# WBAL NewsRadio — user reviews > 82 indexed App Store user reviews of WBAL NewsRadio by Hearst Television, rated 3.20/5 from 65 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wbal-newsradio/id386834691/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wbal-newsradio/id386834691.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 24 · 4★ 6 · 3★ 13 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 18 ## What do users think of WBAL NewsRadio? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Good content - 👍 Great idea - 👍 Good app - 👍 Works great - 👍 Awesome **Cons** - 😠 Horrible app - 😠 Extremely frustrating - 😠 Impossible on the go - 😠 Poorly executed - 😠 Annoying ads - 😠 Unstable app - 😠 Useless app - 😠 Unbearable - 😠 Not reliable - 😠 Broken app - 😠 Colossal failure - 😠 Worthless - 😠 Bad app - 😠 Huge disappointment - 😠 Cuts out constantly - 😠 Baadddd music - 😠 Not what I was looking for **Commonly reported bugs** - App is buggy - Plays the same ad over and over - Ads play every 2 seconds - Accidentally close the app? Hit with an ad. - Connect to a different Bluetooth device? Ad. - Ads play in between segment breaks - New update is unstable - 15sec add, no skipping - When I get a text or any type of interruption the app goes back to the ad. - Listened to the app 5x in 10 mins. - New section is almost worthless. Not organized, old article or events that has been done. - Endless pop adds. - Ads just keep popping up nonstop. - App now plays Ad’s - Attempt to read a clip on a news article, within a few moments an Ad pops up. - Can't finish the reading the article, even if you allow the Ad to play out. - Once you clear it, the same Ad pops back in again. - Screen keeps blacking out making it difficult to read news articles. - Ads now pop up on every article multiple times, making the content unreadable. - Pop up adds. Are you kidding me? - Pop up ads and adds for games that have made it virtually impossible to read even a paragraph of a story. - Pop up ads are out of control. - Streaming Orioles Games Never Works - App always tells me I am not in an eligible listening area. - App now plays an intro clip when connecting to the stream which sometimes overlaps with the stream and causes it to stop. - Whenever I try to mute the app temporarily using the app’s mute button, or turn down your volume all the way the stream disconnects. - Streaming cuts out while driving. - Most recent iOS update (10.3) killed the app - Blank Screen with the update to IOS 10.3 - Doesn't play sporting events - Crashes if you try to read an article. - App closes as soon as you click on any of the news articles. - App crashes when you try to stream broadcast. - App crashes on launch...every time. - App crashes after update on iPhone - Crashes every time I try to stream the station. - App immediately crashes when u hit play button. - Every time I press PLAY now, it crashes. - Every time I tap play the app CRASHES. - The app crashes now thanks to the most recent update. - Latest update causes the app to crash EVERY TIME when you try to stream. - The app worked wonderfully well before the upgrade. - The app no longer works. - Every time jācAPPS updates this they a) don't bother testing it, and b) break the radio - New release won't play - same issue as previous upgrade. - It was fine until you fixed it. - The new update won't allow the app to play. - Uploaded the "improvements" and now every time I press for the sound, the app crashes. - New update as of 2/25 force stops the app and auto closes. - Can't read any news or articles. - This app won't let me stream the Orioles game. - Advertisements were nonstop. - Missed the entire end if the race because every minute there were advertisements. - Doesn't work with iOS7. - App hangs on startup - iOS 7 - After the iOS 7 update it just launches to a splash screen and doesn't work at all. - Bug crashing audio has been fixed. - Old app worked new app shuts down every time I hit play. - After the update it crashes when I hit play. - It crashes every time you try to listen to the radio. - App crashes every single time I try to listen on iPhone or iPad. - New update killed the feed. - Crashes when pressing Play button. - The radio feature doesn't work, period. - Click "play" and the app closes and sends you back to your home screen. - Crashes when hit listen button. - Useless. Crashes when press Play. - New app crashes when you try to listen to the live stream - Broadcast stopping for no reason. - Sometimes can turn radio off then on again, other