MPR News vs Elect Connect
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.
Elect Connect
Stay informed about your elected officials and their activities. Access unbiased news tailored to your interests, connect with representatives, and get essential voting information. Future updates will include candidate livestreams and live fact-checking.
- Unbiased, tailored news
- Political lean analysis
- View local representatives
- Legislator activity tracking
- Ask questions to representatives
- Voting eligibility and registration
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ElectConnect: Your Voice Matters Jacob Percy - Saurish Tripathi - Gautam Annamalai ElectConnect helps you stay informed and connected to the people who represent you. View Unbiased News: • Tailored to your interests • Automatic political lean analysis • Improved article selection • Favorite articles to save for later Connect with Legislators: • See your representatives based on your location • View detailed information about your legislators and their activity • Ask questions • View others' questions Congressional View: • Stay up to date on the latest activity in Congress • See Bills, Laws, Treaties, and current Congressional Members • View detailed information about congressional events and legislation Voting Information: • Eligibility requirements • Registration instructions • Upcoming election information • Polling Places: Find where and when to vote on a map Coming Soon: • Candidate Livestreams: Watch candidates speak live • Live Fact-Checking: See real-time verification of major claims • Direct Senator and Congressional Monitoring: See bills and orders passed right away ElectConnect - simple, clear, and built to help you take part in democracy.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Elect Connect at 83% against MPR News's 10%. Elect Connect also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.7) and ads (none vs shown). MPR News's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (61 vs 15). On price, 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.
Elect Connect holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 61 and 15 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 10% of MPR News's written reviews are positive against 83% of Elect Connect's.
MPR News ships an update monthly, Elect Connect every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MPR News | Elect Connect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (61 ratings) | 4.7 (15 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 10.4% of reviews | 83.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 61 — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 18.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 98 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Minnesota Public Radio | Aaron Percy |
Customer experience
MPR News
Elect Connect
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
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- 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
Elect Connect
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
MPR News
No in-app purchases
Elect Connect
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MPR News free?
Is Elect Connect free?
Which has better reviews, MPR News or Elect Connect?
Do MPR News or Elect Connect have ads?
Which is updated more often, MPR News or Elect Connect?
Other comparisons
