Stuff.co.nz vs SBS News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stuff.co.nz
Access breaking news, live videos, and in-depth journalism from across New Zealand. Stay informed on politics, sports, business, and celebrity updates, with on-demand video content and daily quizzes.
- Breaking news updates
- Live videos and blogs
- On-demand video content
- Daily quizzes
- NZ weather forecasts
- Personalized notifications
Read full descriptionHide full description
Stuff is New Zealand’s essential news source - independent and dedicated to making Aotearoa a better place. We deliver live, lively and trustworthy journalism from across this glorious nation. On our app you can: • Get up-to-the minute reports on breaking stories in New Zealand on our live videos and blogs • Easily read stories on the latest news, weather, sports, politics, money, business, celebrities, travel - whatever Kiwis are talking about today, we got you • Watch video on demand - including from our ThreeNews 6pm bulletin • Do the highly addictive daily Stuff Quiz (a national obsession) • See the latest NZ weather forecasts • Personalise your experience by enabling notifications Share feedback to experience@stuff.co.nz or click “Report a bug” from the end of the Settings screen on the app. Please note: This app features Nielsen’s proprietary measurement software, which contributes to market research, like Nielsen’s TV Ratings. Please see http://www.nielsen.com/digitalprivacy for more information.
SBS News
Access a comprehensive range of Australian and world news, including politics, culture, and current affairs. Receive breaking news alerts, watch live streams, and explore in-depth stories. Customize your experience with personalized features and share articles easily.
- Australian and world news headlines
- Breaking news alerts
- Live news video streams
- Personalized experience options
- In-depth story exploration
- Curated news newsletters
- Seamless article sharing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Discover a world of news with the SBS News app. From Australian news to world news, find key news headlines, context and perspectives that matter to you and your community. Whether it's politics, culture, or current affairs, access accurate and reliable information effortlessly. Get real-time notifications for breaking news and stay ahead of the curve. Join us for a seamless news experience that keeps you connected. - Global News: Discover the latest news from Australia and around the world - Instant Updates: Receive breaking news alerts and updates on topics you want to follow - Live Streams: Video live streaming of news events; SBS World News - Personalised Access: Dark Mode, iOS 14 Widget, and 3D Touch for a tailored experience - In-Depth Exploration: Dive into explainers, related stories and trending topics - Curated Newsletters: Subscribe for a customised news briefing at your preferred time - Seamless Sharing: Share stories with friends via social networks, email, or SMS - Trusted Journalism: Explore unbiased, diverse perspectives - Stay connected: Read the context behind the headlines, discover inspiring and informative stories
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: SBS News at none against Stuff.co.nz's shown. SBS News also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.7) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Stuff.co.nz's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and ratings volume (129 vs 13). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SBS News holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stuff.co.nz has 129 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Stuff.co.nz's written reviews are positive against 23% of SBS News's.
Stuff.co.nz ships an update weekly, SBS News monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stuff.co.nz | SBS News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (129 ratings) | 4.1 (13 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 21.0% of reviews | 23.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 129 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stuff Limited | Special Broadcasting Service Corporation |
Customer experience
Stuff.co.nz
SBS News
User reviews
Stuff.co.nz
From 129 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📰 Great source for NZ news
- 🌍 Useful for expats to stay connected
- 🗞️ Variety of interesting articles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🤖 Buggy and glitchy performance
- 🤯 Frustrating ad redirects and popups
- 🕰️ Slow loading times
- 🔍 Poor search functionality
SBS News
From 13 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Broad news coverage
- 👍 Objective news source (for some)
- 👍 Clean and nice app design
- 👍 Good load speeds (recent)
- 👍 Trustworthy information
Room to improve
- 🐛 Stories not loading/body not showing
- 🐛 App freezes/crashes
- 🐛 Ads are intrusive/too many
- 🐛 Outdated news content
- 🐛 Poor UI/UX
Bugs and requests
Stuff.co.nz
Reported bugs
5 issues- Constant app crashes and freezes
- Redirects to App Store without user interaction
- Videos not playing properly or getting stuck
- Scrolling issues and content jumping around
- Login and password reset problems
Requested features
4 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to save articles for offline reading
- Improved navigation and article browsing
- Better personalization and customization options
SBS News
Reported bugs
40 issues- App body of articles not showing
- App stopped working
- Stories not fully loading
- App height restricted in landscape mode on iPad
- Cannot enlarge photos
Show 35 moreShow fewer
- No search function
- Ads relocate and cause headlines to jump
- Interface jumping/defeating scrolling efforts
- Page goes blank, reloads, flickers when scrolling
- Cumbersome to navigate to other news stories
- Old news content remains for too long
- Notifications sent multiple times, wrong language, against preference
- Notifications in Chinese
- App requires frequent updates
- Live stream not accessible
- Cannot zoom in on photos
- Widget doesn't work
- App uses excessive storage/memory
- Instagram stories style buttons are pointless
- Red icon is ugly
- Back button inaccessible on iPhone XR/12/X
- Return arrow competes with search function
- App freezes on welcome screen
- No sound on video or audio clips
- App locks up on startup
- Video quality flaky, shuts off app
- Slow to load, won't play multimedia videos
- App crashes when attempting to watch video
- App crashes on startup
- App doesn't display well on iPhone SE 1gen
- App stopped working on iPhone 8 Plus
- Dark mode requested
- Gambling advert in feed
- 30-second ads with no option to remove
- Trackers detected
- App keeps crashing
- Return/back button doesn't work
- Swipe right navigates to previous news instead of home
- Return arrow in terrible position on iPhone
- App won't load past homescreen
Requested features
13 requests- Allow users to save articles
- More obvious identification of advertisements
- Option to adjust layout (linear vs. grid, remove images)
- Search function
- Dark mode
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Ability to zoom/enlarge photos
- More control over content filters
- Option to adjust font size
- Playlist/queue for audio/video
- Swipe right to return home option
- Allow live stream viewing anywhere
- Show Christian News
- Improve iPadOS windowing and multitasking support
In-app purchases
Stuff.co.nz
No in-app purchases
SBS News
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Stuff.co.nz free?
Is SBS News free?
Which has better reviews, Stuff.co.nz or SBS News?
Do Stuff.co.nz or SBS News have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stuff.co.nz or SBS News?
Other comparisons
