Comparison

Journal Star vs Journal Star

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Journal Star

Access in-depth local news, sports, and weather for Lincoln, Nebraska. Enjoy exclusive commentary, photography, and podcasts. Personalize your news feed and receive breaking alerts.

Highlights
  • Personalized news feed
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Exclusive commentary and podcasts
  • Video updates
  • Bookmark stories
  • Listen to articles
  • Customizable text size
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Your story lives in Lincoln. Get in-depth stories from Lincoln, Nebraska's No. 1 news outlet – including breaking news sports, opinion, obituaries, entertainment, and politics. From reporting on the Huskers to the news that matters most in your community, the state and beyond, we cover it all. Easily access the very latest news in an app built for you. Read, see, and hear exclusive commentary, stunning photography, video updates, and binge-worthy podcasts. Support local journalism by subscribing today for unlimited digital access. Our app features: * Your Stories – personalize your experience by selecting the local news topics that matter most to you * Get notified – stay in the loop by selecting alerts for news, sports, weather, and more * Easy navigation – see all the latest local stories by simply swiping up/down, and left/right * Read stories your way – either in the News Feed or via the E-edition * Breaking news updates – top banners let you know what’s happening right now * Continue watching – pause a video and pick up where you left off across devices * Bookmark for later – save stories to enjoy at your leisure * Listen to articles – press the play button to listen instead * Customize your text size – make the content bigger or smaller in your profile settings * Weather where you are – hourly, 10-day forecasts, and frequent video updates Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to breaking news updates, analysis, and more. Get the Lincoln Journal Star in Your Inbox Get convenient, curated updates delivered to your Inbox. Sign up for Breaking News updates as they happen, the Afternoon Update for a roundup of the latest local top stories, Local Sports for the latest sports headlines, Food & Drink for foodies, Garage Sales for bargain hunters and many more. Visit https://journalstar.com/newsletters/ to view and subscribe to all of The Lincoln Journal Star Newsletters. Keep Up with The Lincoln Journal Star Follow us on Facebook and other social platforms: https://x.com/JournalStarNews https://www.pinterest.com/ljsfeatures/ https://www.instagram.com/journalstarnews/ https://www.facebook.com/LincolnJournalStar/ https://www.youtube.com/user/JournalStarNews https://www.linkedin.com/company/lincoln-journal-star/ About The Lincoln Journal Star The Lincoln Journal Star is the premier news and information source in Southeast Nebraska covering local news, government, sports and events on https://journalstar.com/. Along with the area’s leading daily newspaper and website, we publish several niche publications and provide full service digital advertising services. We'd love to hear what you think! For any technical issues or questions, contact us at appsupport@lee.net https://journalstar.com/terms The Lincoln Journal Star is part of Lee Enterprises.

About

Journal Star

Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and breaking alerts. Access a digital replica of the print edition, along with national news. Customize your reading experience and save articles for offline access.

Highlights
  • In-depth local journalism
  • Breaking news and alerts
  • eNewspaper replica
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Offline reading
  • Sports coverage
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — the Journal Star app delivers the local news that matters most to your community. APP FEATURES: • Access all of our in-depth journalism, including things to do around town, sports coverage from high school to the pros, and much more. • Enjoy a streamlined, fast-loading experience that makes it easy to view the stories, photos, and videos that matter to you. • Get breaking news, sports scores, and weather alerts with real-time notifications tailored to your interests. • Customize your experience by saving your favorite stories, adjusting text size, using night mode, or reading offline. • eNewspaper: Just like our print edition but accessible on your mobile devices. And access to USA TODAY and 200+ local eNewspapers. MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.pjstar.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.pjstar.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.pjstar.com • Subscriptions are charged to your account at confirmation of purchase and automatically renew each month or year, unless turned off in your account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. See "Subscription Support" in the app's Settings for more details and customer service contact information.

