Public Radio Player
Give us your feedback
Your feedback is an important part of the Public Radio Player project. We want to hear what you think about the the iPhone app – what we got right, what’s bothering you, and how it could be improved. We are currently working on developing new features for the Public Radio Player, so now is the time to let us know what you think. Leave a comment below.
Mike, I will check on WKCC. Thanks
Kyle, do you know the call letters of that station? I can look into the issue.
WKCC 91.1 has disappeared from the app. It was listed in March. On my Iphone its bookmarked from that time and I can use the app and hear the stream. But if you search now by station or state (Illinois) it does not come up….
Whatever happened to the 1920s Radio Network? It was my favorite station of all, but after the last update, I was unable to find it.
How come I can play on demand pod casts but when I want to listen to my favorite real time pod cast (colorado Public radio does not work). I can sometimes get another NPR site either Minnosota PR or Los Angeles PR to play back All things considered in the same location.
Patty, I am unable to recreate the problem you describe on the KERA stream. Does this happen on a wifi or cellular connection?
I consistently receive a 404 error when trying to listen to KERA with the player. I am able to listen to other stations with no problem. I am using an iPhone 3GS.
I can’t figure out what the exact steps are to make sure the alarm clock-radio is going to go off at the set time.
The phone can be in “sleep” mode for the alarm clock to work. Just don’t shut down the app before putting the phone to sleep.
The alarm clock function is not reliable. Most of the time I see an error that the network was unavailable, yet it is always available.
When you say to leave the application “on,” is it OK for the screen to go dark? Or does that have to be disabled?
Justin, yes! We are currently working on such an update and expect to submit it to the iTunes store soon. We will let everyone know as soon as it is approved.
When can we expect an update that takes advantage of the multitasking features in iOS4 (background audio, fast app switch)?
i have been using this app for several months on my ipod touch. i am connecting through my home wireless. after 30-40 minutes of playing, sometimes less, the connection stops and i get a message that the connection is lost. when i click the ok button to the message, then the connection is re-established. if i connect to the same NPR station via safari, i have no problems with dropping the signal. please fix this problem ASAP!
New iPhone 4. Previously had iPhone 3G, and Public Radio Player worked well. On the iPhone 4, it just displays non-moving “progress” circle and word “Loading” for several seconds, then crashes. Tried deleting from phone and reinstalling, but no improvement. I have very fast WiFi.
Your app does not seem to work with OS4 on the iPhone 3GS upgrade. “Loading” appears on the screen without the circular loading progress image moving.
After approx 30 seconds, the app shuts down and then you see the Home Page of the iPhone.
Please advise. Thank you
please make iOS4 multi-tasking a priority! This is a great app, but it’s a lot less useful when it has to shut down to do anything else on the phone. I’m glad I don’t need to shut off my radio when I want to look at my calendar or make a phone call.
We need more NYC Station. Like 96.3
Love the app on my iPad, where it works fine.
However, I really want it to work on my iPhone 3G running iOS4. As several others have noted, it will not get past the “Loading” screen and then times out.
Thanks for a great app, and let us know when we can use it again on the iPhone.
- Leslie
Hi Andrew,
Cool idea – would be great if the device itself had an equalizer, since so many of us use its audio capabilities. I’ll share your idea with our developers. If you come upon any examples of a good iPhone app equalizer, please post here or share with our Google Group http://groups.google.com/group/public-radio-player
I’m having a problem with the Public Radio Player, but it doesn’t seem to be associated with iOS – not 100% sure, but I’m pretty sure it worked on my 3GS with iOS4. However, it doesn’t work on my new iPhone 4. It just crashes whenever I try to open the app. I really enjoy the app and use it almost everyday to listen to various NPR stations around the country. Looking forward to the fix so I can continue to use it. In the meantime, I’ll just use my iPad, but hope the iPhone fix comes soon. Thanks….
Folks, here’s the latest update on issues with iOS4. http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?p=1807
Hi, I’m an early adopter of your awesome thing. I took part in some early feedback for it as well. I’m wondering if you’ve considered adding a few pre-set audio equalizer controls to it, such that I could reduce the bass output to my system, or increase it, based on the quality of the streaming signal and my choice of speaker.
Keep up the great work!
–Andrew Shea
Add one more to the list of people who’s current version (2.1.2) will not run on an iPod Touch upgraded to iOS4. But it does run great on my iPad!
It worked 2 days ago and today the app won’t even open.
It goes to “Loading” screen, but nothing loads and then it times out.
I am running iOS4 on iphone 3Gs
Susan, you’re not alone. We’ve been hearing similar reports and our development team is working on a fix. If you can, please let us know what generation phone you are using. Is it a 3G or a 3GS? Thanks
I use PRP 6+ hours a day. My two cents worth says “multitasking” needed sooner rather than later.
