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

13 ON YOUR SIDE News vs Apple News

13 ON YOUR SIDE News 4.7★ · Free to download 45
Winner Apple News
Apple News 4.6★ · Free to download 65

Apple News is the better choice for a broader range of news content and a more polished experience, despite its paywall frustrations, while 13 ON YOUR SIDE News struggles with technical issues and excessive ads.

Full reviews: 13 ON YOUR SIDE News · Apple News

Apple News offers a wide array of news sources and a generally clean interface, though many users are frustrated by its pervasive paywall and issues with content curation. 13 ON YOUR SIDE News, a local news app, is praised for its local coverage but is heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of ads, frequent app crashes, and poor user interface design.

Head to head

Features and Content edge: Apple NewsR3R9R11R20
13 ON YOUR SIDE News Users appreciate 13 ON YOUR SIDE News for its local news coverage, weather forecasts, and alerts R11R20. However, some find the news updates infrequent R9 and the content biased or sensationalized R3. Specific features like high school sports are noted as missing , and the weather section is sometimes criticized for inaccuracy or lack of detail .
Apple News Apple News offers a wide variety of news sources, including national and world events, and users appreciate its ability to keep them informed . It also includes puzzles, which some users enjoy . However, a significant portion of content is behind a paywall . Users also report issues with content curation, including 'reruns' of old articles , unwanted political content , and inappropriate or 'freaky' articles .
Ease of Use and UI edge: Apple NewsR1R2R4R24
13 ON YOUR SIDE News Many users find the 13 ON YOUR SIDE News app's user interface to be poor, confusing, and not user-friendly, especially after updates R1R4R24. Issues include difficulty finding articles, problems with screen rotation R2, and articles not displaying fully due to ads R1. Scrolling can be choppy, and the app is often slow to load .
Apple News Apple News generally has a cleaner and aesthetically pleasing interface . However, recent UI updates, particularly for puzzles, have been criticized as terrible, clunky, and difficult to navigate . Users also report issues with text jumping around while reading, often attributed to ads loading . The app's organization is sometimes called poor and difficult to navigate .
Reliability and Performance edge: Apple NewsR10R22R25R37
13 ON YOUR SIDE News 13 ON YOUR SIDE News suffers from significant reliability issues. Users frequently report the app crashing , freezing , not opening at all R10R22R25R37, and being slow to load . Some users even report having to reinstall the app multiple times a week .
Apple News Apple News generally performs well, but users have reported some bugs. The most common issue is articles jumping around while reading, often due to ads loading . There are also reports of puzzles loading incorrectly and the app not syncing between devices . Some users mention grammatical errors in articles, possibly due to AI content .
Ads and Monetization edge: 13 ON YOUR SIDE NewsR1R3R12R15
13 ON YOUR SIDE News A major complaint for 13 ON YOUR SIDE News is the overwhelming number of ads. Users describe constant pop-up ads R3R18, full-screen ads that block content R1, and ads that make the page jump around . These ads significantly disrupt the reading experience and make the app difficult to navigate R12R15.
Apple News Apple News, despite being free to download, heavily pushes its paid News+ subscription. Many articles are behind a paywall , leading to frustration for non-subscribers. Users also complain about ads, with some noting that even paid subscribers see ads and that ads cause text to jump . The app is criticized for 'scammy ads' and for making the non-paying experience miserable .
Support and Updates tieR2R4R9R24
13 ON YOUR SIDE News Users of 13 ON YOUR SIDE News report that updates sometimes worsen the app's usability R4R24 and introduce new bugs like screen rotation issues R2. Some users have contacted the developers about problems but report that nothing was done . There are also complaints about a lack of daily updates for news content R9.
Apple News Apple News receives frequent updates, but these are not always well-received, particularly recent changes to the puzzle interface . Users also report that blocking channels or suggesting less of certain topics does not effectively curate their feed . There are requests for features like article translation and better content filtering.
Pick 13 ON YOUR SIDE News if

You prioritize highly localized news for West Michigan and appreciate a 'family-like' feel from your news source, and are willing to tolerate frequent ads and occasional technical glitches R15.

Pick Apple News if

You want a broad range of news sources and topics, a generally clean interface, and are either willing to pay for a subscription to access most content or are content with the free, albeit limited, offerings .

Evidence note: Reviews for 13 ON YOUR SIDE News are heavily skewed towards negative feedback regarding ads and technical issues, despite its higher lifetime rating. This could be due to recent app changes or a smaller, more vocal user base experiencing problems. Apple News has a much larger volume of reviews, with a significant portion focusing on the paywall and content curation issues, which is common for free-to-download apps with premium tiers.

Frequently asked

How do the apps handle ads?
13 ON YOUR SIDE News is heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of pop-up, full-screen, and disruptive ads that make reading difficult and cause pages to jump R1R3R12R15. Apple News also has ads, which can cause text to jump while reading , and some users report 'scammy ads' , with ads even appearing in the paid News+ subscription .
Is there a paywall for content?
13 ON YOUR SIDE News is free to download and does not have a paywall for its content, though it relies heavily on ads for monetization R1R3R15R18. Apple News is also free to download, but a significant amount of its content is locked behind a paywall requiring a subscription to Apple News+ .
Do these apps have technical issues?
Yes, both apps have technical issues, but 13 ON YOUR SIDE News reports more severe and frequent problems including crashing, freezing, not opening, slow loading, and screen rotation issues R2R10R22R25. Apple News users primarily report issues with text jumping due to ads , puzzles loading incorrectly , and a lack of syncing between devices .

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. [R3] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Website/app: I don’t want a pile of ads popping up when I’m trying to read an article. I can’t stand that you guys don’t edit your headlines before you post them because there’s always misspellings in them And quit sensationalizing all the news you start to sound like entertainment tonight
  2. [R9] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Updates?: Why are there not daily updates? Seem to be on about 2-3 day basis?
  3. [R11] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 5/5 · US Love it!: A great app for getting local and national news.
  4. [R20] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 5/5 · US Snow: If snow is in the forecast today You can also count on 13 to give you the best forecast possible
  5. [R1] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US Ui issues: Would be nice to see the entire list of articles without having to tap hold and slide screen up because advertising is keeping the full screen from being displayed
  6. [R2] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 4/5 · US Screen won’t rotate: Why won’t my screen rotate anymore? This is beyond frustrating! Please fix this.
  7. [R4] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US Downgrade: The “new and improved” app is not user friendly. It is hard to find things. The weather is a mess. The radar does the same loop over and over instead if a true 12 hour loop.
  8. [R24] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Too confusing: I liked the old app better. This one is too confusing and hard to find what you are actually looking for. I tend to get frustrated and give up.
  9. [R10] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US Does not open: I had this app and all of a sudden it quit working. I deleted it and reloaded it. It will not open !!!
  10. [R22] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US Doesn’t Work: Ever sense the last update I couldn’t open the app.. I would use it two or three times a day. But I don’t even try anymore.
  11. [R25] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US Loading: Within a few seconds of trying to load the app shuts down. Always was a poor app
  12. [R37] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 1/5 · US The worst app I have!: I have had this app for some time now, always updated and it is garbage! It never loads when I go directly to the app or when I click on a story from my notifications. NEGATIVE 6 Stars!
  13. [R12] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Mobile app: Mobile app keeps bouncing back to advertisements. Very aggravating!
  14. [R15] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Great reporting, too many ads: 13 OYS is the best local news source for West Michigan, but the app has too many ads that make the app difficult to navigate.
  15. [R18] 13 ON YOUR SIDE News 3/5 · US Too many ads: News content is okay. Too many ad pop ups though. They are annoying.

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