# SA Fires vs Canberra Times

The clearest difference is price: Canberra Times at Free against SA Fires's $0.99. Canberra Times also leads on ratings volume (10 vs 3). SA Fires's advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 38%) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). On update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Canberra Times is free to download; SA Fires costs $0.99 up front. Canberra Times sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. SA Fires asks for nothing beyond the download.

SA Fires holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of SA Fires's written reviews are positive against 38% of Canberra Times's.

SA Fires ships an update every 5 months, Canberra Times every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SA Fires | Canberra Times |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $0.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sa-fires/id352740821/reviews)** | [4.6 (10 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canberra-times/id1527269999/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 3 | **10** |
| Positive reviews | **76.5% of reviews** | 37.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | **Every 3 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#76** | — |
| Size | 34 MB | 59 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [P4G Pty Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/296948831) | [Rural Press Pty Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1527270001) |

## What reviewers say

### SA Fires

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sa-fires/id352740821)

**Currently charting:** #76 Top Paid · News (US App Store)

Access up-to-date fire information from South Australia's Country Fire Service. View incidents by recency, severity, or proximity, and see their locations on a map.

**Highlights:** Real-time fire information, Sort by latest, severity, or proximity, Map fire locations, Country Fire Service data

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- ✅ Accurate and up-to-date information
- 👍 Easy to use and understand
- 🚀 Fast alerts for fires
- 💡 Consolidates multiple information sources
- ❤️ Provides peace of mind

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App not working/updating
- 🐛 Glitchy and doesn't set alerts properly
- 🐛 Watch zone issues (deletion, radius)
- 🐛 UI needs redesigning
- 🐛 Doubled notifications

**Reported bugs**

- App no longer works on iPad
- Font size in red for current fire too large, covers appliance numbers
- Doesn't work on my iPad
- Hasn't been updated for 12 months
- Server unable to be updated for watch zones

**Requested features**

- More information on fires (size, units)
- Include local wind/fire direction
- Shorten fields to not cover appliance numbers
- Different icons for different incidents (e.g., tree down)
- Ability to delete old location alerts


### Canberra Times

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canberra-times/id1527269999)

Access breaking news, in-depth analysis, and commentary from Canberra's trusted voice. Stay informed with 24/7 updates, save articles for later, and receive alerts for important stories. Premium subscribers can enjoy a digital replica of the daily paper and interactive puzzles.

**Highlights:** Breaking news updates 24/7, Browse articles by topic, Save articles for later, Breaking news alerts, Digital replica of daily newspaper, Interactive daily puzzles

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Basic Monthly | $14.99 | per month |
| Premium Monthly | $24.99 | per month |
| Basic Annual | $129.99 | per year |
| Premium Annual | $179.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great voice for the people
- 👍 Excellent news articles
- 👍 Easy to use app
- 👍 Good format, quality commentary
- 👍 Works well, loads quickly

**What reviewers complain about**

-  광고 Ads obscure screen, reduce reading pane
-  📰 One-sided, biased reporting
-  🐛 Spontaneous app closures
-  🐛 Blank pages after returning from articles
-  🐛 Disappearing index lines

**Reported bugs**

- Constant typographical errors
- App kicks out around sports section
- Spontaneously closes when scrolling or changing pages
- Often shows a blank page when returning from an article
- First lines under headlines disappear and return

**Requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Improve search function
- Include daily cartoon
- Allow jumping between hyperlinks without logout
- Fix links opening in external browser


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SA Fires free?

SA Fires costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Canberra Times free?

Canberra Times is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, SA Fires or Canberra Times?

SA Fires is rated higher. SA Fires averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Canberra Times averages 4.6 from 10 ratings.

### Do SA Fires or Canberra Times have ads?

Canberra Times shows ads; SA Fires does not.

### Which is updated more often, SA Fires or Canberra Times?

SA Fires ships an update every 5 months, and Canberra Times every 3 months. Most recently, SA Fires was updated on November 10, 2026 and Canberra Times on November 7, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*