Leave a Review Wondery
Love Wondery. The app - not so much
I have been listening to Wondery shows for a while. I love the content.
I recently subscribed to Wondery + and started using the app instead of the Apple podcast app.
I mostly listen to podcasts while driving, my cell phone is connected to my car on Apple CarPlay. Every time I receive a phone call or a text message the app resets itself and will not continue playing the podcast after the call is finished or the text message reading is completed.
I have to get my phone, unlock it, open the Wondery app again, push play again to continue listening. Not only is this extremely annoying, it is also dangerous to do while driving.
Please fix this. There is no value to Wondery + otherwise: I would prefer to continue to use the Apple podcast appShow lessmg1818
Since they keep bugging me to rate the app even though I’m paying monthly for it, here it is...
The content they offer is top notch. I want to get that out of the way. This isn’t a review of a single show or related to multiple shows. I enjoy most of Wondery content. I also wouldn’t have these complaints if they didn’t make you pay for it.
This review is based on their app entirely:
1) The app constantly restarts itself and is worthless as far as getting out of the car and getting back in. Every other audio app I have picks up where it left off on car restart. Wondery shuts itself down and you have to restart it on your phone at each stop...then navigate their interface...each time. As when it restarts, it resets what you were listening to previously.
2) This doesn’t help since, their start screen doesn’t make it easy to get back to the show you were on.
3) It also doesn’t help as they push “episodes” over shows so you have to start an episode in order to mute it just to repeatedly click on the title of the program to get to an episode list. Why is it so difficult? Just let me have a quick option to go to shows I listen to if you won’t allow continued listening.
4) I like the Wondery productions, but this app is very flawed. I just want someone who is looking through reviews to know, before they purchase a subscription, that the app will give you more grief than it’s worth. It is easier to listen the normal way.Show lessGcauley
Developer Response
Thanks for trying the app and for the feedback. We are new and are continuously working to improve the app, so this helps! To address your issues: 1) we are aware of this issue and are working on a fix that will keep the app alive in the background longer when you’ve paused playback. 2) in the meantime, when the app restarts, the episode you were in the middle of is loaded automatically into the mini-player at the bottom of the screen, and in the second row of the Home Screen (Continue Listening). 3) if you want to easily find your favorite shows without browsing the home page, I recommend adding them to My Shows (on the show page) and then tapping on the Library icon when you launch the app 4) thanks again for the feedback, and thanks for listening! If you have any more thoughts or questions don’t hesitate to email us at support@wondery.comWondery makes great shows, but app needs work
Wondery’s shows are awesome, this feedback is purely about the app:
The app is frankly over-designed. Everything transitions in with a slow animation, buttons are often odd sizes and unresponsive for a second or two when you re-open the app. You also have to constantly watch the “Feel the Story” logo animation. The show you were just listening to is not given a higher priority when you re-open at the app.
My phone heats up when using the app, probably because of all of the animation and effects.
But the biggest annoyance is that the app doesn’t seem able to stay alive in the background while paused. If I stop my show for even a minute or two, the app closes or gets suspended and I have to go back into it again to find my episode to resume. You frequently can’t use system media controls or your headphones to unpause. Phone calls also seem to cause the app to either crash or get suspended in the background.
I want to listen to the shows ad-free but all of these problems resuming playback are more annoying than having your Wondery shows on a different app with ads.Show lessCorey Csuhta
Content is fine, app is trash
I really like Tides of History, so I figured I’d get the subscription and maybe a little of my money would trickle to him. But the app works so poorly!
There is big stuff—it constantly logs me out and doesn’t recognize my credentials until I uninstall and reinstall, and downloaded episodes will regularly disappear for no reason, which is frustrating because I often download big chunks for periods where I’ll be out of reception and then they’re not there. There is also just little stuff that works really poorly—if I’m using it at the same time as google maps, it doesn’t pause when that app takes over audio to give directions. Every other podcast app can do this! Some even rewind a second so you don’t lose context on resumption. This is made even worse because the 15 second rewind button on the lock screen rarely works.
All in all, I’ll probably go back to Apple Podcasts and deal with the ads. Especially because the 30 second fast forward button on that app actually works.Show lessZRHold1989
Developer Response
We're sorry for the trouble, but we appreciate your feedback. In order for us to address these issues in more depth, would you mind shooting us an email at support@wondery.com when you get a chance? Thanks!Was excited and then tried the app...
I love Wondery podcasts and I finally broke down and committed myself to subscribing. Thankfully there is a free trial because the app is horrible. One, the app could not be controlled via my AirPod pros. I wasn't trying anything fancy, simple pause and play. It wasn't even able to accomplish that. The biggest disappointment is that the app takes minutes to load the episodes and then when I'd pause an episode I wasn't able to get it to play once again. I closed the app, reopened it and I still was unable to pick up where I left off on the episode. The control buttons on the app became unresponsive to the point where I gave up on the app. So disappointing on so many levels. Hope they fix it.Show lessreview one
Great content, terrible app
I want to like this app. I really do. But it’s a hot mess! Several issues plague this app that don’t effect other podcast players. Here’s a few;
You’re listening to a podcast & you get a call, the app doesn’t pause & resume after the call. Oh no. It resets itself & you have to reload it from the start. If you’re lucky the show you were listening to held its place. Pause a show to look up something? Full reset. Stay paused for too long? Yep full reset. Here’s another issue. The fast forward & rewind buttons don’t work when playing. You can literally wind up anywhere in a shows timeline if you make the mistake of touching those buttons. The content gets scattered all over the home screen of the app with no sense of organization. It won’t save a playlist of shows you’re listening to. No notifications of new episodes so you have to keep checking. I could go on but it’s in several reviews already. Just read up. Bottom line... I got the subscriber feed from the website & just downloaded them from there in another player. I love the content. The shows are fantastic. I’m a subscriber. But this app isn’t worth the trouble.
