Comparison

Journal Star vs Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Access breaking news, in-depth investigations, and local sports coverage from Wisconsin's largest newsroom. Stay informed with real-time alerts, a personalized feed, and a digital replica of the print newspaper.

Highlights
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Personalized news feed
  • Digital eNewspaper replica
  • In-depth investigations
  • Local sports coverage
  • Political reporting
Features
Read full description

We're working to make the place we call home, better. As the largest newsroom in Wisconsin, and a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, we have an obligation to our community, to tell all the stories that need to be told. We’re here because we believe that local journalism is valuable – from simple things like the weather to hard-hitting opinions, breaking news and in-depth investigations. We’re our Milwaukee’s trusted storytellers. We’re here for it. WHAT WE’RE ALL ABOUT: • Journalism that makes our home better by celebrating the good, solving the bad, and investigating the ugly. • Access to Public Investigator, our Pulitzer Prize finalist series of quick-turn investigations. • Access to PackersNews.com, your source for unbeatable Packers coverage. Go pack go. • Sports coverage for locals, by locals: the Bucks, Brewers, Packers, Wisconsin Badgers, Marquette Hoops, and UW-Milwaukee. • Reporting that keeps you informed on the actions of decision makers and the political issues that impact residents. • Get the latest updates on the 2024 Presidential Election, as well as Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate and House races. • App features like real-time alerts, challenging puzzles and lively podcasts, a personalized feed, the eNewspaper, and more. APP FEATURES: • Real-time breaking news alerts • A personalized feed on the all-new For You page • The eNewspaper, a digital replica of our print newspaper Subscription Information: • The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel app is free to download and all users can access a sampling of free articles every month. • 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. See "Subscription Support" in the app's Settings for more details and customer service contact information.  MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.jsonline.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.jsonline.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.jsonline.com

Screenshots

Journal Star4 screens
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at 4.3 against Journal Star's 2.7. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also leads on review sentiment (43% vs 4%) and ratings volume (5.8K vs 309). Journal Star's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads 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

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 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has 5.8K ratings behind it against 309, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 4% of Journal Star's written reviews are positive against 43% of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Journal Star ships an update monthly, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Journal Star versus Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJournal StarMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (309 ratings)4.3 (5.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews4.0% of reviews43.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3095.8K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#162#59 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB188 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperLee EnterprisesUSA TODAY Co., Inc.

Customer experience

Journal Star

All ratings309 ratings
Positive41.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative54.7%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive4.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative96.0%

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

All ratings5,754 ratings
Positive85.5%
Neutral6.6%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews198 reviews
Positive43.4%
Neutral10.6%
Negative46.0%

User reviews

Journal Star

From 309 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

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

From 5.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Well-organized and informative content
  • 🚀 Efficient app performance
  • 💡 Useful features like access to USA Today
  • 👍 Excellent sports coverage
  • 👍 Reliable local news source

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional app crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Lack of national/international news coverage
  • 🔍 Perceived political bias in reporting
  • 🔍 Frustrating login and subscription issues
  • 🔍 Cluttered UI with too many ads

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

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App fails to recognize active subscriptions
  • Scrolling issues and content disappearing
  • Incompatibility with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve offline reading capabilities
  • Provide more customization options
  • Streamline login and subscription management
  • Enhance sports statistics integration

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
6 purchases

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Subscriptions6
  • Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Annual Digital Subscription1 Year trial$19.991 Year
  • Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$24.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Digital Subscription1 Month trial$24.991 Month
  • Monthly Digital Subscription$24.991 Month
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Annual Digital Subscription1 Year trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Journal Star free?
Journal Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Milwaukee Journal Sentinel free?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Journal Star or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is rated higher. Journal Star averages 2.7 out of 5 from 309 ratings, while Milwaukee Journal Sentinel averages 4.3 from 5.8K ratings.
Do Journal Star or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have ads?
Both Journal Star and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show ads.
Which is updated more often, Journal Star or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?
Journal Star ships an update monthly, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel every 3 weeks. Most recently, Journal Star was updated on September 26, 2026 and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on September 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Journal Star or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?
Journal Star currently peaks at #162 in the App Store charts, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at #59. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons