Slate.com vs Read Across The Aisle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Slate.com
Access award-winning daily online magazine content, including in-depth analysis, commentary, and podcasts. Enjoy curated stories, reviews, and advice with options for ad-free reading and exclusive content through a membership.
- Editorially curated stories
- Political and legal commentary
- Movie and television reviews
- Award-winning podcasts
- Push notifications
- Light/Dark mode reading
- Slate Plus membership
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Enjoy Slate, the award-winning daily online magazine, on your iPhone. Slate is a general-interest publication offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, business, technology, culture, and advice. Slate’s strong editorial voice and witty take on current events have been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online. Features include: - Our Editorially curated stories of the day - Access to all of our written work, including Slate’s popular political and legal commentary, movie and television reviews, and Dear Prudence. - Our award winning podcasts, including the Political Gabfest, the Culture Gabfest, Decoder Ring, and Slow Burn. - Push notifications to keep you informed throughout your day. - The ability to choose to read using Light or Dark mode. - Access to purchase or sign in to our membership program, Slate Plus. Please see the benefits below. The app is free to download, however we do display advertisements within the app. Additionally we offer the ability to log in to your existing Slate Plus account or purchase a new Slate Plus account through the in app purchases. Your Slate Plus account can be used on your iOS devices as well as our website. To use your Slate Plus subscription on other devices you must create an account after completing your purchase. You can always create an account at a later time if you choose not to do so initially after your purchase. With your Slate Plus subscription, you'll receive: - Unlimited articles in the Slate app. - An ad-free reading experience in the Slate app. By creating an optional account you’ll also receive: - Unlimited articles on slate.com. - Our exclusive subscriber only weekly newsletter. - Access to all of our podcasts completely ad-free. - Bonus episodes and segments on your favorite shows! Slate Plus Subscription details: Your account will automatically renew at the end of each month or year depending on your subscription. Payment will be charged to your Apple 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. You can manage your subscription and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to user account settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. For additional information regarding Slate Plus please see our FAQ: https://slate.com/plus/faq Slate's Privacy Policy: https://slate.com/privacy Slate's Terms of Use: https://slate.com/terms For additional information regarding auto renewal settings please refer to this link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039 Please send your thoughts and suggestions to feedback@slate.com.
Read Across The Aisle
This app helps you break out of your social media filter bubble by providing news from diverse sources and indicating their political orientation. It tracks your reading history's political leanings and prompts you to explore different perspectives.
- Diverse news sources
- Political orientation of sources
- User reading history analysis
- Reminders to diversify reading
- Privacy-focused data handling
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Break out of your social media filter bubble with Read Across The Aisle! In the app, you can read news from a variety of sources, and it shows you the political orientation of each source. Read Across The Aisle also shows you the cumulative political orientation of your reading history. Most importantly, the app detects when you've just been reading from one side of the aisle and occasionally reminds you to check out news from another angle. --- We value your privacy and do not gather any personal information whatsoever. Of course, this means we're also not selling, renting any personal reading data (since we collect have any). What you read is your business, not ours! The political orientation rating for each source is based on public opinion polls and other data. If you have questions about ratings, or anything else, you can email us!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Slate.com at 4.5 against Read Across The Aisle's 3.1. Slate.com also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 40 months) and ratings volume (9.1K vs 40). Read Across The Aisle's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.1). 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. Slate.com sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Read Across The Aisle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Slate.com holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Slate.com has 9.1K ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Slate.com's written reviews are positive against 26% of Read Across The Aisle's.
Slate.com ships an update every 5 weeks, Read Across The Aisle every 40 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Slate.com | Read Across The Aisle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (9.1K ratings) — better | 3.1 (40 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.2% of reviews — better | 26.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9.1K — better | 40 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 40 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #48 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Slate Group, LLC | BeeLine Reader, Inc. |
Customer experience
Slate.com
Read Across The Aisle
Bugs and requests
Slate.com
Reported bugs
4 issues- Articles not loading properly
- Blank screens and white screens
- Inability to access Slate Plus content
- Podcasts cutting out or not playing correctly
Requested features
4 requests- Add search functionality
- Improve podcast playback controls
- Implement landscape mode for iPad
- Better identify Slate Plus content
Read Across The Aisle
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Slate.com
- Slate Plus1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Slate Plus14 Days trial$68.991 Year
- Slate Plus3 Months trial2 variants$119.001 Year
Read Across The Aisle
- Fully Unlock App$19.99
Questions
Is Slate.com free?
Is Read Across The Aisle free?
Which has better reviews, Slate.com or Read Across The Aisle?
Do Slate.com or Read Across The Aisle have ads?
Which is updated more often, Slate.com or Read Across The Aisle?
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