By AppHub Editorial Team · Updated August 5, 2026
SmartNews: Breaking News
Overview
News & Magazines
SmartNews, Inc.
Free
Mar 26, 2013
26.2.40
8.0
$3.99 - $4.99 per item
No
Feb 20, 2026
Features
We combine the best of quality journalism with expert curation to help you stay informed—and feel good while doing it. With quality articles from trustworthy publishers, you can easily curate your feed based on your passions and topics that interest you most.
Discover top news from premium publishers: Bloomberg, The Atlantic, USA Today, TIME, The Huffington Post, Bleacher Report, Quartz, The Verge, LAT, VOX, AP, Reuters, Buzzfeed, Fast Company.
Local
We combine the best of quality journalism with expert curation to help you stay informed—and feel good while doing it. With quality articles from trustworthy publishers, you can easily curate your feed based on your passions and topics that interest you most. Discover top news from premium publishers: Bloomberg, The Atlantic, USA Today, TIME, The Huffington Post, Bleacher Report, Quartz, The Verge, LAT, VOX, AP, Reuters, Buzzfeed, Fast Company. Local -Get informative stories from premium publishers based on your location. -See the latest local news on government, traffic, weather, politics, school boards, and more.-Read news about local cultural events, hidden gems, restaurants, family-friendly activities, and your summer farmer’s market. Travel-Discover the best spots wherever you go with location-based news and updates.-Learn about top travel tips from your favorite publishers.-Plan your next vacation with trending news on the best destinations, travel hacks, and flight deals before you depart. Politics
Download SmartNews: Breaking News
Get the official app from the trusted app stores. You will be redirected to the download page.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
Ratings breakdown
695,000 reviewsDeveloper contact
Name
SMARTNEWS, INC.
Address
6-25-16, JINGUMAE ICHIGOJINGUMAE BLDG. 3F2 SHIBUYA-KU, 東京都 150-0001 Japan
Website
https://www.smartnews.com/Phone
+1 628-444-3000
Support
support@smartnews.com
Privacy
View policyFrequently Asked Questions
Is SmartNews free? high
Yes, the app is free to download and use. It contains no upfront cost, though it offers in-app purchases ranging from $3.99 to $4.99 per item.
Source: app_metadata
Does SmartNews contain ads? medium
The app's metadata states it does not contain ads. However, one recent reviewer complained about excessive ads causing performance issues, describing them as 'd@** ads' that load quickly but slow down article reading.
Source: app_metadata, user_reviews
Is SmartNews suitable for teenagers? high
Yes, the app has a 'Teen' content rating, meaning it is designed for users aged 13 and older. It covers a wide range of news topics including politics, entertainment, sports, and health.
Source: app_metadata
Can I block news sources I don't like in SmartNews? low
The app allows you to block publishers, but based on user reports, this feature may not work reliably. One reviewer states they 'constantly receive articles from publishers that I have blocked months ago,' and that these blocked publishers still send notifications.
Source: user_reviews
How to Use
SmartNews is a free news aggregation app that curates articles from premium publishers based on user interests and location. (app_description)
Getting Started
Source: app_description_and_user_feedback_noted
- Download and install the SmartNews app from the Google Play Store.
- Upon opening, allow the app to access your location for local news if desired, or skip this step for a general news feed.
- Browse the default feed or select specific topics (e.g., Politics, Sports, Entertainment) from the top navigation to curate your news preferences.
- Customize your experience by blocking publishers you don't wish to see, though user feedback notes this feature may have issues.
- Optionally, explore in-app purchases for premium content or features.
Key Features (from app listing)
Source: app_description
- Curated news feed from premium publishers like Bloomberg, The Atlantic, USA Today, TIME, and Reuters.
- Location-based local news coverage for government, traffic, weather, and community events.
- Topic-specific channels for travel, politics, entertainment, sports, and health.
- Offline reading capability for downloaded articles.
Derived from a user-reported pattern in the recent reviews. Review #5, a highly-liked complaint (389 likes), describes how deleting the app and reinstalling it without logging in resolved issues with 'annoying popups' and the 'inbox with any stats.'
