Observer vs The Post
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Observer
Access in-depth local journalism, breaking news, and sports coverage with real-time notifications. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience, customize your view, and read offline. Includes a digital replica of the print edition and access to other eNewspapers.
- In-depth local journalism
- Breaking news alerts
- Sports coverage
- Streamlined reading experience
- Customizable text size and night mode
- Offline reading
- eNewspaper access
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From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — The Observer-Dispatch app delivers the local news that matters most to your community. APP FEATURES: • Access all of our in-depth journalism, including things to do around town, sports coverage from high school to the pros, and much more. • Enjoy a streamlined, fast-loading experience that makes it easy to view the stories, photos, and videos that matter to you. • Get breaking news, sports scores, and weather alerts with real-time notifications tailored to your interests. • Customize your experience by saving your favorite stories, adjusting text size, using night mode, or reading offline. • eNewspaper: Just like our print edition but accessible on your mobile devices. And access to USA TODAY and 200+ local eNewspapers. MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.uticaod.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.uticaod.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.uticaod.com • Subscriptions are charged to your account at confirmation of purchase and automatically renew each month or year, unless turned off in your account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. See "Subscription Support" in the app's Settings for more details and customer service contact information.
The Post
Access local news, sports, and entertainment from your favorite newspaper. Enjoy an enhanced reading experience with online-only content, puzzles, and games. Subscribers get full access, while others can opt for an app-only subscription.
- Award-winning local news
- Daily features and sports updates
- Entertainment highlights
- Online-only perks
- Interactive puzzles and games
- Article sharing
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Welcome to the Post Standard's new Online Newspaper app! Dive into the newspaper anytime, anywhere. Keep up with award-winning local news, daily features, sports updates, entertainment highlights, special sections, and more—all at your fingertips! Enjoy online-only perks with an enhanced reading experience, including bonus magazines, supplements, interactive puzzles and games, and easy article sharing with friends and family. Post Standard subscribers receive full access to each edition without any extra cost. Just log in with your existing email and password to explore everything we offer! Terms of Use: https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/user-agreement.html Privacy Policy: https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/privacy-policy.html ====== SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ====== If you are not a current Post Standard subscriber, we offer the following App-only subscription option: 1 Month Auto-renewing Subscription: $24.99 Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Your subscriptions may be managed (and auto-renewal can be turned off) by going to your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: The Post at none against Observer's shown. The Post also leads on chart position (#197 vs unranked) and ratings volume (1.6K vs 285). Observer's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Observer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and The Post sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Observer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Post has 1.6K ratings behind it against 285, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of Observer's written reviews are positive against 56% of The Post's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Observer ships an update monthly, The Post every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Observer | The Post |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (285 ratings) — better | 4.3 (1.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.6% of reviews | 55.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 285 | 1.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #197 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 184 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | The Post-Standard |
Customer experience
Observer
The Post
User reviews
Observer
From 285 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📰 Good local news coverage and content
- 🚀 Fast page loading and performance
- 👍 User-friendly interface and layout
- 📱 Convenient mobile access to newspaper
- 🎯 Well-organized categories and sections
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 📺 Excessive and intrusive advertisements
- 👁️ Small text size difficult for older users
- 📄 Pages don't fill screen properly
- 🔄 Content not updating regularly
The Post
From 1.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to read and follow
- 👍 Enjoyable to use
- 👍 Convenient to read on mobile devices
- 👍 Provides good local news coverage
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and connectivity issues
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find content
- 👎 Inferior to previous app version
- 👎 Inconvenient layout and formatting changes
- 👎 Unreliable subscription management
Bugs and requests
Observer
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes when reading obituaries
- App freezes during normal use
- Network error messages preventing content access
- Pop-up ads don't close properly
- App won't open or load
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- Content fails to update
- Inconsistent format between iPhone and iPad
- App crashes every 2 minutes
- Intrusive pop-up alerts about winning prizes
Requested features
10 requests- Expand local sports coverage (high school, college, golf)
- Increase local news content
- Restore original newspaper page-by-page format
- Improve text size and readability for accessibility
- Full-screen article display
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- Comics displayed on single page instead of list
- Restore missing comic strips (Lockhorns)
- Daily obituary view instead of monthly archive
- Living/Lifestyle section clarity
- Dark mode option
The Post
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login and authentication problems
- Automatic page redirects and loss of progress
- Inability to print or save content
- Frequent crashes and freezes
Requested features
4 requests- Bring back daily crosswords and puzzles
- Improve page navigation and section browsing
- Allow for font size and page scaling adjustments
- Restore 'Live News' feature
In-app purchases
Observer
- Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Monthly Digital Subscription1 Month trial$24.991 Month
- Observer-Dispatch monthly1 Month trial$24.991 Month
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Observer-Dispatch annual1 Year trial$69.991 Year
The Post
- ePOST-STANDARD$24.991 Month
Questions
Is Observer free?
Is The Post free?
Which has better reviews, Observer or The Post?
Do Observer or The Post have ads?
Which is updated more often, Observer or The Post?
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