# KQED: Bay Area Culture & News — user reviews > 154 indexed App Store user reviews of KQED by KQED Inc., rated 4.90/5 from 9,416 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kqed-bay-area-culture-and-news/id466558955/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kqed-bay-area-culture-and-news/id466558955.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 8,749 · 4★ 538 · 3★ 58 · 2★ 26 · 1★ 45 ## What do users think of KQED? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 High-quality content - 👍 Reliable local news source - 🚀 Convenient app for listening - 🚀 Pledge-free stream - 👍 Informative and thought-provoking programs **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes and disconnections - 🐛 Inconsistent performance - 🔋 Battery drain issues - 🐛 Sync issues between app and live radio - 🐛 Unreliable streaming **Commonly reported bugs** - App quits unexpectedly - Live stream keeps cutting off - Playback controls not working as expected - Repeated sponsorship messages upon reconnection - Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions **Most requested features** - Add search functionality - Improve sleep timer and playback controls - Implement CarPlay support - Optimize app for iPad and landscape mode - Provide better offline listening options ## Newest reviews (18 of 154) ### 2/5 — Doesn’t work 25 % of the time *2026-08-03, version 9.23.1* Maybe their servers are down? ### 5/5 — Annon *2026-07-17, version 9.22.2* Listening from the UK - my first dose of reliable info for the day .. ### 5/5 — Support Public Media *2026-07-16, version 9.22.2* Love all the information I receive. Worth the support! ### 5/5 — KQED is the best *2026-07-14, version 9.22.2* I love the KQED app, I use it every day for news and information. I appreciate the local news coverage and features like Bay Curious. Forum covers an excellent range of topics from local history and events to national and international topics in arts, science, politics and sports. The news is always truthful and their cultural coverage has flair. ### 4/5 — Mostly positive review *2026-07-13, version 9.22.2* We just need to get the ten second fast forward button back. The two arrow fast forward does strange things and it’s not clear how much it fast forwards. Love the ten second rewind button. That is the best part of the app. ### 5/5 — My best friend! *2026-07-12, version 9.22.2* I am a monthly subscriber on my very limited income.. I have radio on in each room when my husband isn’t around. I remember my dad also had Kgo on in each room when I was a kid in the 50’s and 60’.. I love all the programs with some being my favorite! Too many to list! I learn so much listening to all the interesting guests! ### 5/5 — Outstanding news and information for The Bay *2026-07-08, version 9.22.0* An amazing variety of news that is important and worthy of my time. Terrific dark mode and an audio player and videos that qualify it as information and reading really propels the curiosity and effectiveness as an app. Also spotlights are flexible. The screen time when dealing with background playing time could be adjusted. ### 4/5 — Phantom rewind *2026-04-21, version 9.20.0* I am frequently getting automatic rewinds while streaming. The content I’m listening to will stop and then restart from a place of about 10 or 15 seconds earlier and then proceed, only to repeat the process. This causes me to go to a different station’s app in order to listen to Morning Eddition, for example. ### 4/5 — App Resets too Frequently *2026-04-16, version 9.20.0* I love KQED and I listen to it multiple times per day. It’s really frustrating that, if you get a phone call or you accidentally turn on the dictation, it completely resets every time. Then I have to listen to the “Sponsorship introduction”. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize the need for the sponsorship. But if the phone simply interrupts the KQED streaming for a very short time, even as few as 15 seconds, I feel like I shouldn’t have to listen to the sponsorship again. That’s my main complaint. I still listen all the time. And I’m a sustaining member for over 25 years now. But I listen daily and often. So this problem affects me often. ### 5/5 — KQED Forever *2026-03-20, version 9.19.2* Thank you everyone who supports KQED. For Bay Area & CA community news and culture, it’s simply the best. ### 5/5 — Playful take on word search *2026-02-20, version 9.19.0* The new foggy find game is quite fun. My partner and I enjoy playing everyday. Love KQED ### 3/5 — The reports I *2026-02-08, version 9.18.5* I