# NJ.com vs The Baltimore Sun

The clearest difference is ads: NJ.com at none against The Baltimore Sun's shown. NJ.com also leads on ratings volume (25K vs 5.8K). The Baltimore Sun's advantage is review sentiment (30% vs 19%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. NJ.com sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and The Baltimore Sun sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for NJ.com against 4.5 for The Baltimore Sun. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25K and 5.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 19% of NJ.com's written reviews are positive against 30% of The Baltimore Sun's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | NJ.com | The Baltimore Sun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (25K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/njcom/id419202474/reviews) | [4.5 (5.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-baltimore-sun/id496681035/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **25K** | 5.8K |
| Positive reviews | 18.7% of reviews | **30.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Subscription | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | **#60** | #72 |
| Size | 32 MB | 190 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [NJ.com](https://appshunter.io/developer/419202477) | [Tribune Publishing Company, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/290161713) |

## What reviewers say

### NJ.com

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/njcom/id419202474)

**Currently charting:** #60 Top Grossing · News, #178 Top Free · News (US App Store)

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.

**Highlights:** Local news reporting, Sports coverage, Weather updates, Politics and business news, Culture and events, Premium content access

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rutgers Sports Insider | $5.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| Monthly Access | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to NJ.com | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to NJ.com | $11.99 | per month |
| All Access to NJ.com | $15.00 | per month |
| All Access to New Jersey | $15.00 | per month |
| Rutgers Sports Insider | $59.99 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $75.00 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $99.99 | per year |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $99.99 | per year |
| Annual Access | $100.00 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🗞️ Informative local news coverage
- 📰 Reliable source for NJ news
- 🔍 Helpful search functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Excessive paywall restrictions
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 💤 Slow loading times and performance issues
- 📢 Overwhelming ads and notifications
- 🗣️ Lack of user commenting features

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### The Baltimore Sun

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-baltimore-sun/id496681035)

**Currently charting:** #72 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Access exclusive news, sports, business, and entertainment from Maryland's top news source. Stay informed with breaking alerts, save articles for later, and enjoy offline reading. Customize your news feed and share stories easily.

**Highlights:** Exclusive premium storytelling, Breaking news push notifications, Exclusive videos and photo galleries, Customizable section list, Save stories for offline reading, Easy social sharing

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| App-only subscription - Stage | $0.99 | per month |
| Unlimited Access - Stage | $1.99 | per month |
| App-Only Access | $4.99 | per month |
| Unlimited Digital Access - Tes | $7.99 | per month |
| Unlimited Digital Access | $19.99 | per month |
| News App Only | $19.99 | per month |
| Baltimore Sun Monthly Subscription | $19.99 | per month |
| The Baltimore Sun | $199.99 | per year |
| Baltimore Sun Yearly Subscription | $199.99 | per year |
| Premium Story Credits | $0.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Hard to use
- 👍 A new reader
- 👍 Old Pimlico boy
- 👍 The latest redesign of the app is a keeper

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Full of Ads and Broken Features
- 🐛 Requires constant updates
- 🐛 Missing functions
- 🐛 Terrible app just got worse
- 🐛 Dominated by Ads

**Reported bugs**

- No access to digital paper
- App stopped working
- News will not load
- Can't login
- Scrolling doesn't work

**Requested features**

- Allow for rotation display on ipad
- Landscape mode turned off
- Restore Restore landscape orientation
- Bring back landscape view!


## Frequently asked questions

### Is NJ.com free?

NJ.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is The Baltimore Sun free?

The Baltimore Sun is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, NJ.com or The Baltimore Sun?

NJ.com and The Baltimore Sun are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 25K and 5.8K ratings respectively.

### Do NJ.com or The Baltimore Sun have ads?

The Baltimore Sun shows ads; NJ.com does not.

### Which is updated more often, NJ.com or The Baltimore Sun?

NJ.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and The Baltimore Sun every 3 weeks. Most recently, NJ.com was updated on September 26, 2026 and The Baltimore Sun on September 25, 2026.

### Which is more popular, NJ.com or The Baltimore Sun?

NJ.com currently peaks at #60 in the App Store charts, and The Baltimore Sun at #72. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*