Bait and switch
We have been fans of Mr. Jim for a long time but this app is clunky and feels like a total sell out. They have flashy graphics and walk you through a pretty streamlined set up process, and then you go through the process of creating a story (obviously using AI). Then right before they let you listen to your story, it’s locked and you have to pay $8 dollars a month. Feels very scammy. Also, the UX is really visual and flashy which defeats the purpose for us because I was trying to keep my kid away from addictive games and screens. I’m disappointed and this feels like Mr. Jim is selling out for profit.
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Just bad
Used to be so good but bro, please add new content. You haven’t updated pixel quest for like a year.
We need more content
Don’t get me wrong everything is good and stuff. I feel like Rio is good as well but sometimes it just feels unnecessary for it to be two minutes long and I lost my story button little radio thing for like maybe six months and then I found it and there’s only five episodes that came
Frustrating
I have to say that the Riffio app has a TON of great material and stories, but is frustrating to use.
The app has no search button to look for what you want.
The app has no search button to look for what you want.
No new content
We first listened to story button on Apple podcast. My kids love the stories so we purchased a subscription. After a few months, there were very few updates to their stories. Then they made an ad to download their new app Bttn plus. We downloaded and purchased a yearly subscription. They added a few episodes, but there has been nothing new for at least three months now. They have now rebranded again to Riffio, where you can make up new stories. But my kids like the original episodes where the characters have different voices etc. We feel like we’ve been ripped off because there has been no new original content for a long time now.
Update. It’s been 5 months and they added 5 episodes to Pixel Quest and 5 episodes for Critter Protectors. The lack of new content is horrible. We will not be maintaining our subscription.
Update. It’s been 5 months and they added 5 episodes to Pixel Quest and 5 episodes for Critter Protectors. The lack of new content is horrible. We will not be maintaining our subscription.
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No new content
We purchased storybutton with the understanding that there would be child safe stories with no hidden subscriptions. At first it was great and my kids enjoyed listening to the different stories. However, they very quickly went through the stories, only to find that new stories are few and far between. We tried Riffio only to be disappointed by difficulty of creating new stories and the fact that the original character voices change. We ended our subscription and have just been listen to repeat episodes. The stories are great but the lack of new content is extremely disappointing.
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Mr. Jim is great!
We absolutely love the stories. Riffio is awesome and entertains the whole family! Thank you, Mr. Jim and co!!
I needed this sooner
I love my story button and wish I had it sooner
in LOVE with our Storybutton
i can’t say enough good things about Storybutton and all the amazing kid-friendly podcasts it offers. It’s a great alternative to screen time - my two littles love using it and I enjoy knowing they’re growing their imaginations by bringing the stories to life. My budding artist has even started drawing Treasure Island pictures. 👩🎨 I know this sounds like a paid promotion but I truly am so happy to have found a piece of technology that doesn’t scare me away from giving my kids free-reign.
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Best podcasts for kids!
Mr Jim has done an amazing job with such creative podcasts that keep my 9 yo son always listening!
Create your own character
The amazing feature of this app is you can create your own character, name them after yourself, and drop them into stories. My son loves listening to his own adventures!
No new content
We first listened to story button on Apple podcast. My kids love the stories so we purchased a subscription. After a few months, there were very few updates to their stories. Then they made an ad to download their new app Bttn plus. We downloaded and purchased a yearly subscription. They added a few episodes, but there has been nothing new for at least three months now. They have now rebranded again to Riffio, where you can make up new stories. But my kids like the original episodes where the characters have different voices etc. We feel like we’ve been ripped off because there has been no new original content for a long time now.
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Was all well and good until…
We’ve loved the Story Button overall and believed it to be a safe space where our kids could explore and listen independently. That trust was broken today. I walked in to find my child listening to a podcast on their Story Button Radio — a podcast we’ve listened to together countless times — and suddenly there’s an ad playing about getting a second phone line to make dating easier, followed by talk of online dating apps.
When I asked my child about it, they casually said, “Yeah, it’s been doing that recently.” So now, even the shows we previously vetted are being injected with strange, adult-themed ads. If that kind of content is slipping in, what else is being said that I’m not aware of?
I contacted Story Button/Riffio’s customer service and was met with zero accountability. They simply said it’s no different than listening to podcasts on Spotify or iTunes and that they don’t control the ads. Funny — that’s not how the product was marketed to me. I paid for a membership expecting a safe, ad-free, kid-friendly experience. That was the selling point.
