VicEmergency vs news.com.au
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VicEmergency
Receive official emergency warnings and information for Victoria, Australia. Set up personalized watch zones to get alerts for areas that matter to you, and view a live incident map with real-time updates.
- Live incident map
- Personalized watch zones
- Push notifications for warnings
- GPS integration for location
- Forecast Fire Danger Ratings
- Total Fire Ban status
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VicEmergency is the official Victorian Government app for emergency warnings and information. Download VicEmergency, set up a user profile and watch zones to ensure you receive official warnings and information for areas that interest you. Watch the VicEmergency video at www.youtube.com/channel/UCskGgVGdfEp1C3BMiiwAyzQ To review support articles or submit a request, visit http://support.emergency.vic.gov.au Main Features: • Live incident map showing current warnings, planned burns and other types of incidents across Victoria.*** • Simple to create a profile and use watch zones that ensure you get official warnings for your local area. Warnings and information* are pushed out to a user's phone when issued by Victoria’s emergency services. • GPS integration to determine your current location** and surrounding incidents. • Emergency Warnings, Warnings, Advice and information as issued by Victoria’s emergency services • Share incidents and warnings with friends and family. • View forecast Fire Danger Ratings on the map. • View today's and tomorrow’s Total Fire Ban status. * Your device must have an internet connection to receive warnings and information issued by Victorian emergency services. ** To view your current location, GPS must be switched on and location functionality enabled. *** Map symbols represent the origin of the emergency, not its current location or spread. The VicEmergency app is just one tool to assist you to access warnings and information about emergencies, however you should never rely on just one information channel. Emergency services use a range of other information channels including SKY TV, ABC local radio, some commercial and designated community radio stations, VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226, VicEmergency website on www.emergency.vic.gov.au and VicEmergency Twitter and Facebook. Are you getting a message asking you to turn on notifications? You need to ensure that push notifications are enabled specifically for the VicEmergency app, as follows: For iOS10, iOS9, iOS8 and iOS6: 1. Click on the Settings icon and then select Notifications. 2. Scroll down, click the VicEmergency icon 3. Ensure 'Allow Notifications" or "Notification Centre" (iOS6) at top of the screen is set to On. 4. We recommend that you set Alert Style as 'Banners' or Alerts' and ensure that Sounds and "Show on Lock Screen" or "View in Lock Screen" (iOS6) are set to On. For iOS7: 1. Open the device's Settings icon and then select 'Notification Center'. 2. Under 'Access on Lock Screen', check that 'Notifications View' is On (showing as green). 3. Scroll further down and ensure that VicEmergency is in the list under INCLUDE. Click it to open it. 4. At the top, set Alert Style as 'Banners' or Alerts' 5. Then ensure that everything in this section is turned On - ‘Badge App Icon’, ‘Sounds’, 'Show in Notification Center', 'Show on Lock Screen’, etc (all should be showing as green).
news.com.au
Access Australia's leading news source for breaking stories and trending topics. Stay informed on politics, pop culture, finance, sports, and more with a personalized feed and offline reading capabilities. Receive timely notifications for important updates.
- Breaking news alerts
- Trending stories
- Personalized news feed
- Offline reading
- Politics, sport, entertainment coverage
- Weather updates
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Don’t miss what matters to you with the news.com.au app. Get breaking news, trending stories and must-see videos from leading Australian news site news.com.au From politics to pop culture, tech gadgets to tax tricks, finance to footy, the news.com.au app will keep you up to date and in the know. What you’ll love about the news.com.au app: NEWS THAT MATTERS TO YOU Our dedicated journalists will keep you up to date with breaking news, and the latest stories spanning finance, sport, entertainment, politics, weather, crime and more. DON’T MISS A DING Get real-time alerts to stay on top of breaking news stories. MUST-WATCH VIDEOS It’s not just articles. With the app you can watch the latest news and viral videos from around the world. IN THE KNOW QUIZ The In the Know quiz is now exclusive to the app. This daily quiz challenges your recollection of the latest news and current events. Beat your own high score and race to the top of the leaderboard! SAVE FOR OFFLINE READING Stay informed, even when you’re offline. Simply bookmark stories to read later, even when you’re without reception or Wi-Fi. The news.com.au app is the fastest, most convenient way to get what matters to you. Because if it matters to you, it matters to news.com.au Please note: This app features Nielsen’s proprietary measurement software which will allow you to contribute to market research. Please see https://priv-policy.imrworldwide.com/priv/mobile/au/en/optout.html for more details.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: VicEmergency at 3.5 against news.com.au's 2.7. VicEmergency also leads on ads (none vs shown). news.com.au's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (177 vs 4). On price, review sentiment, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
VicEmergency holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: news.com.au has 177 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of VicEmergency's written reviews are positive against 19% of news.com.au's.
VicEmergency ships an update every 3 months, news.com.au every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VicEmergency | news.com.au |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (4 ratings) — better | 2.7 (177 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 23.1% of reviews — better | 19.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 177 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | State of Victoria - Department of Justice | News Digital Media |
Customer experience
VicEmergency
news.com.au
Bugs and requests
VicEmergency
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
news.com.au
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes on startup or during article scrolling
- Crashes with iOS 15 and later updates
- Blank screen after welcome slides
- App fails to open after updates
- Endless loading spinner preventing app launch
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- App freezes when reading articles while using Spotify
- Content jumps and shifts while reading due to ad loading
- Ads trigger App Store without user click
- Multiple notifications for same story
- App stops Apple Music playback
- Slow article loading and rendering
- Update hangs on iPad and iPhone
- Incompatible with older iOS versions
- App becomes unusable after recent updates
Requested features
9 requests- Dark mode support for iOS
- Dark-tinted app icon for dark mode
- Ability to filter news by location/state
- Remove auto-playing video headlines
- Disable auto-play videos that interrupt music
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Improved tablet app functionality
- Better content personalization controls
- Option to view 'Just In' tab for current news
- Faster article loading times
In-app purchases
VicEmergency
No in-app purchases
news.com.au
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is VicEmergency free?
Is news.com.au free?
Which has better reviews, VicEmergency or news.com.au?
Do VicEmergency or news.com.au have ads?
Which is updated more often, VicEmergency or news.com.au?
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