So much promise, so poorly executed
NPR has great content, it's a shame they put it into this useless app. If you haven't seen this already, it will lock you out if you don't register after one week. I just want to listen to some podcasts, I don't want to cultivate a bubble. And no, NPR, I don't want you to track my usage. Take off. Second, the app does not queue the next segment, so if you're listening in a place with intermittent service (like the subway or in a car) you get one segment, then dead air. Extremely frustrating. It also randomly drops what you're listening to and starts a new segment. If you pause for more than a few seconds it starts a whole new podcast and there's no way to go back to what you were listening to without stopping, searching, and restarting. Overall, I love the content, it makes my commute interesting and at least feel somewhat productive. But this app is so dysfunctional as to defeat its own purpose. Please fix it.
Update: I wrote this something like 4 years ago and nothing has changed, except maybe to get worse. Now I get 5 - 10 minutes of a stream, then the buffer times out and I get the three “loading” dots for a long time until the app just crashes. Useless.
Update: I wrote this something like 4 years ago and nothing has changed, except maybe to get worse. Now I get 5 - 10 minutes of a stream, then the buffer times out and I get the three “loading” dots for a long time until the app just crashes. Useless.
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Not for listening to public radio
I switched over to NPR One from the original NPR app. The One version is overall styled better, but functionally is not quite there. It’s great if you go to NPR for its regular news-oriented programming or podcasts, but not for listening to public radio. Indeed, the latter is an afterthought at best: on the main “home” page (when you open the app), you have to scroll down a bit to get to your local station, and even then a further click to get to its streams. Or you can go to the dedicated station tab, but same deal: another click for different streams. But—and here’s its main weakness—you cannot add more than one local station at a time. This is really too bad, because one of the main benefits of the internet is that you can access stuff from afar, including favorite public radio stations (sorry, LA, but Sac’s classical stream is far better!). Oh, and Apple Car Play? Forget about it. Useless.
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Just Ok, so I use ApplePodcasts
I started off listening to NPR podcasts with this app. I loved it! I had more control over what I listened to as I didn’t always enjoy the shows played on my local NPR station. Over time though, I got frustrated and started to subscribe to NPR shows/podcasts on the ApplePodcasts app instead.
1. Ad breaks in NPR One app can’t be skipped unless you pay for the premium service. I already donate $35/month to my local NPR station and I don’t want to pull that away from them. Also, the donation drive weeks are still pretty annoying in the app, so no thanks. ApplePodcasts allow the user to skip through ads and they’re just less annoying in general. I know this likely isn’t possible but is there no way to link up local station donors to an NPR One account to a premium account?
2. The app does not remember your playback position if you stop listening and use another app or even remain in the app to read an article. I will stop in the middle of a podcast to read an article in the NPR app and when I go back to listening, it kicks off with another ad, then starts in on the National Newscast, completely forgetting about the podcast I was listening to. ApplePodcasts holds your playback position in a podcast even if you close out the app, and it is wonderful.
Those are my two most significant gripes at the moment.
1. Ad breaks in NPR One app can’t be skipped unless you pay for the premium service. I already donate $35/month to my local NPR station and I don’t want to pull that away from them. Also, the donation drive weeks are still pretty annoying in the app, so no thanks. ApplePodcasts allow the user to skip through ads and they’re just less annoying in general. I know this likely isn’t possible but is there no way to link up local station donors to an NPR One account to a premium account?
2. The app does not remember your playback position if you stop listening and use another app or even remain in the app to read an article. I will stop in the middle of a podcast to read an article in the NPR app and when I go back to listening, it kicks off with another ad, then starts in on the National Newscast, completely forgetting about the podcast I was listening to. ApplePodcasts holds your playback position in a podcast even if you close out the app, and it is wonderful.
Those are my two most significant gripes at the moment.
