WBUR gathered the input of its audience when planning features for the app and, with the PRX team, sought to create an app that harnessed the power of the iPhone. More than just a tool for streaming audio, the WBUR app is meant to facilitate a new level of engagement between the station and its audience.
Here are some highlights of the new WBUR app:
Live stream WBUR
Read the latest news from WBUR and NPR and share stories on Facebook and Twitter
Submit breaking news tips and photos to the WBUR Newsroom
View your member benefits on a map with a built-in location finder to locate participating businesses and redeem savings using a virtual member card
Initiate donations to WBUR from your iPhone
Alarm clock/Sleep timer for the night owls and early birds.
Listen to 20+ programs on demand
View the program schedule
Like with the Public Radio Player, PRX plans to release the code for the WBUR app under an open source license to assist other stations in the development of their own apps. The WBUR app is available for free in the iTunes App Store. You can see more screenshots of the app and watch a brief video tour.
Radio has the power to stop you in your tracks. But some public radio programs go a step further — they grab you by the ears and don’t let go. You can find a number of programs of this variety under the Documentary category in the Public Radio Player’s On Demand section. Here a few to check out:
Third Coast Podcast — The Third Coast International Audio Festival has long celebrated the art of the audio documentary, and their weekly podcast is a great window into the genre. The program includes segments from their program Re:sound, along with a number of other audio delights collected from near and far.
Hearing Voices — Hearing Voices from NPR is a weekly collection of audio reports connected by a theme. Episodes can take a variety of forms and may include personal stories, sound-portraits, slam poets, docs, dramas, features, and found-sound.
RadioLab – RadioLab is a show for the curious. Recent topics: lucky lobsters, unintended consequences, and face-blindness. Each episode is an audio adventure, to say the least.
Changing World — A sister series of the daily international news program The World. Changing World offers in-depth radio documentaries from the BBC World Service that will enlighten your understanding of global affairs.
This American Life — Just when you think you’ve got This American Life figured out (i.e., David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, and squirrel cops), they manage to astound you with new episodes. Their coverage of the economic crisis – most recently in a collaboration with the investigative non-profit ProPublica – has taken TAL’s journalism to new levels.
American RadioWorks – American RadioWorks is a longtime producer of top-notch radio documentaries and investigative reports. Recent productions have focused on coal and global warming, the war on poverty, and the politics of textbooks in America.
You can find these programs and more in the On Demand section of the Public Radio Player.
The halls of public radio stations have become alarmingly hip over the last few years. Once the domain of non-fiction authors in tweed, the egg-heads are now rubbing shoulders with rockers as public radio has become a sought-after stop for pop musicians on tour. You can find a number of great programs on the Public Radio Player where big name artists and up-and-comers alike play live for public radio audiences. Here are a few to check out:
Sound Opinions — This rock ‘n roll talk show isn’t all talk. Weekly guests are known to belt out a song or two. Recent guests include Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, French popsters Phoenix, and the British electronic trio The XX. (Sound Opinions is distributed by PRX, makers of the Public Radio Player. If you like the show, encourage your local station to carry it.)
KEXP Live Performances — Seattle’s KEXP is known for being on the cutting edge of new music and their live performance podcast is a great way to keep pace with the youth of America. Get exposed to new artists like Unbunny, Giant Squid, and Spoonshine.
All these shows can be found in the On Demand section of the Public Radio Player, and be sure to browse through the music section to find more great music programs available to stream on your iPhone.
Good news regarding the iOS4 troubles! We have completed some improvements on the app’s server that should eliminate most timing-out issues for devices running iOS4. (Older devices might still have issues, and we’re working on those too.) The changes are live and anyone who has been having issues with iOS4 should try just launching the app. If problems persist, simply delete and reinstall the app and that should do the trick.
And a little icing on the cake — we expect to submit an update to iTunes next week that will bring multitasking to the Public Radio Player. We’ll let you know as soon as it’s approved.
