SmartNews Alternative: Aplomb vs SmartNews
SmartNews is a good free app for a fast scan of the day's news, with local sections and a spectrum slider on politics stories. Its trade-offs are ads in the free version, lean labels set by its own team rather than independent raters, and no reliability ratings. Ground News is the alternative for independent bias ratings, and Aplomb for short videos from vetted newsrooms.
Disclosure: we make Aplomb, one of the apps on this page. We apply the same criteria to it as to every other app, we don't rank it first by default, and we never give it a score. Read our editorial policy.
On this page
What SmartNews Is
SmartNews, made by SmartNews, Inc., is a free, ad-supported news aggregator for iPhone, iPad and Android. It draws on thousands of publisher partners and sorts stories into channels, including local news. In 2019 it added News From All Sides, a slider on politics stories that sorts coverage of the same event from more liberal to more conservative outlets.
What SmartNews Does Well
- Free, with a large publisher network.
- A political spectrum slider on politics stories.
- Local news sections.
Where SmartNews Falls Short
- Ads in the free version.
- Lean labels come from SmartNews's own team, not from independent raters.
- No factual reliability ratings for its sources.
Aplomb vs SmartNews
| SmartNews | Aplomb | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Articles | Short vertical videos, plus an AI summary of each of the day's main stories, written only from the articles of the newsrooms covering it |
| Sources | Thousands of publisher partners | About thirty newsrooms vetted against six published criteria |
| Bias information | Spectrum slider on politics stories, labels from its own team | Trust tier on every story; ratings from three independent raters on each source profile |
| Ads | Yes, ad-free option sold in the app | No ads today |
| Local news | Yes | A tab for your country, with its national newsrooms |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android | iPhone and Android (coming soon) |
Choose SmartNews for a wide, fast scan with local news. Choose Aplomb for a short video feed limited to vetted newsrooms, where every story names the outlet that reported it.
Prefer short videos from vetted newsrooms? Try Aplomb, free.
Other SmartNews Alternatives
- Google News: free, on every platform, with Full Coverage of each story. Google News compared.
- Ground News: bias ratings averaged from three independent raters. Ground News review.
- Particle: AI summaries of each story with a left-right view of the coverage.
More News App Comparisons
SmartNews Alternative FAQ
What is the best SmartNews alternative?
Google News if you want a free general aggregator on every platform, Ground News if you want independent bias ratings on every outlet, and Aplomb if you want short videos from vetted newsrooms.
Is SmartNews biased?
SmartNews draws on thousands of publishers. On politics stories, its News From All Sides slider sorts coverage from more liberal to more conservative outlets, using lean labels from its own content team. It does not rate the factual reliability of outlets.
Is SmartNews free?
Yes, SmartNews is free with ads. An ad-free option is sold in the app.
