Comparison

Pencil News vs Hubly Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pencil News

Features
Read full description

Your world. Your language. Your way to stay informed. Pencil News brings together headlines, articles, live news channels and short videos in English and Urdu. Follow stories from Pakistan and around the world, explore your interests and make room for a daily news habit that fits your life. READ BEYOND THE HEADLINES Explore articles across politics, sports, business, technology and more. Browse the latest stories, discover different perspectives and follow links to original publisher coverage. WATCH THE NEWS UNFOLD Tune into available live news channels, or open Reels for short videos you can swipe through when you have a few moments to catch up. ENGLISH OR URDU Choose your preferred edition and enjoy an interface designed for your language, including right-to-left reading in Urdu. Switch editions whenever you like. FOLLOW YOUR INTERESTS Choose the topics that matter to you and use search to find stories and explore more of the news you care about. SAVE SOMETHING WORTH READING Bookmark stories to return to later. Keep the articles that caught your attention together in your saved collection. MAKE READING YOUR OWN Adjust text size and choose your preferred reading appearance for a more comfortable experience. AT HOME ON iPHONE AND iPAD Enjoy a thoughtfully designed experience across your phone and tablet, with space for both a quick catch-up and a longer read. No sign-up is required to get started. An internet connection is required to load current news and play videos. Story and live channel availability may vary by source and edition.

About

Hubly Reader

Stay informed with your preferred news sources through a clean and modern RSS reader. Organize articles by category, search quickly, and enjoy distraction-free reading. Upgrade for unlimited feeds, notifications, and read-later functionality.

Highlights
  • Personalized RSS feed following
  • Clean and modern interface
  • Article categorization and filtering
  • Quick article search
  • Distraction-free reader mode
  • Unlimited feeds with Premium
  • Read Later functionality
Features
Read full description

All your news in one place and summarized for you. Hubly brings all your news sites into a single, clean feed designed like a magazine. Add any site: just paste its address and Hubly finds the feed for you. And every day, the AI on your device prepares a summary of the last 24 hours of news. Everything is computed on‑device — nothing leaves your phone. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Follow all your news sites in one feed, without intrusive ads • Add a source in one step — paste an address, Hubly detects the feed • Read in peace with Reader mode: a clean article, no ads or banners; tap once to return to the full page • Explore by topic: Hubly automatically sorts articles (Tech, AI, Science, Sports, Politics, Culture…) • Save articles to read later • A personalized feed that adapts to what you read YOUR DAILY AI SUMMARY A clear, journalist‑style synthesis of the day's important news, generated on your device with Apple Intelligence. Private, fast, no account. Get it every day at the time you choose. PRIVACY FIRST No account required. The summary is computed on‑device. Your reading stays yours. iCloud sync across your devices. HUBLY PREMIUM Go unlimited: unlimited sources, per‑source notifications, and zero ads.

Screenshots

Pencil News4 screens
Hubly Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pencil News at none against Hubly Reader's 1. Hubly Reader's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hubly Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pencil News asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pencil News ships an update every 3 months, Hubly Reader fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Pencil News versus Hubly Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPencil NewsHubly Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTriage TechnologiesQuentin Van Eylen

In-app purchases

None

Pencil News

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Hubly Reader

One-time1
  • Hubly Premium$2.99

Questions

Is Pencil News free?
Pencil News is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hubly Reader free?
Hubly Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pencil News or Hubly Reader have ads?
Both Pencil News and Hubly Reader show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pencil News or Hubly Reader?
Pencil News ships an update every 3 months, and Hubly Reader fortnightly. Most recently, Pencil News was updated on November 4, 2026 and Hubly Reader on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons