“The app is clunky; pictures don't load most of the time and the ads are out of control. This happens across multiple platforms, so it's on their end. Unless you pay fortune you'll continue to get ads. This used to be a good product worth…”
Independent automated assessment · 3 signal sources · 468 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-05.
4.4 ★299,667 ratings
5M+Downloads
12+Age rating
198 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
The USA TODAY news app gets you to the heart of the matter — fast. Whether it's money, sports, entertainment, or breaking news, get succinct, personalized coverage along with award-winning videos, captivating photography, and interactive user features. The point is — get major news coverage all in a compact device that fits right in the palm of your hand. APP FEATURES • National and breaking news, including access to 200+ local publications. • News to the point: Easily keep up with news, sports, money, entertainment, health, and more with quick reads. • A personalized feed: Pick your favorite subjects in My Topics and receive a curated feed on the For You page. • eNewspaper: Just like our print edition but accessible on your mobile devices. And access to 200+ local eNewspapers. • Puzzles: Play Crossword, QuickCross, and Sudoku (tablet only) to keep your mind sharp.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
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 8.13.2 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 8.13.2, updated 2026-09-08.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 8.13.2 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 8.13.2, updated 2026-10-01.
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
No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence about the app, not a finding about it.
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.
Cheapest and priciest options are far apart
The disclosed in-app purchases span an unusually wide price range. Published as context: the cheapest and priciest items may be different kinds of product entirely, so the spread alone deducts nothing.
What we saw: In-app purchases run from USD 4.99 to USD 169.00 — a 34x spread across 10 items
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 (2.2% of 413 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Ads are intrusive and glitchy, resizing articles while you're trying to read and sometimes popping you out entirely as a brush with one of the many ads staggered throughout each article while trying to scroll is interpreted as opening…”
“The pop-up ads for subscribing have always been annoyingly intrusive, but some of the "normal" ads now open when you touch (not tap) them, even if you just happen to slide over them while scrolling the articles. This opens a new screen…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 8.13.2.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown9
Lowest$4.99
Highest$169.00
USA TODAY Ad-Free Monthly$22.99
USA TODAY Premium Monthly +$4.99
USA TODAY Premium Annual$89.00
USA TODAY Puzzles - Yearly$39.99
USA TODAY Premium Plus Ad-Free$22.99
Show 4 more purchases
USA TODAY Premium Plus Ad-Free$169.00
USA TODAY Premium$14.99
USA TODAY Puzzles$4.99
Unlimited Digital Access$9.99
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.