Castanet vs Online News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Castanet
Access local and national news, classifieds, events, and more from the Okanagan region. Features include direct messaging for classifieds, posting ads, webcams, and an airport arrivals/departures page.
- Local and national news
- Classifieds with messaging
- Post classified ads
- Scenic and traffic webcams
- Airport arrivals/departures
- Events listings
- Obituaries
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Since launching in November 2000, Castanet has become one of the most visited media websites in Western Canada. The free Castanet.net app is the B.C. Interior's source for the latest local, national and world news, classifieds, events, webcams and more. The Castanet.net site is visited by 600,000 people every week. The Castanet.net app has all the features our desktop and mobile sites have with improved usability for smartphones.
Online News
Access and read news articles from public websites in the USA, Canada, and the UK. It filters out ads, images, and tracking to provide a clean reading experience and reduce data usage. Customize your favorite news sites for quick access.
- Access public news websites
- Filters out ads and extraneous content
- Focus on article text
- Reduces data usage
- Customizable launch page
- Synchronize favorites across devices
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The Online News Reader enables you to access and read articles on public news websites in the USA, Canada and the UK. What does it do? Similar to ad blockers, the Online News Reader filters out extraneous content, showing only the complete and unaltered text of articles. Why use it? Your sessions will be free of online ads, images, links and banners promoting other parts of the site, and usage tracking. This protects your privacy and allows you to focus on the news content of the articles. As well, your data use will be significantly reduced compared to accessing the news sites directly. How does it work? Articles are retrieved from the news websites directly to your device, and each is accompanied by a link to its source. Unwanted content and usage tracking code is not downloaded. You can customize the launch page to enable one-touch access to your favorite news sites. If you register with your email address and a password, you can synchronize your favourites across multiple devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
Castanet and Online News are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Castanet against 5.0 for Online News. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Castanet ships an update every 6 weeks, Online News every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Castanet | Online News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 19.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Castanet Media Ltd. | Nicholas Redding |
Customer experience
Castanet
Online News
In-app purchases
Castanet
No in-app purchases
Online News
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Castanet free?
Is Online News free?
Which has better reviews, Castanet or Online News?
Do Castanet or Online News have ads?
Which is updated more often, Castanet or Online News?
Other comparisons
