Comparison

cleveland.com vs Newark Advocate

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

cleveland.com

Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather updates impacting your community. Get timely and reliable reporting from trusted local journalists covering news, politics, business, and culture.

Highlights
  • Local news reporting
  • Sports coverage
  • Weather updates
  • Politics and business news
  • Cultural event coverage
  • Premium content access
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Get trusted local news from across Northeast Ohio. Breaking news, in-depth reporting, and all the stories people are talking about. Stay connected to what's happening around you with timely coverage of news, weather, sports, and more, optimized for your phone. Free to download. Get breaking news, alerts, and top stories. Subscribers receive unlimited access to in-depth reporting, exclusive content, and additional features. Subscriptions are available in-app. Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://www.advance.net/advancedigitalUserAgreementPP/

About

Newark Advocate

Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and engaging multimedia content. Receive real-time alerts for breaking news, sports, and weather. Customize your reading experience and access a digital replica of the print edition.

Highlights
  • In-depth local journalism
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Sports coverage
  • Weather alerts
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Offline reading
  • eNewspaper access
Features
Read full description

From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — the Newark Advocate app delivers the local news that matters most to your community. APP FEATURES: • Access all of our in-depth journalism, including things to do around town, sports coverage from high school to the pros, and much more. • Enjoy a streamlined, fast-loading experience that makes it easy to view the stories, photos, and videos that matter to you. • Get breaking news, sports scores, and weather alerts with real-time notifications tailored to your interests. • Customize your experience by saving your favorite stories, adjusting text size, using night mode, or reading offline. • eNewspaper: Just like our print edition but accessible on your mobile devices. And access to USA TODAY and 200+ local eNewspapers. MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.newarkadvocate.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.newarkadvocate.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.newarkadvocate.com • Subscriptions are charged to your account at confirmation of purchase and automatically renew each month or year, unless turned off in your account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. See "Subscription Support" in the app's Settings for more details and customer service contact information.

Screenshots

cleveland.com3 screens
Newark Advocate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Newark Advocate at free with in-app purchases against cleveland.com's subscription. Newark Advocate also leads on review sentiment (47% vs 30%). cleveland.com's advantage is ratings volume (12K vs 618). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. cleveland.com sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Newark Advocate sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for cleveland.com against 4.4 for Newark Advocate. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: cleveland.com has 12K ratings behind it against 618, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 30% of cleveland.com's written reviews are positive against 47% of Newark Advocate's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, Newark Advocate monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
cleveland.com versus Newark Advocate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parametercleveland.comNewark Advocate
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (12K ratings) — better4.4 (618 ratings)
Positive reviews29.8% of reviews46.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12K — better618
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#64 — better#174
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB184 MB
Age rating12+12+
Developercleveland.comUSA TODAY Co., Inc.

Customer experience

cleveland.com

All ratings11,672 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral5.6%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive29.8%
Neutral8.8%
Negative61.4%

Newark Advocate

All ratings619 ratings
Positive84.5%
Neutral9.2%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive46.8%
Neutral6.4%
Negative46.8%

User reviews

cleveland.com

From 12K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Informative local news and sports coverage
  • 🌐 Convenient way to stay connected to Cleveland from afar

Room to improve

  • 🐌 Slow app performance and frequent crashes
  • 🔒 Inconsistent access to subscriber-only content
  • 📰 Biased or low-quality journalism
  • 💰 Excessive paywalling of content

Newark Advocate

From 618 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📰 Strong local news coverage and reporting
  • 🏈 Excellent high school sports coverage
  • 👍 User-friendly navigation and interface
  • 📱 Convenient access to news on-the-go
  • 🔔 Helpful notification system for updates

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent login requirement issues
  • 📉 Limited local news coverage despite being local paper
  • 💰 Paywall restrictions limiting article access
  • 🛑 Intrusive rolling ads disrupting reading experience
  • ⚙️ Poor app stability and performance

Bugs and requests

cleveland.com

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Saved articles frequently deleted
  • Inability to access specific sports sections

Requested features

3 requests
  • Improved search and navigation
  • Restore high school sports coverage
  • Bring back user comments and community features

Newark Advocate

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes and freezes frequently
  • Requires reinstalling app daily to function
  • Slow launch times (3-5 minutes on some devices)
  • Login loops - users must repeatedly log in
  • Text display issues - blurry, enlarged text jumps, chopped articles
Show 5 more
  • Navigation tabs obstruct article text
  • Screen bumps cause unintended zoom changes
  • Digital access prevents reading full articles despite valid subscription
  • Monthly article limit doesn't refresh properly
  • App fails to download or open completely

Requested features

7 requests
  • More local Licking County news coverage
  • Reduce or eliminate national/USA Today content
  • Improved comic section readability
  • Direct editor contact and comment functionality
  • Better account settings accessibility
Show 2 more
  • School closure alerts and notifications
  • More frequent content updates, especially weekends

In-app purchases

14 purchases

cleveland.com

Subscriptions14
  • cleveland.com Football Insider$7.991 Month
  • Digital Access$9.991 Month
  • Digital Access1 Month trial$9.991 Month
Show 11 more
  • Digital Access7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Month trial2 variants$9.991 Month
  • All Access to cleveland.com1 Month trial$10.001 Month
  • All Access to cleveland.com$11.991 Month
  • All Access to Cleveland$15.001 Month
  • All access to cleveland.com6 Months trial$75.001 Year
  • Insider Digital$79.991 Year
  • All access to cleveland.com1 Year trial$99.991 Year
  • Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Year trial2 variants$99.991 Year
  • All Access to cleveland.com1 Year trial$100.001 Year
  • All access to cleveland.com$119.991 Year
4 purchases

Newark Advocate

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$14.991 Month
  • The Newark Advocate Digital Subscription1 Month trial$16.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • The Newark Advocate Annual Digital Subscription1 Year trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is cleveland.com free?
cleveland.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Newark Advocate free?
Newark Advocate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?
cleveland.com is rated higher. cleveland.com averages 4.5 out of 5 from 12K ratings, while Newark Advocate averages 4.4 from 618 ratings.
Do cleveland.com or Newark Advocate have ads?
Both cleveland.com and Newark Advocate show ads.
Which is updated more often, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?
cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and Newark Advocate monthly. Most recently, cleveland.com was updated on October 28, 2026 and Newark Advocate on October 26, 2026.
Which is more popular, cleveland.com or Newark Advocate?
cleveland.com currently peaks at #64 in the App Store charts, and Newark Advocate at #174. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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