have listened to two several reports. They probably work for most people, but personally, I would prefer more concise reports. apologies, the forgoing was not well said. Perhaps most appropriate is that I am put off by the naïve approach taken in some of the reports. ### 3/5 — The reports I *2026-02-04, version 9.18.5* I have listened to two several reports. They probably work for most people, but personally, I would prefer more concise reports. ### 5/5 — No chaser *2026-02-02, version 9.18.5* Give it to me! ### 5/5 — E.s.o *2026-01-31, version 9.18.5* Best radio station ever ### 5/5 — Weekend Edition *2026-01-24, version 9.18.5* Scott Simon ### 5/5 — Great conversation starters *2026-01-07, version 9.18.3* With the vast amount of interesting information, you can definitely become an interesting person. ### 3/5 — Radio playback is broken *2026-01-05, version 9.18.3* This is usually a great app. However the latest update has broken radio live streaming. You can no longer scroll back in time in the live radio, you have to skip back 10 seconds at a time and the buffer usually breaks before you reach the beginning of the thing you were trying to catch up on. I hope this gets fixed soon! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Mood? *2026-03-08, version 9.19.0* AI slop that tracks you. ### 1/5 — Slop? *2026-02-18, version 9.19.0* No definition of what “mood personalization” means. No screen shots of where “mood” is in the app and it implies more than one mood but not what they are. Could it be using stupid intelligence? Time to delete.. ### 1/5 — Poor controls *2024-12-28, version 9.10.1* Pause, back, and play buttons don’t work 80% of the time. ### 1/5 — No search function *2024-10-10, version 9.7.1* This app is not user friendly and doesn’t even have a search function. ### 1/5 — Roasting my phone *2024-08-21, version 9.5.2* Listening to the radio stream causes my phone to heat up and run down the battery quickly. (iPhone 12 Pro Max) ### 1/5 — What happened??? *2024-05-04, version 9.2.1* This app used to be very easy to use. What happened? Whatever improvements you were attending to do, sometimes less is more... ### 1/5 — Live stream keeps cutting off *2024-01-24, version 8.9.6* For some reason the live stream keeps stopping after playing or a few seconds, this problem started a few days ago and I think it may be from the distribution side because it happens on TuneIn Radio app as well. ### 1/5 — Love the content but app rarely works well *2024-01-23, version 8.9.6* Love the content but app rarely works well ### 1/5 — Have to downgrade *2023-10-17, version 8.9.2* Used to give this 5 star, but since recent app update it no longer works on my IPhone 11. It spontaneously quits even after deleting and redownloading. ### 1/5 — Since 8.9.1 update, app crashes on every launch *2023-10-09, version 8.9.2* Deleting/redownloading doesn’t change the behavior. IP8, iOS 14.6.1 ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — I❤️ KQED *2026-08-04, version 9.23.1* I’ve been listening to KQED since I was in middle school with my parents in the car ### 5/5 — KQED *2026-08-02, version 9.23.1* The best! ### 5/5 — KQED rocks! *2026-07-29, version 9.23.0* This is the place to get clear eyed, intelligent and interesting content! ### 5/5 — Love it *2026-07-28, version 9.23.0* KQED my life long partner ### 5/5 — KQED where and when I want *2026-07-26, version 9.23.0* I have relied on the KQED app for years. It works great. I can find KQED wherever I am in the world. Thank you for an awesome app and great station. I’m proud to have been a member for more than 20 years. ### 5/5 — Love KQED *2026-07-24, version 9.16.1* This app keeps me sane. I listen to it the most when I can't sleep. So great to have KQED to listen to night and day. ### 5/5 — Awesome! *2026-07-23, version 9.23.0* Everything at my fingertips! Timely, in-depth, informative, ensuring public awareness and resource information. Highly entertaining, too! Something for everyone!💗💗💗 ### 5/5 — Real news. (And entertainment) *2026-07-23, version 9.23.0* KQED is fantastic, and having the app makes it easy listen anytime and anywhere. The news is unbiased and they cover the things that cable news does not. Highly recommend. ### 5/5 — App works great but… *2026-07-20, version 9.22.2* It’s disconcerting that the live stream is about 2-3 minutes behind live radio. Other than that, the app is great, and I love KQED and NPR. ### 5/5 — Required *2026-07-18, version 9.22.2* I have supported KQED for 35 years…best investment ever. 🥰 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-06.*