AL.com vs WVTM 13
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AL.com
Get timely and reliable local news, sports, and weather updates directly impacting your community. Stay informed about unfolding events in your backyard, from politics and business to culture and more. Access essential information from a trusted source, anytime and anywhere.
- Local news reporting
- Sports updates
- Weather forecasts
- Community-focused content
- Timely and reliable information
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Get trusted local news across Alabama. 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/
WVTM 13
Stay informed with breaking news and weather updates from Birmingham and surrounding areas. Receive alerts, watch live streams, and access local forecasts with an interactive radar. Submit your own news tips and photos to be featured.
- Breaking news alerts
- Live streaming news updates
- Local news submission
- Current local weather
- 7-day weather forecasts
- Interactive radar
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Take the WVTM 13 News app with you everywhere you go and be the first to know of breaking news happening in Birmingham and the surrounding area. Always stay up to date with the latest local news, national, sports, traffic, political, entertainment stories and much more. Download the WVTM 13 app for free today. Our Local News, Weather and Sports App Features Include: - Birmingham breaking news alerts with push notifications - Live streaming breaking news updates from our WVTM 13 News reporters when it happens, where it happens - Local news submission area for breaking news, news tips and the ability to email your news photos and videos right to our newsroom to be featured on air - Ability to share stories via email or your social media pages - Up to date, current local weather conditions, hourly Birmingham weather updates, and 7 day forecasts - An interactive radar that lets you zoom in and out to street level and watch storms as they approach. Move the map around to see major weather activity - Birmingham weather alerts and updates, weather videocasts and more Although Hearst Television believes the majority of its news content is appropriate for a variety of ages, it is intended for individuals 18 and older.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: WVTM 13 at none against AL.com's 10. WVTM 13 also leads on review sentiment (51% vs 23%). AL.com's advantage is chart position (#138 vs unranked) and ratings volume (16K vs 2.5K). 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
Both are free to download. AL.com sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. WVTM 13 asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for AL.com against 4.6 for WVTM 13. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AL.com has 16K ratings behind it against 2.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 23% of AL.com's written reviews are positive against 51% of WVTM 13's.
AL.com ships an update every 3 weeks, WVTM 13 monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AL.com | WVTM 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (16K ratings) | 4.6 (2.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.4% of reviews | 50.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16K — better | 2.5K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #138 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 128 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | +12 |
| Developer | al.com | Hearst Television |
Customer experience
AL.com
WVTM 13
User reviews
AL.com
From 16K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Great overall news source
- 🚀 Timely and informative news coverage
- 👍 Diverse content and topics
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 🔋 Performance issues, slow loading
- 💬 Biased and one-sided reporting
- 📢 Intrusive and disruptive ads
WVTM 13
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helpful for weather and news updates
- 🚀 Provides fast information delivery
- ⭐ Trustworthy and professional news source
Room to improve
- 🔔 Too many notifications and alerts
- 📺 Excessive ads and commercials
- 🔍 Difficulty finding specific news articles
- 🔁 Disappearing news stories when opening one
- 🧭 Radar and weather features not user-friendly
Bugs and requests
AL.com
Reported bugs
3 issues- App title displaying incorrectly as 'OSU Basketball'
- Inability to access recent search history
- Difficulty closing ads or navigating back from articles
Requested features
3 requests- Improve app stability and performance
- Provide more balanced and objective news coverage
- Optimize ad placement to minimize disruption
WVTM 13
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes or freezes
- Blank screens and loading issues
- Notification issues (disappearing, not working)
Requested features
4 requests- Allow customization of notification preferences
- Separate weather app or better weather integration
- Improve navigation and search functionality
- Reduce ads or provide ad-free option
In-app purchases
AL.com
- Digital Access1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Digital Access$9.991 Month
- Basic Access to Al.com$10.001 Month
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- All Access to Al.com$15.001 Month
- Premium Access to Al.com$20.001 Month
- Digital Access1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- Digital Access$99.991 Year
- Basic Access to Al.com$100.001 Year
- All Access to Al.com$150.001 Year
- Premium Access to Al.com$200.001 Year
WVTM 13
No in-app purchases
