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

Alaska Hawaiian vs Hawaii News Now

Alaska Hawaiian 4.8★ · Free to download 75
Winner Alaska Hawaiian
Hawaii News Now 4.3★ · Free to download 30

Alaska Hawaiian (App A) is the better choice for airline travel, despite recent login issues, while Hawaii News Now (App B) struggles significantly with app functionality and an overwhelming number of ads.

Full reviews: Alaska Hawaiian · Hawaii News Now

Alaska Hawaiian, an airline app, generally provides a good user experience for booking and managing flights, though recent updates have introduced frustrating login and stability issues. Hawaii News Now, a local news app, is plagued by frequent crashes, unplayable live streams, and an excessive number of intrusive ads, making it difficult to consume content.

Head to head

Features edge: Alaska HawaiianR11R12R23R40
Alaska Hawaiian Alaska Hawaiian offers core airline functionalities like booking flights, checking in, pre-ordering meals, and managing accounts R11R23. Users appreciate the ability to review and change seats daily R23. However, some find it less informative than competitor apps, requiring users to go to external sites for documentation R12. There are also complaints about upgrade certificates not always being useful R40.
Hawaii News Now Hawaii News Now provides local news, weather, and live streams . Users value emergency notifications and timely traffic updates . However, many features are broken or poorly implemented, such as articles not opening from notifications, live feeds not loading or crashing, and the inability to share articles R61R69. The app also lacks a 'Previous Newscast' feature that was available in an older version .
Ease of Use edge: Alaska HawaiianR1R3R4R7
Alaska Hawaiian Alaska Hawaiian is generally described as quick and easy to use for looking up flights, booking, and checking in R11. However, recent updates, particularly after the merger with Hawaiian, have made the app less user-friendly, with users reporting it's 'busier and harder to use' and 'slow and buggy' R3. The most significant issue is the inability to log in, with blank screens and freezing occurring frequently R1R4R7R10.
Hawaii News Now Hawaii News Now suffers from significant usability issues. Users find the layout not good, headlines too small or incomplete, and navigation difficult due to excessive ads and links R61. The app is described as 'very touchy' when watching live content, leading to accidental exits R63. Many users complain about the new update being 'junk' and making the app harder to read and follow R61.
Reliability edge: Alaska HawaiianR1R3R4R6
Alaska Hawaiian Alaska Hawaiian has a mixed record on reliability. Many users praise the airline itself for having 'zero issues' with service or flights . However, the app frequently crashes, freezes, and logs users out, especially after recent updates R1R3R6R10. The login function is a major point of failure, often leading to blank screens or timeouts R1R4R7R16.
Hawaii News Now Hawaii News Now is highly unreliable. Users report that the app 'does not always work,' live feeds 'never work' or 'keep crashing,' and articles frequently fail to open R69. Notifications often don't link to the full story . There are also complaints about constant blackouts and general glitchiness .
Price/Value edge: Alaska HawaiianR10R16R28R50
Alaska Hawaiian Both apps are free to download. Alaska Hawaiian's value comes from facilitating airline travel. Users appreciate features like free WiFi R50. The app's issues, particularly login problems, diminish its value as it prevents access to essential travel functions R10R16R28.
Hawaii News Now Hawaii News Now is free to download, but its value is severely undermined by an overwhelming number of ads. Users report 'way too many google ads,' 'mandatory ads that pop up first,' and ads playing automatically and frequently R63R65. These ads make the app frustrating to use and detract significantly from the news content .
Support edge: Alaska HawaiianR5R35R46R48
Alaska Hawaiian Alaska Hawaiian receives high praise for its customer service. Users report positive experiences with agents who helped with cancellations, rebooking, and general questions, often via text R5R35R46R48. This strong customer support helps mitigate some of the app's technical issues.
Hawaii News Now There are no direct reviews of Hawaii News Now's customer support. The app's numerous technical issues and user complaints about lack of fixes suggest that support, if available, is not effectively addressing user problems R69.
Pick Alaska Hawaiian if

You frequently fly with Alaska Airlines and need an app for booking, check-ins, and managing your flights, and are willing to tolerate occasional login glitches and app freezes R11R23. You value strong customer service that can assist with issues outside the app R5R35R46.

Pick Hawaii News Now if

You are desperate for local Hawaii news and are willing to endure a highly unreliable app experience, frequent crashes, unplayable live streams, and an overwhelming number of intrusive ads R63R65R69.

Evidence note: The lifetime ratings for Alaska Hawaiian are significantly higher than Hawaii News Now, but recent reviews for Alaska Hawaiian show a clear negative trend related to login and stability issues following an update and merger R1R3R4R7. Hawaii News Now's reviews are consistently negative regarding functionality and ads, indicating a long-standing problem R61R63R65R69.

