WNYC

The content on WNYC is A +. This review is specifically about the functionality of the app, which is poor. This has been true for previous versions and continues with the app overhaul that occurred and all updates. The issue is with the audio not restarting when there is some interruption to the feed. For example, if you lose connection to WiFi/cell, if you get a call or text, you pause the feed, you switch from phone speaker to headphones or headphones to car etc, or any other such disruption. Sometimes, you are lucky and the stream comes back on its own. Sometimes you are semi lucky and you just need to press play to continue. Routinely, you are unlucky and the audio won’t come back. You have to close the app and restart it. And even when it does come back, you often have to re-listen to the intro advertisement, which is obviously annoying. Honestly, no other audio app I use is this glitchy. I can only imagine that the generally high reviews are more so due to the content and perhaps other features, but the live stream is primarily what I use it for, and this type of glitch occurs every day, multiple times.

This app has one basic function: open a stream from WNYC. It fails miserably at that primary function. If you start the app fresh, it will open the stream just fine. Stop the stream and want to restart it? Sorry, chump. Have to quit the app and restart. Them yon can start the stream. But only the FM stream because for some bizarre reason, they have removed the AM stream completely. Again, all the app has do it open a URL and play the resulting stream and it fails at this task all the time. If you could click one link in a web browser and then have to restart the browser, you would be infuriated. That is the case here, but the case is so limited it is absurd it doesn’t work.

I listen to wnyc via the app every single day while I live in Detroit now. Thank you for this app, it is usually pretty clear and I don’t lose the signal. Unfortunately with the other NPR apps, like the local ones, WDET and Michigan radio, this is not the case, I often lose the signal, it has to buffer constantly and it’s very annoying. Not with wnyc, thank you so much!