I upgraded to the new iphone op. system and my public radio player no longer works. The screen comes up with the “loading” message and then nothing. Are you working on this.
Let me know.
Thanks
Folks, our Dev Team is working hard to make sure the Player is stable and working as it should on the new iOS4.
Hi folks–
Just want to confirm Josh’s observation (last paragraph) about vers 2.1 app crash with OS4. I just upgraded to OS4 on my 3GS and now app won’t launch. It’s sad because I downloaded app 24 hours before I upgraded so I haven’t even gotten to enjoy it! Please let us know fix. Thanks! –Suz
I downloaded your player with the new IOS4 on a 3GS iphone and it locks each time it’s opened.
Jason, multitasking will be part of an upcoming release. We do not have a set date at this time, but we are excited to bring that feature to the Public Radio Player.
Hi!
How long until this wonderful app supports multitasking?
Thanks!!
-Jason
Ric, we are looking into the problem. Thanks for reporting the trouble.
Hello. I love the PRP for my iPhone 3G. However, (and I be you’ve heard this already), it crashes after upgrading to IOS4. Just me, perhaps, or is there something wrong with the current version?
Thanks!
Ric
Is there any plans to fix the Audio Stream 404 issue?
I am having this issue with WUNC on three iPhones and all have had the App deleted and reinstalled, I even did a fresh restore on one phone to no avail.
It worked OK on my iPhone until I accidently deleted the App and then once reinstalled never worked on WUNC again.
Chris, thanks for the specifics. We have not been able to recreate any problem with the WQXR stream on our devices, but I will run this by the development team and see what we can do. Thanks again for bringing it to our attention.
Ben, we do not have an iPad specific version, but the iPhone version runs great on the iPad. Read more: http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?p=1216
Excellent app, works great when I am at home–had an iPod Touch and not an iPhone. Though I am wondering if there will be an iPad version at some point, as I would love to use it on my 3G-enabled iPad. Keep up the great work!
Hello Josh,
This problem predated has been reported by many others I see, but I haven’t found a response that could indicate what I might do (if anything) to address it. Please forgive me if there’s a fix and I missed it.
Error: “Audio stream bandwidth too great for network.”
Version: I’m on the latest 2.1, but I experienced the problem in earlier version as well.
I mostly listen to WQXR out of NYC.
I can usually listen for about 60-90 minutes before receiving the error.
I am connecting to a wireless router connected to a cable modem connection with plenty of bandwith for the QXR stream.
Please let me know if there’s any additional information that I can provide or if you have any ideas for me.
Many thanks,
Chris
Thanks, Ntombi! Future versions of the Public Radio Player will take advantage of the new iPhone OS4, but we do not have a release date scheduled at this time.
Hi. I’ve been using (and recommending) your app since it was first released, and I love it. I hope you all are working hard on an update that takes advantage of the new APIs, so that I can listen to it while doing other things. Any news on a release date?
Julie, the KERA stream is working for us on our phones. If the problem persists for you, make sure you have the latest version of the Public Radio Player and the iPhone OS.
Julie, I will look into the issue. Thanks for letting us know!
I am getting “Playback Error Audio stream connection failed. (404)” When trying to connect to KERA. Help!
Make one for palm pre “webOS” it is the future of all web applications.
Derek, we’re currently developing a web based version of the Public Radio Player. Keep an eye on the blog for more details and timeline for release.
You might want to reset your iTouch and see if the problem continues. Hold down the sleep and home button until the Apple logo appears and the device reboots. If the problem persists, let us know.
i have been using this app since i bought my itouch. I LOVE IT. Today I am at the lake and my friend is here with her Itouch as well. Her public radio player loads right up but when I try to load mine, it has the ‘loading’ message on the middle of the screen then it dissapears and goes back to the menu. I tried deleting the app, re installing it turning the itouch off and no luck same problem. Any ideas? All my other apps load fine.
I love the public radio player so much, I wish there were a regular web version. It’s great being able to search for live streams of a program.
Robert, The KERA stream is working on our devices. Can you provide more details? Is it an issue of the stream stopping or buffering? You should also check to see if you have the most recent version of the Public Radio Player and the iPhone OS installed on your device. Audio streaming can be spotty due to cellular networks – does the trouble happen when you are on a wifi connection?
Robert, thanks for reporting the trouble you are having. I will check on the KERA stream.
I was really excited when I found the app through KERA Dallas/Fort Worth website but in the few weeks that I have had it the stream for KERA hasn’t worked at all. Please do what you can to correct.
