Comparison

Universalis vs Commonweal Mag

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Universalis

This app provides the Liturgy of the Hours and Mass readings for every day, along with additional spiritual content. It offers offline access, customizable display options, and optional spoken audio. It's designed for daily prayer and spiritual enrichment.

Highlights
  • Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)
  • Daily Mass readings and prayers
  • Offline access
  • Customizable display (fonts, themes)
  • Spiritual reading and commentaries
  • Optional spoken audio add-on
Features
Read full description

Universalis is a missal and a breviary, and more besides. It gives you the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) and the Mass for every day; plus valuable additional material. Tens of thousands of people use Universalis daily. Come and join them! • Single purchase: the app lasts for ever. It does not need a subscription to make it work. • No Internet needed: everything you need is already built in. • No cleverness needed: each day, Universalis works out exactly what you need to see. • View any date: past, present and future. • Use your own local calendar: USA, Canada, Singapore, Ireland, and every diocese in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. • Easy to read and use: a choice of fonts; big or small type; dark or light theme; page-turning or scrolling. • Optional add-on: spoken audio read by real human beings (this needs a subscription: see below). • Latin if you want it: by itself or alongside the English. • Help and support: tips and instructions are included; or press “Contact Us” to send us a message, and we will reply. EXTRA MATERIAL • The “About Today” page tells you what saints are being celebrated today, worldwide. It includes reflections, biographies and illustrations. • “Mass Today” gives you the Order of Mass and today’s readings and prayers, all in one page. Bishops have been known to use it to say Mass from their iPads! • “Spiritual Reading” gathers the patristic and hagiographic readings for all the saints and feasts of the day. • “The Rosary” has a verse of Scripture for every Hail Mary of every Mystery. Spoken audio is included. • Daily Books takes selected spiritual classics and presents them in daily instalments to focus and enrich your prayer life. • Commentaries on the day’s Mass readings from a leading biblical scholar. And more – Home Screen widgets; liturgical events for your iOS calendar; daily email service; copy and paste into other apps; reminders and alarms; Mass readings on your Apple Watch. LITURGY OF THE HOURS (Divine Office) The complete official Liturgy of the Hours of the Catholic Church, as used worldwide. Morning (Lauds), daytime (Terce, Sext and None), evening (Vespers), night (Compline) and the deeply reflective Office of Readings. Do as many or as few of them as you like. • The psalms and canticles match the official English and American books. Scripture readings – United States: RSV. Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible (with RSV as an optional add-on). READINGS AT MASS The exact prayers and readings at Mass for each day. • England, Wales, Scotland: the official ESV version. • United States: the official NAB version. • Elsewhere: Jerusalem Bible readings and Grail psalms, as used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world. OPTIONAL ADD-ON AUDIO (in-app purchase required) Just press the button and listen! If you want to see what you are hearing, the text is highlighted to follow the sound. After an initial download, no Internet is required. Works with CarPlay too. • Spoken English Liturgy of the Hours: every Hour of every day of every year. Monthly or annual subscription. • Spoken English Mass Readings: First and Second Reading and the Gospel. Jerusalem Bible translation only. Monthly or annual subscription. (You can listen to a sample before subscribing. Following App Store rules, subscriptions renew automatically but you can cancel auto-renewal at any time.) • Sung Latin Compline (Night Prayer): by the boys of the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School. Single purchase. -- Privacy policy and terms of service: universalis.com/n-ios-privacy.htm

About

Commonweal Mag

This app offers a forum for civil debate on faith, politics, and culture from a Catholic perspective. It features well-argued viewpoints on contemporary issues, social justice, and theological discussions, providing a space for diverse opinions.

