The Daily Sun vs Gulf Coast News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Daily Sun
Access a digital replica of your local Florida newspapers, featuring news, sports, stock reports, and special sections on health, fishing, and entertainment. Read articles in their original print format or a text-only view, and easily share content.
- Replica newspaper edition
- Text view mode
- Archive browsing
- Story sharing
- Local, state, national news
- Sports coverage
- Stock reports
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The Daily Sun is a replica edition of your locally-owned daily newspapers for the Englewood, North Port, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida areas. This app allows you to read everything as it was printed, or click anywhere on the story to read in a text view mode, browse archives and email or share stories to social media sites. Here you will find... - Local, state, national and world news. - Daily sports section with local and national sports coverage. - Daily and weekly stocks and stock reports. - Weekly special sections • Feeling Fit - health news • Waterline - local fishing and hunting news • Let's Go - local entertainment news and events • Area-specific local news • Classifieds section (the largest printed classified section in Florida) and so much more. For questions and customer support please call (941) 206-1000 or toll free 1-877-818-6204.
Gulf Coast News
Stay informed with local news and weather updates from Southwest Florida. Receive personalized breaking news alerts, watch live and on-demand video newscasts, and access detailed weather forecasts. Share stories easily via email or social media.
- Breaking news alerts
- Personalized push notifications
- Live streaming video newscasts
- On-demand video stories
- Local weather forecasts
- Story sharing
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Get the latest Southwest Florida news and weather wherever you go with the redesigned Gulf Coast News App. Read and watch local and national news, get personalized alerts about breaking news and other stories you want to know about, and check the Gulf Coast News First Alert Storm Team's latest forecast on your phone or tablet. The Gulf Coast News App includes: - Southwest Florida breaking news alerts with the option to customize your push notifications - Live streaming video newscasts - Watch previously-aired stories - View a variety of slideshows - Up to date, current local weather conditions, hourly weather updates & 7 day forecasts - Ability to share stories via email or social media Although Hearst Television believes the majority of its news content is appropriate for a variety of ages, it is intended for individuals 18 and older.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Daily Sun at 86% against Gulf Coast News's 19%. The Daily Sun also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.1). Gulf Coast News's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, 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.
The Daily Sun holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 256 and 111 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of The Daily Sun's written reviews are positive against 19% of Gulf Coast News's.
The Daily Sun ships an update every 4 months, Gulf Coast News monthly. Both last shipped on September 20, 2026.
| Parameter | The Daily Sun | Gulf Coast News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (256 ratings) — better | 3.1 (111 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.2% of reviews — better | 19.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 256 — better | 111 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 125 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | +12 |
| Developer | Sun Coast Media Group, Inc | Hearst Television |
Customer experience
The Daily Sun
Gulf Coast News
User reviews
The Daily Sun
From 256 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to navigate and read
- 📰 Excellent local news coverage
- 🌍 Access news while traveling
- ♻️ Eco-friendly digital alternative
- 📱 Works seamlessly on iPad and iPhone
Room to improve
- 🐛 Articles fail to load completely
- 🧭 Navigation difficulties on some pages
- 📉 Sunday edition lacks original content
- 💰 Significant price increases over time
- 🎨 Comics require opening twice for clarity
Gulf Coast News
From 111 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Best local news coverage
- 👍 Good meteorologists
- 👍 Live stream option
- 👍 Breaking news alerts
- 👍 Faster than old version
Room to improve
- 😠 Too many ads
- 😠 Misleading headlines
- 😠 Left-leaning bias
- 😠 Connection problems
- 😠 Inundated with ads
Bugs and requests
The Daily Sun
Reported bugs
7 issues- Article loading issues on iPad
- App hangs when opening new edition
- Login authentication failures
- Access denied errors for E-edition
- App crashes or freezes
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Comics display quality issues
- Inconsistent app performance requiring device restart
Requested features
4 requests- Improved Sunday edition content
- Better comic display optimization
- Enhanced navigation interface
- Live news updates throughout the day
Gulf Coast News
Reported bugs
18 issues- Connection problem for 2 months
- Radar showing wrong location (Chicago instead of SW Florida)
- Privacy link not opening
- No live weather radar display
- Widgets showing offline
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- App not working on Apple TV
- Redirected to website for live stream
- Non-working links for contact and news tips
- Videos won't play on iPad (end freezes)
- Videos won't play on iPad (format not supported)
- App doesn't work on iPhone XR
- App takes forever to load
- Article title present, but not the article content
- App constantly crashing
- App won't open
- Notification click doesn't go to link
- Notification links to stories broken
- App requires installing 'new app' repeatedly
Requested features
46 requests- Dedicated local weather app
- Just news, no bias
- Timelines on weather forecast
- Show my actual location on weather map
- Separate weather from news
Show 41 moreShow fewer
- Improve the app, not too much information
- Hourly forecast
- 7 day forecast
- Put weather under WEATHER tab
- Fix location marker on weather app
- Provide more features than before
- Fix app for live stream redirection
- Fix non-working contact and news tips links
- Allow reading articles instead of watching videos
- Fix widgets showing offline
- Turn off morning doorbell sound
- Fix app for Apple TV
- More new stories daily
- Purge old stories after a week
- Fix videos not playing on iPad
- Fix videos not playing on iPad (format not supported)
- List headlines only
- Local news section
- Fix traffic navigation
- Easier access to traffic tab
- Notifications tab
- Fix notifications not linking
- Dedicated local news section
- Add play option to radar
- Revert to prior version (simple text links)
- Fix news links
- Add Mr Food recipes
- Fix app not opening on iPhone XR
- Fix app loading and article display
- Stop constant ads
- Fix app crashing
- Stop too many alerts
- Fix grammatical errors and misspellings
- Include location on news articles
- Update weather section daily
- Fix forecast days
- Fix notification links to stories
- Stop win money notifications
- Stop asking to install new app
- Revert to old version for local news at a glance
- Create a local tab for local news
In-app purchases
The Daily Sun
No in-app purchases
Gulf Coast News
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Daily Sun free?
Is Gulf Coast News free?
Which has better reviews, The Daily Sun or Gulf Coast News?
Do The Daily Sun or Gulf Coast News have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Daily Sun or Gulf Coast News?
Other comparisons