Fix this Wondery!!!Show lessRobert White 74
Developer Response
Hi Robert - Thanks again for the feedback. We've made several improvements to the app to address the performance and stability bugs you mentioned. We're also actively working on additional improvements to continue making the Wondery app the best place to enjoy Wondery+. We truly value your feedback - if you have any additional suggestions or feedback, drop us a note at support@wondery.com and we'll dig into it right away. Happy listening!The WORST!!
Bear with me. I subscribed to Wondery so I could download shows to listen to while I was out of service ... no wi-fi, no internet, no nothing ... in the bowels of the Alaskan wilderness. Imagine how disappointed I was to be in the wilderness and try to listen to my “Downloaded Episodes” but noooo ... Wondery wanted me to log in, like I’d never logged in before or even used the app. Ok, no problem ... I’ll play their silly game and log in again EXCEPT since I wasn’t on-line, logging in is impossible and you get the message, “an error occurred.”
So I got NOTHING!!! I’d already signed in when I was in civilization so why Wondery needed me to sign in again is beyond me. The second I got BACK into service,
Wondery didn’t ask me to sign in ... it just automatically connected me (as it should no matter where I am!!)
Another HUGE negative to this app is that EVERY time you launch it, it searches and searches and searches FOREVER before you’ll see anything to listen to. Even if I’m using the Wondery app but switch to any other app (say, I want to look at my texts) switching back to Wondery starts the whole process over again. Fifteen seconds AT LEAST while it “boots up” again. If you don’t leave Wondery in the foreground 100% of the time and do NOTHING ELSE on your phone, it’ll be like the first time you’ve opened the app ... and the process starts all over.
Just HORRIBLE. Absolutely the worst app I’ve ever used.Show lesskccrane
Developer Response
Thanks for trying the app and for the feedback. Most of what you’re describing is definitely not expected, particularly with our latest update. I would like to know more so we can troubleshoot and resolve ASAP. Could you email me at support@wondery.com with more info (including your device model) so we can investigate and resolve? Also, I wanted to let you know that you can use a Wondery+ subscription in Apple Podcasts and other popular apps. More info is at https://wonderyplus.com/apple-podcastsThe podcasts are good, but...
Although there are several Wondery podcasts I’m interested in listening to, the player itself is what is going to keep me from subscribing.
Yes, the lack of ads saves time, but the limited options to speed up playback (1x; 1.25x; 1.5x; 1.75x and 2x) most of the time leave me feeling like I’m either listening too fast or too slow. There are several podcast apps and audioplayer apps that offer speed up in increments of .1. A lot of the time 1.3 or 1.4 is perfect when listening to Wondery podcasts on other apps. I really don’t understand the limited options especially from a brand as professional as Wondery.
Something else that is very frustrating, is that when you play back episodes on the continuous setting where the next one automatically plays, if you had the speed set to 1.25x the next episode starts playing at 1x speed even though it shows that it’s 1.25. I thought maybe I was crazy so I played something through the end at 1.75x and the next episode automatically started but it was at 1x, not 1.75 as the app was showing. So every time a new episode starts I have to stop what I’m doing, go back to the app and click through the speeds one time until it resets and starts speeding up again.
If these issues are addressed and rectified, I would 100% become a long term subscriber. Until then, I’ll probably listen in another app at an optimal speed. It’s not worth the headache and optimal speed is so important to me.Show lessktb224
Developer Response
Thanks for trying the app and for your detailed feedback. I will pass along your feedback to the team and we can hopefully resolve both issues. In the meantime I did want to let you know that if you subscribe to Wondery+ you can also use it in Apple Podcasts and other popular apps. More info at wonderyplus.com/apple-podcastsPretty frustrating
I wanted to love this app since I upgraded to Wondery Plus to avoid commercials. I am happy with the selection however the app is extremely unreliable. I’ve had it crash a few times and every time I open it an older podcast that I have finished appears as the current episode and I have to search for the actual current podcast AND episode. It doesn’t keep track of what I have or haven’t heard yet so I have to figure out or guess which episode I’m on. I just paused to make a phone call and switched back to the app and it restarted with the old podcast again. Hoping these bugs get worked out soon so it’s a better experience.Show lessLauraAngel
Everything I Need
This is the first app I’ve downloaded that is used specifically for podcasts. I really love that it’s a variety of subjects and I can listen to a podcast that I’m sucked into early, before it finishes to listeners that don’t pay the additional amount for the ability to binge listen basically. It also gives me decent recommendation results and is simple to search for podcasts. Overall, I’m very happy with it and it was worth the extra amount for the perks and benefits of ad free podcasts.Show lessTab1804
