SmartNews: Breaking News

SmartNews Review: 4,500 Publishers and Reading Points, No Ad Off Switch

Free to read, with video ads you can't stop since version 24.5

Every channel, Local included, costs nothing, and ads pay for it: the help center said in February 2026 that no plan removes them. Since versions 24.5.10 on iOS and 24.5.30 on Android in May 2024, video ads autoplay muted whenever they scroll into view, because the setting that stopped them was removed. Of the 150 newest English Play reviews, posted September 7 to October 1, 2026, 29 mention ads, several describing full-screen video with no close button; a September developer reply calls it a recently introduced format. Apple's US listing still shows two "Ads-free SmartNews" purchases, at $3.99 and $4.99, that the help center never explains; prices vary by region and may change.

Top News, Local and the political-spectrum slider: how the feed is built

SmartNews's publisher help says the algorithm weighs hundreds of thousands of stories against the news of the moment and readers' interests, while the publishers in the Top News strip are hand-picked and can't be edited. You steer the rest from each story's three-dot menu: See Less for a topic, Block for a publisher, both reversible under Profile. Local follows your shared location or a fixed ZIP code anywhere in the US except Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. The website still advertises a slider showing coverage from across the political spectrum, which TechCrunch described in 2019 as sorting one story into five groups. The feed refreshes in the background, with no manual-only setting.

SmartNews Rewards: 1,000 points per $1 and a 180-day clock

Rewards opened widely in March 2026 after a US beta that began in December 2025. Points come from missions such as launching the app daily or reading featured articles, at 1,000 points per dollar, redeemable from 500 points for charity donations or Tango's catalog of 500-plus gift cards, though many brands start at $1 or $5. Points expire 180 days after you last earned any, redeeming needs a verified phone number, and only US residents aged 14 or older qualify. Goals differ between accounts because campaign settings are tested per user, and the Rewards tab can't be hidden. Store coupons, a Japanese-edition feature, are absent from the US listing and help center.

SmartNews, Inc. in Tokyo, and where your location data goes

The developer was founded in Tokyo in 2012 as Gocro, Inc., hence the jp.gocro package name; co-founders Ken Suzuki and Kaisei Hamamoto still lead it, and TechCrunch reported a $2 billion valuation after its 2021 funding round. The privacy policy, updated July 31, 2026, says data may be stored in Japan and the US, and that disclosures to advertising partners, precise GPS location included, may count as a sale or sharing under California law; the opt-out is under Settings, Your Privacy Choices. Location stays optional, since a ZIP code also feeds Local. On Play, Data safety lists location, user IDs and device IDs as shared for advertising, and Apple's label names nine data types that may be used to track you.