Delaware Online

Review by eFreeware

The most distinctive thing about Delaware Online is that it carries a print-style edition alongside its live news feed. The eNewspaper reproduces the paper as it appears in print, and the same subscription also opens USA TODAY and more than 200 other local eNewspapers. That combination is unusual for a single Android app, and it is the main reason the app stands apart from a general news reader.

This is a local news app from USA TODAY Co., built around the Delaware community and the stories, sports and weather that matter there. If you follow Delaware closely and want that coverage on your phone, it is built for you. If you only skim national headlines now and then, the free sampling may be enough on its own.

The journalism the app is built around

The developer leads with the reporting itself: in-depth journalism, things to do around town, and sports coverage that runs from high school games up to the professional leagues. That range is the point. A local paper's value is in the stories you cannot get from a national feed, and the app is organized to put that coverage in front of you rather than bury it under wire copy.

The reading experience is pitched as streamlined and fast-loading, so stories, photos and video open without much friction. I would expect that to matter most on a phone, where a heavy page is the quickest way to lose a reader. Photography and video are treated as first-class parts of the package rather than extras tacked onto text.

What appeals to me here is the breadth within a local frame. You get the community reporting, the game results and the feature stories in one place, which is roughly what a print subscriber used to get on the doorstep, minus the doorstep.

Alerts, saved stories and the eNewspaper

Beyond the feed, the app sends real-time notifications for breaking news, sports scores and weather alerts, and the developer says these can be tailored to your interests. That is the feature I would set up first, because a local news app is at its best when it tells you something before you think to check. How finely you can tune those interests is something you would find out in the settings.

The customization options are the practical kind: save favorite stories, change the text size, switch on night mode, or read offline. Each of those is a small thing on its own, but together they let you shape the app around how you actually read rather than the other way around. Reading offline is the one I would lean on most, since it covers the stretches when a connection is unreliable.

The eNewspaper is the headline extra. It presents the print edition on your mobile device, and access extends to USA TODAY and more than 200 local eNewspapers beyond Delaware. For anyone who likes the structure of a paper, with its sections and its front page, that is a meaningful addition to the live feed.

What the app asks of you

Downloading costs nothing, and each month every reader gets some articles free. Beyond that sampling, full access runs through a subscription. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel in Google Play at least a day before the period ends, and Google Play charges you at confirmation.

The app also carries ads and offers in-app purchases, so the free experience is not a clean, uncluttered one. That is worth weighing against the price of a subscription rather than treating as a surprise. If you read a handful of local stories a month, the free sampling may cover you; if you want the full run of the journalism and the eNewspaper, you are looking at a recurring cost.

The app is rated Everyone 10+, which is a broad rating rather than a signal about the content itself. News coverage can include difficult material, and the rating does not change that.

Getting the most from it day to day

The sensible way to start is with the notifications. Pick the topics you genuinely follow, whether that is a school sports team, local government or the weather, and let the app do the watching. A feed you check when you remember is far less useful than an alert that reaches you when something changes.

Then set the reading preferences once and leave them. Text size and night mode are the two that make the biggest difference to how comfortable a long story feels, and saving stories lets you build a short list for later instead of losing a piece you meant to finish. Reading offline is worth remembering for any stretch when you will not have a signal.

If you decide to subscribe, note the renewal terms before you commit, and set a reminder around your renewal date to avoid an unwanted charge.

The most recent update is a maintenance one, covering bug fixes and stability improvements. There is nothing new to learn from it, which is generally a good sign for an app that has been on the store since April 2012.

A local paper in your pocket

Delaware Online is a straightforward proposition: local reporting, sports from high school to the pros, weather and breaking news alerts, plus a print-style eNewspaper that reaches well beyond Delaware. The app is free to download with a monthly sampling of articles, and a subscription covers the rest through a recurring charge on your Google Play account. It also carries ads and in-app purchases, which is the trade-off for the free tier.

The app holds a 3.1 average from 447 ratings and has passed 50,000 installs. Those numbers tell you it has a real audience without claiming universal satisfaction, and I would read them as a sign that the app does its job for the people who want exactly this kind of coverage.

If you live in or follow Delaware and want its news, sports and weather in one place, with a paper edition thrown in, this is the app to install. If your news habits are national and occasional, the free sampling will likely be all you need.

What's new in version 8.13.2

• This update includes bug fixes and stability improvements.