The Gainesville Sun vs FastBack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Gainesville Sun
Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and real-time alerts. Access a digital replica of the print edition, customize your reading experience, and enjoy offline access to important stories and updates.
- In-depth local journalism
- Breaking news and alerts
- Streamlined reading experience
- Customizable text size and night mode
- Offline reading
- Digital eNewspaper access
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From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — the Gainesville Sun 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.gainesville.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.gainesville.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.gainesville.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.
FastBack
This browser offers a unique "back" function that instantly displays the previous page without reloading. It's designed for a smoother news browsing experience, allowing users to navigate between articles and main pages seamlessly.
- Instant page recall on back
- No reloads when navigating back
- Smooth news browsing experience
- Remembers frequently visited sites
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"FastBack - the browser that doesn't reload when you go back." The name says it all. Amazingly, this is in contrast to all other iOS browsers. - When tapping "back", the previous page displays instantly. It does NOT reload, scroll, jump, redraw or update in any annoying way (as every other browser does), making the back step fast. - This is great for browsing news sites: You scroll down a long main page, tap a link, read, tap back, tap another link, tap back etc – and everything is just smooth. News browsing the way it was meant to be. - There are almost NO other features. OK, your frequently visited sites are remembered but that's it. Less is more. - I wrote this app so I could browse my morning news sites without going crazy. Enjoy!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Gainesville Sun at 4.2 against FastBack's 3.0. The Gainesville Sun also leads on review sentiment (33% vs 0%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 16 months). FastBack's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. The Gainesville Sun sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and FastBack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
The Gainesville Sun holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Gainesville Sun has 500 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of The Gainesville Sun's written reviews are positive against 0% of FastBack's.
The Gainesville Sun ships an update monthly, FastBack every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Gainesville Sun | FastBack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (500 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 500 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 16 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #200 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 183 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | Studio Mee |
Customer experience
The Gainesville Sun
FastBack
Bugs and requests
The Gainesville Sun
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes and becomes unresponsive
- Inability to access archived or older content
- Inconsistent performance across different devices
- Paywall issues and problems with subscription management
Requested features
4 requests- Improved search functionality
- Ability to customize news feed and section preferences
- Integration of local event calendars and community information
- Offline reading mode
FastBack
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Gainesville Sun
- Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- Monthly Digital Subscription1 Month trial$24.991 Month
- Gainesville Sun monthly1 Month trial$24.991 Month
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- Gainesville Sun annual1 Year trial$69.991 Year
FastBack
- Unlock$1.99
Questions
Is The Gainesville Sun free?
Is FastBack free?
Which has better reviews, The Gainesville Sun or FastBack?
Do The Gainesville Sun or FastBack have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Gainesville Sun or FastBack?
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