VicEmergency vs SBS Audio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VicEmergency
Receive official emergency warnings and information for Victoria, Australia. Set up personalized watch zones to get alerts for areas that matter to you, and view a live incident map with real-time updates.
- Live incident map
- Personalized watch zones
- Push notifications for warnings
- GPS integration for location
- Forecast Fire Danger Ratings
- Total Fire Ban status
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VicEmergency is the official Victorian Government app for emergency warnings and information. Download VicEmergency, set up a user profile and watch zones to ensure you receive official warnings and information for areas that interest you. Watch the VicEmergency video at www.youtube.com/channel/UCskGgVGdfEp1C3BMiiwAyzQ To review support articles or submit a request, visit http://support.emergency.vic.gov.au Main Features: • Live incident map showing current warnings, planned burns and other types of incidents across Victoria.*** • Simple to create a profile and use watch zones that ensure you get official warnings for your local area. Warnings and information* are pushed out to a user's phone when issued by Victoria’s emergency services. • GPS integration to determine your current location** and surrounding incidents. • Emergency Warnings, Warnings, Advice and information as issued by Victoria’s emergency services • Share incidents and warnings with friends and family. • View forecast Fire Danger Ratings on the map. • View today's and tomorrow’s Total Fire Ban status. * Your device must have an internet connection to receive warnings and information issued by Victorian emergency services. ** To view your current location, GPS must be switched on and location functionality enabled. *** Map symbols represent the origin of the emergency, not its current location or spread. The VicEmergency app is just one tool to assist you to access warnings and information about emergencies, however you should never rely on just one information channel. Emergency services use a range of other information channels including SKY TV, ABC local radio, some commercial and designated community radio stations, VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226, VicEmergency website on www.emergency.vic.gov.au and VicEmergency Twitter and Facebook. Are you getting a message asking you to turn on notifications? You need to ensure that push notifications are enabled specifically for the VicEmergency app, as follows: For iOS10, iOS9, iOS8 and iOS6: 1. Click on the Settings icon and then select Notifications. 2. Scroll down, click the VicEmergency icon 3. Ensure 'Allow Notifications" or "Notification Centre" (iOS6) at top of the screen is set to On. 4. We recommend that you set Alert Style as 'Banners' or Alerts' and ensure that Sounds and "Show on Lock Screen" or "View in Lock Screen" (iOS6) are set to On. For iOS7: 1. Open the device's Settings icon and then select 'Notification Center'. 2. Under 'Access on Lock Screen', check that 'Notifications View' is On (showing as green). 3. Scroll further down and ensure that VicEmergency is in the list under INCLUDE. Click it to open it. 4. At the top, set Alert Style as 'Banners' or Alerts' 5. Then ensure that everything in this section is turned On - ‘Badge App Icon’, ‘Sounds’, 'Show in Notification Center', 'Show on Lock Screen’, etc (all should be showing as green).
SBS Audio
Access music, news, podcasts, and community updates in your preferred language. Stream live radio stations and explore a diverse range of audio content.
- Music streaming
- Australian news and current affairs
- Podcasts
- Community updates
- Live radio programs
- Multilingual content
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The SBS Audio app (previously known as SBS Radio) connects you to music, Australian news and current affairs, podcasts and community updates in your language. Whether you want to catch up on radio programs in your language, stream SBS Chill, SBS PopAsia, or SBS South Asian and your favourite radio programs live, or explore podcasts, you’ll find it here. Listen anytime, anywhere for free. Download our app today and find a world of difference.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: VicEmergency at none against SBS Audio's shown. VicEmergency also leads on rating (3.5 vs 3.1) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). SBS Audio's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (18 vs 4). On price, review sentiment, 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.
VicEmergency holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 18 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 23% and 24% positive.
VicEmergency ships an update every 6 months, SBS Audio every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VicEmergency | SBS Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (4 ratings) — better | 3.1 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 23.1% of reviews | 24.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | State of Victoria - Department of Justice | Special Broadcasting Service Corporation |
Customer experience
VicEmergency
SBS Audio
Bugs and requests
VicEmergency
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
SBS Audio
Reported bugs
31 issues- App stops frequently while broadcasting
- App not compatible with CarPlay
- Cannot pause and play from Home Screen
- Dead support link
- Ads from current location
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- Constant streaming issues
- App often has to be rebooted to play
- Pausing often resets to the beginning
- Problematic over Bluetooth speaker
- Drains phone battery very quickly
- App not launching after update (white blank screen)
- App doesn't work after update
- Latest version not working on iPhone 6S
- Constant cutting out, takes multiple tries to start streaming
- Plays for only approx. 10 minutes before stopping
- Ads on radio streaming
- Music is tired and crappy
- Play button gets stuck
- Radio stops playing after a minute
- Play button stops working after interrupting
- Cannot download podcasts
- App opens one podcast and becomes unresponsive
- Search feature is well hidden
- No full episode for Cantonese radio show
- Playlist issue for Chill
- Hard to navigate and find playlist
- Song playlist not accurate
- Sharing podcasts has never worked
- App freezes after music plays
- New version is terrible
- Sleep timer missing
Requested features
11 requests- CarPlay compatibility
- Dark mode
- Ability to slow down speech for language learning
- Sleep timer
- Search function
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- Tutorial for new users
- Option to view weekly playlists
- Purchase songs from iTunes
- Download full episodes of podcasts
- Improved playlist accuracy
- Translate broadcast times to local time
In-app purchases
VicEmergency
No in-app purchases
SBS Audio
No in-app purchases