times have to totally close app. - Cuts out often **Most requested features** - Better ad development - Personalize default zip code for weather - CarPlay integration - iPad/universal version - Volume control scroll ## Newest reviews (17 of 82) ### 3/5 — Not Always “Breaking” News *2025-11-20* I don’t need alerts talking about Black Friday sales. I also don’t need editorializing when it comes to politics. Just give the news not your opinion ### 3/5 — Ads *2025-02-13* Irritated I have to listen to the same ad every time I play the listen live or if stop and play again moments later. There are ads that play in between segment breaks. Is it really necessary? Or play a different ad it’s the same ad it haunts me in my sleep. ### 1/5 — Adding pop up ads a problem *2024-10-18* Ads now pop up on every article multiple times, making the content unreadable. ### 1/5 — Pop up adds. Are you kidding me? *2024-10-14* I have used the app for years and loved it. I stream it almost all day. A couple times a day I will read the news stories. Now however, there are pop up adds and adds for games that have made it virtually impossible to read even a paragraph of a story. If it keeps up I’m deleting the app. It’s unbareable. ### 3/5 — Generally a good app, but could be improved *2024-09-23, version 3.3.2* The app is generally pretty good. It could be better if it reformatted when i turn my iPad to landscape format instead of portrait. Having the ability to personalize the default zip code for the weather forecast would be good improvements for those of us that live in the suburbs. ### 3/5 — Pop up Add *2024-09-06* I have had this app for years on my phone and always enjoyed reading the Baltimore news but just in the last 2 weeks the pop up ads will not stop. Every time I open a story and advance the verbiage an ad for a game comes on and even if it plays to the entirety it will not stop coming back up. I even deleted the app and downloaded it again but that did not work. Is there a solution for this? ### 2/5 — Pop up purgatory *2024-08-28* This was once a straightforward app. But recently pop up ads are out of control. If there is no way to prevent them I will delete the app. ### 1/5 — Streaming Orioles Games Never Works *2022-07-17* Why even say you offer streaming when it never works? It’s sad that such a simple technology (geolocation) can’t be applied correctly. I am in Washington DC so I am surrounded by eligible listening areas, however the app always tells me I am not. What a waste. ### 3/5 — Not a bad app with a few recent glitches. *2022-01-14* I’ve used this app for years and for the most part it gets the job done. I’ve noticed over that last week for whatever reason the app now plays an intro clip when connecting to the stream which sometimes overlaps with the stream and causes it to stop. Also, now whenever I try to mute the app temporarily using the app’s mute button, or turn down your volume all the way the stream disconnects. I don’t know if this was part of a recent update but it is frustrating. ### 2/5 — Not reliable *2020-03-11* Streaming cuts out while driving. Presumably when the phone moves from cell to cell. ### 2/5 — Sorely missing CarPlay *2019-03-11* The WBAL app is one of the mainstays of streaming local radio. It’s been around for years, and has gone through a couple of complete overhauls in that time. Unfortunately, those overhauls have bern mostly cosmetic and maintenance in nature, and little has been added as far as post-2010 features short of adaptations for changing screen sizes and most recently, push notifications. Sorely missing is CarPlay integration. How can an app from a station with the pedigree of WBAL go so long blatantly missing such a feature? The app developer, who has published apps for other stations, has integrated this feature (and others) into the other stations’ apps, yet WBAL’s iteration has gone without for years. I can only surmise that the reason is that WBAL has opted to not fund such an enhancement, which I credit has a huge oversight and crippling decision against the app’s potential. Here’s hoping things change for the better and folks aren’t reading this review 3 years from now without seeing CarPlay and other enhancements to this deserving app. ### 1/5 — App Broken *2017-04-03, version 3.1.1* The most recent iOS update (10.3) killed the app which I used daily. Delete & re-download did not fix. ### 1/5 — Blank Screen *2017-04-02, version 3.1.1* With the update to IOS 10.3 came nothing but a blank screen for the WBAL app. Reinstalling did not fix the glitch. Note to developers: simple is always best. ### 1/5 — Doesn't play sporting events *2016-06-21, version 2.6.5* No O's or Ravens games broadcasted... ### 2/5 — Still broken *2015-03-08, version 2.6.1* Crashes if you try to read an article. ### 1/5 — Can't read news articles *2015-03-05, version 2.6.1* App closes as soon as you click on any of the news articles. Update didn't solve the problem. ### 1/5 — App crashes when you try to stream broadcast. *2015-03-05, version 2.6* App crashes when you try to stream broadcast. