Florida Today vs Launch Buddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Florida Today
Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and a digital replica of the print edition. Receive real-time notifications for breaking news, sports scores, and weather. Customize your reading experience with offline access and adjustable text sizes.
- In-depth local journalism
- Streamlined, fast-loading experience
- Real-time notifications
- Customizable reading experience
- Offline reading
- eNewspaper access
- Access to USA TODAY
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From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — the Florida Today app delivers the local news that matters most to your community. APP FEATURES: • Access all of our in-depth journalism, including things to do around town, sports coverage from high school to the pros, and much more. • Enjoy a streamlined, fast-loading experience that makes it easy to view the stories, photos, and videos that matter to you. • Get breaking news, sports scores, and weather alerts with real-time notifications tailored to your interests. • Customize your experience by saving your favorite stories, adjusting text size, using night mode, or reading offline. • eNewspaper: Just like our print edition but accessible on your mobile devices. And access to USA TODAY and 200+ local eNewspapers. MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.floridatoday.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.floridatoday.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.floridatoday.com • Subscriptions are charged to your account at confirmation of purchase and automatically renew each month or year, unless turned off in your account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. See "Subscription Support" in the app's Settings for more details and customer service contact information.
Launch Buddy
Stay informed about upcoming rocket launches with detailed mission information, real-time weather data from launch sites, and countdown timers. Track rocket families, launch pads, and view status indicators for each event. Offline access to cached data is also available.
- Upcoming launch list
- Detailed mission information
- Real-time launch site weather
- Countdown timers
- Rocket and launch pad specifics
- Status indicators
- Offline cached data
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Launch Buddy tracks upcoming rocket launches with pad weather, a countdown, and live Watch and Home Screen widgets. See go/no-go at Starbase, the Cape, and Vandenberg. Open a launch for mission, orbit, rocket, and pad details, plus real-time METAR weather (wind, visibility, flight category). Put the next T-0 on your wrist or Home Screen. Pull to refresh. Works offline with the last cached schedule. Launch Buddy Pro unlocks full schedule access and widgets ($2.99/month or $29.99/year). Privacy & terms: https://github.com/hwpaige/hpPrivacyPolicy/blob/main/README.md
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Launch Buddy at none against Florida Today's shown. Launch Buddy also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Florida Today's advantage is ratings volume (2.3K vs 2) and chart position (#111 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. Florida Today sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Launch Buddy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Launch Buddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Florida Today has 2.3K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Florida Today ships an update monthly, Launch Buddy weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Florida Today | Launch Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2.3K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.3K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #111 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 188 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | H Paige Technologies |
Customer experience
Florida Today
Launch Buddy
Bugs and requests
Florida Today
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues and inability to access subscribed content
- Inconsistent app performance across devices
- Unreliable e-newspaper delivery and sync issues
Requested features
3 requests- More interactive features like graphs and maps
- Ability to customize news feed and notifications
- Improved accessibility options for visually impaired users
Launch Buddy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Florida Today
- Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$14.991 Month
- Monthly Digital Subscription1 Month trial$24.991 Month
- Florida Today Digital Subscription1 Month trial$24.991 Month
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- Florida Today Annual Digital Subscription1 Year trial$69.991 Year
Launch Buddy
- Launch Buddy Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Launch Buddy Pro$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Florida Today free?
Is Launch Buddy free?
Which has better reviews, Florida Today or Launch Buddy?
Do Florida Today or Launch Buddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Florida Today or Launch Buddy?
Other comparisons
