What is the best live news app for iPhone?

CNN: Live & Breaking News, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.8 by 1,663,939 people.

Which live news apps are free?

40 of 40 are free to download: CNN: Live & Breaking News (S), NYTimes: US and World News (S), NBC News: Breaking & US News (S), Sky News: Breaking, UK & World (S) and more. 14 of them sell in-app purchases. 14 report no in-app purchases.

Which live news app has the best App Store rating?

The Guardian - US & World News at 4.9 from 113,453 ratings.

AppTierList › All lists › Live News

Best Live News Apps for iPhone (2026)

40 apps ranked S through F · Updated 2026-10-19 · Ranked by AppTierList, computed, never sold · JSON

Part of News Reading.

CNN: Live & Breaking News is the top-ranked of 40 live news apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.8/5 from 1,663,939 ratings.

1
CNN: Live & Breaking NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 1,663,939 ratings · score 99
2
NYTimes: US and World NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 799,220 ratings · score 98
3
NBC News: Breaking & US NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 150,715 ratings · score 96
4
Sky News: Breaking, UK & WorldS
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 9,332 ratings · score 96
5
AP NewsS
Free · ★ 4.6 · 359,189 ratings · score 96

What belongs in this list

Watch or follow news as it happens, including breaking stories.

Not here: Daily news digest alone; Streaming of general TV channels alone; Live sports scores alone; Breaking news alerts with no stories alone; Archived news articles 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 →

Compare every app

1
CNN: Live & Breaking NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 1,663,939 ratings · score 99 · best in class
2
NYTimes: US and World NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 799,220 ratings · score 98 · best in class
3
NBC News: Breaking & US NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 150,715 ratings · score 96 · best in class
4
Sky News: Breaking, UK & WorldS
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 9,332 ratings · score 96 · best in class
5
AP NewsS
Free · ★ 4.6 · 359,189 ratings · score 96 · best in class
6
Epoch Times: Live & BreakingS
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 266,999 ratings · score 95 · best in class
7
The Guardian - US & World NewsS
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 113,453 ratings · score 94 · best in class
8
CNBC: Stock Market & BusinessS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 628,046 ratings · score 94 · best in class
9
Washington Post: Breaking NewsS
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 638,935 ratings · score 94 · best in class
10
Breaking NewsS
Free download · ★ 4.6 · 10,033 ratings · score 93 · best in class
11
Reuters - Breaking World NewsS
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 8,678 ratings · score 92 · best in class
12
Opera News: Breaking & LocalS
Free · ★ 4.8 · 28,620 ratings · score 92 · best in class
13
Al Jazeera - الجزيرةA
Free · ★ 4.8 · 85,913 ratings · score 92 · excellent
14
The Wall Street Journal NewsA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 551,815 ratings · score 90 · excellent
15
Daily Mail: Breaking News LiveA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.2 · 27,548 ratings · score 90 · excellent
16
Local News & Weather: HaystackA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 20,676 ratings · score 90 · excellent
17
FOX LOCAL: Live News & WeatherA
Free · ★ 4.7 · 18,293 ratings · score 90 · excellent
18
BBC: World News & StoriesA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.5 · 88,361 ratings · score 89 · excellent
19
NTD: Live TV & Breaking NewsA
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 4,667 ratings · score 88 · excellent
20
FOX News: US & World HeadlinesA
Free · ★ 4.5 · 596,943 ratings · score 88 · excellent
21
Bloomberg: Business News DailyA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 55,194 ratings · score 88 · excellent
22
USA TODAY: US & Breaking NewsA
Free + IAP · ★ 4.5 · 241,702 ratings · score 87 · excellent
23
6abc PhiladelphiaA
Free · ★ 4.7 · 71,740 ratings · score 87 · excellent
24
ABC News: Live & BreakingA
Free download · ★ 4.0 · 6,034 ratings · score 86 · excellent
25
HuffPost - News & PoliticsB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 26,747 ratings · score 84 · good
26
CBS News: Live Breaking NewsB
Free download · ★ 3.7 · 19,638 ratings · score 84 · good
27
FOX One: Live News, Sports, TVB
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 107,486 ratings · score 84 · good
28
TMZB
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 214,147 ratings · score 84 · good
29
NewsmaxB
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 176,244 ratings · score 83 · good
30
ABC13 Houston News & WeatherB
Free · ★ 4.7 · 49,142 ratings · score 83 · good
31
ABC 7 New YorkB
Free · ★ 4.7 · 49,084 ratings · score 82 · good
32
CTV News: Canada, Local, WorldB
Free download · ★ 4.6 · 4,776 ratings · score 82 · good
33
Denver News from 9NewsB
Free · ★ 4.7 · 54,495 ratings · score 82 · good
34
Houston News from KHOU 11B
Free · ★ 4.8 · 40,308 ratings · score 82 · good
35
ABC7 Los AngelesB
Free · ★ 4.7 · 39,007 ratings · score 82 · good
36
NDTV NewsC
Free + IAP · ★ 4.5 · 4,366 ratings · score 81 · situational
37
ABC7 Bay AreaC
Free · ★ 4.6 · 16,024 ratings · score 81 · situational
38
ABC11 North CarolinaC
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 20,855 ratings · score 81 · situational
39
NEWS CENTER MaineC
Free · ★ 4.7 · 19,543 ratings · score 81 · situational
40
10TV WBNS Columbus, OhioC
Free · ★ 4.7 · 27,081 ratings · score 81 · situational

Beyond the top 40

94 more, not ranked yet

New in the last 30 days

Questions people ask

What is the best live news app for iPhone?: CNN: Live & Breaking News, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.8 by 1,663,939 people.
Which live news apps are free?: 40 of 40 are free to download: CNN: Live & Breaking News (S), NYTimes: US and World News (S), NBC News: Breaking & US News (S), Sky News: Breaking, UK & World (S) and more. 14 of them sell in-app purchases. 14 report no in-app purchases.
Which live news app has the best App Store rating?: The Guardian - US & World News at 4.9 from 113,453 ratings.
How many live news apps reach S or A tier?: 24 of 40. 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.