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

The Wall Street Journal. News vs Bloomberg

The Wall Street Journal. News 4.7★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner The Wall Street Journal. News
Bloomberg 4.6★ · Free to download 60

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) app offers superior content quality and a more reliable user experience compared to Bloomberg, despite both facing recent technical issues.

Full reviews: The Wall Street Journal. News · Bloomberg

Both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are highly regarded for their financial journalism, but recent app updates have introduced significant bugs for both. WSJ generally maintains better app functionality and content presentation, while Bloomberg struggles with core features like article access and video playback.

Head to head

Content Quality & Depth tieR12R17R20R30
The Wall Street Journal. News Users consistently praise WSJ for its strong, detailed, and comprehensive reporting, often highlighting its commitment to factual reporting over partisanship R17R20. Some users, however, note a decline in quality or increasing political bias R12R30.
Bloomberg Bloomberg is lauded for its unbiased, serious, and detailed business and world news, with users relying on it for comprehensive market commentary and insights . However, some users express concerns about increasing political bias and a shift from written articles to more video content .
App Reliability & Performance edge: The Wall Street Journal. NewsR3R4R7R9
The Wall Street Journal. News The WSJ app is plagued by numerous bugs, including freezing during scrolling R7, issues with offline reading R9R52, login problems , and specific features like gift links R3 and crosswords R4 being broken after updates. Users also report battery drain and overheating R18R33.
Bloomberg Bloomberg's app suffers from critical functionality issues, with many users reporting that articles do not open R67. Other common complaints include videos not playing , audio streaming problems , frequent logouts , and a slow, clunky interface .
User Interface & Experience edge: The Wall Street Journal. NewsR6R11R15R18
The Wall Street Journal. News WSJ users report mixed experiences, with some appreciating recent updates for improved readability and clean fonts , while others criticize clutter , the removal of preferred layouts like the 'Print Edition' , and issues with navigation like watchlist sorting and embedded videos . The lack of comments or comment viewing is a recurring complaint R6R11R15R18.
Bloomberg Bloomberg's UI is criticized for being broken, with issues like the back button returning to the top of the page , the back button overlapping with iOS controls , and the inability to pop out TV . The search function is described as abysmal and unpredictable . Some users also dislike the app automatically turning off music .
Features & Functionality edge: The Wall Street Journal. NewsR2R14R27R29
The Wall Street Journal. News WSJ users desire features like adjustable audio playback speed R14, better notification control R27, and the return of widgets . There are also complaints about the removal of the 'Sustainable Business' section R2 and the presence of AI summaries that some users don't want R29.
Bloomberg Bloomberg users are frustrated by the disappearance of watchlists and the inability to access articles from email links directly in the app . The search functionality is poor , and there are requests for a Chinese version of the app .
Price & Value tieR28R33R34R35
The Wall Street Journal. News WSJ is a free app with In-App Purchases (IAP), but many users complain about paywalls appearing even with an active subscription R28R35R46. Paying subscribers are also frustrated by ads within the app R33R34R36.
Bloomberg Bloomberg is a paid subscription service, but many paying users are upset by the presence of ads R69 and the app's broken functionality, making them feel they are paying for a broken product R67. Some users also report issues with subscriptions not linking between devices or accounts .
Pick The Wall Street Journal. News if

Pick The Wall Street Journal if you prioritize high-quality, in-depth journalism with a generally more stable, albeit still buggy, app experience, and if you are willing to tolerate occasional feature issues like broken crosswords or missing comments R17R20R4R6.

Pick Bloomberg if

Pick Bloomberg if you need comprehensive, detailed financial and market news, and are willing to contend with significant app functionality issues, including articles not opening and video playback problems R67.

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of recent negative reviews focusing on app functionality and bugs, despite their high lifetime ratings. Bloomberg's issues appear more critical, often preventing access to paid content. The free-vs-paid asymmetry is relevant for WSJ, where some negative reviews stem from free-tier friction R35, but many paid users also report issues R28R36. For Bloomberg, nearly all negative reviews are from paying subscribers frustrated by a broken app R67.

Frequently asked

Do I need a subscription to read articles on The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg apps?
Yes, both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg apps require a subscription to access most articles, with many users of both apps reporting paywalls even with active subscriptions or issues accessing content they've paid for R28R35R46R67.
Are there ads in the paid versions of these apps?
Yes, both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg apps display ads even for paying subscribers, which is a common point of frustration among users R33R34R36R69.
Do these apps support offline reading?
The Wall Street Journal app claims to support offline reading, but users report it is buggy and often fails to load articles without an internet connection, sometimes reverting to older content R9R52. Bloomberg reviews do not specifically mention offline reading functionality.
Can I comment on articles in these apps?
The Wall Street Journal app generally does not allow users to leave or even view comments on articles, forcing users to the website for this feature, although one review suggests a fix for viewing comments was implemented R5R6R11R15. Bloomberg reviews do not mention commenting features.