Ken, KOHM has not submitted their stream to be included in the Public Radio Player. This is an opt-in project for stations. We welcome all qualifying stations. You may want to contact your local station and suggest they join the Player. Info on how they can submit their stream is found at http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?page_id=80 Thanks!
I have only had this app for a couple days and it seems like a winner. However, there is one problem: it does not have access to the streams from my local Public Radio Station, KOHM. Why is that? And how can it be fixed?
Why not allow users to set the connection speed since we may not always have 3G connection. A talk radio stream should not require high bandwith anyway.
Another vote for Android
1. Port to android, with apples increasing control over the platform I suspect a more open os may live on my next phone.
2. I have fat fingers and sometimes have trouble hitting the miniture play/pause button.
We are having some issues with the player. My listeners are telling me that our streams stopped working about 2 weeks ago. I test them daily on my ipod touch v. 3.1.3 (7E18).
I am running V2.1 of the player. All works fine. Users with iphone 3GS have problems while some users with 3G work fine and others have probelms. But it is only our stream. Other stations play fine. Can you think of anything that is special about our steams?
THIS IS A WONDERFUL APP. i LIKE IT VERY MUCH, BUT MY IPHONE WILL BE VERY HOT AFTER I USE IT FOR A LONG TIME(1+ HOUR). SO I HOPE THE PRP CAN PUBLISH THE SOFTWARE FOR PC/MAC PLATFORM BESIDES IPHONE/POD/IPAD. THAT I CAN USE MY LAPTOP TO HEAR THE RADIO OR USE MY BLUETOOTH EARPHONE TO RECEIVE THE SIGNAL FROM MY LAPTOP.
Would an Android version of this fine client be envisioned for later this year?
I love this app, but get this error every time I use it: Audio Stream Bandwidth Too Great for Network. This happens over 3G with full reception while the iPhone 3GS is stationary.
I have also contacted WQXR in case the problem is at its end. (The list of NY stations goes from WNYO to WRUR, skipping WQXR.)
Is there no App for Android phones?
Eugene, this is really strange. I am going to look further into the issue. Thanks for your patience.
I deleted and reinstalled the app, and WQXR still does not show up.
Josh,
I’m sorry, but WQXR is not showing up. Should I delete and reinstall the app? (I have version 2.1.2 of the app.)
Eugene, I just checked and WQXR is still available in the app. When you open the App, select “Live”, then select “State”. Scroll down to New York and WQXR is listed there among the New York state stations.
What happened to WQXR (105.9 FM) that it’s no longer on Public Radio Player?
Robert, thanks for the feedback. We are discussing future revenue models for the app and we will consider your suggestion.
VG, there are no immediate plans for building an android version of the app. We are exploring the issue and would like to see the app ported to more mobile OS platforms.
I cannot begin to tell you how utterly fabulous this app is. Just fabulous!
Here’s my suggestion: Please continue to offer this app for free, BUT with an in-app upgrade to get rid of those ever annoying ads once and forever. Twitteriffic is a great example to use as how to pull this off. You obviously have the engineering talent to pull this off, plus it’s not all that hard. I would gladly pay $9.99 to get rid of those ads.
Are you planning to release public radio player for android? it is badly needed.
How about you guys stop been apple fanboys and release an app for android devices!
Port to Android
Ian, I will check on the status of the WUNC stream in the Player. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I have been using the Public Radio Player since version 1.1 and I love it. I can listen to my local NPR Station (WUNC) most mornings.
In fact, my wife has been looking for an alarm that will start playing WUNC to wake her up in the morning and was glad to see that in a recent update to my surprise.
However, when I installed the Public Radio App on her phone, all but WUNC played.
I could not get WUNC to play at all. I get a Playback Error, Audio Stream Connection Failed (404) on both WiFi and 3G.
Funnily, the separate WUNC app streams fine.
WUNC also streams fine on my phone in the Public Player App.
I have tried clearing Cookies, Cache, etc.
Deleting and reinstalling the app.
I even did a restore of my wife’s phone.
It’s really driving my nuts.
Does anybody have any ideas?
Thanks.
Many bugs. I have had to repeatedly reset to get controls back. Also I haven’t been able to stream any material reliably. Stopped using it.
Please move this form to the top of the page. It makes it hard to leave a comment if you have to scroll all the way to the bottom and that is a long way.
Thanks
My issue is with the stability when used in a car. I happen to use an ipod touch with a mobile wifi to 3g router. I think the iphone would have the same issue. When it loses 3g even for a short time the PRP puts up an error box and won’t recover until PRP is restarted.
I really don’t want to have to do the restart while I’m driving.
