Comparison

The Scotsman Newspaper vs Ruby

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The Scotsman Newspaper

Access a full-color digital replica of Scotland's national newspaper, including supplements and Sunday editions, on your smartphone or tablet. Enjoy offline reading, interactive articles, and live news notifications.

Highlights
  • Digital replica of the newspaper
  • Daily editions and supplements
  • Offline reading
  • Pinch and zoom functionality
  • Search articles
  • Live news notifications
  • 30-day archive
Features
Read full description

The new Scotsman newspaper app brings you a full colour digital replica of Scotland’s national newspaper every supplement and Scotland on Sunday, all presented in pristine detail and designed to be enjoyed on your smartphone or tablet device. Updated early each morning, seven days a week, the app gives you the opportunity to read the full edition of the paper and its supplements over breakfast, or download them for offline reading later. When viewing a paper or supplement, you can pinch and zoom to enlarge the pages and articles, swipe through or jump to the next or other pages, use the search functionality to find specific articles, and view full pages either in single page portrait or double page spread landscape mode. Download the The Scotsman newspaper app now and discover up-to-the-minute latest news from Scotland via scotsman.com, Updated throughout the day and including photos, videos, improved digital content which can all be shared on social media. We have live news notifications sent direct to your device. The app features: • The latest live news and daily digital edition newspaper • Live updates with interactive article elements • New easy-to-use navigation • Read essential content offline when it suits you • Responsive design complimenting the print edition • 30 day archive of the newspaper The Scotsman newspaper app brings you the very best in news, sport, entertainment, other features and more from across Scotland and the world, with full daily editions exactly as the printed version. This gives access to both the digital content and the paper editions within the app
.Payment for this subscription will be charged to your iTunes account upon purchase. The subscription will auto-renew within 24 hours of the current subscription expiring. Auto-renewing subscriptions can be managed via Account Settings allowing them to be turned off. No cancellations of the current subscription are allowed during the active subscription period. Privacy Policy: https://www.jpimedia.co.uk/privacy-policy/ T&C: https://www.jpimedia.co.uk/website-terms-conditions/

About

Ruby

A beautifully designed news reader app offering a personalized home feed based on your chosen topics. Easily discover trending articles, bookmark content for later, and customize your reading experience with language and region settings. Enjoy ad-free content across multiple Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Personalized topic feeds
  • Explore trending articles
  • Bookmark articles for later
  • Customizable region and language
  • Ad-free reading experience
  • iCloud syncing across devices
  • Apple Watch app integration
Features
Read full description

Ruby is a beautifully designed news app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision. It's built with a familiar design, so it's simple and easy to use and understand. Ruby works great with your devices, and supports iCloud syncing for a seamless experience across all of them. The app itself has a lot of distinct features, such as being able to choose the topic you want to view on your home feed. If you only want to view technology without the politics, you can. Only interested in sports? There's an option for that too. With the explore page, you can also keep up with the latest trends in your region, or make a quick search for whatever you're interested in. Ruby also offers bookmarks, so you can find an article and come back to it later. We also offer customization. You can easily change the country you're in, or the language you prefer to read. The built in news reader is easy to understand, and provides content from your favorite websites, but without the advertisements and other nonsense. Ruby also offers an Apple Watch app, where you can quickly view headlines on your wrist. The Apple Watch app has the same functionality as the iPhone app, so you can easily read headlines of a specific topic, and more. If you want to suggest features for Ruby, contact me on X (Twitter) @mbrkhrdt. I'm open to suggestions, and want to create the best user experience possible!

Screenshots

The Scotsman Newspaper4 screens
Ruby4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Ruby at free with in-app purchases against The Scotsman Newspaper's subscription. Ruby also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (50% vs 40%). The Scotsman Newspaper's advantage is ratings volume (185 vs 4) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The Scotsman Newspaper sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Ruby sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.69 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ruby holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Scotsman Newspaper has 185 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of The Scotsman Newspaper's written reviews are positive against 50% of Ruby's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Scotsman Newspaper ships an update every 4 months, Ruby every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
The Scotsman Newspaper versus Ruby: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Scotsman NewspaperRuby
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (185 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings185 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB8 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperIconic Media Group LimitedMBRKHRDT LLC

Customer experience

The Scotsman Newspaper

All ratings185 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative51.7%

Ruby

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

The Scotsman Newspaper

Subscriptions3
  • The Scotsman Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Scotsman subscription2 variants$9.991 Year
  • Scotsman Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
9 purchases

Ruby

Subscriptions3
  • Ruby Premium - Weekly7 Days trial$0.697 Days
  • Ruby Premium - Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Ruby Premium - Annual$5.991 Year
One-time6
  • Tip Jar - $0.99$0.99
  • Tip Jar - $1.99$1.99
  • Tip Jar - $2.99$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Tip Jar - $4.99$4.99
  • Tip Jar - $9.99$9.99
  • Ruby Premium - Lifetime$17.99

Questions

Is The Scotsman Newspaper free?
The Scotsman Newspaper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ruby free?
Ruby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Scotsman Newspaper or Ruby?
Ruby is rated higher. The Scotsman Newspaper averages 4.7 out of 5 from 185 ratings, while Ruby averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do The Scotsman Newspaper or Ruby have ads?
Neither The Scotsman Newspaper nor Ruby shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Scotsman Newspaper or Ruby?
The Scotsman Newspaper ships an update every 4 months, and Ruby every 5 months. Most recently, The Scotsman Newspaper was updated on October 24, 2026 and Ruby on October 26, 2026.

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