Herald vs NowDecatur.com
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Herald
Access local news, sports, and community stories with in-depth reporting and exclusive commentary. Personalize your feed, receive breaking news alerts, and enjoy multimedia content like podcasts and videos. Subscribers can upgrade for an ad-free experience.
- Personalized news feed
- Breaking news alerts
- Exclusive commentary and photography
- Podcasts and video updates
- Ad-free premium option
- Listen to articles
- Customizable text size
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Your story lives in the Herald & Review. From reporting on all of your favorite teams to the news that matters most in the community, we cover it all. Get in-depth stories from the Decatur area and beyond – including news, sports, opinion, obituaries, entertainment, and politics. 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. Plus, subscribers have the ability to upgrade to News+, our premium ad-free experience! That means faster-loading pages and an uninterrupted reading experience. 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 * Follow author – get notifications whenever your favorite writers post a story * 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. https://herald-review.com/terms/
NowDecatur.com
Stay informed about local happenings in Decatur, Illinois, with this app. Access news, sports, weather updates, and local radio stations. Enjoy on-demand podcasts and receive breaking news alerts.
- Local news updates
- Live radio streaming
- On-demand podcasts
- Weather alerts
- Breaking news notifications
- Video content
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With the NowDecatur app, you can stay connected to everything that is happening in Decatur Illinois. NowDecatur is your local source for news, sports, weather and so much more. • Access all of your favorite NowDecatur videos featuring local lifestyle, news, sports and events. • Stay up to date with the latest local news from WSOY-AM, a trusted news source for nearly 100 years. • Stream your favorite Decatur radio stations, including Decatur’s heritage station WSOY-AM, the Home of Local Sports, ESPNDecatur 1050 AM, Blazing Hiphop and R&B with HOT 105.5, Decatur’s Country Home 95Q and Decatur’s #1 Hit Music Station Y103. • Get access to your favorite local podcasts on demand, including The Aric Lee Show and Byers & Co, Decatur’s #1 Morning show for over 20 years. • Get breaking news and severe weather alerts, push notifications, contesting, score updates and more from an ala cart menu. You choose what you want! NOTE: This app includes optional features that use your location. You can choose whether to participate in these features, you can always opt out, and we limit our usage of this technology.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Herald at 43% against NowDecatur.com's 0%. Herald also leads on ratings volume (46 vs 6). NowDecatur.com's advantage is rating (4.0 vs 2.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 7). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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. Herald sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $25.99 per month. NowDecatur.com asks for nothing beyond the download.
NowDecatur.com holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Herald has 46 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of Herald's written reviews are positive against 0% of NowDecatur.com's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Herald ships an update every 2 months, NowDecatur.com every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Herald | NowDecatur.com |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (46 ratings) | 4.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.5% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 46 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Lee Enterprises Inc. | Community Media Group Inc |
Customer experience
Herald
NowDecatur.com
In-app purchases
Herald
- Subscriptions$25.991 Month
- Subscriptions$38.991 Month
- Subscriptions$42.991 Month
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- Subscriptions$50.001 Year
- Subscriptions$249.991 Year
- Subscriptions$314.991 Year
- Subscriptions$349.991 Year
NowDecatur.com
No in-app purchases
