JOY 94.9 vs 89.9 TheLight
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JOY 94.9
Stream live content from Australia's only LGBTIQA+ community radio station. Access real-time show information, schedules, and "Now Playing" track details with album artwork. The app supports various devices and timezones for a global listening experience.
- Live radio streaming
- Current and upcoming show information
- Now Playing track details
- Album artwork display
- Timezone awareness
- Personal detail storage for SMS
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Listen live to Australia's only LGBTIQA+ community radio station. JOY 94.9 broadcasts the authentic voices of the LGBTQIA+ communities from our studios in Melbourne, Australia to the world. Stream live, and get up-to-date information on the currently broadcasting show, upcoming shows, and the entire JOY 94.9 schedule. Get "Now Playing" track information including album artwork (when available), advanced stream settings and improved formatting, including supporting both portrait and landscape orientations across all devices. If you're a regular on the SMS line, you can even store your personal details (like your membership number) for quick re-use. JOY 94.9 is also timezone aware for our interstate and overseas listeners!
89.9 TheLight
This app provides positive, encouraging, and family-friendly radio content. Stream multiple channels for music, news, and inspirational messages. Discover content on family, entertainment, parenting, and more, with opportunities to win prizes.
- Family-friendly radio streams
- Positive and encouraging content
- News and inspirational messages
- Lifestyle content (family, parenting, sports, money)
- Contests and giveaways
- Multiple radio channels
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89.9 TheLight is Positive Radio, dedicated to delivering positive, encouraging, family friendly radio in a fun and engaging way. Through our app, you can find laughter, news and inspirational messages. The music and content is family-friendly and free of cynicism. You can also access the latest on family, entertainment, parenting, sport, money and gadgets – along with your chance to win, daily! Tune into either 89.9 TheLight, LightDigital and in the festive season, our pop-up station LightChristmas. Let us know what you think about our channels, and your online experience with us. Contact the app team directly at development@thelight.com.au. Or connect with us at https://facebook.com/899thelight or https://twitter.com/899thelight.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: 89.9 TheLight at 5.0 against JOY 94.9's 4.7. 89.9 TheLight also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 80%) and ratings volume (11 vs 3). JOY 94.9's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). 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.
89.9 TheLight holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of JOY 94.9's written reviews are positive against 94% of 89.9 TheLight's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | JOY 94.9 | 89.9 TheLight |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | 93.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JOY Melbourne Inc. | Positive Media Inc |
Customer experience
JOY 94.9
89.9 TheLight
Bugs and requests
JOY 94.9
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
89.9 TheLight
Reported bugs
2 issues- App not showing what's playing
- Light Christmas station not playing
Requested features
3 requests- Fix Light Christmas station functionality
- Improve app loading speed
- Ensure 'what's playing' feature is always working
In-app purchases
JOY 94.9
No in-app purchases
89.9 TheLight
No in-app purchases