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NPR is always FIVE stars | This app is ONE
The concept is fantastic and it’s really nice be able to listen to stories on “shuffle” in a similar way you listen on the radio, without knowing what the next subject may be. The problem is you can not customize what you hear in any way, I listen to marketplace every evening on my way home from work so I don’t need it in the NPR One app. But I can’t inform the app that I don’t want to hear this anymore. It also repeats over and over and over, I’ve heart the intro to Children of Afghanistan no less than nine times so far. Lastly, you should be able to filter content based on your mood, the world is a depressing place right now and some days I don’t have it in me to hear political news. I feel like you should be able to “toggle” off political content, or the opposite…when it’s the day before/after an election, you could toggle on political content ONLY.
Everyone should absolutely still download the app, because the content is top notch and the tech is ALMOST there, but a lot more functionality, filters, “dislike” buttons, etc. are all needed to make this app live up to what NPR believes it is.
Everyone should absolutely still download the app, because the content is top notch and the tech is ALMOST there, but a lot more functionality, filters, “dislike” buttons, etc. are all needed to make this app live up to what NPR believes it is.
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Disappointing Downgrade
Update: Still playing repeat episodes, in the last 24 hours they’ve tried to play the same episode at least 6 times (that I’ve noticed so far)
I used to listen to NPR on the NPR News app, where you could make playlists and listen to (or binge) all your favorite shows, or choose a station and listen to a live stream. When the podcasts jumped ship, I was forced to switch over to this app, and it's been painful. Limited number of skips, but the news segments are broken up story by story, so you waste 10 of them trying to get through one segment, no playlist feature, which is the most frustrating thing. I've had the app randomly start playing when my phone was on silent and in my pocket, in public, in meetings, in the middle of conversations, even when the app isn't open. Additionally, there are several podcasts that seem to be added to my feed as filler. They play episodes I've heard multiple times, not rebroadcasts or new versions, just the same episode over and over. My most recent complaint is that it's become particularly glitchy. Not playing the story you select (as in playing a completely different one), or not loading. If this wasn't the only way for me to hear these podcasts I would never use this app again. The shuffle feature should be an option, but not the entirety of the function of the platform. This is a poorly designed disaster.
I used to listen to NPR on the NPR News app, where you could make playlists and listen to (or binge) all your favorite shows, or choose a station and listen to a live stream. When the podcasts jumped ship, I was forced to switch over to this app, and it's been painful. Limited number of skips, but the news segments are broken up story by story, so you waste 10 of them trying to get through one segment, no playlist feature, which is the most frustrating thing. I've had the app randomly start playing when my phone was on silent and in my pocket, in public, in meetings, in the middle of conversations, even when the app isn't open. Additionally, there are several podcasts that seem to be added to my feed as filler. They play episodes I've heard multiple times, not rebroadcasts or new versions, just the same episode over and over. My most recent complaint is that it's become particularly glitchy. Not playing the story you select (as in playing a completely different one), or not loading. If this wasn't the only way for me to hear these podcasts I would never use this app again. The shuffle feature should be an option, but not the entirety of the function of the platform. This is a poorly designed disaster.
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Every update has a featured bug!
Fix one thing and break another. NPR app developers like to feature not-so-fun and absolutely-infuriating bugs with each new app version released. One of the most annoying featured bugs of the current release is long-pressing the NPROne icon and tapping "catch up" to listen to the latest news doesn't work if the app is already open in the background. It'll just open the app and present you with whatever you were last listening to last time you were using the app. Have to force-close the app then do the long-press/catch up in order to get the latest news cast to play.
I've also noticed on the short recordings asking you to "tap your screen to hear more" that tapping those does nothing. Short keeps playing to the end, ignoring your taps, and moves on to the next audio clip.
Starting to think I should just get a generic podcast app and start subscribing to the individual NPR shows I like. Would be far less frustrating. So much for finding new stuff I didn't know I'd like...
I've also noticed on the short recordings asking you to "tap your screen to hear more" that tapping those does nothing. Short keeps playing to the end, ignoring your taps, and moves on to the next audio clip.
