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

SmartNews vs Ella Verbs

SmartNews 4.6★ · Free to download 40
Winner Ella Verbs
Ella Verbs 4.9★ · Free + IAP 95

Ella Verbs is the clear winner for its highly focused, effective approach to Spanish verb conjugation, while SmartNews struggles with user experience, bias, and excessive ads.

Full reviews: SmartNews · Ella Verbs

SmartNews, a free news aggregator, faces significant criticism for its user interface, overwhelming ads, and perceived political bias. Ella Verbs, a free-to-download app with in-app purchases, is highly praised by users for its effective and customizable approach to mastering Spanish verb conjugations.

Head to head

Features and Content edge: Ella VerbsR2R5R10R15
SmartNews SmartNews offers a variety of articles and news stories, with users appreciating the breadth of content and its up-to-date nature R2R5. However, many users report issues with content quality, including sensationalized headlines, misleading titles, and articles that don't match their headlines R10R15. Some also note a lack of video content or features to customize video feeds R10.
Ella Verbs Ella Verbs provides extensive tools for mastering Spanish verb conjugations, including customizable quizzes, flashcards, and a comprehensive verb dictionary R74. Users particularly value the ability to focus on specific tenses, create custom quizzes, and track progress R74. The app also offers spoken feedback and sentence context for quizzes .
Ease of Use and User Experience edge: Ella VerbsR1R8R11R18
SmartNews SmartNews receives mixed reviews on ease of use. Some users find the layout easy to navigate and appreciate the presentation of content R8R11. However, a significant number of complaints point to frustrating scrolling issues, where the app switches to headlines mid-article R1, articles not opening or dropping mid-reading R40, and notifications leading to the homepage instead of the article R18. The app also has annoying gamification pop-ups and reward notifications R21.
Ella Verbs Ella Verbs is consistently praised for being well-organized, easy to use, and intuitive . Users highlight the clear layout and the smooth functioning of the app . The ability to customize quizzes and practice in various ways (typing, speaking) contributes to a positive and effective learning experience .
Reliability and Performance edge: Ella VerbsR24R36R40R60
SmartNews SmartNews users report several performance issues, including the app causing phones to overheat R24R60 and articles failing to load or dropping mid-read R40. Some also mention bad links, particularly to TikTok, that lead to different stories R36.
Ella Verbs Ella Verbs is described as functioning well and smoothly . Users appreciate that it works offline . While one review mentioned 'obvious mistakes in Spanish' in an early quiz , the overwhelming sentiment is that the app is accurate and reliable for learning.
Price/Value edge: Ella VerbsR9R10R19R21
SmartNews SmartNews is free, but this comes with a significant trade-off: an overwhelming number of ads, including full-page pop-ups and video ads, which many users find irritating and disruptive to reading R9R10R19R21.
Ella Verbs Ella Verbs offers a free tier and a 5-day free trial without requiring payment info . Many users find the paid version, often a lifetime purchase, to be 'truly worth it' and 'very reasonable' for the value it provides in mastering verbs . Some free users express frustration over paid features, like conjugating tenses beyond the present , but overall, the value for serious learners is highly praised.
Support and Updates edge: Ella VerbsR21R74R81R85
SmartNews One SmartNews review mentions developers responding to requests and adding a feature to block specific publishers R21. However, there are no other specific mentions of direct user support or consistent updates from the reviews.
Ella Verbs Ella Verbs developers are highly praised for being 'VERY responsive to feedback,' 'readily available for help and questions,' and actively working on the app with 'ongoing updates and improvements' R74R81R85. Users appreciate seeing their feedback incorporated into new features R81.
Pick SmartNews if

You want a free news aggregator and are willing to tolerate numerous ads, potential political bias, and occasional UI frustrations for a broad range of current news stories R5R8R9.

Pick Ella Verbs if

You are a serious Spanish learner, from intermediate to advanced, who wants to master verb conjugations with a highly effective, customizable, and well-supported app, and are willing to pay for full access R74.