Now it feels like another bait-and-switch. So disappointing. It’s hard to trust anything anymore.
When I asked my child about it, they casually said, “Yeah, it’s been doing that recently.” So now, even the shows we previously vetted are being injected with strange, adult-themed ads. If that kind of content is slipping in, what else is being said that I’m not aware of?
I contacted Story Button/Riffio’s customer service and was met with zero accountability. They simply said it’s no different than listening to podcasts on Spotify or iTunes and that they don’t control the ads. Funny — that’s not how the product was marketed to me. I paid for a membership expecting a safe, ad-free, kid-friendly experience. That was the selling point.
Now it feels like another bait-and-switch. So disappointing. It’s hard to trust anything anymore.
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Great App, Great Content - Your Kids Will Love It!!
The app is easy to use and loaded with great family friendly content. Excited to explore more of the creative side of the app. Definitely worth a download! I don’t review often but this was worth sharing! Highly recommend!
Needs Work for Price
For the price it needs a lot of work. We LOVE the content. That is not the problem. And it would be a 5 star rating if that was the only thing. But when listening it doesn’t keep track of where you are at or what you have listened to. Making it very difficult when my children listen to something and then they want to start where they left off. We spend more time trying to decide what episode they were on. We really really were hoping for more episodes of the star keepers which was promised and what made us buy the app in the first place. Haven’t seen that. And then today they released some (weird in my opinion) AI feature that I sure hope is not going to replace actual seasons. It’s like a way to get more stories with them not doing any of the work. It’s a cute gimicky feature but seems like that’s where they have been spending their time. We like these stories because of the voice actors and the characters come to life. If I wanted to listen to mediocre audio books (what the AI feature creates) there are plenty of those online for free. I don’t normally leave bad reviews. But there is so much potential here and I hope these things are taken into consideration.
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Response from developer
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! 1. Glad to hear you enjoy the content 2. Yes, agree that we can do a better job at remembering what episode you left off at. This feature needs to be elevated to our teams priorities. 3. Star keepers is not a show produced by Storybutton. So I’m sorry about the misunderstanding there. 4. Our new interactive story feature that allows users to create new seasons and choose what happens is just getting started. Our goal is to come as close as possible to the quality productions you have come to know and love with character voices, sound effects and more. You’ll see improvements come very soon!
Poor functionality
We got this to get Mr Jim’s great stories but the functionality of this app is terrible. It doesn’t keep track of where you are so we are constantly trying to remember which episode we are on. I think we are going to get through the few stories we want to hear then bug out. Looks like Petra got pulled into Miles so not sure if there are going to be more new episodes or if the new AI feature (not interested) is taking the place of that. Either way, the poor functionality of this app makes it hard to want to keep using. Too bad.
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Needs A lot Of Work for Price
For the price it needs a lot of work. We LOVE the content. That is not the problem. And it would be a 5 star rating if that was the only thing. But when listening it doesn’t keep track of where you are at or what you have listened to. Making it very difficult when my children listen to something and then they want to start where they left off. We spend more time trying to decide what episode they were on. We really really were hoping for more episodes of the star keepers which was promised and what made us buy the app in the first place. Haven’t seen that. And then today they released some (weird in my opinion) AI feature that I sure hope is not going to replace actual seasons. It’s like a way to get more stories with them not doing any of the work. It’s a cute gimicky feature but seems like that’s where they have been spending their time. We like these stories because of the voice actors and the characters come to life. If I wanted to listen to mediocre audio books (what the AI feature creates) there are plenty of those online for free. I don’t normally leave bad reviews. But there is so much potential here and I hope these things are taken into consideration.
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Tons of X-Rated Content
I’m seriously concerned that there is a TON of adult content in Bttn+, including a podcast called ‘Dying for Sex’. I thought this was a family-friendly app??
Great stories okay app
I would give this a higher rating if the actual app was more user-friendly. When you’re listening to a story the app doesn’t remember where you left off. So if you’re listening to a story with multiple episodes it is not tracking where you left off. The stories have excellent production quality and my daughter loved Wilder Dreams and Miles the Brave
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Love the stories
This app needs some work. You can’t tell when you have listened to a story. Also for the price there should be new stories each week.
