# FT Digital Edition vs Brief Audio

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Brief Audio at none against FT Digital Edition's 2. Brief Audio also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. FT Digital Edition sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $16.99 per month. Brief Audio asks for nothing beyond the download.

FT Digital Edition ships an update every 3 weeks, Brief Audio fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | FT Digital Edition | Brief Audio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (2.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ft-digital-edition/id6449040684/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2.9K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 63.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 47 MB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Financial Times Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/322310071) | [Neil Johnson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1894194744) |

## What reviewers say

### FT Digital Edition

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ft-digital-edition/id6449040684)

Access the daily Financial Times newspaper delivered to your device. Enjoy exclusive digital magazines, translated articles, and a decade of archives. Listen to audio versions of top stories and read offline.

**Highlights:** Daily newspaper delivered to device, Exclusive digital magazines, Translated articles in 30+ languages, Browse 10 years of previous editions, Audio versions of top stories, Download for offline reading, Global editions and classic layout

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FT Digital Edition Monthly | $16.99 | per month |
| FT Digital Edition | $45.00 | per 3 months |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Smooth, savvy, and clean interface
- 👍 Streamlined and intuitive app experience
- 👍 Excellent for offline reading
- 👍 Automatic downloads of the latest edition
- 👍 Ability to access different regional editions

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Connectivity issues, app unable to connect at times
- 🐛 Struggles with unfamiliar IP addresses when traveling
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes, especially on the cookie page
- 🐛 Counterintuitive and clunky user interface
- 🐛 Formatting issues, with text and images not rendering properly

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to log in and access the subscription
- Rendering issues with hyphens and other special characters
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between online and offline modes

**Requested features**

- Implement a full-screen mode for better reading experience
- Add a dark mode option for comfortable reading
- Improve the text-to-speech (audio) functionality to handle non-text elements better
- Introduce a search feature to easily find articles and content
- Enhance the offline reading capabilities to ensure consistent availability


### Brief Audio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/brief-audio/id6762452974)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is FT Digital Edition free?

FT Digital Edition is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Brief Audio free?

Brief Audio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do FT Digital Edition or Brief Audio have ads?

Neither FT Digital Edition nor Brief Audio shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, FT Digital Edition or Brief Audio?

FT Digital Edition ships an update every 3 weeks, and Brief Audio fortnightly. Most recently, FT Digital Edition was updated on October 19, 2026 and Brief Audio on October 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*