# tucson.com vs WGEM News

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: WGEM News at none against tucson.com's 1. WGEM News also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). tucson.com's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. tucson.com sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. WGEM News asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for tucson.com against 4.5 for WGEM News. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.5K and 2.1K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 39% of tucson.com's written reviews are positive against 35% of WGEM News's.

tucson.com ships an update every 6 weeks, WGEM News monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | tucson.com | WGEM News |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tucsoncom/id437984630/reviews)** | [4.5 (2.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wgem-news/id879500684/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 2.1K |
| Positive reviews | **39.1% of reviews** | 34.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 10 MB | 79 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Star Publishing Company](https://appshunter.io/developer/355559219) | [Gray Television Group, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/416888140) |

## 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


### WGEM News

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wgem-news/id879500684)

Stay informed with breaking news, live sports updates, and detailed weather forecasts. Access local and regional information to keep up with your community.

**Highlights:** Latest news updates, Sports coverage, Weather forecasts, WGEM First Alert Weather Team, Local community information

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 💻 Works well
- ⏱️ Most up-to-date app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🚫 Disappointing app
- ⏱️ News not updated often enough
- 🔄 Dislike new format
- 🐛 App crashes/won't open

**Reported bugs**

- Needs to be updated more frequently
- Error loading content

**Requested features**

- Better weather coverage for Missouri area
- Improve weather notifications


## Frequently asked questions

### Is tucson.com free?

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

### Is WGEM News free?

WGEM News is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, tucson.com or WGEM News?

tucson.com is rated higher. tucson.com averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while WGEM News averages 4.5 from 2.1K ratings.

### Do tucson.com or WGEM News have ads?

WGEM News shows ads; tucson.com does not.

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

tucson.com ships an update every 6 weeks, and WGEM News monthly. Most recently, tucson.com was updated on October 20, 2026 and WGEM News on October 14, 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.*