I think it should at least auto-recover more robustly than it does.
Even better would be a large buffering option so that it could better not interrupt audio.
Just wanted to chime in that WBUR’s stream crashes the app on my 3Gs also. No need to respond, since I see that you folks are on top of the problem.
By the way, I love this app. I sometimes use it to listen to WDUQ in Pittsburgh or (until recently) WBUR in Boston when I’m feeling a little homesick.
Joe, thanks for contacting us and raising the issue of closed v. open systems. To give some background, one of this project’s original goals was to kick-start mobile development within the public media industry. At the time we started working on this app, the iPhone was (and remains today) the dominant smart phone platform. With the release of the iPhone SDK and the market penetration of the iTunes store as a distribution point, the iPhone was the right choice for us to reach the largest audience given our limited resources. While we do not currently have funds to expand to other mobile platforms (such as Android), we are currently working on a web-based version of the Player to address the issue you raise of open access for all to the service. In addition, we plan to make the code for the Player open source. And I would like to note that the Public Radio Player has been grant funded to date, so this has not cost your local station any resources. You raise excellent points, and I can assure you these issues are a matter of regular discussion among our team as we make plans for the future of the Public Radio Player. Thanks
I’m saddened to see this app developed, honestly. The iphone is a closed device, and as such your app is not Free and is unavailable on other platforms. Rather than using my contribution to enhance my ability to listen to NPR in the ways I would like (a higher-quality OGG stream, for example), my station has put my money towards a project that, by definition, can benefit only people that have spent money on Apple’s products. I don’t think this is the way money donated towards the public good should be spent.
Robinbp, I did notice that you can catch the CBC’s As It Happens in the On Demand section. That’s because some U.S. stations air it – which means you can catch it live on the Player at certain times of day. There might be other Canadian programs, too. Try the Search. Enjoy.
Love the AP my favorite NPR station goes with me wherever I go in the world on my iPhone. Just wondering one thing though – KPBX Spokane 91.1 (which is my favorite station) sounds like it is slightly off the station. Lots of hiss and static – like an old fashioned radio. Dont have that problem with other stations.
Robinbp – On our FAQ page, we outline which streams qualify for inclusion on this app. Unfortunately, most foreign stations do not qualify. http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?page_id=895
Some users are indeed having trouble with the WBUR stream and we are working on a fix for this issue. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Hey guys, love the app, use it all the time.
FWIW the 2.0 versions crashes consistently for me when trying to stream WBUR, whereas the 1.3 version does not, so I keep both on my phone.
Thanks!
like the idea of the app. but here in Canada, I feel left out! Is there a way to include us? we like music too!!
thanks
Please hurry up with your web based player.
Would love to have it on my laptop and netbook.
Linux binaries would be really cool too.
Bud, Talk of the Nation made some changes to their podcast feed (which we use for the player) which rendered the feed incompatible with how the Public Radio Player is currently configured. So – long story short – to fix this, we will need to push an update to the app. We have a number of small other issues we are working are planning the next update in a couple of weeks. I apologize about the unexpected delays
Josh,
Thank you for the update and for your efforts
Lee – I’m sorry about the frustrations you are experiencing with the app. If these issues are persistent and you have confirmed you have the latest version of the app and the iPhone OS then I would try deleting the app and reinstalling it. That has done the trick for a few others who were having ongoing problems.
Bud, we continue to have problems getting the Talk of the Nation feed to play nice with the Player. We are working on a solution and hope to have it fixed as soon as possible.
Has anybody gotten any Talk of the Nation feeds to work in Public Radio Player 2.1.1? I get errors on every one I’ve tried.
I experience 2 ongoing problems with the Public Radio Player app for iPhone. 1 – I *constantly* get the error “Audio Stream bandwidth too great for network” (it happened again just now, which is how I could quote it accurately). This happens regardless of whether I am on the 3G network or my wifi internet connection at home (which is a broadband connection). 2 – The maximum volume is just barely audible for me. I have other radio-over-iPhone apps which can go up to a maximum which is too loud, so it’s not a limitation of my hearing or the equipment.
Otherwise, I love the app (when I can use it, not often due to the constant error), and very much appreciate the ability to listen to public radio on my phone. P.S.: My station of choice is KPBS San Diego.
John, we located a bug with the WBUR page specifically and we will issue an app update for it shortly.
Admire the intentions, generally good implementation. Sad to hear that advertising may rear its unattractive head.
Don’t like the loading splash screen much but understand its intent. Especially if you are working closely with WBUR, you should know that performance in getting the BUR stream seems to have degraded significantly in recent versions, even with 5 bar +3G service; and now with 2.1.1, loading the WBUR stream crashes the app – every time. So since latest “upgrade” I can’t listen to BUR at all. Are you currently testing ad features for that station? Could that be related to the crashes? Running OS 3.1.3 on a 3G iPhone.