Starting to think I should just get a generic podcast app and start subscribing to the individual NPR shows I like. Would be far less frustrating. So much for finding new stuff I didn't know I'd like...
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Giving up on NPROne
This is probably THE WORST version of this app yet. Everything is scattered across different parts of the app. Why bother with another app when I can get what I want online: Hourly news and daily news stories that I can choose and listen to.
If you want to improve the NPROne, my suggestion is to SIMPLIFY: Ditch the written stories, I want to listen, or at least make that a completely separate part of the app, not with other features mixed in; fix the bugs that replay stories over again and list the same stories two or three times over when I’m looking at the days news; make it easier to choose what specific news I want to listen too because I don’t want to listen to it all, and certainly not what randomly comes up; provide a feature to download individual daily news stories for listening later when I’m offline.
If you want to improve the NPROne, my suggestion is to SIMPLIFY: Ditch the written stories, I want to listen, or at least make that a completely separate part of the app, not with other features mixed in; fix the bugs that replay stories over again and list the same stories two or three times over when I’m looking at the days news; make it easier to choose what specific news I want to listen too because I don’t want to listen to it all, and certainly not what randomly comes up; provide a feature to download individual daily news stories for listening later when I’m offline.
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Great content, but loaded with bugs! Now more than ever.
The last update several weeks ago doesn’t work with CarPlay. It is the worst version ever. “Unable to connect to NPR One” displays. It happens to me and my friends, and in every car I own or rent, so it’s not just me or my device.
Also, it would be nice if there was a convenient shortcut to National News. I have to click Explore, then scroll down the screen pretty far too find that link. It’s a problem (read dangerous) while driving, especially since CarPlay has stopped working.
Previous review:
Love NPR news, programs, and podcasts. This app could be great if the bugs get cleaned up. The app cannot keep its place when you get a phone call. Sometimes it cannot even handle a simple Pause without starting a new program instead of continuing where you paused the audio. The real nasty bug is that it randomly starts playing on its own, sometimes even during a phone call on the same device! The person you are calling cannot hear it’s, but it’s playing the news over to of your phone call. It started playing by itself many times while my phone was just sitting on the kitchen counter, abs during a meeting at work. They added goofy jingles before the news cast so you have to wait for it to play before the news starts. I hope they can fix these annoying bugs soon.
Also, it would be nice if there was a convenient shortcut to National News. I have to click Explore, then scroll down the screen pretty far too find that link. It’s a problem (read dangerous) while driving, especially since CarPlay has stopped working.
Previous review:
Love NPR news, programs, and podcasts. This app could be great if the bugs get cleaned up. The app cannot keep its place when you get a phone call. Sometimes it cannot even handle a simple Pause without starting a new program instead of continuing where you paused the audio. The real nasty bug is that it randomly starts playing on its own, sometimes even during a phone call on the same device! The person you are calling cannot hear it’s, but it’s playing the news over to of your phone call. It started playing by itself many times while my phone was just sitting on the kitchen counter, abs during a meeting at work. They added goofy jingles before the news cast so you have to wait for it to play before the news starts. I hope they can fix these annoying bugs soon.
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I listen daily, but there are a few bugs
This app is overall solid and listening is part of my daily routine, but there are a few bugs that don’t stop me from listening, but are an annoyance:
1. I wish the app would do a better job of remember where I leave off. I listen to longer shows like Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me over the course of the week and since the app doesn’t do a good job of remembering my place, I’ve started taking screenshots of the time stamp before closing the app so I can start at the right place in the episode when I come back.
2. The show “This is Uncomfortable” is stuck in my list of followed shows in the explore tab. I didn’t followed that show and I don’t have the option to unfollow it like I do for other shows.
3. I can’t click the bottom option in a show’s episode list because it’s blocked by the play/audio bar at the bottom of the screen. This is especially noticeable for shows like “This is Dating” where the newest episodes are on the bottom of the page. Since I can’t click on new episodes from the show page because it’s blocked by the play/audio bar, I have to find the episode title and search for it in the app search bar to find and play the latest episode.
