MPR News vs WBEZ
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MPR News
Stay informed with comprehensive news coverage from Minnesota. Access breaking stories, photos, and videos on politics, education, health, weather, and environmental issues.
- In-depth Minnesota news coverage
- Politics and government updates
- Education and health news
- Local weather forecasts
- Environmental stories
- Photos and videos
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MPR News provides up-to-the-minute, in-depth coverage of important developments in Minnesota, including stories, photos and videos on politics, education, health, local weather, the environment and much more.
WBEZ
Listen to Chicago's NPR news station live or on-demand. Access local and national news, podcasts, and investigative journalism from WBEZ and its partners. Catch up on missed shows with rewind functionality.
- Live radio streaming
- On-demand audio features
- Podcast library
- Rewind live shows
- Curated daily stories
- Investigative journalism
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The WBEZ app lets you listen to the news and voices of Chicago on your schedule, wherever you are. Listen to live radio broadcasts, on-demand audio features and podcasts with the best storytelling locally and around the nation. You’ll enjoy original WBEZ Chicago programming and shows from our partners, including NPR, BBC and more. Take your trusted news on the go. Listen to the news live wherever your day takes you. The WBEZ app delivers Chicago news, national news and international news right to your hand. You never have to miss a minute again. You can rewind at any moment and replay any live show from the last week to catch up on anything you missed. With the WBEZ app, continue to get investigative journalism, cultural reporting, news headlines and more on your timeline. Discover something new. Browse through the best audio stories and shows WBEZ Chicago has to offer. Each day, featured stories are curated just for you from our newsroom. Plus, you can find popular podcasts from WBEZ, NPR and other featured partners; including titles such as Curious City, Nerdette, Motive and Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! There’s something for everyone with the WBEZ app. WBEZ Chicago is listener-supported and Chicago’s NPR news station, one of the largest and most respected public media stations in the country.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: WBEZ at 71% against MPR News's 10%. WBEZ also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.6) and ratings volume (651 vs 58). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
WBEZ holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WBEZ has 651 ratings behind it against 58, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 10% of MPR News's written reviews are positive against 71% of WBEZ's.
MPR News ships an update monthly, WBEZ every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | MPR News | WBEZ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (58 ratings) | 4.7 (651 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 10.4% of reviews | 71.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 58 | 651 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 98 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Minnesota Public Radio | Chicago Public Media, Inc. |
Customer experience
MPR News
WBEZ
User reviews
MPR News
From 58 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📰 Quality news content and journalism
- 👍 Easy to use interface (when working)
- 🔔 Push notifications for news alerts
- 📱 Accessible on multiple devices
- 🎙️ Live streaming capability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio doesn't pause during phone calls
- 🐛 Audio continues playing over other apps
- 🐛 Multiple taps required to start listening
- 📱 Poor navigation and scrolling experience
- 📰 Article text cuts off on screen edges
WBEZ
From 651 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy access to live and on-demand content
- 👍 Convenient listening experience
- 🌐 Accessible from anywhere
- 🗞️ Comprehensive news coverage
- 🎧 High-quality audio
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔁 Ads interrupting playback
- 🔍 Confusing navigation and UI
- ⏱️ Playback issues (freezing, skipping)
- 🔋 High battery consumption
Bugs and requests
MPR News
Reported bugs
25 issues- Audio doesn't pause when phone calls arrive
- Audio continues playing when switching to other apps
- App crashes on iOS 14 and iOS 18
- Black screen on app launch
- App requires constant reinstallation to function
Show 20 moreShow fewer
- Audio freezes displaying outdated data
- Streaming stops randomly without reason
- App crashes when moving between WiFi and cellular
- Forced ad playback when switching networks
- Article text cuts off on edges of screen
- Jerky and unresponsive scrolling
- Overly sensitive touch detection causes accidental story opens
- App doesn't rotate to landscape on iPad
- Blank screen on startup requiring navigation to home
- Audio plays both streams simultaneously from multiple apps
- App auto-starts when other music apps launch
- AirPods trigger auto-play through phone speaker
- Siri functionality blocked when app is running
- Stop/pause button unchecks itself
- App shuts down at top of every hour
- Incompatible with original iPad mini
- Text doesn't fit on iPhone 12 mini screen
- No inertial scrolling in article reader
- Weather tab relocated to confusing location
- Stories don't continue automatically to next show
Requested features
16 requests- Search bar for finding stories and shows
- Dark mode option
- Landscape mode support on iPad
- Ability to skip within audio clips
- Background listening while using other apps
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Auto-shutoff timer feature
- Mark stories as read functionality
- Sort news by date
- Continuous playback between shows
- Weather information in dedicated section
- Landscape rotation support
- Pinch-to-zoom for graphics and maps
- Scroll bar or column for easier navigation
- Next/previous story navigation without returning to main screen
- Restore Updraft section
- Bluetooth device audio output selection
WBEZ
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashing on launch
- Streaming issues on poor internet connections
- Push notifications causing app to freeze
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between audio sources
Requested features
5 requests- Improved search and content discovery
- Sleep timer functionality
- Ability to resume playback from where left off
- CarPlay and Bluetooth speaker support
- More granular access to local news
In-app purchases
MPR News
No in-app purchases
WBEZ
No in-app purchases