Graham – We have been encouraged by our funders to explore ways to make the project financially sustainable beyond our current grant. We are discussing a number of options, and feedback from users is always valuable.
As for the location services, it should not be a requirement of the app – only for finding your local stations. We had an issue with location services popping up when the app launched, but fixed that with the 2.1.1 patch that was released last week. Please make sure you’ve got the latest version installed and the problem should disappear. Thanks!
Jim, we’re glad WPR is working for you on version 2.1.1. As for the ads, we will be looking at a number of options to make the project financially sustainable beyond the generous grant we received from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Hi,
Sorry, but adverts and required location services are each dealbreakers.
Adverts substantially degrade my quality of life, and I won’t allow them. I’d be happy to pay a few bucks, as I did with the This American Life app.
Requiring location-based services is an unjustifiable invasion of my privacy.
Please don’t ruin a good thing.
Graham
Josh,
I have an iPhone 3GS with all the latest updates (as of 3/5/2010).
I deleted the original copy of 2.1.1 and returned to an older copy of Public Radio Tuner to once again access the WPR streams, as noted in my previous message.
Today I downloaded 2.1.1 again and installed it once more and also did a reset of my iPhone.
Bingo! Now everything works OK! The Wisconsin Public Radio streams are shown as before and the feedback function queues up an email message. (Note: I was using my local WiFI network at the time of the installation and original stream search.)
Others may wish to try this as well and see if they also meet with success.
I haven’t used the new version long enough to see the ads so I can’t comment on their implementation at this time.
However, once users understand that Public Radio Player was NOT created by the public radio industry but is rather a privately developed and supported app, they should understand your need to establish a working business model for the future.
If I find in-app ads bothersome, I always purchase an ad-free version of the app, if it is available.
So you might consider that option for users who object to the ads. Hopefully regular consumers of public radio realize that they should also be supporting the industry directly with their contributions to local stations, NPR, etc.
Tim – thanks for contacting us about your experiences. I will try to recreate the issues you describe and see if there is any way to isolate the problem.
Jim and Geo-Carl. I just checked my Public Radio Player and was able to listen to all WPR streams. Please check that your phones OS is up to date. Also, are you using an iPhone or iPod Touch?
I have also found that like Geo-Carl (see above) the Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) streams are no longer found in version 2.1.1.
Here are the URLs:
http://wpr.org/
Classical Music Network: http://wpr-ice.streamguys.net/wpr-music-96.m3u
Ideas Network: http://wpr-ice.streamguys.net/wpr-ideas-40.m3u
As a temporary solution, I have reinstalled the older Public Radio Tuner version which continues to find the WPR streams.
I look forward to an update to the new player which addresses this oversight.
Many thanks for an otherwise great app.
This app has been great for several months. Now, all of a sudden, it does nothing but buffer. What’s changed? Is this a problem on my end or yours?
Well, after concerns about the ads and waiting for the dust to settle and the newest 2.1.1 version to come out, I finally updated and have some time to browse. For the most part I love it all- my favorites stayed right where they were, I can find all my shows, and the new features seem great- especially the ability to browse the web within the app seems particuarly brilliant.
But… I’m having some issues… there are times when it seems sluggish- for instance when I go back to a station or program list, the app seems to get hung up for several seconds before I can resume scrolling the list. And sometimes when I search through the on-demand programs and click on one the page is blank (NPR: Music is one of several examples of this). And then I have a wish- I wish there were a stop button when the app is buffering and trying to load a station- for example, I clicked on an NPR Tiny Desk Concert video (how cool would that be??? well, no matter, it never loaded…) After buffering for quite awhile it seemed to slow down my navigation through the app, and I couldn’t see how to stop it other than clicking another link to load a different stream. And, during all this, I had one crash…
Are all of these things normal? Or should I try to reinstall the app?
All in all, I think it’s great- really. There’s a tremendous amount here, and I’m amazed you can put it all together. Thank you.
Proxy Errors
Thank you for providing the best radio app for free. I live in India, and got addicted to your app since I heard about it through my friend. I enjoy listening to All Classical Gmbh. However that is not to be because of network related problems, either with iPhone OS or with the app. This is related to proxy 407 errors. Please read the points below. I would be happy to explain them in detail if required. Sorry for the long report with a messy URL pasted below.
1. In my university campus and residence, we are behind a proxy server (Squid). iPhone OS supports proxy based user authentication, however not all appilcations seem to handle this.