Overall, I enjoy using this app! These are just some minor bugs that are a bit of annoyance. Thank you!
1. I wish the app would do a better job of remember where I leave off. I listen to longer shows like Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me over the course of the week and since the app doesn’t do a good job of remembering my place, I’ve started taking screenshots of the time stamp before closing the app so I can start at the right place in the episode when I come back.
2. The show “This is Uncomfortable” is stuck in my list of followed shows in the explore tab. I didn’t followed that show and I don’t have the option to unfollow it like I do for other shows.
3. I can’t click the bottom option in a show’s episode list because it’s blocked by the play/audio bar at the bottom of the screen. This is especially noticeable for shows like “This is Dating” where the newest episodes are on the bottom of the page. Since I can’t click on new episodes from the show page because it’s blocked by the play/audio bar, I have to find the episode title and search for it in the app search bar to find and play the latest episode.
Overall, I enjoy using this app! These are just some minor bugs that are a bit of annoyance. Thank you!
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What’s “Listen Later” Even There For?!?!
I basically hate this app. I don’t know why I’m even giving it two stars; I guess I just want to be as supportive as possible. Basically, this is no better than just listening to the radio or searching the Internet for stories. When I look around and find something I’m interested in, I either have to listen to it immediately – interrupting whatever I am listening to currently — or just yet “save it for later“ and hope that somehow that does something. But it doesn’t. I can’t build any kind of a playlist or queue. This is a stupidly designed app. I’d rather just turn on the radio or use my podcast app. This app gives me no control other than to skip a story (that I didn’t pick anyway). I’m rambling. Point is, I’m *this close* to (once again) deleting this app because it’s just not useful. It’s just lame.
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A total five except….
The NPR One app is pretty fantastic. It’s the first thing I listen to every morning. One great feature is that it keeps playing short, great stories Neil you stop it. Another is that you can skip past any story you don’t like. But that’s my one “except”: there is no “skip Back” button that I can find. So if you miss seeing what the previous great story was, yiu can’t find it. Or if you accidentally skip ahead before something is over, you can’t go back. This is particularly annoying if you miss part of the National Newscast, which is a fantastic quick summary of the days headlines and is updated every 60 minutes.
Still, the best news app around! Try it!
Still, the best news app around! Try it!
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Still flawed but latest update is much improved
The mini player itself is great and pretty much the same format you would expect from any audio app on iOS. It’s not dark mode when you have it maximized but it’s close enough to not make much of a difference. The forward and back buttons are a great improvement. The main app is still going to blind you if you open the app at night but at least you can get it to something more reasonable by maximizing the player. Searching for recently missed shows on some of the podcasts with lots of shows is still a chore. When you go to the shows podcast page, they are still ordered from oldest to newest instead of the other way around like any other player would do which can mean scrolling through dozens of pages to get to a newer show for some of these podcasts. A sort button like most other apps use would go a long way to fixing this problem. Hopefully this update is and indicator that the app developer is listening and we don’t need to wait years for basic features after this. I do like NPR and this app is a significant improvement. A little more tweaking and it could be five stars.
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Response from developer
Hi there, Glad you're liking the new features. Thanks for the suggestion on dark mode. We hear you and will take it to the team for consideration! Thanks for listening to NPR One!
Beyond Annoying
For the most part this is a decent app, but I’ll tell you what I find beyond annoying. You’re listening to a story and in the middle of it. It’s a great story. You’re excited, enraptured, curious to see what’s going do you happen next. You pick up your phone, which you were listening on, and accidentally bump the forward button. The next thing you know, your story is gone. And there’s no way to return to it. True, they have a finished listening section. Unfortunately it’s filled with stories you were listening to last week and the month before, not stories that you were listening to recently. Aaaarrrrrggh!
Why can’t they have a back button? I don’t mean going 15 seconds back to listen to something you just missed, we’re going back to the store you were listening to.