How this content was created
Content type: pattern_analysis_of_user_reviews_and_metadata
AI generated: Yes
- Google Play user reviews (5 reviews (all from recent_reviews bucket) per app), December 27, 2025 to February 23, 2026
- Google Play ratings distribution
- App Store listing metadata
- Review samples are not statistically representative of all user sentiment; this analysis is based on only 5 recent reviews.
- Claims labeled 'medium' or 'low' confidence are based on observations from a small, non-representative sample.
- No real-world app testing was conducted.
- Feature availability and performance may vary by region, device, and app version.
- The ratings distribution was not available in the provided data, limiting the ability to contextualize review sentiment.
Pros & Cons
Based on analysis of Google Play user reviews
Pros
- Aggregates news from premium publishers like Bloomberg, Reuters, and AP.
Theme 'Premium sources' identified in app description
Evidence (1)
“Discover top news from premium publishers: Bloomberg, The Atlantic, USA Today, TIME, The Huffington Post...”Rating: 2★ February 23, 2026 11 likes - Offers a readable format for news articles, making it easy to browse.
Theme 'Readable format' identified in recent_review #2
Evidence (1)
“I've used this app for about 10 years and it's been great for aggregating news in a readable format.”Rating: 2★ February 23, 2026 11 likes - Provides local news based on user location, covering government and events.
Theme 'Local news' identified in app description
Evidence (1)
“Get informative stories from premium publishers based on your location.”Rating: 2★ February 23, 2026 11 likes
Cons
- App frequently freezes and becomes unresponsive, requiring force close.
Theme 'Freezing issues' identified in recent_review #1
Evidence (1)
“Constantly freezes up! Almost with every single story. Sometimes, it freezes up after being on it 20 seconds.”Rating: 1★ February 23, 2026 17 likes - Excessive ads slow down article loading and cause abrupt app closures.
Theme 'Ad overload' identified in recent_review #4
Evidence (1)
“The article I'm trying to read keeps either taking literally 5 minutes to load because of all the d@** ads or keeps closing abruptly”Rating: 1★ January 23, 2026 218 likes - Cannot effectively block or filter out unwanted publishers; blocked sources still appear.
Theme 'Broken blocking' identified in recent_review #3
Evidence (2)
“I constantly receive articles from publishers that I have blocked months ago. They show up under Blocked but I still get notifications”Rating: 2★ February 22, 2026 6 likes“most of my notifications are from very right-wing biased sources.”Rating: 2★ February 23, 2026 11 likes
Recent Reviews
Mary Fore
1★Constantly freezes up! Almost with every single story. Sometimes, it freezes up after being on it 20 seconds. Tells me smart news is not responding -- close app or wait . Tried waiting for it-- never came back on. I am definitely thinking of uninstalling this app. This started happening so frequently in just this past month. I am extremely dissatisfied with it's performance. Tried all the fixes ( uninstalling and reinstalling latest version
Travis Reinhart
2★I've used this app for about 10 years and it's been great for aggregating news in a readable format. However, lately I've been unable to tailor the source selections effectively and most of my notifications are from very right-wing biased sources. I want to be aware of current topics, but only being served headlines that make me immediately dive into research mode makes me unlikely to use the app to read about them
Dawn
2★I constantly receive articles from publishers that I have blocked months ago. They show up under Blocked but I still get notifications and don't even see the publisher of the article until I open it and then get mad that it's from a blocked publisher!! Some news is worth reading so I hesitate deleting the app but it's so irritating. FIX IT!
Safarhi Brooks
1★I used to really enjoy this app til I got an upgraded phone. Now the ads load up great (sarcasm)!! Ads are super fast! The article I'm trying to read keeps either taking literally 5 minutes to load because of all the d@** ads or keeps closing abruptly (I'm sure due to the ads). It's really ridiculous. Just because I buy an item once or Google search a product doesn't mean I want to be inundated by the proprietors advertising every time I turn on my phone or open your app.
Kathy Anderson
1★UPDATE 4: I deleted the app and later reinstalled it. I did not login to my account but used it as a guest. Therefore I no longer have an inbox with any stats and no more annoying popups. UPDATE 3: It has gotten worse. I was using it regularly but now there are constant childish popups saying to keep going to get a Newslings badge, etc. It is no longer professional looking and something for a child. I will replace it with a proper news app that doesn't have AI and animated games and graphics.