2. PRP is one such app that I am unable to use behind a proxy.
3. I have checked with my proxy administrator who confirmed that my iPhone directly access the net without going through the proxy server, though the info is setup on the iPhone.
4. I am able to access the net through Safari, which correctly goes through the proxy server, which means no problem with the proxy server config.
5. I the error is the 407 HTTP.
6. I did a quick search of apple.com and found these hints that are to be handled by the apps. From iPhone OS API
1. Communicating with HTTP Servers http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/Networking/Conceptual/CFNetwork/CFHTTPTasks/CFHTTPTasks.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30001132-CH5-SW2
2. Communicating with Authenticating HTTP Servers http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/Networking/Conceptual/CFNetwork/CFHTTPAuthenticationTasks/CFHTTPAuthenticationTasks.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30001132-CH8-SW1
7. I have checked that my iPhone PRP app correctly downloads the news when I am connected to the cell phones 3G services. Only in the WiFi zones behind our proxy does it fail to download audio.
Hi,
Just downloaded the latest Public Radio Player (2.1.1). Why now just an ugly “Loading” overlay? What happened to the nice logo splash screen? I trust it will be restored in a subsequent release? Thanks.
Public radios oldest, continuously playing station (the original), WERN in Madison, WI is no longer available on the app. Search and local stations fail to link me. What’s up?
Potentially a great app, but not when you lose listings in the new upgrade.
Well, It’s been a month I use the Public Radio Player, and I think that the app is just great. And I guess you guys could add a few more stations.
Thanks, Tiago.
Got the 2.1.1 update, and now tells me I need to turn on location services, in spite of it already being turned on? Exited app and checked, and sure enough it was turned on.
No Mo, We did see your review, and we appreciate you taking the time to comment here. We are aware of a number of issues with the new update – and understand the frustration they must be causing for loyal users. Right now, our team is working to push out a fix for the bugs. More details about the known issues with version 2.1 can be found in the update section of this blog post. http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?p=1034
I have been a loyal user since the App came out.
However this is my recent review.
You ought to look at the other reviews on iTunes.
The new update is being scalded.
Maybe you can re-think what it is you want to do with the App.
Sorry, but National Public Radio is ad free.
Putting ads in your App and FORCING people to use Location Services
is very, very bad judgement.
Go back to the last version, leave it alone, and you won’t have any developer costs!
Terrible awful update. Forces you to use Location Services
and gives you no option to not use it. This is an invasion of Privacy.
Also erases your favorites. The program is completely ruined.
Used to be 5 stars. Now it is zero. What a shame.
Greed comes to Public Radio. National Public Radio is commercial free.
The new ads in this App go against the spirit of Public Radio and are an insult to it’s listeners.
The program was fine as it was.
All you had to do was fix the occasional crashes.
You did not need to ad ‘features’ that ruined the App.
Eugene, we have identified the cause of the location services issue and we are working to fix it asap.
Tim, I am going to write a blog post about this and include some screenshots – but allow me to try and describe: When you are in a station directory page, a small horizontal banner ad (the width of the page and about as tall as one of the station listings) appears at the bottom of the app. The ad slides out of the window after 4 or 5 seconds. Again, look for more details upcoming in a blog post.
The new features and improvements for version 2.1 look great, but I’m hesitant to download it because of the new “banner ads.” What do they look like, and how obtrusive are they?
I would happily pay for this app if it came without ads…
Why does version 2.1 pop up demand that I turn on Location Services and keep popping up the demand until I exit the application, go to settings and turn on Location Services? I prefer to keep Location Services off to conserve battery life.
Animesh, we are currently investigating that functionality. There are some restrictions on donations that Apple places on iPhone apps that makes the issue more complicated than one might expect.
I should be able to make a donation to my public radio station, or to the show I’m listening to, with a tap of my finger, directly through your app.
Forrest, we understand that not all public radio fans choose the iPhone when purchasing a mobile device. And it’s great that the smart phone marketplace is evolving rapidly and companies are really pushing the envelope of what’s possible on a mobile operating system. As we have indicated before, the focus of this project remains on the iPhone – but we are always keeping an eye on future expansion.
If it worked on the PALM PRE, it wouldn’t exit the app when you answer a call because the PALM PRE can MULTITASK!
Replies for a few recent comments:
- Tonii – Applications like the Public Radio Player are only available on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. They rely on a cellular or wifi connection to stream web audio.
- Ben – you are able to have separate favorites lists for stations and on-demand programs. But at this time you can’t time stamp favorite show on a particular station.
– Ben – (same Ben?) True, station schedule data is not displayed on favorites list. I will pass along the suggestion. Also – love the random idea. Maybe shake the phone like you do UrbanSpoon!
