RTÉ Listen vs Broadcasts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RTÉ Listen
Stream live radio stations and discover a vast library of award-winning podcasts from Ireland's national broadcaster. Enjoy content across various genres, from news and sports to drama and children's programming.
- Live radio streaming
- Extensive podcast library
- Award-winning original content
- Multiple radio station options
- Content across news, sports, and kids genres
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From breaking news to great music and brilliant storytelling, RTÉ Listen lets you play live radio or hear the latest podcasts and on-demand audio from RTÉ. LIVE RADIO PLAYER: Tune in to RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2FM, RTÉ lyric fm, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and RTÉ Gold. ON-DEMAND RADIO: Pick up where you left off or play full episodes of your favourite shows, like Brendan O'Connor, Marty in the Morning, Morning Ireland and 2FM Drive with Laura and Katja. TRENDING CLIPS: Catch the moments everyone's talking about, from the biggest trending interviews to the best bits from across the RTÉ schedule. DOWNLOADS AND FAVOURITES: Create an account to favourite shows you love, manage your queue and download episodes for on-the-go.
Broadcasts
Stream internet radio stations from around the world with an intuitive, single-purpose application. Enjoy beautiful artwork, metadata, and cross-device syncing. Offers a free tier with a limited library or a full version for unlimited stations and advanced features.
- Global internet radio streaming
- Unlimited station library (full version)
- Station artwork and metadata display
- Shazam integration for metadata
- iCloud library syncing
- CarPlay support
- Apple Watch and Apple TV playback
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Listen to streaming internet radio in an award-winning, ultra-simple, single-purpose app. Beautifully designed and fully-native on all platforms. Completely private: no accounts, no logins, and absolutely no tracking or analytics, by design. Broadcasts makes building a library of stations from around the world easier than ever. Use completely free with a handful of stations, or subscribe to unlock the full power of an unlimited library and add as many of your own stations as you like from the thousands available on the Station Browser, or manually via URL. Search for stations from around the world as easily as from your own library, by country, by genre, or on the world map. Manually add and listen to your favorite live podcasts, air traffic control, and more — just point Broadcasts at any supported streaming audio source. Use the Now Playing screen to showcase gorgeous station and track artwork (where provided). Control from the MiniPlayer, or the menu bar on your Mac. Use Broadcasts in StandBy mode on your iPhone as a bedside clock. Sync your library across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple TV with iCloud, and Universal Purchase. Enjoy your library on the road using CarPlay and your iPhone. Listen with just your Apple Watch (Cellular) while on a run, or on Apple TV at home. Browse stations in grid or list view. Listen in Light or Dark mode. Edit stations to provide your own artwork, or use the Artwork Chooser or Image Playground to generate something fun and colorful. Use Handoff to transfer playback between devices, or AirPlay directly to a home speaker. Live Transcription uses an advanced on-device model to provide a realtime transcript so you can follow along without audio, or scroll back and see what you just missed, with support for dozens of languages. On macOS, Siri AI lets you ask questions about the transcript, like 'who is this person' or 'translate this for me'. Use Shazam to look up the current song, and add it to your music library. Supports Shortcuts & AppleScript for playback automation. Sleep Timer. Visualizer. Widgets. Spotlight. Siri. Game Controller. And much more! Supports Family Sharing. Made in Ireland. --- Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://www.highcaffeinecontent.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RTÉ Listen at none against Broadcasts's 3. RTÉ Listen also leads on iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). Broadcasts's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Broadcasts sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. RTÉ Listen asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for RTÉ Listen against 4.7 for Broadcasts. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1K and 964 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of RTÉ Listen's written reviews are positive against 75% of Broadcasts's.
RTÉ Listen ships an update every 4 months, Broadcasts monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RTÉ Listen | Broadcasts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (1K ratings) — better | 4.7 (964 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.1% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1K — better | 964 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 58 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | RTÉ | Steven Troughton-Smith |
Customer experience
RTÉ Listen
Broadcasts
User reviews
RTÉ Listen
From 1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent app
- 👍 Great for listening to Irish radio
- 🎧 Wonderful music and entertainment
- 🌍 Connects expats to home
- 🔊 High-quality audio
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy, crashes frequently
- ⏱️ Slow to load, buffer issues
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate, poor UI
- 🔇 Excessive ads before programs
- 📺 Lack of landscape mode on iPad
Broadcasts
From 964 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple, efficient, and reliable
- 🔒 Privacy-focused with no data tracking
- 👍 Seamless syncing across devices
- 👍 Customizable station icons and collections
- 👍 Affordable one-time purchase
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional streaming issues and crashes
- 🔍 Limited search and discovery features
- 🔍 Lack of genre-based browsing
- 🔍 Difficult to add non-listed stations
Bugs and requests
RTÉ Listen
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes or stops playing unexpectedly
- Playback issues when switching between apps
- Inconsistent behavior on different devices
- Delayed availability of programs for playback
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to pause, rewind, and resume live programs
- Quicker availability of programs for playback
- More customization options
- Improved search and discovery
- Airplay/Chromecast support
Broadcasts
Reported bugs
3 issues- Syncing issues causing data loss
- Playback issues on CarPlay and macOS
- Inconsistent behavior when changing stations
Requested features
5 requests- Improved global station search
- Genre-based station browsing
- Easier custom station addition
- Airplay and Siri integration
- Sleep timer and alarm clock functionality
In-app purchases
RTÉ Listen
No in-app purchases
Broadcasts
- Broadcasts (One Month)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Broadcasts (One Year)7 Days trial$11.991 Year
- Unlock All Features (Legacy)$9.99