Screenshots

Journal Star4 screens
Journal Star4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Journal Star at 4.4 against Journal Star's 2.7. Journal Star also leads on review sentiment (46% vs 4%). Journal Star's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Journal Star sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $29.99 per month and Journal Star sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Journal Star holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 311 and 761 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 4% of Journal Star's written reviews are positive against 46% of Journal Star's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Journal Star ships an update monthly, Journal Star every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Journal Star versus Journal Star: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJournal StarJournal Star
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (311 ratings)4.4 (761 ratings) — better
Positive reviews4.0% of reviews45.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings311761 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#161 — better#182
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB185 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperLee EnterprisesUSA TODAY Co., Inc.

Customer experience

Journal Star

All ratings311 ratings
Positive42.1%
Neutral3.9%
Negative54.0%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive4.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative96.0%

Journal Star

All ratings761 ratings
Positive86.2%
Neutral5.1%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews96 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative44.8%

User reviews

Journal Star

From 311 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📱 Good for accessing local news on mobile
  • ✍️ Well-written articles
  • 📰 Comprehensive local news coverage

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Articles fail to load or display blank pages
  • 🐛 Login issues and constant re-authentication required
  • 💰 High subscription cost ($25.99-$26.99/month)
  • 📵 Intrusive and excessive ads

Journal Star

From 761 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Lightning-fast load times
  • 👍 Continuous reading experience
  • 👍 Convenient digital delivery
  • 👍 Comprehensive local news coverage
  • 👍 Great sports reporting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and use
  • 💸 Invasive ads even for paid subscribers
  • 🔒 Login and subscription management problems
  • 🔍 Outdated and incomplete content

Bugs and requests

Journal Star

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during use
  • Articles fail to load or display blank/white screens
  • Black screen pop-ups that cannot be closed
  • Login credentials not saved; constant re-authentication required
  • App stops loading pages in e-edition after some time
Show 11 more
  • Subscription verification failures despite active subscription
  • Articles not refreshing or updating
  • Links to articles not working properly
  • App incompatible with iPad landscape orientation
  • App incompatible with iOS 14+ versions
  • Random podcast audio playing in background
  • Pages jumping around while reading
  • Ads hijacking navigation to revenue pages
  • E-edition content not displaying correctly
  • Inconsistent menu states between old and new versions
  • App freezing or becoming unresponsive

Requested features

10 requests
  • Landscape mode support for tablets
  • Improved search functionality
  • Better content organization and categorization
  • Free or lower-cost subscription tier
  • Removal or reduction of ads for paid subscribers
Show 5 more
  • Consistent and intuitive menu design
  • Better local news prioritization in feed
  • Improved article loading reliability
  • Better support for older iOS versions
  • Ability to store sign-in information

Journal Star

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Pages not loading properly
  • Subscription issues and lack of customer support
  • Inability to access full content
  • Blurry and misaligned content
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to print articles
  • Improved obituary section
  • More local sports coverage
  • Seamless cross-device experience
  • Better organization and search functionality

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Journal Star

Subscriptions7
  • Subscriptions$29.991 Month
  • Subscriptions$42.991 Month
  • Subscriptions$44.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Subscriptions$50.001 Year
  • Subscriptions$289.991 Year
  • Subscriptions$344.991 Year
  • Subscriptions$379.991 Year
4 purchases

Journal Star

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$14.991 Month
  • Monthly Digital Subscription1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Journal Star - Monthly1 Month trial$24.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Journal Star - Annual1 Year trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Journal Star free?
Journal Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Journal Star free?
Journal Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Journal Star or Journal Star?
Journal Star is rated higher. Journal Star averages 2.7 out of 5 from 311 ratings, while Journal Star averages 4.4 from 761 ratings.
Do Journal Star or Journal Star have ads?
Both Journal Star and Journal Star show ads.
Which is updated more often, Journal Star or Journal Star?
Journal Star ships an update monthly, and Journal Star every 4 weeks. Most recently, Journal Star was updated on November 6, 2026 and Journal Star on November 6, 2026.
Which is more popular, Journal Star or Journal Star?
Journal Star currently peaks at #161 in the App Store charts, and Journal Star at #182. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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