MassLive.com vs Boston Herald
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MassLive.com
Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather that directly impacts your community. Get timely and reliable reporting from journalists who live and work in your area, covering everything from politics to culture.
- Local news reporting
- Sports coverage
- Weather updates
- Community-focused journalism
- Premium content access
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Get trusted local news from across Massachusetts. 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/
Boston Herald
Access personalized news recommendations and save articles for later. Customize notifications and enjoy offline reading. Browse the digital replica of the daily newspaper directly within the app.
- Personalized news recommendations
- Save articles for later
- Customizable push notifications
- Digital newspaper replica (E-News)
- Offline reading
- Follow/Unfollow topics
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Welcome to a new app experience, we have optimized our app and giving it a facelift! This faster iOS native app now has the following new features: Your News: Provide personalized recommendations for content based on user preferences. Users will be allowed to customize the content they want to engage with by selecting the topics they are truly interested in. By going to the “Your News” tab the user can bypass the noise of all that is published and home in on the content they want Saved Articles: Save feature that allows users to save articles or other content they are interested in for later reading or reference.Push notifications will remind users to read their saved articles or suggest related content Custom Push Notifications: The user can select what topics they want to be notified about which makes for a much less intrusive experience. Top Navigation Bar: A top navigation bar lets the user switch between sections by swiping or tapping. Enews in-app: Desire the newspaper experience? No need to open a separate app! By simply going to Settings and selecting E-News the user can browse the Digital Replica of the day’s paper. Offline Reading: This feature allows users to enable offline reading from Settings. Offline “Reading Preferences” can also be customized for Settings. Swipe Left: Instead of going back to the main section to find more articles, users have the option to simply swipe, immediately opening other articles in the Section. Follow Topics: A user will be shown articles on topics they are following. To follow select “follow” at the article level and related articles will gain relevancy and be shown more frequently. Just as easily “Unfollow” Terms of Use: https://www.medianewsgroup.com/terms-of-use/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Boston Herald at free with in-app purchases against MassLive.com's subscription. Boston Herald also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). MassLive.com's advantage is ratings volume (6K vs 926). On price, review sentiment, 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. MassLive.com sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Boston Herald sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Boston Herald holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MassLive.com has 6K ratings behind it against 926, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 19% of MassLive.com's written reviews are positive against 14% of Boston Herald's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
MassLive.com ships an update every 3 weeks, Boston Herald monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MassLive.com | Boston Herald |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (6K ratings) | 4.7 (926 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.0% of reviews — better | 14.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6K — better | 926 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #198 | #154 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 188 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | MassLive.com | MediaNews Group |
Customer experience
MassLive.com
Boston Herald
User reviews
MassLive.com
From 6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💯 Great coverage of important news
- 📰 Excellent local and state news
- 🏆 Best news and sports outlet for Massachusetts
Room to improve
- ⏱️ Slow and glitchy performance
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 📢 Too many ads even with subscription
- 🗞️ Biased and sensationalist reporting
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find content
Boston Herald
From 926 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Decent site
- 👍 Great sports coverage
- 👍 Informative and balanced news
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and frustrating app
- 🔍 Poor navigation and user experience
- 💰 Paywall for content
- 🔍 Outdated and cluttered layout
- 🔍 Small font size
Bugs and requests
MassLive.com
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login and account issues after updates
- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Broken comment and sharing functionality
Requested features
4 requests- Separate sports and news sections
- Improved search and filtering options
- Ability to customize content feed
- Offline reading mode
Boston Herald
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues
- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Compatibility problems with older devices
Requested features
3 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved navigation and organization
- Ability to customize font size
In-app purchases
MassLive.com
- Digital Access$9.991 Month
- Digital Access1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Digital Access7 Days trial$9.991 Month
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- Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Month trial2 variants$9.991 Month
- Monthly Access with Discount1 Month trial$10.001 Month
- Monthly Access$11.991 Month
- All Access to MassLive$15.001 Month
- All Access to MassLive.com6 Months trial$75.001 Year
- Annual Access1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- Digital Access$99.991 Year
- Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Year trial2 variants$99.991 Year
- Annual Access with Discount1 Year trial$100.001 Year
- Annual Access$119.991 Year
- All Access to MassLive$150.001 Year
Boston Herald
- Boston Herald Monthly Sub1 Month trial$11.991 Month
- Boston Herald Annual Sub1 Year trial$139.991 Year
Questions
Is MassLive.com free?
Is Boston Herald free?
Which has better reviews, MassLive.com or Boston Herald?
Do MassLive.com or Boston Herald have ads?
Which is updated more often, MassLive.com or Boston Herald?
Which is more popular, MassLive.com or Boston Herald?
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