Evidence note: Reviews for SmartNews are heavily skewed negative, particularly recent ones, focusing on ads, bias, and UI issues, despite a high lifetime rating. Ella Verbs reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with a few criticisms primarily related to the free tier's limitations or initial beginner suitability.

Frequently asked

Does SmartNews have a political bias?
Many SmartNews users report a strong political bias, with some perceiving it as leaning heavily to one side R4R13R16R22.
Is Ella Verbs suitable for beginners?
While some users find Ella Verbs helpful for beginners, others suggest it's more suitable for those who have at least a basic understanding of Spanish, as it focuses heavily on drills and conjugation without extensive foundational lessons R67R69R99R101.
What are the main complaints about SmartNews?
The main complaints about SmartNews include an excessive number of intrusive ads, perceived political bias in its content, frustrating user interface issues like articles not loading or switching unexpectedly, and misleading headlines R1R7R9R10.

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] SmartNews 5/5 · US Smart News Articles: Smart News stories are very interesting and informative.
  2. [R5] SmartNews 5/5 · US A review: A great way to keep up with what’s going on in the world. Stories from everywhere and very up to date.
  3. [R10] SmartNews 2/5 · US Semi useful at best: Smart News started of with delivering decent and interesting news. Then it jumped the shark by sensationalizing their headlines without following up with matching content. There are headines that make you think there is a video included, and there is not, or it's just an ad video, multiplied many times as you scroll. Then there are the imbedded ads for scam products that they
  4. [R15] SmartNews 3/5 · US Incorrect titles on news articles: Wondering if any proofreading is performed on news articles as titles and articles sometimes have glaring differences in content. For instance, the Justin Choy written article from the New York post from 2 days ago has a title about Paradise, California and content about Carmel by the Sea, California- 2 completely different cities.
  5. [R1] SmartNews 1/5 · US Scrolling, your app sucks!: Scrolling down while reading an article, if you’re not perfect in scrolling down it switches to to all the headlines. Then you have to pick your article again and again and again. Very frustrating
  6. [R8] SmartNews 5/5 · US Easy Layout: I enjoy the content that I chose to receive and the way it’s presented. On other platforms I used previously it was a constant issue getting back to the main page. I find the articles have the full story and not just snippets. I’m really happy to have found this unbiased source.
  7. [R11] SmartNews 5/5 · US Great News Sote: Great set up. Easy to navigate
  8. [R18] SmartNews 3/5 · US Mr.: So many times when I click on a notification, I don’t get transferred to the article but instead to the home page.
  9. [R24] SmartNews 3/5 · US Review: My phone gets hot when I on the app. Too much tracking
  10. [R36] SmartNews 3/5 · US Bad links: All of the links that go to TikTok don’t work. Links go to completely different story.
  11. [R40] SmartNews 1/5 · US Content is great: Content is great. I enjoy most of what I read. But, the mere one star rating is because articles don’t open or drop mid-reading. While this could be attributed to a weak WiFi signal I have no trouble with Apple News.
  12. [R60] SmartNews 3/5 · US Causes my phone to overheat: If I open any of the news articles on this site, it causes my phone to rapidly heat up. I can look at the same articles direct on their respective new sites and not cause this.
  13. [R9] SmartNews 3/5 · US Mixed: Good content. Too many ads.
  14. [R19] SmartNews 1/5 · US Way too many biases and ads: I’m not sure how adding auto add popping up constantly help to sell anything!! All it does is irritate the reader. Trying to scroll the news and accidentally somehow touching one of the MANY advertisements… at what point does reader education trump greed??
  15. [R21] SmartNews 3/5 · US Popups again: Mostly garbage news sources these days. And full page popups are back. Nope nope nope. Delete. Update: Developers respond to requests, so that's nice. Wanted to be able to block specific publishers to try and limit the fluff and sure enough they added the feature. Current issue keeping me from using the iPad app at all now, and to some degree the iPhone as well, is the damn gamif
