The Hill vs Observer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Observer
Access daily news for Washington County, Greene County, and the Mon Valley in southwestern Pennsylvania. This app delivers localized news content directly to your mobile device.
- Daily newspaper coverage
- Washington County news
- Greene County news
- Mon Valley news
- Southwestern PA news
- Mobile access
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The Observer-Reporter is a daily newspaper covering Washington County, Greene County and the Mon Valley in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania. Get your Southwestern PA news when you want it through our customized app for your mobile devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Observer at 4.1 against The Hill's 2.5. Observer also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). The Hill's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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.
Observer holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 285 and 504 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 7% of The Hill's written reviews are positive against 12% of Observer's.
The Hill ships an update every 6 weeks, Observer every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Hill | Observer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (285 ratings) | 4.1 (504 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 6.5% of reviews | 11.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 285 | 504 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Nexstar Broadcasting | Observer Publishing Company |
Customer experience
The Hill
Observer
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- 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
Observer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Hill
No in-app purchases
Observer
No in-app purchases
