By AppHub Editorial Team · Updated August 3, 2026
NewsBreak: Local News & Alerts
Overview
News & Magazines
Particle Media Inc.
Free
Jun 17, 2016
26.6.4
8.0
$0.10 - $59.99 per item
No
Feb 26, 2026
Features
Get daily news alerts & updates on current events sent straight to your phone, because a small news reader makes a big difference to communities! Keep up to date with news that impacts you & your community! Read trending headlines on live local news updates, international news, weather alerts, & more!
Small news makes a big difference! NewsBreak is your #1 local news app for current events, free live news, local weather alerts for your community. Download today to stay up to date on all things ...
Get daily news alerts & updates on current events sent straight to your phone, because a small news reader makes a big difference to communities! Keep up to date with news that impacts you & your community! Read trending headlines on live local news updates, international news, weather alerts, & more! Small news makes a big difference! NewsBreak is your #1 local news app for current events, free live news, local weather alerts for your community. Download today to stay up to date on all things local! Local news is different from national US news, trending headlines or global news. NewsBreak believes that local news helps bring neighborhoods together around the unique stories they share in common. Only local, small news has the unique ability to meaningfully inform the decisions we make throughout the day. Are there any weather alerts or winter storm updates for my area? What about traffic updates? What important events are happening nearby? Stay updated with a crime map for the neighborhood & check for local weather alerts. Join NewsBreak’s growing local news community & see why over 45M people across the United States have helped make us the nation’s #1 local news app! Remember
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Ratings breakdown
617,000 reviewsDeveloper contact
Name
Particle Media, Inc.
Address
800 W El Camino Real Ste 100 Mountain View, CA 94040 United States
Website
https://www.newsbreak.comPhone
+1 650-417-5555
Support
feedback@newsbreak.com
Privacy
View policyFrequently Asked Questions
Is NewsBreak free to use? high
Yes, NewsBreak is free to download and use. The app description states it offers 'free live news' and the listing confirms it is $0.00 with in-app purchases ranging from $0.10 to $59.99 per item.
Source: app_metadata
What kind of news does NewsBreak cover? high
NewsBreak covers local news, national news, and international news. The app description highlights local news, weather alerts, traffic updates, sports, business, tech, and celebrity news, with content aggregated from over 10,000 trusted sources.
Source: app_metadata
Does NewsBreak have ads? medium
The app metadata lists 'contains_ads' as false, but recent user reviews from September 2025 to January 2026 describe intrusive ads that interrupt reading. This discrepancy suggests the user experience may involve promotional content that users perceive as excessive ads.
Source: app_metadata, user_reviews
What age rating is NewsBreak? high
NewsBreak has a content rating of 'Teen', as indicated in the app metadata.
Source: app_metadata
How to Use
NewsBreak is a free news aggregation app that delivers personalized local, national, and international news, weather alerts, and traffic updates to your phone. (app_description)
Getting Started
Source: app_description_and_user_feedback_noted
- Download the app from the Google Play Store.
- Upon first launch, allow the app to access your location for personalized local news and weather alerts.
- Customize your news feed by selecting topics of interest, such as sports, business, or local events.
- Adjust notification settings in the app or your device's system settings to control how often you receive alerts.
Key Features (from app listing)
Source: app_description
- Local news highlights with traffic and weather updates.
- Personalized news feed based on your interests.
- Breaking news alerts for national and international events.
- Community features including comments, upvotes, and downvotes on articles.
Derived from a recent review complaint about notifications turning back on after being turned off within the app. The tip suggests using the device's system-level notification settings for more permanent control.
How this content was created
Content type: pattern_analysis_of_user_reviews_and_metadata
AI generated: Yes
- Google Play user reviews (12-20 preferred; may be smaller if source data is limited per app), September 2025 to January 2026
- Google Play ratings distribution
- App Store listing metadata
- Review samples are not statistically representative of all user sentiment.
- Claims are based on only 5 reviews, all of which are negative, skewing the analysis toward complaints.
