“So you're now hiding most things behind paywall. Does CNN not know there are other news websites that are free. You have done the pay thing before, I paid many years ago a one time fee, that failed, they dropped the fee and added more ads…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 957 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-06.
4.6 ★2,251,365 ratings
50M+Downloads
17+Age rating
231 MBApp size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
The CNN app is your destination for unrivaled, fact-based reporting. Stay informed at every turn as the story breaks through short-form videos, interactives, articles, podcasts, live audio, and more. Easily discover the the day’s top news from politics, health, world news, climate, and beyond.
Download the CNN app to start making sense of the world today.
START STREAMING THE CNN EXPERIENCE TODAY. Now watch unlimited streaming, including 24/7 global news, daily programs from trusted journalists, award-winning shows and films, and more.
FOLLOW ELECTIONS THAT MATTER. Track races as they happen with the interactive Magic Wall. Get live state and local results, and easily compare incoming 2026 data to past elections.
FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES. Set custom alerts and notifications so you can follow developing stories.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version 26.20 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 26.20, updated 2026-09-28.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 26.20.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 26.20.0, updated 2026-09-25.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Says how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
3 or more themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 26.20.0, scanned 2026-10-06.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
None requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
3 or more found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
1–2 found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 1
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Raised by 28 distinct reviewers — 5.4% of the 523 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 2
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Aggressive ad load: raised by 19 distinct reviewers (3.6% of 523 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Reports that the ads misrepresent the app
Reviewers repeatedly report that the app is not what its advertising showed. We never see the ad creative itself, so nothing we collect can corroborate or refute this — it is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
What we saw: Misleading advertising: raised by 5 distinct reviewers (1.0% of 523 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Stil unusable to even see the news. Everything is subscriber only with paywall for everything else. Would not recommend.”
“Have to pay for the phone. Have to pay for the service. Have to pay for TV service with commercials. Now I have to pay for the app to read the news with ads. I guess the news is only for the wealthy!!”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 26.20.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.