Highlights
  • Civil debate on faith and culture
  • Catholic perspective on contemporary issues
  • Independent lay-run journal
  • Social justice and ecumenism discussions
  • Diverse viewpoints from leading writers
Features
Read full description

Commonweal’s mission is to provide a forum for civil, reasoned debate on the interaction of faith with contemporary politics and culture. Read by a passionate audience of educated Catholics as well as readers from many other faiths, Commonweal presents well-argued, respectful points of view from across the ideological spectrum. In an often contentiously divided Catholic church and secular culture, its status as an independent, lay-run journal of opinion encourages conversations that can be difficult in other settings. Since its founding in 1924 Commonweal has staked a claim for Catholic principles and perspective in American life. It has been credited with helping prepare American Catholics for Vatican II, and Commonweal’s current readers say it has helped them weather the church’s sexual-abuse scandal and work through questions related to the role of women, church teachings on sexuality, and other contemporary issues. The magazine has an ongoing interest in social justice, ecumenism, just-war teaching, liturgical renewal, and the interchange between Catholicism and liberal democracy. Today Commonweal publishes many of the leading Catholic theologians, writers and public figures in the United States. Commonweal has a unique history of taking strong and controversial positions, often liberal and opinionated yet tolerant in tone. The editors condemned the firebombing of Dresden and the use of atomic weapons; they have criticized American racism; supported resistance to U.S. involvement in Vietnam; and took issue with the 1968 papal encyclical Humanae vitae but also the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Today the magazine maintains prolife convictions while being critical of single-issue abortion politics, and provides a space for marginalized voices. ================================== The magazine offers a yearly ($59.99) subscription - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase ================================== This magazine is proudly powered by PressPad. Find out more at www.presspadapp.com Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.presspadapp.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://presspadapp.com/terms-apps/

Screenshots

Universalis4 screens
Commonweal Mag3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Universalis at 95% against Commonweal Mag's 0%. Universalis also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.5) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 57 months). Commonweal Mag's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99). On ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Commonweal Mag is free to download; Universalis costs $9.99 up front. Universalis sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Commonweal Mag sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Universalis holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Universalis has 9.7K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Universalis's written reviews are positive against 0% of Commonweal Mag's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, Commonweal Mag every 57 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Universalis versus Commonweal Mag: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUniversalisCommonweal Mag
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (9.7K ratings) — better1.5 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews94.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings9.7K — better10
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 57 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversalis PublishingPressPad Sp. z o.o.

Customer experience

Universalis

All ratings9,680 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews649 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.5%

Commonweal Mag

All ratings10 ratings
Positive10.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative90.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Universalis

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Gospel readings sometimes incorrect
  • App crashes when trying to change hymns or readings

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Salesian saints and young saints
  • Include NAB translation for US users
  • Add option for 1962 liturgical calendar
  • Improve hymn selection, especially for seasons
  • Implement more inclusive language in prayers

Commonweal Mag

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Universalis

Subscriptions6
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • All Hours1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Daily Mass Readings1 Month trial$19.991 Year
  • Daytime Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
  • All Hours1 Month trial$29.991 Year
One-time4
  • Add-on translation: RSV Hours$1.99
  • Sung Latin Compline$3.99
  • Revelations of Divine Love$5.99
Show 1 more
  • Journey into Light$5.99
17 purchases

Commonweal Mag

Subscriptions2
  • Commonweal Magazine$4.491 Month
  • 1 Commonweal Magazine$54.991 Year
One-time15
  • October 7, 2016$3.99
  • Issue #77$3.99
  • Issue #81$3.99
Show 12 more
  • Issue #82$3.99
  • Issue #85$3.99
  • Issue #110$3.99
  • Issue #121$3.99
  • Issue #127$3.99
  • Issue #154$3.99
  • Issue #181$3.99
  • Issue #185$3.99
  • Issue #208$3.99
  • Issue #204$3.99
  • Issue #188$3.99
  • Issue #193$3.99

Questions

Is Universalis free?
Universalis costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Commonweal Mag free?
Commonweal Mag is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Universalis or Commonweal Mag?
Universalis is rated higher. Universalis averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9.7K ratings, while Commonweal Mag averages 1.5 from 10 ratings.
Do Universalis or Commonweal Mag have ads?
Neither Universalis nor Commonweal Mag shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Universalis or Commonweal Mag?
Universalis ships an update every 3 weeks, and Commonweal Mag every 57 months. Most recently, Universalis was updated on October 21, 2026 and Commonweal Mag on October 14, 2026.

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