Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Bloomberg vs CNN

Bloomberg 4.6★ · Free to download 70
Winner Bloomberg
CNN 4.8★ · Free + IAP 55

Bloomberg is better for in-depth financial news and analysis, despite its recent app bugs, while CNN offers broader general news but suffers from significant paywall restrictions and persistent widget issues.

Full reviews: Bloomberg · CNN

Bloomberg offers comprehensive, detailed financial and business news, highly valued by subscribers for its quality content, though recent updates have introduced significant bugs. CNN provides general news coverage but is heavily criticized for its aggressive paywall, broken widgets, and poor streaming experience for both free and paid users.

Head to head

Content Quality & Depth edge: BloombergR2R5R8R14
Bloomberg Bloomberg is praised for its unbiased, serious, and to-the-point reporting, offering comprehensive, detailed articles across a wide array of topics, especially in finance and markets R2R5R8R14. Users appreciate the depth and insights, often finding it superior to competitors R8.
CNN CNN is valued for timely news coverage and keeping users informed about world events . However, some users express frustration with the increasing amount of video content over readable articles and perceive political bias .
Ease of Use & Reliability (App Functionality) tieR1R3R7R10
Bloomberg Bloomberg is currently plagued by significant bugs, with many users reporting that articles don't open, videos don't play, watchlists disappear, and the app frequently crashes or freezes R1R3R7R10. Login issues and poor audio streaming are also common complaints .
CNN CNN users frequently report broken or blank widgets on iOS R61R63R68. The app also suffers from freezing during scrolling , login issues requiring daily re-verification R66R69, and poor streaming experiences where audio pauses or videos don't resume .
Price & Value edge: BloombergR5R9R22R24
Bloomberg Bloomberg is a paid subscription app, and while some users find the content worth the money R5, many paying subscribers are frustrated by ads appearing within articles R9R22R24 and the app's broken functionality despite the high cost R7R10.
CNN CNN is free to download but heavily criticized for its aggressive paywall, limiting free articles and blocking access to breaking news notifications for non-subscribers . Paid subscribers also report issues with accessing content across devices and not receiving expected live TV feeds R69R70R79R84.
Customer Support tieR25R65R69R70
Bloomberg Bloomberg users report difficulties with customer support, specifically regarding email spam and cancellation processes R25.
CNN CNN has received some positive feedback for quick responses to account issues R65, but other users report being locked out of accounts across devices R69R70.
Pick Bloomberg if

You are a financial professional or serious investor seeking in-depth, unbiased business and market analysis, and are willing to tolerate recent app bugs in exchange for high-quality content R2R5R8R14.

Pick CNN if

You primarily seek general news updates and are willing to navigate paywalls and app functionality issues for CNN's specific reporting style, or if you are already a TV subscriber and hope for better integration R65.

Evidence note: Bloomberg's reviews are more recent and heavily skewed negative due to significant app functionality issues, while CNN's reviews are also recent and highlight persistent problems, especially with widgets and paywalls. Both apps have high lifetime ratings, but current user experience for both is poor.

