Patch vs Ask DOPE
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
Ask DOPE
Explore publicly available prediction market data for sports, politics, and current events. View market-implied probabilities and organize multi-leg selections. Links to third-party exchanges are provided for transactions.
- Natural-language queries for events and market data
- Display market-implied odds and probabilities
- Create and review multi-leg selection lists
- Optional notifications for data changes
- Optional voice input for queries
- Links to third-party prediction market exchanges
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DOPE is an informational application for exploring publicly available prediction market data. The application allows users to query information about live events across sports, politics, and current affairs, to view market-implied probabilities and odds, and to organize multi-leg selections ("combos") for reference. Where available, the application provides links to third-party prediction market exchanges, such as Polymarket, where any transactions are conducted separately by the user. Features: • Point the camera at a screen or a live event, or share a photo or link, to see matching market data • Natural-language queries about publicly reported events and associated market data • Display of market-implied odds and probabilities sourced from third-party markets • Creation and review of multi-leg selection lists ("combos") for informational purposes • Optional Telegram and Discord group integrations that respond only to explicit invocations • Optional notifications when tracked market data changes • Optional voice input for composing queries • Links to third-party exchanges for users who choose to transact there Account and privacy: • Authentication uses device-based passkeys (WebAuthn/FIDO2). No email address or password is required. • The application does not display third-party advertising and does not sell user data. Important information: DOPE is an informational and research tool only. DOPE does not accept, place, or settle wagers, does not hold or transfer funds, and does not execute trades. Any transactions are conducted by the user on independent third-party platforms and are subject to those platforms' terms and to the laws applicable in the user's jurisdiction. Availability of third-party services varies by location and may be restricted. DOPE is intended for users aged 18 and over.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ask DOPE at 100% against Patch's 58%. Ask DOPE also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). Patch's advantage is ratings volume (26K vs 6) and chart position (#154 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases 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.
Ask DOPE holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Patch has 26K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Patch's written reviews are positive against 100% of Ask DOPE's.
Patch ships an update every 2 months, Ask DOPE every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Patch | Ask DOPE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (26K ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 26K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #154 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Patch Media | Andrew Lawrence |
Customer experience
Patch
Ask DOPE
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
Ask DOPE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Patch
No in-app purchases
Ask DOPE
No in-app purchases









