The Oakland Press vs Observer & Eccentric
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Oakland Press
Access personalized news, save articles for later, and enjoy a digital replica of the daily newspaper. Customize notifications, read offline, and play included games. Optimized for a faster, native experience.
- Personalized news recommendations
- Save articles for later reading
- Customizable push notifications
- Digital newspaper replica (E-News)
- Offline reading capabilities
- In-app games (Sudoku, Crossword, etc.)
- Swipe navigation between articles
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To continue enjoying our app, we kindly request that you log in again after this update. If you're a subscriber, please take a moment to restore your account to ensure uninterrupted access. You can find the “Restore Subscriptions“ button in Settings under Subscriptions. Welcome to a new app experience, we have optimized our app and giving it a facelift! This faster iOS native app now has the following new features: Your News: Provide personalized recommendations for content based on user preferences. Users will be allowed to customize the content they want to engage with by selecting the topics they are truly interested in. By going to the “Your News” tab the user can bypass the noise of all that is published and home in on the content they want Saved Articles: Save feature that allows users to save articles or other content they are interested in for later reading or reference.Push notifications will remind users to read their saved articles or suggest related content Custom Push Notifications: The user can select what topics they want to be notified about which makes for a much less intrusive experience. Top Navigation Bar: A top navigation bar lets the user switch between sections by swiping or tapping. Enews in-app: Desire the newspaper experience? No need to open a separate app! By simply going to Settings and selecting E-News the user can browse the Digital Replica of the day’s paper. Offline Reading: This feature allows users to enable offline reading from Settings. Offline “Reading Preferences” can also be customized for Settings. Swipe Left: Instead of going back to the main section to find more articles, users have the option to simply swipe, immediately opening other articles in the Section. Follow Topics: A user will be shown articles on topics they are following. To follow select “follow” at the article level and related articles will gain relevancy and be shown more frequently. Just as easily “Unfollow” Games: Users can enjoy a variety of games served in app. Games include: Sudoku, Solitaire, Jumble, Crossword, and Puzzles Terms of Use: https://www.medianewsgroup.com/terms-of-use/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Observer & Eccentric
Stay informed with local news, in-depth journalism, and engaging multimedia content. Get real-time alerts for breaking news, sports scores, and weather. Customize your reading experience and access content offline.
- In-depth journalism
- Local news coverage
- Photography and videos
- Real-time notifications
- Customizable reading experience
- Offline reading
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From critically acclaimed storytelling to powerful photography to engaging videos — the Observer & Eccentric 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. MORE INFORMATION: • Privacy Policy: https://cm.hometownlife.com/privacy/ • Terms of Service: https://cm.hometownlife.com/terms/ • Help Center: https://help.hometownlife.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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The Oakland Press and Observer & Eccentric both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 38% of Observer & Eccentric's written reviews are positive against 20% of The Oakland Press's. The Oakland Press's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. The Oakland Press sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and Observer & Eccentric sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for The Oakland Press against 4.6 for Observer & Eccentric. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 161 and 99 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 20% of The Oakland Press's written reviews are positive against 38% of Observer & Eccentric's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | The Oakland Press | Observer & Eccentric |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (161 ratings) | 4.6 (99 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.7% of reviews | 38.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 161 — better | 99 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 188 MB | 185 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Journal Register Company | USA TODAY Co., Inc. |
Customer experience
The Oakland Press
Observer & Eccentric
Bugs and requests
The Oakland Press
Reported bugs
22 issues- App won't register subscription
- E-edition not available
- Articles not opening or loading
- Login issues
- App freezes
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- App is slow
- Duplicate articles
- App crashes
- Pop-up videos are loud
- Crooked layout
- Search does not work
- No business section
- No local sports tab
- Content is outdated
- App not updated frequently
- Missing Oakland county focus
- Difficult to find obituaries
- App is unusable
- App is not worth the room on device
- Reported bias in reporting
- No working phone numbers for missed deliveries
- Cannot forward articles
Requested features
14 requests- E-edition availability
- Improve article loading
- Fix search functionality
- Add business section
- Add local sports tab
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- More frequent updates
- Better organization of articles by publication time
- Fix duplicate articles
- Improve obituary access
- Remove pop-up videos
- Fix crooked layout
- Allow forwarding of articles
- Add fact checks on political content
- Provide working phone numbers for missed deliveries
Observer & Eccentric
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Oakland Press
- Oakland Press Monthly Sub1 Month trial$11.991 Month
- Oakland Press Annual Sub1 Year trial$139.991 Year
Observer & Eccentric
- Monthly Digital Rate1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- O&E Digital Subscription1 Month trial$16.991 Month
- Annual Digital Subscription1 Year trial$69.991 Year
Questions
Is The Oakland Press free?
Is Observer & Eccentric free?
Which has better reviews, The Oakland Press or Observer & Eccentric?
Do The Oakland Press or Observer & Eccentric have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Oakland Press or Observer & Eccentric?
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