WBUR’s new iPhone app is live now in the App Store. It’s free. Go get it! (I’ll wait.)
The details are well-covered here and here and here, and Hubbub hosted a live chat to answer your questions about the app. Here are the Greatest Hits:
- Stream us live
- Read and share the latest NPR and WBUR news
- Listen to 20+ programs on demand
- Wake up to the WBUR alarm clock
- Submit breaking news tips
- View your member benefits on a map
- Generate a virtual membership card to instantly redeem benefits
- Search
Hope you love it. Please report bugs and request features in the comments. Be specific, and be constructive! Anything else will be ruthlessly deleted. We’re already working on iOS 4 support for the next update.
Whenever I launch the app, I see the intro splash screen (“Welcome to the WBUR App”) briefly, and then the app quits. I’ve rebooted my phone to no avail. iPhone 3GS with IOS 4. Willing to debug.
Much the same as HR. Are others seeing this?
We’ve heard a few reports of this. We hope to push out a first update tomorrow. Thanks for the patience guys.
Sounds great. Is there an Android version in the works?
Thank you for the response, Andrew.
What about Blackberry? A little market research shows that Blackberry has 42% of the smartphone market whereas iPhone has only 25%. I’m also willing to bet that a large percentage of your demographic are professional types where Blackberry is even more prevalent.
Will this work on my iPod Touch and/or my iPad?
Yes, Bob — both.
I also am getting crashes. Splash, then brief notification saying “On first launch the app will be getting you the latest news…” and then a crash back to the home screen. I have a 32GB iPod Touch (3rd generation) with iOS 4.
Application crashes on launch – every time – just as the welcome message is displayed. iPhone 3GS with OS4 – latest update. Look at the ratings on the iTunes store. A lot of people are having the same problem.
Same problem. App immediately crashes just after the welcome display – every time. Did anyone test the application before release? iPhone 3GS with OS4 & latest update.
Any plans for an Android application? I would love to be a beta tester. The NPR News application is good and I have been streaming WBUR that way, but it doesn’t remember my favorite station so it is less convenient than a dedicated application would be.
Can’t get the alarm to work. Tried various ways but no go. Would love to wake to the radio.
JMLapointe, we’re investigating that bug.
To the folks experiencing crashes in iOS 4, if you don’t know already, there’s an update that fixes this problem. More here: http://wbur.org/2010/07/22/iphone-app-update
Cannot get the alarm to turn on. Sleep works fine.
Fine idea. However, alarm is not working.
What exactly does that sleep button do? I tap it and it adds minutes at a time. It got up to 500 minutes and I want to turn it off altogether.
The live streaming on my wbur iphone app intermittently stops and starts. This happens intermittently and often. I have tried using both wifi and att network but without any luck. Can somebody pl. suggest any remedy ?
To the folks with intermittent audio streaming problems: We’re aware of the issue and trying to fix it.
For the folks who can’t get the alarm clock to work: We’re aware of this bug, too, and hope to fix it in the next update.
I second the BlackBerry proposal.
I would love to use the alarm, but once the phone goes to “sleep” (even with the app running in the background) the alarm doesn’t appear to work — at least, it didn’t go off the one time I set it the night before. Suggestions?
The app worked for a while, now all I get is a gray screen, completely frozen. Keep at it, I love the concept.
Hi, Has the Alarm bug been fixed? I tried to use it this morning and it didn’t work. Thanks.
Alarm feature is still not working properly. 6 months later. Was really excited about the alarm feature. When might this be fixed?
How about a droid x widgit?
My ap has completely crashed. Never loads. Despite deleting it and downloading it again two times.
Any update on an app for Android users?
I often wish I could “rewind” the radio like I do the DVR. I hope the iPhone app will allow me to listen more. Thanks!
App crashes on startup every time.
any idea why the live stream is no longer available on the iphone app? only options are the top of the news updates…it’s been this way for 2 days on both my iphone and ipad
Any chance of enhancing this app for the iPad? I listen on both my iPhone and iPad regularly, but the iPhone app on the iPad looks bad, and doesn’t take advantage of the available screen space. It really would be nice if you could take advantage of this.
Of course, fixing the problems mentioned by others should take priority.
It’s been a year, and you’ve had lots of questions about whether or not an Android app is in the works. But no answers. Why would a public radio station not respond to listener questions? Why are you ignoring valid comments? Why is your email not part of this blog post?
Love the app; makes long days of farmwork fly by! Issue I encountered today, though: I clicked on some pop-up thing that linked me to the WBUR Twitter feed, and now there’s no way to get back to the home screen. I can continue to listen to the program I was listening to, or I can get to the options from the lightning bolt button, but I can’t close the Twitter window to get back to the full array. Suggestions? Help?
I just started listening at work on my laptop but can only do this briefly. Any way you can add an android app for me to listen at home? I don’t have a radio and don’t plan to get one, having reached my quota of devices. Please don’t leave me in the dark!
Will we see this app for Blackberry anytime soon?
I was going to give money to WBUR today but my radio suddenly started only giving me static on 90.9 (no other station had a problem). So I go to download an Android app so I can listen to it and, HUH? You don’t have one? Only for Apple? Really? Come on, let’s get into the future dudes.
I wonder why they don’t have an android app. You are good at collecting by early and shorter donations but may be you can use some of it for android app. I was also a previous wbur donor.
Love the iPhone app but it’s become buggy. If I have to,say, answer a phone call while I’m listening to a program, when I end the call, the program I was listening to doesn’t resume. Instead an episode of This American Life that I listened to weeks ago begins playing. I’ve also had this happen randomly…in the middle of listening to one program that same episode of TAL begins playing The same episode every time…it’s very strange. Anyone else have this problem???? I’ve uninstalled / reinstalled but problem persists.