WBUR vs Artscope Magazine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
WBUR
Access live radio streams and on-demand podcasts from a public media organization. Enjoy news briefs, trending stories, and the ability to download episodes for offline listening. Supports CarPlay for in-car use.
- Live radio stream
- Signature podcasts
- Hourly news briefs
- Download episodes
- CarPlay support
- On-demand listening
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Looking for trusted news and stories? The WBUR App is the best way to get news from Greater Boston and beyond with our live stream and signature podcasts all in one place. Play, pause, rewind (and play again) live radio shows from the award-winning teams at WBUR and NPR. On Point, Here & Now, Circle Round, Endless Thread and more are all at your fingertips. You’ll also: + Stay in the know with hourly local and national audio news briefs + Listen on demand to your favorite shows like Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace + Download episodes of award-winning podcasts for offline listening. + Play daily word games and test your news knowledge with our weekly Boston News Quiz. + Catch the latest events happening at WBUR CitySpace. Our journalism is funded by you, our listeners. Thanks for choosing WBUR, Boston’s NPR news.
Artscope Magazine
This app provides previews and reviews of art exhibitions, galleries, and artists in the New England region. It aims to make art accessible and encourages community participation through interactive content and on-the-go formats.
- Previews and reviews of regional art exhibitions
- Profiles of artists, galleries, and arts organizations
- Interactive images and special elements
- Dynamic, on-the-go tablet-optimized format
- Instant delivery of new issues
- Free 30-day trial with subscription
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About As New England’s premier culture magazine, artscope brings you current previews and review of the region’s gallery and museum exhibitions plus artist, gallery and arts organization profiles in print, digital and online format, all brought together through our recently launched mobile formats, available for download in the Apple app store. Artscope strives to make art an accessible medium by which its readers can develop a comprehensive and interactive appreciation of the arts. Artscope covers artists, galleries and museums in the New England region, enthusiastically encouraging its readers to understand the work exhibited and to actively participate in the region’s arts community. Description Artscope aims to inform and entertain with a consistent standard for high quality content and production while working to increase the visibility of artists from New England, the nation and across nations at New England venues and beyond in the hope of expanding the New England arts community and its marketability, sales potential and visitor numbers. Our committed editorial team and talented group of writers, photographers, arts associates and graphic and web designers have set the bar high for artscope to serve its readers, advertisers and the arts community at large through performance and aesthetics. Artscope is available at hundreds of museum, gallery, college, university and educational locations throughout New England. In addition to regular features: - Explore interactive images and special elements - Read each edition especially designedfor the tablet in a dynamic, on-the-go format - Receive new issues instantly as they become available on the Newsstand and in circulation - Get a free 30-day trial with your subscription artscope subscription Annual 12 month subscription (6 issues): $15.99 Single Issue: $2.99 Payment for all purchases will be charged to your iTunes account at the confirmation of your purchase. Privacy policy and terms of use available here: http://artscope.wpengine.com/terms-of-use/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: WBUR at 4.8 against Artscope Magazine's 3.8. WBUR also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 20) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 49 months). Artscope Magazine's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (62% vs 41%). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Artscope Magazine sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $15.99 per year. WBUR asks for nothing beyond the download.
WBUR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WBUR has 4K ratings behind it against 59, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of WBUR's written reviews are positive against 62% of Artscope Magazine's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
WBUR ships an update every 6 weeks, Artscope Magazine every 49 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | WBUR | Artscope Magazine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (4K ratings) — better | 3.8 (59 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 40.9% of reviews | 61.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4K — better | 59 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 49 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 90.9 WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station | Boston Publishing House LLC |
Customer experience
WBUR
Artscope Magazine
Bugs and requests
WBUR
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes when switching between audio sources
- Playback does not resume after interruptions like phone calls
- Time slider inaccurate, often showing wrong position in the program
Requested features
4 requests- Add search functionality to find specific shows or episodes
- Improve sleep timer and alarm clock integration
- Provide an option to disable the opening ad
- Optimize the app for larger screens and modern UI
Artscope Magazine
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
WBUR
No in-app purchases
Artscope Magazine
- Subscription1 Month trial$15.991 Year
- Artscope Yearly Subscription$15.991 Year
- March/April 2016$2.99
- May/June 2016$2.99
- March/April 2020$2.99
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- May/June 2020$2.99
- November/December 2020$2.99
- January/February 2021$2.99
- May/June 2022$2.99
- March / April 2023$2.99
- January/February 2024$2.99
- March/April 2024$2.99
- January/February 2016$2.99
- January/February 2025$2.99
- November/December 2024$2.99
- September / October 2024$2.99
- January/February 2022$2.99
- March/April 2022$2.99
- July/August 2024$2.99
- May/June 2024$2.99








