Comparison

St. Louis Post vs First Alert 4

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

Head to head
About

St. Louis Post

Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather from St. Louis and surrounding areas. Access in-depth reporting, exclusive commentary, photography, video, and podcasts. Subscribe for unlimited digital access and an ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Personalized news topics
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Easy swipe navigation
  • News Feed and E-edition reading
  • Exclusive commentary and podcasts
  • Hourly and 10-day weather forecasts
  • Customizable text size
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Your story lives in St. Louis. Get in-depth stories from the leading real-time source for news, advertising, commentary and community conversations across St. Louis, Missouri and beyond – including news, sports, opinion, obituaries, entertainment, and politics. From reporting on the Blues and Cardinals to the news that matters most in your community, we cover it all. 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. Support local journalism by subscribing today for unlimited digital access. 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. Get the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Your Inbox Get convenient, curated updates delivered to your Inbox. Sign up for Breaking News updates as they happen, the Afternoon Update for a roundup of the latest local top stories, Ben Fred's Five for a deep dive into the STL sports headlines, The First Course for foodies, Political Fix for the latest in national and local politics, and many more. Visit https://www.stltoday.com/newsletters/ to view and subscribe to all of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newsletters. Keep Up with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Follow us on Facebook and other social platforms: https://x.com/stltoday https://www.facebook.com/STLPD https://www.pinterest.com/stltoday/ https://www.instagram.com/stltoday/ https://www.youtube.com/user/STLPostDispatch https://www.linkedin.com/company/st.-louis-post-dispatch/ About the St. Louis Post-Dispatch When Missourians look for their trusted news source, they turn to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area since 1878. In addition to award-winning news reporting, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch specializes in business, sports, and entertainment coverage. We also provide thought-provoking commentary and advertising solutions that drive results for local businesses. https://www.stltoday.com/help/terms-of-service/ The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is part of Lee Enterprises.

About

First Alert 4

Stay informed with breaking news, sports headlines, and localized weather and traffic updates. Receive instant notifications for urgent alerts, even when you're on the go.

Highlights
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Sports headlines
  • Geo-targeted weather
  • Real-time traffic
  • Customizable notifications
Features
Read full description

First Alert 4 is the only app you need for the latest news and sports headlines as well as geo-targeted weather and traffic that follows you, even if you are not in St. Louis. KMOV News is the app that never stops working for you. Activate notifications and get alerts for breaking news the moment it happens and don’t forget to enable localized severe weather alerts!

Screenshots

St. Louis Post4 screens
First Alert 43 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: First Alert 4 at 4.6 against St. Louis Post's 3.8. First Alert 4 also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ratings volume (13K vs 3K). St. Louis Post's advantage is review sentiment (31% vs 14%) and chart position (#70 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. St. Louis Post sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $29.99 per month. First Alert 4 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

First Alert 4 holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3K and 13K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 31% of St. Louis Post's written reviews are positive against 14% of First Alert 4's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

St. Louis Post ships an update every 2 months, First Alert 4 monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
St. Louis Post versus First Alert 4: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSt. Louis PostFirst Alert 4
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (3K ratings)4.6 (13K ratings) — better
Positive reviews31.3% of reviews — better13.8% of reviews
Number of ratings3K13K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#70 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size105 MB82 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperSt. Louis Post-DispatchGray Television Group, Inc.

Customer experience

St. Louis Post

All ratings3,039 ratings
Positive69.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive31.3%
Neutral14.5%
Negative54.2%

First Alert 4

All ratings13,203 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews181 reviews
Positive13.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative76.8%

User reviews

St. Louis Post

From 3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📰 Enjoy daily St. Louis area news
  • 🏒 Great coverage of Blues and Cardinals
  • 🗞️ Appreciate crime alerts

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and login issues
  • 🤖 Poorly designed and difficult to navigate
  • 💰 Expensive subscription for limited content
  • 📢 Intrusive and loud advertisements
  • 🗞️ Outdated and repetitive news coverage

First Alert 4

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Loyal customer
  • 🚀 Excellent weather coverage
  • 👍 Best news in town
  • 👍 Comprehensive and professional reporting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads interrupt story
  • 🔇 Autoplay of video ads with sound on should never be default
  • 🔇 Ads ruin app
  • 🔇 Too many ads
  • 🔇 Forced to watch ads

Bugs and requests

St. Louis Post

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Articles frequently fail to load
  • Slideshow and navigation features are buggy
  • Subscription login issues and paywalls

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow article sharing for subscribers
  • Improve organization and categorization
  • Provide more comprehensive local sports coverage
  • Implement a dark mode option

First Alert 4

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Broken features and links
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Weather information inaccurate

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to increase font size
  • Ability to control notifications
  • Bring back the old weather app
  • Ability to rotate the app to landscape mode

In-app purchases

7 purchases

St. Louis Post

Subscriptions7
  • STL Post-Dispatch Monthly$29.991 Month
  • Subscriptions$42.991 Month
  • Subscriptions$46.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Subscriptions$50.001 Year
  • Subscriptions$289.991 Year
  • Subscriptions$344.991 Year
  • Subscriptions$379.991 Year
None

First Alert 4

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is St. Louis Post free?
St. Louis Post is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is First Alert 4 free?
First Alert 4 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, St. Louis Post or First Alert 4?
First Alert 4 is rated higher. St. Louis Post averages 3.8 out of 5 from 3K ratings, while First Alert 4 averages 4.6 from 13K ratings.
Do St. Louis Post or First Alert 4 have ads?
Both St. Louis Post and First Alert 4 show ads.
Which is updated more often, St. Louis Post or First Alert 4?
St. Louis Post ships an update every 2 months, and First Alert 4 monthly. Most recently, St. Louis Post was updated on September 25, 2026 and First Alert 4 on September 26, 2026.

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