  16. [R74] Ella Verbs 5/5 · US Amazing app!: This app is outstanding for building skills with verb conjugations and learning the definitions of hundreds of verbs. It is very customizable. You can create short quizzes or long quizzes, and you can focus on specific conjugation types. Also, the developers are VERY responsive to feedback. It has been an excellent complement to the other methods I use to study Spanish.
  17. [R81] Ella Verbs 5/5 · US Gracias por El App: Love learning with this app and think it is exceedingly helpful. I also appreciate the creators as they actually respond and take user feedback seriously. I’ve been using for a while and I’ve actually seen the changes. This app has made me do less doomscrolling and allowed me to have productive moments of “procrastination” that might otherwise be spent on Instagram and the like
  18. [R85] Ella Verbs 5/5 · US Get this App!: This marvelous app helps you to learn those pesky Spanish verbs! Lols. They have quizzes and organized presentations of the materials. They are responsive to questions and feedback. They actively work on the app to improve it. It’s a wonderful tool for learning and you can clearly see that they put a lot of effort and work into the development of this App. @Jane & Brian.. thank
  19. [R4] SmartNews 2/5 · US Not what at once was: When I first got SmartNews, I enjoy being able to see news from both sides. However, the app is becoming much more leaning to one side more than the other. After leaving this review, I actually plan on deleting the app and finding something that that leans less than this
  20. [R13] SmartNews 1/5 · US Bias: As usual the smart news is bias. I am tired of you bashing President Trump and the Republican Party and the articles about Melania are cruel. I will be looking for another news source that will be more about the news not bashing the republicans.
  21. [R16] SmartNews 1/5 · US Smart News is a Front for USA Bias against American Values people have spilt their blood defending.: I have been a reader of Smart News for a long time. But I am finished. Your Bias against or President who I never voted for and you never cease criticizing with more radicalized articles does not get a fair chance against your concerted barrage along with the communist and left wing zealots who pub
  22. [R22] SmartNews 2/5 · US Every thing that Trump does is wrong. Clear case of of TDS😡: Iran is winning the war on this forum 💁😁
  23. [R67] Ella Verbs 2/5 · GB Not at all suitable for beginners: A blunt instrument. Very short introduction to each verb type and then you’re straight into quizzes and exercises. No building confidence or memory lessons. Like being told this is water, these are swimming trunks, off you go! They don’t even use the six square subject pronoun grid to help you memorise the singular & plurals. Most Spanish teachers use this. I’d s
  24. [R69] Ella Verbs 2/5 · GB Jana: He everyone, I am totally a beginner. I would like to help my child in school, so I am trying few app. Sadly this one is not helping me in speech as the computer or the person speak well toooooo fast. I like all the grammar set up , but it would be great is you could improve with slow pronunciation. Sadly I’ll be leaving this app for now. Good luck. Thanks
  25. [R99] Ella Verbs 5/5 · US Game changer: For one year I have only done Duolingo. It was a good start and I will say if you put in the time and take notes it encouraged me to attempt conversation with Spanish speaking patients at work. After a year I went to a school in Guatemala and discovered there’s way more to work on. I found this app from a member from the ario Spanish crew in Skool. I’m reviewing it as a beginner.
  26. [R101] Ella Verbs 5/5 · US A must once you have some vocab!: I have had a private Tudor for a year, tried so many apps but was really stuck. Ella Verbs has saved me! It breaks down the barrier that was holding me back and makes everything flow now. I spent hundreds of hours trying to understand verb congregation and Ella made me understand everything in a 10th of the time. If you have a basic understanding and some vocab, g
  27. [R7] SmartNews 1/5 · US Clickbait?: Clickbait. Doesn’t show the headline you’re clicking on. Just keeps you wandering around looking for your story. Many times never to find it. Deleting SmartNews off all my devices.

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