ProPublica vs The Hill
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ProPublica
Access in-depth investigative journalism covering critical topics like government, healthcare, and criminal justice. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience with offline support and notifications for major stories.
- Latest investigative journalism
- Reporting on government and policy
- Coverage of healthcare and criminal justice
- Environmental reporting
- Streamlined reading experience
- Offline support
- Story notifications
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• Get the latest independent investigative journalism from ProPublica. • Dig deep into reporting about government and policy, health care, criminal justice, the environment and more. • Get a streamlined reading experience, with smart offline support and notifications for our biggest stories.
The Hill
Stay informed on US politics and congressional affairs. Access in-depth news, analysis, and opinion pieces on campaigns, business, and lobbying. Watch exclusive video content and follow topics for breaking news alerts.
- Congress and politics coverage
- Business and lobbying focus
- News, analysis, and opinion
- Video clips and talk shows
- Push notifications for breaking news
- Save stories for later
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Covering congress & politics with a focus on business and lobbying, political campaigns, and goings on on Capitol Hill. Read news, analysis, and opinion pieces across a variety of categories, including Senate, House, Administration, Campaign, Business & Lobbying, and topical blogs. Watch video clips of reporting from the capitol, as well as full episodes of our political talk shows. Follow topics to get push notifications on breaking news. Save stories to read later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ProPublica at 75% against The Hill's 7%. ProPublica also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.5) and ads (none vs shown). The Hill's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support 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.
ProPublica holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 104 and 284 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of ProPublica's written reviews are positive against 7% of The Hill's.
ProPublica ships an update every 4 months, The Hill every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ProPublica | The Hill |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (104 ratings) — better | 2.5 (284 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.8% of reviews — better | 6.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 104 | 284 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Best chart rank | #48 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ProPublica | Nexstar Broadcasting |
Customer experience
ProPublica
The Hill
User reviews
ProPublica
From 104 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📰 High-quality investigative journalism
- ✅ Factual, unbiased reporting
- 🎯 In-depth, well-researched stories
- 🆓 Ad-free content
- 🧹 Clean, simple interface
Room to improve
- 🌙 Bright white screen (no dark mode)
- 📤 Social sharing doesn't include headlines
- ⚠️ Outdated app updates
- 🖼️ Image sizing issues on older devices
- 🔄 Slow initial loading times
The Hill
From 284 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📰 Balanced and unbiased news reporting
- ✍️ High-quality journalism and writing
- 🎯 Good content for political news junkies
- ⚡ Responsive developer support
- 📱 Functional app when working properly
Room to improve
- 📺 Excessive and intrusive video ads
- 🛑 Constant pop-up advertisements
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 📜 Poor text readability and font sizing issues
- 🔄 Jittery and glitchy scrolling
Bugs and requests
ProPublica
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes on launch
- App won't open or load content
- Stories don't appear when clicked
- MuckReads section fails to load
- Data filter dropdowns non-functional
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Articles don't fit screen (horizontal scrolling required)
- Images not resizing properly
- App freezes phone
- Device registration issues
- Content never populates
Requested features
9 requests- Dark mode for nighttime reading
- Bookmark/save articles function
- Home screen widget
- Adjustable font size
- Persistent font size settings
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- iOS 18 theme adherence
- Read-later app integration (Instapaper, Pocket)
- Improved article navigation
- Better browsing of older stories
The Hill
Reported bugs
15 issues- App crashes when opening articles
- App crashes when scrolling too quickly
- App freezes during initialization
- App won't load on some devices
- Text cut off in landscape mode
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Text cut off by notch on iPhone X
- Articles don't display completely
- Ads cover article text
- App stutters and jumps to ads
- App jumps to end of articles
- App won't progress past notification setup screens
- Jittery scrolling performance
- High CPU and battery consumption
- Incompatibility with accessibility settings
- Recent update breaks core functionality
Requested features
11 requests- Search functionality for articles
- Bookmark/save articles feature
- Breaking news notifications
- Ad-free subscription option
- Ability to disable auto-play videos
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Adjustable font size and zoom
- Filter articles by topic/policy
- Chronological article sorting
- Author attribution in articles
- Ability to listen to music while using app
- Improved accessibility features
In-app purchases
ProPublica
No in-app purchases
The Hill
No in-app purchases