UPDATE:The multitasking update for the Public Radio Player is taking a bit longer than expected, but we’re working on it.
We’re hearing from some folks having trouble with the Public Radio Player after upgrading to the new iOS4. It seems that most cases are associated with the initial launch of the app either after upgrading the OS or installing it for the first time onto your phone.
This is due to a data syncing issue – the app is trying to access new content (stream and episode info, schedules, etc.) from our servers, and that needs a fast internet connection. If you’re having problems on cellular 3G or Edge connections, try relaunching the Player while on a strong wifi connection. It might take a little longer to load, but after that things should work fine on both cellular and wifi.
Why then, you may ask, are some iPod Touch users also having a problem, when their devices *only* work on wifi? Our own tests on the iPod suggest this, too, is a connectivity issue. iPod Touches have a history of problems with some wifi networks, even when the wifi indicator shows full connectivity. If you want to check the speed of your wifi connection, you can download the free Speedtest.net app.
And to address the root of this issue — the amount of time it takes for the app to sync — the PRX tech team is working on a fix. Thanks for your patience, and please contact us if the problems persist.
The popular blog Boing Boing has a great post that takes you behind the scenes of the public radio show The Sound of Young America. Boing Boing editor Mark Frauenfelder was recently a guest on TSOYA and found himself intrigued by the home recording studio built by host Jesse Thorn. Following the taping, the tables were turned and Thorn found himself being interviewed about how he creates radio outside of a traditional studio environment. It’s a neat look into how TSOYA works and what goes into making a public radio program.
You can find The Sound of Young America (a program Salon.com’s Audiofile once described as “the greatest radio show you’ve never heard“) in the On Demand Section of the Public Radio Player. The Frauenfelder interview is scheduled for next week’s episode.
WHRV’s Out of the Box CD of the Week has been the perfect remedy for my severe case of Music Fatigue Syndrome.
You know what I’m talking about!
I used to be up on new artists and their records. Friends’ tastes mixed with mine, and my music collection was a constantly transforming catalog reflecting who I was, where I was going and where I had been.
But then I graduated from college. Somehow in the years since then, my iTunes library has remained pretty much unchanged. I’m listening to the same songs from the same artists over, and over and over again. And I’m tired of them.
That was, until I navigated my way to the On Demand section of the Public Radio Player and found these weekly CD reviews hosted by Paul Shugrue. In four quick minutes, Shugrue gets to the heart of one new album every week, with musical excerpts and excellent commentary. Tune in!
As we gushed in a previous post, the new iOS4 operating system is a big deal for audio-centric apps like the Public Radio Player because of the new multitasking feature. Developers are able to reprogram their apps for iOS4 to enable multitasking, allowing those apps to run in the background while you access your email, surf the web, or use other apps.
Multitasking is not yet available for the Public Radio Player, but we are excited to make it happen and it will definitely be included in an upcoming release. Introducing multitasking to the Player requires development resources that are in scarce supply right now. As you know, we are currently working to bring the Player to the Android platform as well as developing a web-based version of the app. Making multitasking a part of the Public Radio Player is a priority for us, but it will be delayed while we juggle our other projects.
Additionally, we have been hearing scattered reports that the current version of the Player is crashing after updating to iOS4. We are looking into this and will remedy the situation as soon as possible.
Congratulations go out to a number of public radio stations for taking home 2010 National Edward R. Murrow Awards. The prestigious awards are handed out by the Radio Television Digital News Association and recognize excellence in electronic journalism. And the icing on the cake: you can stream all these award-winning stations on the Public Radio Player!
In addition to the success of these local stations, NPR picked up national awards for Audio Reporting: Hard News, Audio News Documentary, Audio Sports Reporting, and Website.
Public Radio Player
WHRV’s Out of the Box CD of the Week has been the perfect remedy for my severe case of Music Fatigue Syndrome.
