NJ.com vs Patch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NJ.com
Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather impacting your community. Access timely and reliable reporting from journalists who live and work in your area. Covers a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, and culture.
- Local news reporting
- Sports coverage
- Weather updates
- Politics and business news
- Culture and events
- Premium content access
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Get trusted local news from across New Jersey. 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/
Patch
Stay informed about your local community with real-time news, events, and weather updates. Discover schools, homes for sale, jobs, and announcements in a single, easy-to-scroll feed. Receive breaking news alerts and share stories with friends.
- Local news and events for 1,200+ towns
- Breaking news push notifications
- Local weather forecasts and alerts
- Find local jobs and announcements
- One-scroll feed for town happenings
- Bookmark articles for later reading
- Support for following multiple towns
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If you're looking for "everything local," Patch is the app for you. Local schools? Check. Breaking news? Check. Homes for sale? We've got those, too. You'll always be in touch with your town with the Patch app. Check out these features: • News and events for 1,200+ Patch Towns, with more towns added every month. • Push notifications as important news breaks — you’ll be the first to get the scoop. • Swipe left or right to view articles faster. • Local weather forecasts and alerts — you'll never be caught without an umbrella or snow boots again. • Find local events, jobs and announcements in your area. • Get everything that is happening in your town in a one-scroll feed! • Share stories to your Facebook friends or email/SMS to a friend! • Patch also has fun iMessage animal stickers to share your emotions with your friends! • Love an article? You can bookmark it to your phone to come back and read it later. • Want to follow multiple towns? No problem, swipe left or right to navigate between your favorite Patch towns. Our new Patch app delivers a beautiful browsing and reading experience for iOS users. Our pages load lightning fast. You'll never be kept waiting to see what's behind that headline. The sleek design provides an in-depth storytelling experience fueled by concise writing and rich imagery. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: We're eager to hear your feedback and suggestions. How can we make the app even better? What features would you like to see? We aim to be the best news app in the country, and your ideas are crucial. Please email us at Feedback@patch.com Images used under license from Shutterstock.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Patch at 58% against NJ.com's 19%. Patch also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 18) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). NJ.com's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, chart position 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. NJ.com sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Patch asks for nothing beyond the download.
Patch holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25K and 26K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of NJ.com's written reviews are positive against 58% of Patch's.
NJ.com ships an update every 3 weeks, Patch every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NJ.com | Patch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (25K ratings) | 4.7 (26K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.7% of reviews | 58.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 25K | 26K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #60 — better | #166 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | NJ.com | Patch Media |
Customer experience
NJ.com
Patch
User reviews
NJ.com
From 25K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🗞️ Informative local news coverage
- 📰 Reliable source for NJ news
- 🔍 Helpful search functionality
Room to improve
- 🔒 Excessive paywall restrictions
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 💤 Slow loading times and performance issues
- 📢 Overwhelming ads and notifications
- 🗣️ Lack of user commenting features
Patch
From 26K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🗞️ Informative local news
- 📰 Comprehensive coverage of community events
- 🔍 Useful for staying up-to-date on local happenings
- 🗓️ Timely and relevant information
- 💻 Convenient online/mobile access to local news
Room to improve
- 🔌 App stability and performance issues
- 🔍 Limited ability to customize content and notifications
- 📢 Concerns about removal of reader comments
- 🗺️ Lack of location-specific focus in some areas
- 💲 Paid subscription model for full access
Bugs and requests
NJ.com
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues and inability to access subscriber content
- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Navigation and search functionality problems
- Incompatibility with certain devices and OS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Bring back ability to save articles
- Improve app stability and performance
- Offer more free content access
- Restore team-specific sports browsing
- Add user commenting functionality
Patch
Reported bugs
4 issues- Articles failing to load or open properly
- Notification issues, including duplicate or missing alerts
- Inconsistent app behavior after updates
- Difficulty clearing unread article indicators
Requested features
5 requests- Allow users to select specific news categories of interest
- Improve notification system to be more reliable and customizable
- Restore reader comment functionality
- Enhance location-based targeting and content curation
- Offer more affordable or free access options
In-app purchases
NJ.com
- Rutgers Sports Insider$5.991 Month
- Digital Access$9.991 Month
- Digital Access1 Month trial$9.991 Month
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- Subscriber Exclusive Content7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Month trial2 variants$9.991 Month
- Monthly Access1 Month trial$10.001 Month
- All Access to NJ.com7 Days trial$10.001 Month
- All Access to NJ.com$11.991 Month
- All Access to NJ.com$15.001 Month
- All Access to New Jersey$15.001 Month
- Rutgers Sports Insider$59.991 Year
- All Access to NJ.com6 Months trial$75.001 Year
- All Access to NJ.com1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Year trial2 variants$99.991 Year
- Annual Access1 Year trial$100.001 Year
- All Access to NJ.com$119.991 Year
Patch
No in-app purchases
