Patch vs Fig City News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Patch
Stay informed about your local community with real-time news, events, and weather updates. Discover schools, homes for sale, jobs, and announcements in a single, easy-to-scroll feed. Receive breaking news alerts and share stories with friends.
- Local news and events for 1,200+ towns
- Breaking news push notifications
- Local weather forecasts and alerts
- Find local jobs and announcements
- One-scroll feed for town happenings
- Bookmark articles for later reading
- Support for following multiple towns
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If you're looking for "everything local," Patch is the app for you. Local schools? Check. Breaking news? Check. Homes for sale? We've got those, too. You'll always be in touch with your town with the Patch app. Check out these features: • News and events for 1,200+ Patch Towns, with more towns added every month. • Push notifications as important news breaks — you’ll be the first to get the scoop. • Swipe left or right to view articles faster. • Local weather forecasts and alerts — you'll never be caught without an umbrella or snow boots again. • Find local events, jobs and announcements in your area. • Get everything that is happening in your town in a one-scroll feed! • Share stories to your Facebook friends or email/SMS to a friend! • Patch also has fun iMessage animal stickers to share your emotions with your friends! • Love an article? You can bookmark it to your phone to come back and read it later. • Want to follow multiple towns? No problem, swipe left or right to navigate between your favorite Patch towns. Our new Patch app delivers a beautiful browsing and reading experience for iOS users. Our pages load lightning fast. You'll never be kept waiting to see what's behind that headline. The sleek design provides an in-depth storytelling experience fueled by concise writing and rich imagery. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: We're eager to hear your feedback and suggestions. How can we make the app even better? What features would you like to see? We aim to be the best news app in the country, and your ideas are crucial. Please email us at Feedback@patch.com Images used under license from Shutterstock.com
Fig City News
Stay informed about your local community with news, weather, events, and city services. Listen to articles with customizable voices and speeds, and receive smart notifications tailored to your interests. Access restaurant listings and report city issues.
- Local news articles
- Text-to-speech audio playback
- Customizable smart notifications
- Newton weather forecasts
- Community event listings
- Restaurant discovery
- City service reporting
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Fig City News brings local journalism, weather, events, and city services together in one app—designed for Newton residents who want to stay connected to their community. LOCAL NEWS Read Newton news from Fig City News, with headlines delivered fresh from our newsroom. Search articles, share stories, and check what's trending. Tap any article to read in our clean, native reader. LISTEN TO YOUR NEWS FEED Tap "Listen" from the main screen to turn your news feed into an audio playlist. Choose from 6 voice accents (American, British, Australian, Irish, Indian, South African) and 4 speech speeds. Navigate through articles using skip forward and back controls. Listen while driving with CarPlay integration, or control playback from the lock screen and Control Center. Perfect for multitasking or accessibility needs. MORNING BRIEFING Start your day at 7am with a notification that includes Newton's weather forecast, the top headline, and today's event count. Optional and easy to customize. SMART NOTIFICATIONS Choose exactly which updates you want: • Morning Briefing (7am daily) - weather, headlines, events • Weather Alerts (8pm daily) - rain/snow warnings • Government Meetings (Monday) - weekly city meetings preview • Newsletter Reminder (Wednesday) - weekly Fig City News roundup • Community Events (Thursday) - weekend events preview • Trending Articles (Friday) - most-read stories this week • Breaking News - new story alerts Turn any of them on or off anytime in Settings. NEWTON WEATHER Tap for Newton's forecast—current conditions, hourly and 7-day outlook, precipitation chances, sunrise/sunset. Powered by Open-Meteo. Clean, fast, no ads. COMMUNITY CALENDAR Browse city meetings, school events, and local happenings from Newton's community and government calendars. Filter by today, tomorrow, or this week. Tap "Remind Me" to get notified before events you don't want to miss. NEWTON RESTAURANTS Discover 160+ restaurants across Newton's 13 villages. Filter by neighborhood or cuisine, mark favorites, or tap "Spin" to let the app pick for you. Quickly access websites, ordering, and directions. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add Newton to your home screen with 5 widget types: • Latest Stories - breaking news headlines • Trending Articles - most popular this week • Community Events - upcoming local events • Government Meetings - city calendar • Newton Weather - current forecast Available in small and medium sizes. NEWTON 311 Report potholes, graffiti, or missed trash pickups directly to the City of Newton. SIRI SHORTCUTS "Hey Siri, play Fig City News" - Launch the app and start listening to articles with a voice command. DESIGNED FOR ACCESSIBILITY • Full text-to-speech support for all articles • Multiple voice accents and speeds • Background audio playback • CarPlay and lock screen controls • System dark mode support • Clean, readable layouts Free. No account required. No ads. Made in Newton, for Newton.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Fig City News at none against Patch's shown. Fig City News also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Patch's advantage is ratings volume (27K vs 7) and chart position (#140 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Fig City News holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Patch has 27K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Patch ships an update every 2 months, Fig City News every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Patch | Fig City News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (27K ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 27K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #140 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patch Media | Fig City News, Inc |
Customer experience
Patch
Fig City News
Bugs and requests
Patch
Reported bugs
4 issues- Articles failing to load or open properly
- Notification issues, including duplicate or missing alerts
- Inconsistent app behavior after updates
- Difficulty clearing unread article indicators
Requested features
5 requests- Allow users to select specific news categories of interest
- Improve notification system to be more reliable and customizable
- Restore reader comment functionality
- Enhance location-based targeting and content curation
- Offer more affordable or free access options
Fig City News
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Patch
No in-app purchases
Fig City News
No in-app purchases