Frequently asked

What are the main problems with the Alaska Hawaiian app?
The main problems with the Alaska Hawaiian app are frequent login failures, blank screens after attempting to sign in, freezing, and general instability, particularly since a recent update and merger R1R4R7R10.
Why do users dislike the Hawaii News Now app?
Users dislike the Hawaii News Now app primarily due to an excessive number of intrusive ads, frequent crashes, live streams that don't work, articles that fail to open, and a confusing, poorly designed interface R61R63R65R69.
Does the Alaska Hawaiian app offer good customer support?
Yes, the Alaska Hawaiian app is backed by highly praised customer service, with users reporting positive experiences with helpful, kind, and patient agents who assist with cancellations, rebooking, and answering questions, often through text R5R35R46R48.

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. [R11] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Quick and Easy to use.: The app makes it quick and easy to look up flights, book, check-in, pre-order in flight meals all on the go. If you fly Alaska Air Group, highly recommend using the app.
  2. [R12] Alaska Hawaiian 3/5 · US Limited: The app will not give any important information about the flight until check-in time. Delta app is much more informative and you can fill in all the documentation on the thier app. Where as the Hawaiian app makes you go to a whole other site for your documentation submission.
  3. [R23] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US First time flyer: This app has been so easy and convenient. I loved being able to review and have the option to changes seats daily. I’m excited for my first flight with Alaskan and my first solo flight ever!
  4. [R40] Alaska Hawaiian 4/5 · US Upgrade certificates not always useful to have: Tried to use two on a round trip. Neither flight was eligible… disappointing
  5. [R1] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US New Update: The new update makes the app completely unusable. I am unable to log into my account. There is a requirement to open a separate screen to log in that fails to load. There is no way to stay logged in on my device. I have restarted the app and my phone with no improvement.
  6. [R3] Alaska Hawaiian 3/5 · US Better Before: Before the combination with Hawaii, the app used to work better. I continuously get signed out and then the app just freezes. I have to uninstall and reinstall to get it to log back in… I am not sure what the connection is or if it’s just coincidental, but I did not have to do this before.
  7. [R4] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US Fix the sign in: Signing in is impossible
  8. [R7] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US Unable to Log in: Unable to log in and even use the app. A blank screen shows after signing in.
  9. [R6] Alaska Hawaiian 3/5 · US Sign-in experience is awful: I like that the app is getting more robust but it takes too long to sign in.
  10. [R10] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US Can’t login: App keeps locking up on the login screen. I e tried deleting and reinstalling but still doesn’t work. Pretty useless if I cant login.
  11. [R16] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US Login in page always fails: Every login takes you to a blank white screen that creates the same dead end every time. Opening Alaska on a mobile browser automatically kicks you over to this crummy app which DOESN’T LET YOU LOGIN. All I want is my boarding pass, this shouldn’t be this painful to get a basic necessity for travel.
  12. [R28] Alaska Hawaiian 1/5 · US Can’t log in: This app no longer works. I can login on the website but not the app. I’ve tried everything suggested online. Nothing works. It used to work great, but that changed when they combined the Alaska and Hawaii apps. The app is pretty essential when traveling without a laptop, which is most of the time for me. Fix it, Alaska.
  13. [R50] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Free WiFi: Nice to be able to use your device with free WiFi! Thank you Starlink, T-Mobile and Alaska airlines
  14. [R5] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Customer service: Customer service helped us a ton when we had some health issues, walked us through how to cancel, use the wallet, and rebook. Very grateful and thankful.
  15. [R35] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Excellent service: So far my experience with Alaska Airlines has been excellent. Anytime I need a question answered all I had to do with text them and it was answer in minutes.
  16. [R46] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Fantastic service!: Jennalynn from customer service thru the phone is a very kind, patient and helpful agent! I love Alaska Hawaiian Airlines! Will always be a loyal customer!
  17. [R48] Alaska Hawaiian 5/5 · US Love Alaska: Always taken care of. Love the text option
  18. [R61] Hawaii News Now 2/5 · US App got worse: The new updated app is junk.. Layout not good.. Cannot share the article no more.. Bring back the old style app
  19. [R63] Hawaii News Now 3/5 · US Very touchy app for live news: The app is very touchy on iPhone and iPad when watching live. One wrong move or touch on my device and I lose the live and have to go back. The mandatory ads that pop up first mean I miss a chunk of news. Today the audio is about 30 seconds ahead of the video. Never would I rely on their weather app since they can’t even get the news app sorted out.
  20. [R65] Hawaii News Now 4/5 · US Way too many google ads that difficult to get out of. Way too many!: Same as the title
  21. [R69] Hawaii News Now 3/5 · US Glitchy: App does not always work. Live feed does not load. I have been going to other news stations to get local news in the morning.

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