The Hill vs Democracy Now!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Hill
Stay informed on Congress and politics with in-depth news, analysis, and opinion pieces. Covers business, lobbying, campaigns, and Capitol Hill happenings. Includes video reports and political talk shows.
- Congress and politics coverage
- Business and lobbying news
- Campaign updates
- Capitol Hill reporting
- Video clips and talk shows
- Topic-based push notifications
- 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.
Democracy Now!
Access award-winning independent news with daily global headlines and in-depth interviews. This app offers content in video, audio, and transcript formats, including web exclusives and a live video stream.
- Daily news headlines
- In-depth interviews
- Web exclusives
- Audio and video on-demand
- Live video stream
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Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Our reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews. All content available in video, audio and transcript format. *Daily News Headlines* 10-minute roundup of global news headlines. *In-Depth Interviews* Conversations with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. On Democracy Now!, you’ll hear a diversity of voices speaking for themselves, providing a unique and sometimes provocative perspective on global events. *Web Exclusives* Extended interviews and exclusive digital-only content. *Audio & Video On-Demand* All content is available in audio and video formats. *Live Video Stream* Tune in LIVE for the news hour weekdays at 8am ET.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Democracy Now! at 66% against The Hill's 7%. Democracy Now! also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.5) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases 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.
Democracy Now! holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 287 and 416 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 7% of The Hill's written reviews are positive against 66% of Democracy Now!'s.
The Hill ships an update every 5 weeks, Democracy Now! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Hill | Democracy Now! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (287 ratings) | 4.4 (416 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 6.5% of reviews | 65.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 287 | 416 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #180 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Nexstar Broadcasting | DEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS INC |
Customer experience
The Hill
Democracy Now!
User reviews
The Hill
From 287 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
Democracy Now!
From 416 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent news coverage
- 🚀 Easy to navigate app
- 💡 Appreciate audio-only option
- 🚀 Streamlined interface
- 👍 Trustworthy news source
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Streaming issues and buffering problems
- 🐛 Sync issues between audio and video
- 🐛 Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
- 🐛 Glitchy scrolling and article loading
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
Democracy Now!
Reported bugs
4 issues- Refresh issues on headlines tab
- App not optimized for larger screens
- Occasional audio/video desync
- Crashes when trying to share content
Requested features
5 requests- Push notification support
- Landscape mode support
- Chromecast/AirPlay integration
- Ability to download episodes for offline viewing
- Improved sharing capabilities
In-app purchases
The Hill
No in-app purchases
Democracy Now!
No in-app purchases
