Comparison

Pocket Beacon vs Improv

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pocket Beacon

Unlock exclusive content and benefits for fans of a popular web series. Enjoy ad-free viewing, early access to events, merchandise discounts, and bonus episodes. Support independent creator-owned media.

Highlights
  • Ad-free access to video and podcast library
  • Exclusive pre-sales for live events
  • Invitation to a private Discord server
  • Persistent merchandise discount
  • Bonus content (Cooldown, Fireside Chats)
  • Same-day podcast releases
Features
Read full description

Beacon is a special membership program that offers unparalleled and ad-free access to Critical Role and its vast video and podcast library, exclusive pre-sales for live events, invitation to a private Discord server, and a persistent discount on merchandise throughout all international online shops! By becoming a Beacon member, you’ll unlock special bonus content like Critical Role Cooldown and Fireside Chats, same-day Critical Role podcast releases alongside the VODs, and more, all while directly supporting creator-owned independent media.

About

Improv

Discover upcoming improv, sketch, and stand-up shows and classes from major theaters in one place. Organize your plans, get reminders, and filter by comedy type, venue, or date. Includes offline support and native performance.

Highlights
  • Aggregated show and class listings
  • Organized by date and venue
  • Personalized 'I'm Going' list
  • Show reminders and calendar integration
  • Filter by comedy type, venue, and date
  • Offline access to last feed
  • Class registration
Features
Read full description

One app for the improv scene. Improv gathers upcoming shows and classes from the theaters you love — UCB New York, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Magnet Theater, and WGIS in New York; UCB and WGIS in Los Angeles; The Annoyance and iO in Chicago — and puts them in a single, fast, native feed. SHOWS, ORGANIZED BY NIGHT Browse a clean, date-sectioned feed for one theater or your whole city. Every show has a page with the poster, lineup, description, and a Get Tickets button that opens the theater's own box office. I'M GOING Tap the heart on any show and it lands in your I'm Going list — grouped by date, badged with a count, and saved even if the listing later leaves the feed. Allow notifications and you'll get a reminder a few hours before showtime. One tap adds the show to your calendar. FIND EXACTLY YOUR KIND OF FUNNY Filter by comedy type (improv, sketch, standup, character), venue, free shows, livestreams, or a date window like this weekend. Search works across titles and descriptions. Filters persist and never strand you — anything that stops being available clears itself. CLASSES TOO Every theater's classes and workshops, grouped by level, with instructor, schedule, price, and open-seat filtering. Register in a couple of taps. BUILT LIKE APPLE BUILT IT Native SwiftUI, full Dynamic Type, light and dark mode, offline support (your last feed is always available), iPad layout with a persistent sidebar. No accounts, no ads, no tracking — see our one-paragraph privacy policy. Improv is an independent guide. Shows and classes are listed with links to each theater's own ticketing; all sales happen on the theater's site.

Screenshots

Pocket Beacon4 screens
Improv4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Improv at 5.0 against Pocket Beacon's 3.3. Improv also leads on monetization model (free vs subscription) and update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). Pocket Beacon's advantage is ratings volume (366 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Improv holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Beacon has 366 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Beacon ships an update fortnightly, Improv weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pocket Beacon versus Improv: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket BeaconImprov
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (366 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews27.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings366 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB6 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperCritical Role Productions, LLCSalim Hafid

Customer experience

Pocket Beacon

All ratings362 ratings
Positive47.2%
Neutral19.3%
Negative33.4%
Written reviews278 reviews
Positive27.7%
Neutral28.4%
Negative43.9%

Improv

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pocket Beacon

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Videos starting from the beginning
  • Freezing when switching to audio mode
  • Inconsistent behavior when locking screen

Requested features

4 requests
  • Picture-in-picture mode
  • Offline video downloads
  • Customizable playback controls
  • Apple TV app support

Improv

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Pocket Beacon

No in-app purchases

None

Improv

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pocket Beacon free?
Pocket Beacon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Improv free?
Improv is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Beacon or Improv?
Improv is rated higher. Pocket Beacon averages 3.3 out of 5 from 366 ratings, while Improv averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pocket Beacon or Improv have ads?
Neither Pocket Beacon nor Improv shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Beacon or Improv?
Pocket Beacon ships an update fortnightly, and Improv weekly. Most recently, Pocket Beacon was updated on November 8, 2026 and Improv on October 31, 2026.

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