- Mike – Great minds think alike, my friend. Look for that feature in the upcoming 2.1 update.
Would like to know if I can download an App for my Classic ipod and how? I would like to listen to Public radion on 91.3 in Florida. I am new at this, and I do have itunes.
Please advise.
Thank you
It would be cool to be able to have a “Program” favorites list as well as “Station” favorites. So if you hear a particular program you want to hear again you can mark/save that station, day, and time. Thanks!
Thanks for this great app! I’ve got a suggestion: it would be nice to be able to see currently playing program info listed in some additional directories/screens. For example: it would be nice to be able to see at glance, what program is currently playing on each station in my Favorites list. It would be nice to have this info along with any station listings actually. Another thing I’ve always wanted in a radio app would be to have the ability to play a randomly chosen station from all available, or from favorites only.
I’d love to see a timer on the program to turn it off.
Any plans to fix the “freezing” problem? About once every 3-5 minutes, your application freezes and stops producing sound, then returns in 5-30 sec. Sometimes it crashes completely. Pandora, by contrast, plays for hours at a time without ever freezing or crashing. I see several comments to this effect, so presumably it’s not just my problem.
When will you have an android application? The Android OS is slated to ship on 25 different handsets this year alone. While today it is difficult to imagine anything as popular as the iPhone, we will be having a very different conversation at the end of the year. A very effective free OS given to multiple phone manufacturers on multiple carriers is not something to be ignored.
I use the droid (android 2.1) and would be very interested in a Public Radio Player, as I am also a public radio enthusiast.
Sorry, couldn’t get the Idea Post to work (from the page top Let us know what you’re thinking area), so I’m posting it here:
It would be nice if the iPhone screen could be set to stay on while on a charging source.
Great app overall…very impressive with great access to public radio.
Lois,
You can receive calls while the Player is running, but answering will exit the app. However, when you’re done with your call, the Player will relaunch automatically and restart the stream you were listening to. You also need to exit the app in order to place a call. Hope that helps.
I have an iTouch but am considering getting an iPhone. I’d love to use the Public Radio Player when I’m driving, to bring in stations that don’t come in clearly through my car radio. If I get an Internet connection via an iPHone, will I still be able to make and receive calls while listening to the Public Radio Player?
First, this is my #1 favorite app on my iphone and I have pages of them.
My problem may be with my set up, but when I use the “on demand” streaming, I would like it to just play down through the list of topics. For instance with The News Hour, they cut the show into segments. Is there any way to just let it play through the list from top to bottom or bottom to top? Now it jumps back to the first thing I played when it’s done with a segment.
Thanks much. I’m a supporter of KQED and KXJZ.
gp
I know this has been asked before, is there an app for the android platform in the works? Also I see no reason why android wouldn’t let your app run in the background when and if you port it over.
As regards your great PR iPhone app, a timer would be a great addition so one could listen before going to bed, for example, and have the app quit some time later.
Thanks!
[...] Give Feedback [...]
I listen more to NPR programming these days and more religiously; thanks to the awesome sweet “on demand” feature of the iPhone app I loaded! However, I anticipate the addition of the program “On Your Health” as one of the on-demand programs -as I am sure that I am among hundreds (thousands?) that wish to listen to this informative and entertaining program. It’s like “Car Talk” but about health matters. Whad’ya programmers of this app? Please add it in your future program updates. Thanks.
Hello Geoff,
First of all, the app has changed my life. No more mediocre jazz or crappy classical music (if they played Ellington or Beethoven and Mozart all the time, it would be fine). I use the app any day I am driving or away from home.
I do have an idea, though, that you probably have heard before, but here goes. When I am searching for live streaming programs I only get the current time choice. If it is two minutes before the hour, I can’t see what is coming on next (unless I am looking at a specific station). Then, sometimes the new time schedule won’t even load until well past the hour. I know it may be complicated, but it would sure be nice to search an hour or two into the future, so I wouldn’t have to miss the beginning of my favorite programs.
And, of course, as soon as Apple allows, I would love to see it run in the background. (You can tell them I said so, if it’ll help.)
Anyway, I use your app more than any other.
Thanks, Tom
I LOVE this app but I have suggestions.
1.allow a program to continue from episode to episode-Newshour or World Story of the day programs are annoying because you have to start these up every 5 minutes when a story ends.
2. On the Media does not play
3. Allow downloads so I can prepare for when my internet dies (got an ipod touch)-I’m an addict. I don’t want to not have news when it’s shut down. RSSplayer (another app which may not be available) allowed us to subscribe to the newest episode of all our favorites and deleted them when a new one came along. This way, you always get the episodes.
