Rapid City Journal vs SDPB App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rapid City Journal
Access local news, sports, opinion, and more with in-depth stories and exclusive commentary. Personalize your news feed, receive alerts, and enjoy multimedia content like photos and podcasts. An optional premium subscription offers an ad-free experience.
- Personalized news feed
- Breaking news alerts
- Exclusive commentary and photography
- Podcasts and video updates
- Listen to articles
- Customizable text size
- Hourly and 10-day weather forecasts
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Your story lives in Rapid City. 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 region 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://rapidcityjournal.com/terms/
SDPB App
Access live radio and television streams, with DVR-like controls to pause and rewind. Explore on-demand content, search for programs, and set alarms to wake up to your favorite station. Share stories and programs easily with friends and family.
- Live radio and TV streaming
- Pause, rewind, and fast forward live streams
- On-demand content library
- Program search functionality
- Bookmark programs
- Alarm clock and sleep timer
- Share stories and programs
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SDPB App: The South Dakota Public Broadcasting App allows you to listen to South Dakota Public Broadcasting Radio and Television, pause and rewind the live radio audio, and view the program guide all at once! You can explore On Demand content, search for programs, bookmark a program for later, and wake up to SDPB with the alarm clock! Live Streaming • DVR-like controls (pause, rewind, and fast forward). You can pause the live stream to have a conversation and pick up right where you left off! Or rewind to catch a comment you just missed! • Listen to live streams from SDPB even while traveling! Start the app and your favorite station starts playing – no clicks to start listening. • Integrated program schedules for all the SDPB streams! • One click stream switching – flip over to the program you noticed on another stream with a single click. • Listen to SDPB in the background while browsing the web or catching up on your emails! On Demand • Access SDPB’s programs easily and quickly. • DVR-like controls. Pause, rewind and fast forward your program with ease. • When listening to programs, individual segments (when available) are listed so you can review and choose one or listen to the entire program. • Easy to access past programs. • The SDPB App displays the web page associated with the program or program segment you are listening to On Demand so you can explore for more information. Search • The unique “Search Public Radio” feature finds stories or programs across hundreds of stations and web pages and makes it easy to play instantly. Additional features • Easily share stories and programs with family and friends via the “Share” button. • A built in Sleep Timer and Alarm Clock allows you to go to sleep and wake up to your favorite station. The SDPB App is brought to you by the people at South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Public Media Apps. We work to provide our valued listeners with great solutions to find what you want, when you want it, and where you want it. Please support South Dakota Public Broadcasting by becoming a member today! http://www.sdpb.org http://www.publicmediaapps.com/support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SDPB App at 82% against Rapid City Journal's 17%. SDPB App also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.2) and in-app purchases (none vs 7). Rapid City Journal's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (184 vs 32). On price, 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. Rapid City Journal sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $27.99 per month. SDPB App asks for nothing beyond the download.
SDPB App holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rapid City Journal has 184 ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 17% of Rapid City Journal's written reviews are positive against 82% of SDPB App's.
Rapid City Journal ships an update every 5 weeks, SDPB App every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Rapid City Journal | SDPB App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (184 ratings) | 4.8 (32 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 17.3% of reviews | 82.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 184 — better | 32 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 5 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 | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 101 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Lee Enterprises | South Dakota Public Broadcasting |
Customer experience
Rapid City Journal
SDPB App
Bugs and requests
Rapid City Journal
Reported bugs
19 issues- App closes immediately on opening
- Content not available error
- App doesn't work with paid subscription
- App refuses to work with e-subscription
- Content inaccessible
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- App gets worse with updates
- Locking up
- Automatic video playback
- Impossibly slow article access
- Portrait mode only on iPad
- Cannot open every page
- Dysfunctional with alert badge
- Crashing when opening articles
- Spams with ads
- Redirects to App Store
- Spam link at bottom
- App opens App Store without touching ads
- No classifieds
- Weather forecast messed up
Requested features
3 requests- More local news
- Add classifieds
- Fix weather forecast
SDPB App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Rapid City Journal
- Subscriptions$27.991 Month
- Subscriptions$40.991 Month
- Subscriptions$44.991 Month
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- Subscriptions$50.001 Year
- Subscriptions$269.991 Year
- Subscriptions$329.991 Year
- Subscriptions$364.991 Year
SDPB App
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Rapid City Journal free?
Is SDPB App free?
Which has better reviews, Rapid City Journal or SDPB App?
Do Rapid City Journal or SDPB App have ads?
Which is updated more often, Rapid City Journal or SDPB App?
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