So, until they fix this problem, I’m only gonna give them three stars for a halfway decent app.
Why can’t they have a back button? I don’t mean going 15 seconds back to listen to something you just missed, we’re going back to the store you were listening to.
So, until they fix this problem, I’m only gonna give them three stars for a halfway decent app.
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Not Podcast Friendly
I like the option to save podcast episodes and news stories to “listen later” but the app buries that list at the very bottom of a scroll under the “explore” tab, not the “listen” tab, which is super unintuitive and hard to find. Then when you’re listening to an episode, the controls on the full screen view don’t give an option to advance by 15 or 30 seconds, just reverse. And if the phone is locked, the mini player on the Lock Screen doesn’t even give the reverse option. I need to unlock my phone and pull up the app every time I want to back it up 15 or 30 seconds to hear something I’ve missed. The mini player should give both the back up and advance options. I’m also frustrated by the fact that if I’m listening to a podcast from the Listen Later selection, then pause it for more than a minute, the app has forgotten what I was listening to, even though I didn’t close the app, and I have to find and re-select the episode, and it doesn’t remember where I stopped.
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I love the NPR app, but hate the NPR One app!
I listen hours & hours of NPR podcasts every week but have given up on this NPR One app. A major point of listening to apps is the convenience to listen to the desired content without having to touch or even look at the screen on my iPhone or iPad. I should be able to listen to all the stories on the selected date for All Things Considered or Weekend Edition with a single tap. And that works beautifully on the NPR app. NPR ONE, however, presents a more cluttered screen that makes it harder to find what I want to hear… and then, once we start, it stops after each daggone story and needs more input from me! When it tries to guess what I’d like to hear next, it is always wrong! I cannot fathom why the house ads on the NPR app keep promoting NPR One. We know about it.. and much prefer the dynamic, simpler version.
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I use this app every day!
I start every morning by listening to the national and regional newscast. It’s informative and only takes a few minutes, while staying objective to events that happened without inserting any political bias.
After that, I let let NPR autoplay through Morning Edition or the podcasts I follow from my previous and current local stations as I go about my morning.
My only gripe is that I wish their search and discoverability UX were more powerful and topic-specific so I could find similar or related podcasts from ones I already currently listen to. I’d also like to be able to more easily explore other city’s stations to see what shows are available in their region without having to guess their obscure/dated string of call letters (so maybe just a map where I could tap on a region and see what shows are popular/being listened to there).
Also, I know it’s not really meant for this but I wish I would be able to make my own playlists and add shows/episodes I find to them: “Shows that got me through 2020”, “BLM”, “Adulting 101”, etc.. The current Save For Later function is just a flat list of up to 20 episodes, but I try to use it for relevant shows I feel were largely representative of or impactful on the era they were released.
Love this app and all the great journalism and content by all these wonderful people.
After that, I let let NPR autoplay through Morning Edition or the podcasts I follow from my previous and current local stations as I go about my morning.
My only gripe is that I wish their search and discoverability UX were more powerful and topic-specific so I could find similar or related podcasts from ones I already currently listen to. I’d also like to be able to more easily explore other city’s stations to see what shows are available in their region without having to guess their obscure/dated string of call letters (so maybe just a map where I could tap on a region and see what shows are popular/being listened to there).
Also, I know it’s not really meant for this but I wish I would be able to make my own playlists and add shows/episodes I find to them: “Shows that got me through 2020”, “BLM”, “Adulting 101”, etc.. The current Save For Later function is just a flat list of up to 20 episodes, but I try to use it for relevant shows I feel were largely representative of or impactful on the era they were released.
Love this app and all the great journalism and content by all these wonderful people.
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Love NPR. Hate this app.
