# WTOP News: DC, MD and VA News — user reviews > 77 indexed App Store user reviews of WTOP News by Hubbard Radio, rated 2.90/5 from 157 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wtop-news-dc-md-and-va-news/id943805934/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wtop-news-dc-md-and-va-news/id943805934.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 45 · 4★ 15 · 3★ 25 · 2★ 24 · 1★ 48 ## What do users think of WTOP News? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 👍 Great local news source - 👍 Visually improved design (recent) - 👍 Easy to listen to radio - 👍 Landscape viewing finally added (recent) - 👍 Good for CarPlay integration - 👍 App fixed for 24-hour time format (recent) **Cons** - 🐛 App crashes frequently - 🐛 App stops working after updates - 🐛 Streaming audio inconsistent - 🐛 Battery drain issues - 🐛 Too many commercials - 🐛 Ads masquerading as news - 🐛 Notifications are spammy/unwanted - 🐛 App doesn't fit screen properly (older) - 🐛 Content not updated/recycling old news - 🐛 Traffic and weather timing issues - 🐛 Articles open outside app - 🐛 App freezes or won't open - 🐛 No landscape mode for iPad (historical) - 🐛 Hourly news update hard to find **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on launch - App stops working after iOS update - App stops working without warning - Notifications not received - Constant requests to turn on notifications - Too many commercials - Traffic and weather timing inaccurate - App shows old traffic feeds - Advertisements disguised as news - App sells user data (alleged) - Recycles old news as breaking news - Hourly news update difficult to find - Videos not playable in landscape - Back button scrolls incorrectly - Articles open outside app and don't load - App randomly restarts while listening - Wrong time and date in traffic report - App stops working for severe weather/live feed - Missing dark mode - App kicks back to home screen - Audio stopped working on iPad - App doesn't fit screen, covers status bar - Cannot use hamburger menu, search, or back arrows - Traffic map crashes app - Streaming audio inconsistent - News anchors give wrong time - Teaser story forgotten after commercial - Traffic notifications sent when turned off - App crashes and streaming not functioning - News feed not appearing - App freezes and won't open - App closes completely - CarPlay feature freezes - App crashes when trying to listen - Political notifications sent frequently - Perpetual loading screen - App unstable and crashes often - Cannot stream for more than 5-10 minutes - App goes blank and shuts down - Latest update causes app to shut down - App crashes on launch (historical) - App unresponsive task bar (historical) - App won't open, keeps crashing (historical) - App doesn't notify for actual news (historical) - App freezes up (historical) - App crashes when activating (historical) - White screen then blue screen with infinite load icon (historical) - App goes blank and shuts down (historical) - App crashes rather than opens (historical) - App crashes on launch (historical) - App works for at most a minute (historical) - App sends multiple political notifications (historical) - Audio stream doesn't work half the time (historical) - Perpetual loading screen, requires reboot (historical) - App crashes often (historical) - App goes completely non-functional (historical) **Most requested features** - Dark mode - Landscape mode for iPad - Ability to select/zoom photos - CarPlay support - Fix notification requests - Fix traffic map crashes - Fix hourly news update accessibility - Fix ads masquerading as news - Fix traffic and weather timing - Fix articles opening outside app - Fix app freezing/not opening - Fix battery drain - Fix inconsistent streaming - Fix notification spam - Fix app not fitting screen - Fix content update issues - Fix landscape mode for iPad ## Newest reviews (15 of 77) ### 2/5 — Notifications *2025-10-16, version 3.0.9* Do you send notifications? I have notifications toggled on in the app and in settings/notifications, but over years I have yet to see a WTOP notification. ### 2/5 — No means no *2025-07-24* Very frustrated by app's constant requests to turn on notifications. I've declined at least five times in the last few weeks, since I installed it. No means no. If the it doesn't stop, I'll delete it and go back to occasionally checking the website for local news. Without the app's attempt to micromanage my usage and experience. ETA: not sure when I left initial review, but I quit. I will no longer endure undesired pop-ups asking me yet again if I want to turn on notifications. I am not a moron. If I change my mind, I can turn them