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Best Documentary Streaming Apps for iPhone (2026)

8 apps ranked S through F · · Ranked by AppTierList, computed, never sold · JSON

Part of Video Streaming.

CuriosityStream is the top-ranked of 8 documentary streaming apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.6/5 from 6,269 ratings.

  1. 1
    CuriosityStreamS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 6,269 ratings · score 92
  2. 2
    KanopyS
    Free · ★ 4.8 · 152,328 ratings · score 91
  3. 3
    TrueShort - Stream True CrimeS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 18,304 ratings · score 90
  4. 4
    PBS: Watch TV & DocumentariesA
    Free download · ★ 4.9 · 356,455 ratings · score 89
  5. 5
    discovery+ | Stream TV ShowsA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 918,561 ratings · score 87

What belongs in this list

Watch documentaries on topics like nature, history, and real events.

Not here: a general movie catalog alone; a news app alone; drama series alone; short films alone; a documentary review list alone

How we pick

For this list we ask the App Store the same searches a person would, in several countries, and keep every app it returns. A model reads each app's listing and rejects the ones that only mention the use case. Every app that stays is scored out of 100 from four parts, each 0 to 100 and averaged with no weights: its App Store rating, how many people rated it, where the App Store itself ranks it for this list's searches, and how recently its current version shipped. An app showing Apple's Editors' Choice badge gets a fifth part of 100, which can only lift its score. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier. Read the full method →

S
CuriosityStr…KanopyTrueShort
A
PBSdiscovery+
B
Gaia
C
MagellanTV
D
Thirteen
F
None at F yet

Compare every app

  1. 1
    CuriosityStreamS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 6,269 ratings · score 92 · best in class
  2. 2
    KanopyS
    Free · ★ 4.8 · 152,328 ratings · score 91 · best in class
  3. 3
    TrueShort - Stream True CrimeS
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 18,304 ratings · score 90 · best in class
  4. 4
    PBS: Watch TV & DocumentariesA
    Free download · ★ 4.9 · 356,455 ratings · score 89 · excellent
  5. 5
    discovery+ | Stream TV ShowsA
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 918,561 ratings · score 87 · excellent
  6. 6
    Gaia: Streaming ConsciousnessB
    Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 140,911 ratings · score 72 · good · provisional
  7. 7
    MagellanTV DocumentariesC
    Free download · ★ 4.6 · 3,879 ratings · score 67 · situational · provisional
  8. 8
    Thirteen ExploreD
    Free download · ★ 4.8 · 6,081 ratings · score 52 · weak · provisional

New in the last 30 days

Questions people ask

What is the best documentary streaming app for iPhone?
CuriosityStream, S tier, ranked #1 of 8, rated 4.6 by 6,269 people.
Which documentary streaming apps are free?
8 of 8 are free to download: CuriosityStream (S), Kanopy (S), TrueShort - Stream True Crime (S), PBS: Watch TV & Documentaries (A) and more. 4 of them sell in-app purchases. 1 reports no in-app purchases.
Which documentary streaming app has the best App Store rating?
TrueShort - Stream True Crime at 4.9 from 18,304 ratings.
How many documentary streaming apps reach S or A tier?
5 of 8. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier.

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