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Poor app *2026-03-27* App is buggy, plays the same ad over and over again. ### 1/5 — Good content *2026-02-03* I’m using this app for the content, which is great. The app is horrible. The approach to ads could’ve been better developed by a kid. Extremely frustrating to use and impossible while on the go. ### 1/5 — Ads play every 2 seconds. *2025-11-26* Accidentally close the app? Hit with an ad. Connect to a different Bluetooth device? Ad. The worst part is it’s the same one ad over and over. Content is good but this app was designed by a child. ### 1/5 — Great idea poorly executed *2025-08-24* I was a regular listener on the radio, so I was very happy to get the app. It is so frustrating to use! The constant advertisements just to sign in are just annoying. Every time you login you have to listen to the same ad. Not only do you have to listen to an ad, but then another ad will pop up, which doesn’t have any audio but freezes you out of the podcast. Poorly executed. ### 1/5 — Annoying ads *2025-04-30* The constant ads at the beginning and then when it’s finally finished and I turn my screen off, the app stops and resets with another annoying law group ad. I’m done! ### 1/5 — Buggy App *2025-02-24* I’m going to lose it if I hear a Kronberger advertisement one more time while using the App. ### 1/5 — New update is unstable *2025-02-07* The new update is just horrible. You have to listen to 15sec add, no skipping. When I get a text or any type of interruption the app goes back to the ad. I listened to the app 5x in 10 mins. The new section is almost worthless. Not organized, old article or events that has been done. And the endless pop adds. The old joke radio app was WCBM, now it is this app. Very unstable, very frustrating. You are driving me to Sirus. ### 1/5 — Pop up Ads *2024-12-04* Ads just keep popping up nonstop. The app is useless. ### 1/5 — Ad - Pop Ins *2024-11-11* App now plays Ad’s You attempt to read a clip on a news article, within a few moments an Ad pops up. Cant finish the reading the article, even if you allow the Ad to play out. Once you clear it, the same Ad pops back in again. I get Ad’s are needed to help pay for the services, but it should clear after the ad has played Tv has commercials, but the commercials will eventually end ### 1/5 — Blackouts *2024-10-29* Screen keeps blacking out making it difficult to read news articles. Used to be an excellent site for local news. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — New 101.5 *2018-11-13* Now you can here on 101.5 love it go ravens ### 5/5 — A lifesaver!! *2015-09-27, version 2.6.5* As an out of town Ravens fan, this just might be the greatest app ever!! ### 5/5 — Great app to stream WBAL *2015-03-07* App works great. One version had a bug where streaming caused the app to crash. They immediately fixed it and now it is great again. News, traffic, weather. And the live stream. It's perfect! ### 5/5 — Gee Wizz what happened? *2015-02-28, version 2.6* It was fine until you fixed it. ### 5/5 — Love it. *2013-12-06, version 2.5.2* This is perfect. ### 5/5 — Love the upgrade *2013-10-23* The app is a big improvement with a greater focus on being able to read many more news stories. It's a clean and stylish navigation. The Listen Live function has also been improved. A great way to keep in touch with all that is Maryland. ### 5/5 — iOs7 *2013-09-25, version 2.5.2* Doesn't work with iOS7. It won't load. Please fix ASAP. Update-app was just updated for iOS7 and everything works great. Great App. ### 5/5 — Thanks for the fix! *2013-09-19, version 2.5.1* We're back!! ### 5/5 — Works great now after recent update *2013-09-04* Bug crashing audio has been fixed. Works fine now ### 5/5 — Fix on the way *2013-08-29* An update has been pushed to fix the crashing issue. It should be live soon. We apologize for the inconvenience. --- *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 2026-08-15.*