Comparison

Observer vs The Post

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • In-depth local journalism
  • Breaking news alerts
  • Sports coverage
  • Streamlined reading experience
  • Customizable text size and night mode
  • Offline reading
  • eNewspaper access
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Award-winning local news
  • Daily features and sports updates
  • Entertainment highlights
  • Online-only perks
  • Interactive puzzles and games
  • Article sharing
Features
Read full description

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

Observer4 screens
The Post4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Observer ships an update monthly, The Post every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Observer versus The Post: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterObserverThe Post
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (285 ratings) — better4.3 (1.6K ratings)
Positive reviews53.6% of reviews55.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2851.6K — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#197 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size184 MB35 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperUSA TODAY Co., Inc.The Post-Standard

Customer experience

Observer

All ratings285 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral4.9%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive53.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative43.5%

The Post

All ratings1,578 ratings
Positive82.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive55.7%
Neutral4.5%
Negative39.8%

User reviews

Observer

From 285 App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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
Show 4 more
  • 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
Show 5 more
  • 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

4 purchases

Observer

Subscriptions4
  • 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 more
  • Observer-Dispatch annual1 Year trial$69.991 Year
1 purchases

The Post

Subscriptions1
  • ePOST-STANDARD$24.991 Month

Questions

Is Observer free?
Observer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Post free?
The Post is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Observer or The Post?
Observer is rated higher. Observer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 285 ratings, while The Post averages 4.3 from 1.6K ratings.
Do Observer or The Post have ads?
Observer shows ads; The Post does not.
Which is updated more often, Observer or The Post?
Observer ships an update monthly, and The Post every 3 months. Most recently, Observer was updated on October 4, 2026 and The Post on October 16, 2026.

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