WBEZ

Once upon a time, before digital took over, I relied upon the Chicago Tribune. I had time to read it. Now, our news sources and time is sparse. I don’t like the death of radio, either. When I lived in the south side of Chicago, we had poor digital connections, obviously due to racism. I needed a radio to hear the news. Now I am back on the north side and can connect. Why must we rely on digital?! I appreciate learning about multi-faceted issues, and much more.

The new app is disappointing. Knowing I’d have an aversion to the known comforts of the old version - being someone who’s used it daily for 4+ years - I wanted to give it some time (month+) and despite trying for an open mind it’s hard not to feel the app was not only developed by folks who didn’t use the app, but it’s also absent basic developer app considerations & standards for users: 1. The app audio does not stop when I answer phone calls which is extraordinarily disruptive and dangerous if a call were an emergency. At a minimum it’s disorienting and creates unprofessional chaos on ad hoc work calls. 2. I cannot use my phone video function while using the app. It blocks/glitches the record button. 3. Audio does not stop playing when I take my headphones out out of the jack. 4. Navigating to previous hours to listen or view what’s upcoming used to be a simple swipe on a carousel. Now it’s a confusing series of unnecessary swipes with things nested nonsensically in various submenus. Sad UX. 5. Still no ability to stream to a bluetooth speaker.

Update- thanks so much for fixing the issue I noted below. After working with your new app, I see that it is indeed a great update with many new features we didn’t have before. Thanks so much for your work! So far, I prefer the other app because it was easier to navigate and cleaner visually. The new version is very granular, but I can see the benefits of it. Please add a fix or feature that allows the stream to continue after the initial WBEZ announcement. Right now, I have to hit play twice . Thanks!