Frequently asked

Are Bloomberg articles free to read?
No, Bloomberg primarily operates on a paid subscription model, and while it is free to download, many users report paying a subscription to access articles and still encountering ads or paywalls R7R9R22R24.
Why is the CNN app not working for me?
Many CNN users report issues with the app, including widgets not displaying content, the app freezing during scrolling, and frequent login problems requiring daily re-verification, even for paid subscribers R61R63R66R68.
Does Bloomberg have a lot of ads?
Yes, many paying Bloomberg subscribers are frustrated by the presence of ads and commercials inserted between paragraphs of articles and disrupting audio/video streams, despite having paid for the service R9R22R24.
Can I watch live CNN TV on the app?
Some CNN subscribers expect to watch live TV through the app but report that it often provides only recaps and headlines or different programming than network TV, rather than the actual live feeds R79R84R87R95.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Bloomberg 5/5 · US True and Accurate: I’m reliant on Bloomberg as one of two primary sources for business and world news. I can’t remember an occasion when I found something that was exaggerated or misleading. Even the spelling is almost always without flaw.
  2. [R5] Bloomberg 5/5 · US Overall great quality app and news - unbiased, serious and to the point: Great app with a lot of details across so many topic. Worth the money paid for the subscription. The best news team for any topic. I liked to read the app, the news articles and listen to them on radio. Their news sticks to the serious middle of the ground view regardless of topic. The opinions are where you expectedly see s
  3. [R8] Bloomberg 5/5 · US Better than CNBC: I had a sub to CNBC the past 5 years but often found their articles were short and lacked detail. Bloomberg content is more comprehensive, detailed, and a wider array of topics are covered . Goodbye CNBC, hello Bloomberg. Bill in San Diego.
  4. [R14] Bloomberg 5/5 · US Best market news: I couldn’t imagine not waking up and reading Bloomberg market commentary followed by watching Bloomberg Markets. Bloomberg provides financial advisors with a comprehensive data stream as well as commentary from some of the most prominent and successful money managers.
  5. [R1] Bloomberg 1/5 · US Huge Fail: You have totally screwed up the best financial app ever. The new version has erased my watchlists!!!
  6. [R3] Bloomberg 3/5 · US Videos don’t play: You tap a video and it pops up a page with a still frame at the top, a description, and up next below that. No video ever plays
  7. [R7] Bloomberg 1/5 · US Paying for a broken app: Pay an exorbitant subscription for the right to view the headline but not the article. They broke the app and now none of the articles open when you click them.
  8. [R10] Bloomberg 1/5 · US The fact that the app’s most basic function, opening articles, is broken tells you everything.: The fact that this is supposed to be the mecca of financial journalism, covering trillions of dollars across the global economy, is laughable at this point. With the sheer number of bugs, the app feels more like BuzzFeed than a serious financial news platform. There’s embarrassing, and then there’s this.
  9. [R9] Bloomberg 3/5 · US Ads: Bloomberg's articles are consistently excellent. However, I am a paying subscriber, and still see ads inserted in between paragraphs of the articles. Even if the ads aren't too intrusive, I believe seeing ads at all with a paid subscription is unacceptable.
  10. [R22] Bloomberg 1/5 · US Pay to get ad spam!: I paid a lot of money to get this because I thought it would be more value able than the drama daily stock news, however, this paid app is just full of commercials and ads and it’s bearable to watch.
  11. [R24] Bloomberg 3/5 · US Commercials disrupt board casting: Commercials frequently disrupt the board-casting and app frozen. I am a paid-user and should not experience this
  12. [R25] Bloomberg 1/5 · US Great articles bad experience: I cancelled because they spammed me with email i didnt want or ask for daily and no matter how much i tried to unsubscribe it wouldnt stop. Also the cancellation and live chat support seemed deliberately difficult. I dont even want to unsubscribe I just hate the feeling of being abused as a customer more.
  13. [R65] CNN 5/5 · US Great response: I had given the 3 stars this morning when all of the sudden I was getting a message telling me to Subscribe when my subscription was good until next May. I could not get it to work on either iPad or iPhone. The AI system provided a way to email for help. They responded quickly and were able to unlock my account. Thank you for all your help.
  14. [R69] CNN 3/5 · US Can’t use on either iPhone or iPad: I paid for the basic service until 5/2027. Today I was unable to read subscriber stories on iPad. It told me I needed to subscribe. Did not recognize my email or password. Locked out on iPhone now because it does not recognize either.
  15. [R70] CNN 1/5 · US Unable to access multiple devices: So it appears that when I log into the CNN app on my iPad with the exact sign in credentials that I have for my iPhone, it does not recognize it. I have been unable to login to the CNN all access through my iPad for a month now since starting the service. I went ahead and made a cancellation on that subscription today. I want to be able to access the CNN all acce
  16. [R61] CNN 1/5 · US Widget totally broken: The widget doesn’t work at all on iOS 26.
  17. [R63] CNN 3/5 · US Good App - Widgets Don’t Work: With the latest app update, I’ve noticed that any widgets I add from this app just show up as blank boxes. They never load any content. Hoping that CNN will fix this bug soon.
  18. [R66] CNN 3/5 · US Daily Validation??: Used to, I could sign in with my TV provider and it would keep working. Now, it makes me verify my TV subscriber every day and it will not let me do that until the 60 second free preview timer runs out. This needs to be fixed.
  19. [R68] CNN 5/5 · US Widget stopped working: I used the widget to check the breaking news and daily headlines and now I have to open the app. The widget is just a blank display now
  20. [R79] CNN 1/5 · US Utterly Horrible: Doesn’t offer the actual news shows one finds on the CNN channel itself. Plays the same commercials 2, 3 or four times in a row, DURING THE VERY SAME COMMERCIAL BREAK!!! Then, continues to rotate commercials for HBO or CNN original programs six or seven times an hour. It’s as if they’re trying to sabotage HBO, because nothing makes me want to watch a show LESS than being force
  21. [R84] CNN 3/5 · US Not live streaming: I subscribed expecting to see the same coverage as network TV but this is just a bunch of recaps and headlines that I can watch on YouTube. What a waste of money!!
  22. [R87] CNN 3/5 · US Subscription video: They don’t offer the actual CNN feeds. Seems like a complete ripoff
  23. [R95] CNN 4/5 · GB Confused: I subscribe to CNN. I thought that I’d be able to watch live TV via the app. I can on the website. Am I doing something wrong?!

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store