WTMD 89.7 vs WXPN 88.5
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
WTMD 89.7
Stream live radio, discover new music from Baltimore's vibrant scene, and catch up on past shows. Stay informed about local events and receive alerts for your favorite broadcasts. This app connects you to music and culture.
- Live streaming radio
- New music discovery
- On-demand show access
- Local event updates
- Customizable notifications
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WTMD Mobile App: Your Home for Total Music Discovery Experience the best in music and cultural programming with the WTMD Mobile App, powered by AirKast. Whether you’re a lifelong music lover or discovering Baltimore’s vibrant arts scene for the first time, WTMD is your trusted source for Total Music Discovery. Key Features - Live Streaming: Enjoy WTMD’s signature blend of handpicked music, cultural programming, and more—anytime, anywhere. - Music Discovery: Be the first to hear the latest from Baltimore’s thriving music scene, alongside iconic artists and timeless tracks. - On-Demand Access: Miss a show? Catch up on archived episodes whenever it’s convenient for you. - Event Updates: Stay informed about live concerts, art openings, film screenings, and exclusive WTMD events. - Notifications and Alerts: Get notifications for your favorite shows and special broadcasts. At WTMD, we believe in the power of music and art to elevate communities and enrich lives. Listener support drives our mission to strengthen Baltimore’s creative scene and provide unmatched opportunities for local talent to shine. Discover, connect, and celebrate the music and culture of Baltimore. Download the WTMD Mobile App and take your passion for Total Music Discovery wherever life takes you. WTMD: Music. Culture. Community.
WXPN 88.5
Discover emerging and heritage artists with handcrafted playlists and live concert broadcasts. This app offers a vast mix of classic and lesser-known tracks across diverse genres like rock, blues, roots, and folk, curated by music fans for music fans.
- Music discovery
- Handcrafted playlists
- Live concert broadcasts
- Artist interviews
- Diverse music genres
- Emerging and heritage artists
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The WXPN app is your home for music discovery and an unparalleled listening experience featuring emerging and heritage artists. Programmed by music fans for music fans, our playlists are handcrafted. Driven by a mission to connect artists and audiences, WXPN is where many first heard artists like Brandi Carlile, Hozier, Leon Bridges, and boygenius before they became well-known. Enjoy a vast mix of both classic and lesser-known tracks from artists like Bruce Springsteen, Adele, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, Janelle Monae, and so much more. Live concert broadcasts, themed music programs, and artist interviews are also a part of the mix; reflecting a range of diverse genres including rock, blues, roots, and folk. As a non-profit, member-supported radio programming service, everything we offer is fueled by the backing of music lovers like you. To explore more and become a part of this vibrant music community visit xpn.org.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: WTMD 89.7 at 4.7 against WXPN 88.5's 3.6. WTMD 89.7 also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 39%) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 9 months). WXPN 88.5's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
WTMD 89.7 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 63 and 72 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of WTMD 89.7's written reviews are positive against 39% of WXPN 88.5's.
WTMD 89.7 ships an update every 3 months, WXPN 88.5 every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | WTMD 89.7 | WXPN 88.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (63 ratings) — better | 3.6 (72 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.9% of reviews — better | 39.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 63 | 72 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Baltimore Public Media Corporation | University of Pennsylvania |
Customer experience
WTMD 89.7
WXPN 88.5
User reviews
WTMD 89.7
From 63 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎶 Great music selection
- 👍 Easy to use app
- 🌍 Listen anywhere
- 🌟 Discover new artists
- 📱 Stream quality is good
Room to improve
- 🐛 App has been problematic
- 🐛 Very slow to load
- 🐛 Playlist will not update
- 🐛 Takes forever to load
- 🐛 Does not work with car play
WXPN 88.5
From 72 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎶 Great music selection
- 🏠 Access from anywhere
- 📱 Easy to use interface
- 🎵 Recently played songs displayed
- 👍 Reliable streaming (for some)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🔌 Connection drops/buffering
- 🚗 No more CarPlay support
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🔄 App restarts or plays twice
Bugs and requests
WTMD 89.7
Reported bugs
15 issues- Playlist will not update
- App will stop periodically and randomly
- App does not launch from iPhone sometimes
- App does not integrate with car play
- App does not stop playing when a call comes in
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- App will not resume playing during a call
- Track listings have not updated
- Buggy and battery draining
- Crashes
- Incompatible with latest iPhone update
- Freezes immediately
- HD stream doesn't work
- HD-2 stream hasn't worked
- HD-2 stream not working at all
- Typo in the app (WTDM instead of WTMD)
Requested features
6 requests- Add a button to save a song to purchase later
- Add weather into the station
- Show album art
- Play in the background through safari
- See upcoming schedule
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- See when news brief breaks will be on
WXPN 88.5
Reported bugs
43 issues- App often cuts off or restarts
- App plays twice or reopens on its own
- No longer compatible with Apple CarPlay
- Skips and buffers endlessly
- Archives stop after an hour and don't save progress
Show 38 moreShow fewer
- Concert calendar not working
- Problem downloading audio
- App crashes on launch or after a few seconds
- Update loop in App Store
- App crashes after iOS update
- Battery drain issues
- XPN2 stream not found or not working
- Switching streams turns the app off
- Menu for switching streams vanished
- Cannot listen to live stream when plugged into car
- App freezes then crashes on launch
- App won't load on older iPhones
- App crashes and reverts to update queue
- App crashes after updating iOS
- App crashes consistently after software update
- App crashes today
- App doesn't work after reloading
- App crashes when opening or configuring
- App crashes after a few seconds of streaming
- App crashes when changing volume
- App crashes frequently, sometimes every 10-15 minutes
- Podcasts, archives, etc. show 'Error Can Not Load Player'
- Concert calendar shows nothing
- App kicks out to home screen after clicking LISTEN
- App cuts out and doesn't come back automatically
- App doesn't buffer, just cuts out
- App is worse than ever, constantly loses feed
- App loses feed after 10 seconds
- App shuts down every few minutes
- App doesn't work on Wi-Fi or 3G, crash city
- App crashes when trying to do anything
- App requires Flash on website, but app is an alternative
- App times out on Wi-Fi and 3G
- App loses signal often
- App cuts out after a minute or doesn't play at all
- Links to website don't play within the app
- App has awkward startup page
- App has compatibility issues, connection dropped after a second
Requested features
9 requests- Bring back CarPlay support
- Optimize for iPad landscape mode
- Add XPN2 stream access
- Improve archive listening (longer history, resume playback)
- Fix concert calendar
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add dark mode
- Allow stream selection (24k/128k)
- Implement in-app requests and donations
- Update UI for Retina displays and Apple guidelines
In-app purchases
WTMD 89.7
No in-app purchases
WXPN 88.5
No in-app purchases
