NM Bluebird vs The Star WI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NM Bluebird
Enhance your reading experience on iOS devices with this app. Navigate publications using intuitive gestures, zoom into pages, or switch to article mode for adjustable text. Access the latest and past editions for online or offline reading.
- iOS multi-gestures navigation
- Swipe to browse pages/sections
- Tap to zoom page image
- Article mode with adjustable font size
- Full text search
- Online and offline reading
- Access to back issues
Read full descriptionHide full description
This app is part of the new Responsive Design interface of Tecnavia's Bluebird interface. This app improves the reading experience on any iOS device. It is more enhanced than viewing with the Safari Browser. Readers can quickly navigate the entire publication using iOS multi-gestures. Swipe to browse pages or sections or tap a live headline or page number to reach your favorite article. A thumbnail view lets you scan all the pages at once. To read a story, just tap to zoom the page image, or tap to article mode and read the whole story, including jumps, in the text window at the font size you prefer. The e-Edition will also let you easily find topics using the section and story index, or find any ad or story via a full text search of words contained in the copy. Just open the app to get the latest edition for on-line or off-line reading. You can also access back issues that you might have missed.To use, just download the app and select your publication.
The Star WI
Access local news for Sun Prairie, DeForest, and Windsor, Wisconsin. This digital edition provides up-to-date information for Dane County, published twice weekly.
- Local news coverage
- Digital e-edition
- Dane County focus
- Published Tuesday and Friday
Read full descriptionHide full description
The Star now includes both LIVE NEWS serving Sun Prairie, DeForest and Windsor. The Star is located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and provides news for Dane County. It is published Tuesday and Friday. Sun Prairie Star is owned by Adams Publishing. Contact Sun Prairie Star at print.subscriptions@ecpc.com or call 608-764-0299, press #1.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NM Bluebird at 4.5 against The Star WI's 3.7. NM Bluebird also leads on ratings volume (234 vs 6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
NM Bluebird holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NM Bluebird has 234 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.
NM Bluebird ships an update every 6 months, The Star WI every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | NM Bluebird | The Star WI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (234 ratings) — better | 3.7 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 234 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tecnavia | APG Media of Wisconsin LLC |
Customer experience
NM Bluebird
The Star WI
Bugs and requests
NM Bluebird
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes after recent iOS updates
- Page turning swipe too sensitive causing accidental navigation
- Random logout and authentication failures
- Blank pages and content rendering issues
- Download hangs at 75% completion
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Article expansion doesn't work consistently
- App goes to current issue when interrupted
- Article forwarding links show insecure source errors
- Reading pane scrolling issues on iPhone SE
- Screen goes blank when tapping in reading pane
Requested features
9 requests- Add New York Times to app
- Add Financial Times to app
- Add Barron's to app
- Add more newspaper publications
- Full-screen text reading mode
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Ability to access earlier/archived editions by date selection
- Improved article forwarding security
- Voice reading speed adjustment controls
- Updated and modernized user interface
The Star WI
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NM Bluebird
No in-app purchases
The Star WI
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NM Bluebird free?
Is The Star WI free?
Which has better reviews, NM Bluebird or The Star WI?
Do NM Bluebird or The Star WI have ads?
Which is updated more often, NM Bluebird or The Star WI?
Other comparisons
