OPB News vs FlashAlert Messenger
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OPB News
Access in-depth reporting on politics, arts, culture, and more from Oregon and southern Washington. Stream live radio, explore multimedia content, and enjoy personalized features like saved stories and push notifications.
- In-depth news reporting
- Live radio streaming
- Image and video galleries
- Personalized story saving
- Push notifications
- Dark mode and adjustable text
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Stay up to date with the biggest and most important stories in the Northwest with the OPB News app. Connect with OPB's in-depth reporting, stream OPB Radio live 24/7, explore immersive image galleries and videos and enjoy personalized app features. With the OPB News app, you can: - Easily browse news about politics, arts, culture, the environment, education, business and so much more from OPB’s team of journalists and producers in Oregon and Washington. - Listen and explore. Live stream OPB Radio 24/7, discover OPB podcasts and explore the people, places, events and issues shaping the Northwest. - Make the app your own. Save stories for later, view your story history and receive and manage push notifications on topics that interest you. - Enjoy enhanced accessibility. Use dark mode, adjust text size and access screen reader support.
FlashAlert Messenger
Receive news updates from selected organizations directly to your email or via push notifications. Create an account with your email and choose which organizations to follow for tailored news.
- Receive news from chosen organizations
- Email and push notification delivery
- Account creation with email
- Selectable news sources
- Annual account refresh
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The FlashAlert Messenger app allows members of the public to receive news from the organizations they choose. The public creates an account using their email. They choose the organs they wish to hear from. No other information is needed. They receive the news via that subscribed email address or through push notifications in the app. Each year, we ask all Messenger public subscribers to log into and out of their account to keep it current.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: OPB News at 4.3 against FlashAlert Messenger's 2.9. OPB News also leads on review sentiment (46% vs 30%) and ratings volume (94 vs 15). FlashAlert Messenger's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, update cadence, 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.
OPB News holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OPB News has 94 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of OPB News's written reviews are positive against 30% of FlashAlert Messenger's.
OPB News ships an update every 3 months, FlashAlert Messenger every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OPB News | FlashAlert Messenger |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (94 ratings) — better | 2.9 (15 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 46.3% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 94 — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Oregon Public Broadcasting | irx, LLC |
Customer experience
OPB News
FlashAlert Messenger
Bugs and requests
OPB News
Reported bugs
19 issues- App crashes
- Audio drops
- Stream stops playing
- App quits playing
- Loads poorly
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- Stops after a minute
- Drains battery fast
- Glitchy operation
- Play/pause controls not working on lock screen/quick access
- Audio doesn't stop for calls or music
- Stream stops on WiFi change
- Stream stops on app switch
- Sponsor message replays on cut out
- App needs to be restarted
- Lost signal causes crash
- Stream hangs and resumes
- Connectivity issues
- App crashes repeatedly
- Support ad comes on every time it starts up again
Requested features
7 requests- Sleep mode/timer for audio
- Cross-platform synchronization for saved stories
- Search bar more prominent
- Ability to replay Morning Edition
- Fix stream integration on NPR app
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- Make 'Listen Live' mean live
- Add a 'front page' for top news stories
FlashAlert Messenger
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
OPB News
No in-app purchases
FlashAlert Messenger
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is OPB News free?
Is FlashAlert Messenger free?
Which has better reviews, OPB News or FlashAlert Messenger?
Do OPB News or FlashAlert Messenger have ads?
Which is updated more often, OPB News or FlashAlert Messenger?
Other comparisons
