QLD Fires vs The Age
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
QLD Fires
Stay informed about current fires in Queensland, Australia. View fire locations on a list or map, and see associated wind and satellite hotspot data. Get real-time updates from official services.
- Current fire information
- List and map view
- Distance estimation
- Wind data mapping
- Satellite hotspot data
- Real-time updates
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The QLD Fires application is designed to provide information on current fires within the state of Queensland Australia. The information is displayed in a list or map view to enable the user to understand how far the fire is from a user. The application also maps current wind and satellite "hotspot" data to try and provide as much information as possible. It utilises fire information from the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, wind information from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Satellite "Hot Spots" from Geoscience Australia.
The Age
Stay informed with breaking news and in-depth stories. Customize your news feed with topics you care about and listen to exclusive podcasts. Access premium content and daily puzzles with a subscription.
- Breaking headlines
- Push notifications
- Podcast catalogue
- Customizable news feed
- Today's Paper
- Daily crosswords
- Daily Sudoku
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Get straight to the stories that matter with The Age app. Top Stories and push notifications keep you up to date with breaking headlines while our Podcast catalogue lets you tune into thought-provoking audio storytelling and discussions from our newsroom. My News lets you customise your feed, showing the topics you're interested in, in the order you want them. The app is free to download. You can unlock unlimited access to all content with a Starter Digital subscription through the App Store. To unlock premium features such as Today's Paper and puzzles including Daily Crosswords and Daily Sudoku, you can subscribe to Premium Digital via in-app purchase. Additional information about Apple subscriptions: - Purchase of an auto-renewable, monthly subscription is required to access content on The Age app - Starter Digital subscriptions are available for AU$25.99 per month (or local currency equivalent) - Premium Digital subscriptions are available for AU$37.49 per month (or local currency equivalent) - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your iTunes App Store Account Settings after purchase - Your iTunes account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Terms of use and privacy policy apply when accessing content via The Age app - Privacy policy: https://login.nine.com.au/privacy?client_id=theage - Terms and conditions: https://login.nine.com.au/terms?client_id=theage
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: The Age at Free against QLD Fires's $0.99. The Age also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (31 vs 4). QLD Fires's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (51% vs 27%). On ads 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
The Age is free to download; QLD Fires costs $0.99 up front. The Age sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. QLD Fires asks for nothing beyond the download.
QLD Fires holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Age has 31 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of QLD Fires's written reviews are positive against 27% of The Age's.
QLD Fires ships an update every 6 weeks, The Age every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | QLD Fires | The Age |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.7 (31 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.7% of reviews — better | 27.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 31 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #67 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 134 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | P4G Pty Ltd | Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Limited |
Customer experience
QLD Fires
The Age
User reviews
QLD Fires
From 4 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Informative and handy
- ✅ Excellent coverage
- 📍 Great map view
- 🔔 Immediate notifications
- 🗺️ Good fire position app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Freezes frequently
- 🐌 Slow performance
- 🔄 Repeating notifications
- ❌ Map won't load
- 📉 Lack of development
The Age
From 31 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🗞️ Trusted news source
- 📰 Comprehensive news coverage
- 🗺️ Useful local news and information
- 💯 Excellent journalism and reporting
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
- 🤖 Lack of user-friendly features and poor navigation
- 💰 Expensive subscription with diminishing value
- 📦 Frustrating download and offline reading experience
- 🔍 Lack of search functionality and personalization
Bugs and requests
QLD Fires
Reported bugs
26 issues- Constant repeating notifications
- Map pixels not loading
- App freezes on each screen
- Back button not working
- Cannot delete watch zones
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- App freezes when viewing maps
- App keeps freezing on iPad running iOS 17.0.2
- App locks up when opening map
- Cannot zoom in to fire location, app freezes
- App closes when reading or going into map
- Map or other functions freeze
- State map freezing, cannot zoom
- App freezes then crashes when using map function
- Map crashing constantly
- App freezes, cannot do anything
- App freezes every time clicking on fire tag
- App freezes, crashes, unusable
- App causes device to freeze or lock up constantly
- New entry notifications do not disappear
- Watch zone function does not work (deletes within minutes)
- Notifications for old fires, not new ones
- App not working, won't load info
- Glitches with deleting or setting up watch zones
- Fires active through Fire Com Northcoast not appearing on app
- App crashes and won't open
- Updates are irregular and old
Requested features
24 requests- See Road Rescue and others blocked out
- Display aircraft like Bushfire.io
- Wind particles instead of arrows
- Ability to see fire size
- Option to choose notification area (50-100km)
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Siren for new alerts
- Different alert for trucks not at station
- Explanation of status levels (Information, Advice, Notification)
- Map legend for symbols
- Explanation of pink dots on map
- Status levels like 'out of control', 'being controlled', 'under control'
- Distance legend ruler on map
- Personalized emergency services contact lists
- Ability to change alert noise/chime
- Override 'do not disturb' setting for call-outs
- Look at info from old 'Emergency Aus' app
- Fires don't understand state borders
- Google Maps with live traffic option
- Add size of fire and control status
- Improve rain radar functionality
- Allow setting watch zone other than current location
- Ability to search location by address
- New entry notifications disappear when app opened
- More detailed information like NSW app (fire size, status)
The Age
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between sections
- Issues with downloading and accessing offline content
- Unreliable login and authentication processes
Requested features
5 requests- Bring back the old iPad app design and functionality
- Improve article saving and bookmarking capabilities
- Add more customization options for content display
- Enhance crossword and puzzle experiences
- Provide better support for offline reading
In-app purchases
QLD Fires
No in-app purchases
The Age
- Starter Digital1 Month trial$17.991 Month
- Premium Digital1 Month trial$24.991 Month
