Comparison

Journal Star vs Briefd.

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

Briefd.

Features
Read full description

Tired of doom-scrolling through headlines? There's a better way. Briefd. turns today's biggest stories into a personalized podcast — built around your exact interests, ready in minutes. HOW IT WORKS → Pick your interests (Tech, Finance, Sports, Politics & more) → Briefd. reads the latest news from Reuters, BBC, Bloomberg, AP and more → Our AI writes a conversational script just for you → Listen to your 15-minute brief anytime, anywhere IT'S LIKE HAVING YOUR OWN NEWS ANCHOR No algorithm deciding what you see. No endless scrolling. Just the news you actually care about, delivered as audio you'll actually enjoy listening to. BUILT FOR YOUR LIFE - Listen on your commute, at the gym, or over morning coffee - Speed controls (1x, 1.5x, 2x) for when you're in a rush - Read the full transcript and source articles after listening - Schedule automatic daily delivery — or generate on demand - Works with Control Center and lock screen ALWAYS FRESH, NEVER RECYCLED Every episode is generated fresh. Same interests, totally different brief, because the news never stops. Free to try. Upgrade for daily or scheduled delivery. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Journal Star4 screens
Briefd.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Briefd. at none against Journal Star's shown. Journal Star's advantage is chart position (#196 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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 Briefd. sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Journal Star versus Briefd.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJournal StarBriefd.
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (311 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews4.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings311 — better—
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#196 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size103 MB44 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLee EnterprisesTawil Charaniya

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

Briefd.

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Briefd.

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$2.991 Month
  • Briefd Weekdays$6.991 Month
  • Briefd Daily$9.991 Month
One-time1
  • 5 Credits$2.99

Questions

Is Journal Star free?
Journal Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Briefd. free?
Briefd. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Journal Star or Briefd. have ads?
Journal Star shows ads; Briefd. does not.

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