“Notifications settings is broken — App doesn’t obey your notifications settings. doesn’t matter which news notifications you turn off. Will still alert you including weather even if you have it off. I turned off all notifications in the…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 941 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
4.5 ★427,196 ratings
10M+Downloads
17+Age rating
275 MBApp size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
The MSN app keeps you informed, productive, and entertained with tailored content, real-time weather, stock tracking, short videos and more.
Key features
Your tailored feed, with you on the go. Quality content from thousands of trusted publishers.
Weather report Get hourly and 10-day forecasts, air quality, UV index and more.
Financial news hub See the latest on the market, trends and your favorite stocks.
Your personalized video feed Scroll short clips of the latest news, trending stories and viral moments.
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 34.2.440925003 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 34.2.440925003, updated 2026-09-25.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 33.0.440401002 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version VARY, updated 2026-09-08.
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
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
1 theme 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 33.0.440401002, scanned 2026-09-17.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more 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
1–2 found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
None 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.
Context 1
Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.
Asks for more sensitive permissions than similar apps
The package requests substantially more of the device's sensitive permissions than the typical app in its category. This is a measurement, not an accusation: a permission is granted because a feature needs it, and a wide request list is a reason to look rather than a finding on its own.
What we saw: Requests 7 sensitive permissions (ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, CAMERA, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, READ_PHONE_STATE, RECORD_AUDIO, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW); the median for 22 scanned apps in News & Magazines is 2
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 1
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 9 distinct reviewers (1.8% of 503 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Ads, low quality sources — This news aggregator is losing its appeal. Lots of ads, low quality content, and notifications that have been disabled but still showing up are becoming a problem. For example, I only have breaking news…”
“I like it so far — This review was requested after using the app for about 15 minutes. So far, so good. The articles I want to read actually open, sponsored advertising is identified up front, and there aren’t any annoying pop up adds so…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 34.2.440925003.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Business modelFree
Prices and terms as disclosed by the store listing.