- No real-world app testing was conducted.
- Feature availability may vary by region, device, and app version.
- The app's high overall rating (4.6) suggests the negative reviews in this sample may not be typical.
Pros & Cons
Based on analysis of Google Play user reviews
Pros
- Provides local news, weather alerts, and community updates.
Feature 'Local news' inferred from app description and high ratings
Evidence (1)
“Get daily news alerts & updates on current events sent straight to your phone”Rating: 5★ N/A - Large user community with over 45 million downloads in the US.
Feature 'User community' inferred from app description
Evidence (1)
“Join NewsBreak’s growing local news community & see why over 45M people across the United States have helped make us the nation’s #1 local news app!”Rating: 5★ N/A - Covers national and international news in addition to local stories.
Feature 'News breadth' inferred from app description
Evidence (1)
“Local breaking news, sports news, trending national & international news – NewsBreak’s got it all.”Rating: 5★ N/A
Cons
- Excessive and intrusive ads that interrupt scrolling and require interaction.
Theme 'Excessive ads' identified in recent_review #2, #3, and #5
Evidence (3)
“The ads are excessive. And now, after last update, notifications are blocking my login screen even though notifications are blocked.”Rating: 1★ September 04, 2025 1,105 likes“You already have way too many adds littered all through the app, some almost completely indiscernable from the actual articles.”Rating: 1★ October 17, 2025 385 likes“now the ads are just outrageous. I know you have to make money, but ads are popping up like crazy”Rating: 2★ January 05, 2026 86 likes - Notifications turn on automatically despite being disabled, draining battery.
Theme 'Notification issues' identified in recent_review #1 and #2
Evidence (2)
“I turned them off and they weren't an issue for a long time. Until last week when they randomly turned on again.”Rating: 1★ October 30, 2025 621 likes“Even with notifications turned off, the notifications are constant”Rating: 1★ September 04, 2025 1,105 likes - Articles cut off halfway with a white screen, preventing full reading.
Theme 'Article loading issues' identified in recent_review #2 and #5
Evidence (2)
“Halfway through the article, the screen goes white with only the header.”Rating: 1★ September 04, 2025 1,105 likes“The you titles for article and pictures or photos that don't even. at h the title of the article.”Rating: 2★ January 05, 2026 86 likes
Recent Reviews
Chris Bowling
1★I've had this app for years and liked it, except the lock screen notifications. I turned them off and they weren't an issue for a long time. Until last week when they randomly turned on again. I turned them off and forgot about it. But today the app waited until my phone was at 29 percent battery, and randomly turned them on again, and kept my phone open and drained the battery. If they turn on again, I'm uninstalling app forever.
Pop-Pop Moose
1★I hate that I can never get a full news article. Halfway through the article, the screen goes white with only the header. I also don't like the intrusive nature of this app. Even with notifications turned off, the notifications are constant and you can't get the whole article! Totally useless! The ads are excessive. And now, after last update, notifications are blocking my login screen even though notifications are blocked. Time to uninstall!
Kim Smith
1★You already have way too many adds littered all through the app, some almost completely indiscernable from the actual articles. There is literally NO REASON for you to be interrupting our scrolling with an add we MUST interact with in order to continue. I will close out the app EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS. I will NOT interact with these adds, you WILL NOT make any money from it and **** you for trying. If it keeps up like this I'm just going to delete the app.
Eric
1★There's always one problem or another with this app. The most frequent problem is that my posted comments seem to not really get posted, as if I'm the only person on the planet who can see them. Being someone who uses & posts on Newsbreak almost every day for the past couple of years, I know that it's not working right when this happens. And out of all the emails I've sent to the app developers about it, guess how many replies I've gotten....yup that's right, zero.
CJ
2★I had this app for a few years, now the ads are just outrageous. I know you have to make money, but ads are popping up like crazy and I now have to exit the app and reopen by then I've lost the article I was reading. The you titles for article and pictures or photos that don't even. at h the title of the article. Just deleted the app, thanks but I'm done.