on. I get to decide what interruptions I want. WTOP is not one of them. Since this app won't stop asking, I'm deleting it. ### 2/5 — Too many commercials *2025-04-24, version 3.0.6* Very little time is given to news coverage. Mostly commercials. WTOP is a shadow of its former self. ### 3/5 — Hourly News Update?? *2025-01-06* It’s harder than ever to find the Hourly News Update with the National and local news. That was my favorite feature, I don’t always want to listen to live radio. Without that feature I doubt I’ll use the app at all. ### 2/5 — Unless streaming their live feed, this app is useless *2024-09-20* I just came in from my car. It is September 20th. There is a story on the air about beaches reopening because they were closed due to medical waste washing ashore earlier in the week. I go to the app and search ‘beaches’ and ‘beach’. There is no link to this story. No articles come up that are less than a few years old. So I then search ‘medical waste’ I get stories from earlier in the week from 2 days ago, but not the one currently on the air. This app is ALWAYS like this. You can never find the story unless it is a major headline. Sometimes they announce on air a keyword to search to find more information on a story the article but not lately. ### 3/5 — Articles open outside of app *2024-01-18* Several articles open outside of the app, and they don’t load properly. The ads outside of the app appear to keep the articles from loading. Extremely frustrating. Why can’t everything load within the app? ### 2/5 — It’s ok *2023-12-20, version 2.28.12* It randomly re-starts while listening I checked cell signal and most of the time I’m at 3-4 bars Fustrating that suddenly during traffic or news I hear “the WTOP listen live experience “ ### 3/5 — Wrong time and date showing in traffic report *2023-11-04, version 2.28.12* Please fix date and time shown in traffic report. Not sure if report is accurate ### 1/5 — WTOP Live News App *2023-08-09, version 2.28.12* Horrible app. Trying to listen to up to date sever weather forecast or any daily live news feed and the app stops. Impossible to use for local alerts and news coverage because it stops after a few mins. ### 3/5 — missing a few key features *2022-08-14, version 2.28.8* dark mode & ability to select/zoom in on photos, please! ### 1/5 — Horrible app *2022-06-07, version 2.28.7* This app is worthless. It won’t even allow me to put in the date. It keeps kicking me back to the app every time I try to install it. STUPID WASTE OF TIME ### 2/5 — The Display Does Not Rotate. *2022-06-06, version 2.28.7* The app only appears to display in “portrait” mode on my iPad, which would normally not be a big problem, however I have an attached keyboard, and it is clumsy to turn the tablet and keyboard on its side. Otherwise it seems to show the news stories I look for. ### 2/5 — Audio stopped working on iPad *2022-04-08, version 2.28.7* Not sure why app audio stopped working ### 1/5 — Too Many SCAM Ads *2021-11-16, version 2.28.7* Very little news, but lots of what they call “Revcontent” that turns out to be news-like articles trying to get your money. Everybody out to get your $$$ these days! If you still use the WTOP app, stop reading below the first couple of headline stories. ### 3/5 — UX issues on the XS Max *2021-04-20* The app functions fine, however it doesn’t fit my screen correctly and the upper section covers my clock and my network & battery icons at the top. I can’t use the hamburger menu, search or back arrows. As I started writing this I began to wonder if my font size settings might be affecting the UX, but if the app is following the disability developer settings and separating the top UX from the rest of the compliant parts it shouldn’t be an issue. Either way it’s something that needs to be fixed. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Frustrating *2026-06-21, version 3.1.3* Cuts out for like 3-7 seconds every 5 min or so. ### 1/5 — App Stopped working with recent iOS update *2026-02-12, version 3.1.1* This happened been a regular part of my morning routine for years. Recent iOS update now cause the app to display a white screen for a few seconds, and then close itself out. iPhone 6 updated to 12.5.8. Worked beautifully through 12.5.7 ### 1/5 — Needs dark mode *2025-10-16, version 3.0.9* Save my eyes!! ### 1/5 — Suddenly has stopped working *2025-08-24, version 3.0.9* After using the app for years on multiple iPads, it stopped working a week ago without warning. No support to address the issue. ### 1/5 — Traffic and weather on the nines *2025-04-23* When it is time for traffic and weather, supposedly on the eighth, they are always talking or