# tucson.com vs azcentral

The clearest difference is ads: tucson.com at none against azcentral's shown. tucson.com also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.3). azcentral's advantage is chart position (#44 vs unranked). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. tucson.com sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month and azcentral sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

tucson.com holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.5K and 6.6K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of tucson.com's written reviews are positive against 46% of azcentral's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

tucson.com ships an update every 6 weeks, azcentral every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | tucson.com | azcentral |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tucsoncom/id437984630/reviews)** | [4.3 (6.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/azcentral/id815248536/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 4.5K | **6.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 39.7% of reviews | **45.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Every 4 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#44** |
| Size | 10 MB | 188 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.6** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Star Publishing Company](https://appshunter.io/developer/355559219) | [USA TODAY Co., Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/404843797) |

## What reviewers say

### tucson.com

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tucsoncom/id437984630)

Access local news, sports, and multimedia content from Southern Arizona's leading newspaper. Stay informed with breaking news and alerts directly from the Arizona Daily Star.

**Highlights:** Local Tucson news, Arizona Wildcats sports coverage, Breaking news alerts, Photos and videos, Southern Arizona news

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription | $4.99 | per month |

**What reviewers like**

- 📰 Daily read
- 📤 Timely updates
- 🏙️ Good coverage of local news
- 🗞️ Best available electronic news reporting

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Content locked behind paywall
- 🔍 Difficult to find specific news items
- 🐛 Crashes frequently, especially for ads
- 📱 Clunky app, poor formatting and navigation
- 🤔 Biased, left-leaning reporting

**Reported bugs**

- Notifications for non-existent stories
- Broken internal links and references
- Outdated content, app lags behind website
- Frequent crashes and errors

**Requested features**

- Lower price for print edition
- Broader range of news topics
- Improve article search and navigation
- Optimize app for iPad and other tablets


### azcentral

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/azcentral/id815248536)

**Currently charting:** #44 Top Grossing · Magazines & Newspapers, #62 Top Grossing · News, #196 Top Free · Magazines & Newspapers (US App Store)

Access breaking news and in-depth local journalism from Arizona's largest newsroom. Stay informed with real-time alerts, personalized feeds, and a digital replica of the print newspaper, including national and local eNewspapers.

**Highlights:** Real-time breaking news alerts, Personalized news feed, Digital replica eNewspaper, Investigative reporting, Local sports coverage, Election coverage

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Digital Rate | $19.99 | per month |
| Annual Digital Subscription | $19.99 | per year |
| Monthly Digital Rate | $24.99 | per month |
| azcentral Digital Subscription | $24.99 | per month |
| Monthly Digital Subscription | $24.99 | per month |
| azcentral Annual Digital Subscription | $69.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🗞️ Great local news coverage
- 📰 Convenient digital format
- 🗓️ Timely and up-to-date reporting
- 🗣️ Balanced and objective journalism

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
- 📱 Poor user experience and navigation
- 💰 Excessive ads and paywalls
- 🔄 Frequent app crashes and resets

**Reported bugs**

- App freezes and crashes frequently
- Subscription issues and login problems
- Inconsistent formatting and display issues
- Inability to print or save articles

**Requested features**

- Improve app stability and performance
- Enhance reading experience with better layout and navigation
- Provide more local and community-focused content
- Offer better integration with other news sources


## Frequently asked questions

### Is tucson.com free?

tucson.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is azcentral free?

azcentral is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, tucson.com or azcentral?

tucson.com is rated higher. tucson.com averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while azcentral averages 4.3 from 6.6K ratings.

### Do tucson.com or azcentral have ads?

azcentral shows ads; tucson.com does not.

### Which is updated more often, tucson.com or azcentral?

tucson.com ships an update every 6 weeks, and azcentral every 4 weeks. Most recently, tucson.com was updated on October 1, 2026 and azcentral on October 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*