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. [R12] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Okay App, Poor Reporting: Sometimes is a challenge to distinguish between newsroom reporting and opinion columns. Also I frequently found opinion columns more helpful with presenting facts.
  2. [R17] The Wall Street Journal. News 5/5 · US A rare find these days.: Really strong reporting. In a time where media is consistently biased - WSJ is committed to reporting truth over partisanship. One of the few outlets that seems to have found a way report the news, verify sources, and callout both left and right extremism. Opinion pieces are present, but clearly called out as such. We need more of this and less brands that push for engage
  3. [R20] The Wall Street Journal. News 4/5 · US Amazing Journalism: I have been subscribed to WSJ for years and I am a huge supporter of their work. Detailed, clear and comprehensive journalism and this app does a great job presenting it. The only thing that is preventing me from giving 5 stars is that I wish the articles were available for me to read in Spanish. Why are English and Japanese the only languages? Please make Spanish available, I
  4. [R30] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Over Priced/Dwindling Quality: As a long term subscriber, I grow increasingly disappointed. The overall quality of journalism is flagging under the weight of obvious political bias. The headlines read just like the click bait on most social media platforms. Jason Gay (sports writer) has my subscription hanging on by a thin thread!
  5. [R3] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Gift Links Don’t work.: Please fix app so I can send gift links This used to work. Now link says it copies but recipients can’t open. Sends them to subscriber/log in page.
  6. [R4] The Wall Street Journal. News 2/5 · US Crossword fan: You broke the crossword with the recent update. The keyboard is not ergonomic on iPad, clues bizarrely jump around when inputting letters and the clue being answered no longer appears as a separate line. Please fix or revert to the previous iteration.
  7. [R7] The Wall Street Journal. News 2/5 · US SLOW: This app just keeps hanging up. I don’t know if they’re doing it intentionally to force you to look at ads, but I can’t get through a single article without it hanging up. Updates seem to make no difference, and I’m on fiber, so not a bandwidth issue.
  8. [R9] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US So-called issue download doesn’t work: I tried to download the most recent issue before getting on a plane (which had no WiFi), but the so-called download let me read only about half the articles. Half the articles only showed an error message that I needed to have internet access. A far superior download capability was eliminated when the WSJ app was overhauled a couple of years ago. Pleas
  9. [R6] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US no comments: I don’t get why this app doesn’t let you leave comments, only on the website. It’s 2024, how hard can it be to add such a basic feature to the app?
  10. [R11] The Wall Street Journal. News 4/5 · US Comments?: It’s a great read, these days, but I have to use the mobile site rather than the app because the app, inexplicably in 2026, doesn’t show reader comments.
  11. [R15] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Can’t comment: Can’t comment or view comments on iPhone
  12. [R18] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Issues with app: Newspaper is great, but the app is a battery killer and overheats the phone. Also, reader comments cannot be read, not can you contribute
  13. [R2] The Wall Street Journal. News 4/5 · US Sustainable business went dark: Always have appreciated the quality of reporting especially with the Sustainable Business section. Too bad they took it out.
  14. [R14] The Wall Street Journal. News 4/5 · US Please Add Playback Speed Option To Audio: Love the app, love your reporting. Love listening to articles. Please add an option to adjust audio playback speed and make it so my selection is saved so I don’t have to set it for each article. Keep up the great work
  15. [R27] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US “Breaking News” notification spam: WSJ continues to abuse the breaking news push notification setting by spamming your notifications with fluff pieces that are in no way breaking news. Without useful notifications, the app is useless. Back to the mobile website again.
  16. [R29] The Wall Street Journal. News 5/5 · US Nobody asked for this: Please give an option to eliminate the AI summaries. Would rather read reporting from real people
  17. [R28] The Wall Street Journal. News 1/5 · US WSJ App now just a con game: News content is no longer accessible via the iPhone app. Regardless of an active subscription, every attempt to read beyond the headlines will be met with a screen demanding the purchase of an additional $39 monthly subscription. There are ample legitimate news options available via iTunes apps. If you truly need to read WSJ, try a print subscription.
  18. [R33] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Buggy, Ad-filled mess: The user experience and navigation have gone backwards over the past year. The issue is that there are now so many interspersed and slow loading ad blocks in each digital article that the app freezes, and causes my iPhone to overheat. True even on my 1 Gig wifi link. We get it - news is a business that requires ad revenue, but not at the expense of degrading the product.
  19. [R34] The Wall Street Journal. News 1/5 · US Poly market ads: Get rid of them. I pay for a subscription, I don’t need to see gambling ads here as well
  20. [R35] The Wall Street Journal. News 5/5 · US Trash: If you want to read more on an. Article you need to pay up homie lol
  21. [R46] The Wall Street Journal. News 1/5 · US Bait and switch: Beware. If you click on article and can’t access and subscribe, it may charge you for a service that does not include the article or only gives a Barron’s online subscription. Do not buy anything through this app. Customer service does not care and will ignore the issue.
  22. [R67] 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.
  23. [R36] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Love the WSJ, don’t love Ads.: I am disappointed that the app has ads, even when offline. I am a paying member of the Wall Street journal, and I don’t find it respectable that you guys choose to have banner ads in app.
  24. [R69] 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.
  25. [R52] The Wall Street Journal. News 1/5 · US APP needs serious work: Content top notch, but the app is serious bad. 1. When I open an article, even if the content has been downloaded before, without internet connection it still refuses to load. This is terrible - internet connectivity should not affect article viewing for the articles that were already downloaded. 2. Offline mode is buggy. Today is May 10, 2026. When I am on a subway, th
  26. [R5] The Wall Street Journal. News 5/5 · US They solved the comments issue: They finally solved seeing comments in the app. Thank goodness.

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