doing interviews or commercials. I have gotten stuck in traffic numerous times because of this station not having the proper timing of their promised traffic and weather on the eights. I no longer have anything to do with the station. They are terrible. ### 1/5 — Application is useless *2025-03-13, version 3.0.4* My manager recommended that i download this app for traffic updates. Your site & app have no updates about traffic. Why are you showing me traffic feeds from 2024 in 2025 ### 1/5 — Too many advertisements masquerading as news *2025-02-06, version 3.0.3* Recently WTOP has started running advertisements masked as news. Examples include the egg crisis, Medicare eligibility and healthcare enrollment. It is now less actual news and now more politically slanted advertisements that pretend to be news. ### 1/5 — 19 Jan '25 Update *2025-01-19, version 3.0.3* 1️⃣APP sells your data. Law suit—Dismissed because owners' AREN'T based in MD. 2️⃣TOO TOO many bad commercials. PLEASE WTOP consider that DMV wt loss may be dangerous stating one could lose 10-20% of total body weight in 60 days or less. Wt loss experts consider that dangerous. 4️⃣Possibly worst of all—they recycle old news as "Breaking News." ### 1/5 — Needs dark mode *2024-12-18, version 3.0.3* You’re killing my eyes. Dark mode please! ### 1/5 — Perpetually, Desperately needs LANDSCAPE for iPads!!! *2023-08-18, version 2.28.12* Just read the large stack of historical reviews ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Visually improved *2024-09-29* New app (v3.0.0) has nice visual design, although seems to load a little slower. The back button (return to story index) unfortunately doesn't scroll down with the story text, but swiping right on the whole page also activates the back function. Videos cannot be played in landscape mode (tested native videos and embedded Twitter); rotating just returns to story headline. Overall, happy to see this being maintained; WTOP is a great local news source. ### 5/5 — Landscape viewing… Finally! *2024-09-29, version 3.0.0* Took a long time! ### 5/5 — New app is great! *2024-09-26* Just downloaded the new version and it’s great. Really like the design and how they’ve made it easy to listen to the radio. I’m always listening from home in the morning. Love the new features too. ### 5/5 — New update crashes weather and traffic *2021-02-23* The new update crashes weather and traffic. This is a helpful app though. **Developer response:** We have an update pending with Apple for review - hoping to get it out soon! Thanks for using the app and sorry about this inconvenience. ### 5/5 — Current update works *2017-09-23, version 2.23.2* Seemed to have resolved their problems. Can stream online again. **Developer response:** UPDATE 9/21/17: The fix to the 24-hour clock has been approved by Apple. If you update to version 2.23.2 you should no longer experience the crashing issue. We apologize for the delay and hope you like what you see when you have a chance to update the app. -- Julia Ziegler, News Director, WTOP ### 5/5 — New update crashes on launch constantly *2017-09-23* New update crashes on launch on iPhone 7...this needs to be fixed ASAP. Update - the new release did indeed fix the launch crashing. Now that it actually launches, the new app looks great! **Developer response:** UPDATE 9/21/17: The fix to the 24-hour clock has been approved by Apple. If you update to version 2.23.2 you should no longer experience the crashing issue. We apologize for the delay and hope you like what you see when you have a chance to update the app. -- Julia Ziegler, News Director, WTOP ### 5/5 — New version working great! *2017-09-21* Looks like app has been fixed for those of us who use 24 hour time format. Uninstalled old version and installed latest version and all is working perfect. Have had no issues with audio dropping as previous reviewer (but then again I have fantastic LTE coverage) and I am really digging all the stuff packed into this app! ### 4/5 — No means no *2025-07-03* Very frustrated by app's constant requests to turn on notifications. I've declined at least five times in the last few weeks, since I installed it. No means no. If the it doesn't stop, I'll delete it and go back to occasionally checking the website for local news. Without the app's attempt to micromanage my usage and experience. ### 4/5 — great station *2025-03-14, version 3.0.4* not hysterical just the facts ### 4/5 — Great, but crashes! *2018-04-24, version 2.23.9* This would be a five star, but whenever I click on the, “Traffic” section, the app crashes. Please fix ASAP! Thank you. --- *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 2026-08-06.*