Where do I start? NPR One's algorithm is stupid. I live in San Diego. Almost every day I get a feed for a WAMC station which is in NY. To make matters worse, the feed is of a guy who sounds like an undertaker in a horror movie. His voice is the stuff of nightmares. I have skipped this show every darned time. This SHOULD teach the algorithm not to play it. But now it's not only baked into my algorithm, but it's also listed in my "favorite" podcasts on my NPR One "homepage". Can I change that? So far as I've been able to tell, no.
They've recently"improved" the app by adding a feature that lets you skip through a story by shaking your phone. That means if I happen to PICK UP my phone to go to another room, the story skips. Apple music dropped this feature years ago because it's stupid. Why did NPR add this improvement? I can't fathom.
Can I go back to the skipped story? The app says that your unfinished stories get saved. But no. The stories that the app skips for you just disappear.
Finally the app says that I should be able to listen to the hourly national news broadcast any time by going to the home page. NOPE. Nope, nope, nopity, nope.
In short, I love NPR. I love their content. But if you want to enjoy their content, this app simply gets in the way.
They've recently"improved" the app by adding a feature that lets you skip through a story by shaking your phone. That means if I happen to PICK UP my phone to go to another room, the story skips. Apple music dropped this feature years ago because it's stupid. Why did NPR add this improvement? I can't fathom.
Can I go back to the skipped story? The app says that your unfinished stories get saved. But no. The stories that the app skips for you just disappear.
Finally the app says that I should be able to listen to the hourly national news broadcast any time by going to the home page. NOPE. Nope, nope, nopity, nope.
In short, I love NPR. I love their content. But if you want to enjoy their content, this app simply gets in the way.
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Used to be a decent app most recent update is crap
Not sure what happened with the most recent update to this app but 3 times in the last hour of listening to my podcast the app has (with my phone locked and sitting on my kitchen counter as I’m doing dishes) cutoff my podcast without rhyme or reason changing it to the news. This of course wipes the episode I was listening to from my recent list and also any progress in the podcast I then have to search for that podcast then try to find where it randomly cut off.
An added layer and further annoyance is that the news is of course 10x louder than the podcasts I actually care about so when the app randomly decides to start playing the news it blasts my speakers. This is incredibly obnoxious and if left unfixed I plan to uninstall and find a new place to listen to podcasts because it’s really obnoxious having to stop in the middle of what I’m doing pause the app so it’s no longer blasting my speaker then spend multiple minutes trying to locate the episode and time in the episode where the app cut to the news.
An added layer and further annoyance is that the news is of course 10x louder than the podcasts I actually care about so when the app randomly decides to start playing the news it blasts my speakers. This is incredibly obnoxious and if left unfixed I plan to uninstall and find a new place to listen to podcasts because it’s really obnoxious having to stop in the middle of what I’m doing pause the app so it’s no longer blasting my speaker then spend multiple minutes trying to locate the episode and time in the episode where the app cut to the news.
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Please stop
There’s a feature on your app I’m going to call it, “ Tap the screen now to hear more.” This is the most annoying thing I’ve ever encountered in my life. If I’m listening to a podcast you interrupted this I understand it’s no more than a commercial. But God for bid if I’m actually interested. To hear the stories I must be watching my phone at all times. It would be nice if you had a listen here button to show all the shows that you’ve advertise so people can see them. Other than that love the app. But to reiterate, you purposely make the top your things interesting good. No please give me time to tap on it. And I don’t mean just enough time to trip over the chair climb over the bed and try to get to my phone for it to disappear.
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Connection issues
I don't have any complaints about the app in it's functioning state, but I had the same connectivity issues described by other recent reviewers. I first noticed the issue on 7/29 although it had been over a month since I last opened the app at this point. The original issue began with an 'unable to connect...' message on the 'listen' tab whenever I opened the app - turning both wifi and my VPN on & off didn't change anything. I reinstalled the app (at version 1.11.0) and could no longer reach the 'listen' tab and instead I got stuck on the blue microphone. I downgraded to version 1.9.5 which seemed to fix it and then upgraded to 1.10.0 and finally 1.11.0 (a manual upgrade this time) and the app is running normally again.
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