The Boston Globe vs direct democracy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Boston Globe
Access award-winning journalism covering local and national news, politics, business, arts, and culture. Read, watch, and comment on stories, with customizable notifications and offline reading capabilities. Explore in-depth features, opinion pieces, and daily news updates.
- Award-winning journalism
- Local and national news
- Investigative reporting
- Opinion and analysis
- Customizable notifications
- Offline article saving
- In-app commenting
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Get full access to The Boston Globe's 27-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalism, spanning local and national breaking news, investigative reporting, and coverage of politics, business, art, travel, culture, and more. Updated with a new design and experience, Globe app users can read, watch, and comment on the latest news from New England’s largest newsroom. • Download the app and discover local stories from The Boston Globe, Globe New Hampshire, and Globe Rhode Island. • Engage with groundbreaking journalism from the Spotlight Team. • Enjoy thought-provoking opinion and analysis from Globe columnists. • Explore impactful features from Globe Magazine and in-depth coverage of Boston sports. • Stay informed with Boston Globe Today, our daily TV show that takes you beyond the headlines. APP FEATURES • Customize notifications so you always have the latest updates about the topics you care about. • Save articles to read later, even when your device is offline. • Share your thoughts on articles and join the online discussion with in-app commenting. • Go beyond the headlines with videos from Boston Globe Today. Plus More! Terms of Use: https://www.bostonglobe.com/about/help/terms-service-app/ Privacy Policy: https://www.bostonglobe.com/about/help/privacy-policy-app/
direct democracy
Engage in local civic discussions, rank Chicago's issues, and hold officials accountable through AMAs. Get election information and verify your voting address. See how your neighbors truly feel about local matters.
- Rank local issues
- City and ward-based discussions
- Official AMAs and accountability
- Election guide and voting information
- Address verification
- Verified user counts
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Chicago's issues, ranked by people instead of politicians. City and ward-based discussion where neighbors decide what matters most. Hold officials accountable: ask them anything in their AMA, and the community judges whether they really answered. Every official gets a grade from their residents' approval and their answers. Your guide to the upcoming elections: every race on the November 3 ballot, including all 61 judges up for retention with bar association ratings, Congress, the state legislature, Cook County, and the school board. With the dates and places to vote and a reminder before each deadline. Verify your address, and every vote shows two counts: all users and verified users. So you can see what your neighbors in your ward actually think.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: direct democracy at none against The Boston Globe's 1. direct democracy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 weeks). The Boston Globe's advantage is ratings volume (42K vs 1) and chart position (#18 vs unranked). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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 Boston Globe sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per month. direct democracy asks for nothing beyond the download.
direct democracy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Boston Globe has 42K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
The Boston Globe ships an update every 6 weeks, direct democracy every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Boston Globe | direct democracy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (42K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 39.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 42K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #18 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC | Brian Carlisle |
Customer experience
The Boston Globe
direct democracy
Bugs and requests
The Boston Globe
Reported bugs
3 issues- Frequent crashes after recent update
- Inability to find comics and puzzles
- Inconsistent page layout and formatting
Requested features
4 requests- Video journalism and documentaries
- Offline reading mode
- Improved article sharing
- Better integration between app and email
direct democracy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Boston Globe
- Monthly Subscription$29.991 Month
direct democracy
No in-app purchases
