crashing
- Inconsistent UI and layout
- Content not loading properly
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to filter and search content
- Landscape mode support
- Improved bookmarking and saving functionality
- Better notification and social features
SwitchBuddy
Reported bugs
3 issues- Camera feature not working after recent update
- Inability to delete stored media from the app
- Frequent freezing and performance issues
Requested features
4 requests- Add folders/organization for transferred media
- Expand platform support beyond just Nintendo Switch
- Improve search and filtering capabilities
- Provide more detailed game information and reviews
In-app purchases
IGN Entertainment
- Early Adopter Bonus$0.99
SwitchBuddy
- SwitchBuddy+7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- SwitchBuddy+7 Days trial$17.991 Year
- Coffee-sized Tip$1.99
- Lunch-sized Tip$3.99
- Book-sized Tip$7.99
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- SwitchBuddy+ One-time (OFFER)$17.99
- Game-sized Tip$19.99
- SwitchBuddy+ One-time unlock$34.99
Questions
Is IGN Entertainment free?
Is SwitchBuddy free?
Which has better reviews, IGN Entertainment or SwitchBuddy?
Do IGN Entertainment or SwitchBuddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, IGN Entertainment or SwitchBuddy?
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