4. allow backup to mac of favorites list. Sometimes these programs are corrupted and we need to download again and we lose our favorites list. Major bummer since it takes time to recreate.
LOVE this app
Very disappointed that the “new and improved” version no longer shows the title and artist on my favorite station – The Current (in Minnesota)
Sometimes I’ll be in the middle of listening to a long piece of on demand audio, and I’ll get a phone call. This seems to force the player to close, so when I finish my call, I need to start the program again, and I’ve lost my place. Is there any way to fix this, or is this an unavoidable limitation of the iPhone since it can only run one program at a time?
On multiple occasions, I’ve finished listening to something in the “On Demand” / “Featured” section and want to listen to something else, but the player won’t let me switch to a different section (like Live or even the Categories section of “On Demand”). I keep touching those other areas, but nothing seems to happen. The only thing I can do is exit out of the program and start it again. And yes, I have the latest version.
Suggestion to make version 2 faster and more desirable than v1.1.2:
Upon startup, check to see if a station was already selected from the last start/usage. If so, immediately play that station, and do your other loading and overhead tasks in the background. I find it annoying to have to click several more buttons to get this public radio player to start playing a selected station. Thanks.
One can read only the first part of “now playing” info; insufficient characters displayed. I suggest it would be better to fully display that info than the generic “programming schedule” info that is displayed prominently on the new version. (I use and enoy this app…thanks.)
Too slow! Not worth the hassle of getting to my favorites page to get to my local channels. Can you make it an option to set the favorite tab to be the default open page?
It’s not worth it to use a free app that is so bogged down with unnecessary bells and whistles. I just want to be able to listen to my local channel reliably. The rest should be simplified. Please! Simplify, simplify, simplify. Maybe that can make it faster.
I want to love this app, but it won’t even load (and I have update 2.0.1) on my 3GS. I get two seconds of the startup logo screen, then it crashes and I’m back to the iPhone desktop. This happens every time I try to load it, even after several deletions and re-downloads. I have this problem with NO other apps …
[...] Give Feedback [...]
Since the last major update my streaming cuts out so much I can no longer use this app. Maybe just my area in Alabama but have tried in various parts of state with same results. Great idea, just unusable in my area.
It doesn’t work, can’t play any of the on demand stations, this is a HUGE problem, should be a priority to fix ASAP. By the way, your bug reporting page is broken too. When you click “add more details” half of the menu gets pushed down past the bottom of the box that the form is in. Someone needs to whip your programmers into shape or you’re going to loose all of your users very soon.
Loading… Please wait. This is usually all I get. Makes it impossible to do do anything other that listen to the last station selected.
Despite relaunching, and even cycling the power, this error has existed since app version 2.0.
Rob,
An update that should appear in the next week or two will fix the initial loading problem. In the meantime, just close the app and relaunch.
Hello Dean,
The Public Radio Player app is now at http://www.tinyurl.com/publicradioplayer
I’m looking into the Voice Over compatibility. Can you email publicradioplayer at prx dot org so I can get back to you on that?
I may be confused, because there are two public radio apps, but I think I’m talking about yours. When it launches, I’m told to update to version 2, but when I click updates in the app store, I’m told I have all updates. More important, I use Voice Over, a screen reader for the blind built in to the iPhone 3GS. I wish, like other radio apps, yours installed settings so I could disable auto-reload of streams on startup. I tried a stream the other day and the app told me it is too high quality for my 3G connection. Now the app tries to run the stream whenever I start it, and speech does not work well under this circumstance. I cannot identify the button to stop the stream. I love the concept of the app.
Always says “loading.” Can never go to menu to change station. Old version was more stable. HELP!!
Need a guide, with all the new features. Exploring more (on the iPhone) often leads to “no return” (no way to page back to where we started).
The Public Radio Player ver. 2.0 does Not stream .m3u or .pls URLs … not helpful for the many many stations use ….??!
I solved the “freeze-up on opening” problem I had once I upgraded to V2.0 by trashing the first copy and repurchasing the application.
It now ‘works’ but am now reminded of another problem with this version. The bottom set of buttons is effectively gone. Less than 20% is still visible and the buttons do not work. I am unable to access favorites nor change out of the station streams section.
I just downloaded the new Public Radio app but I’m having problems with the live search and the occasional start up. I’m looking for locals stations and everytime I search the load screen pops up and stalls. Is anyone else having probelms? Help?!
The Now Playing bar at the bottom provides insufficient room to display the entire info, especially when a station exposes song information. Would it be possible to make this bar a scrolling marquee?
iPhone 1st gen. running 2.1.1. On demand does not work at all for me. Any tricks/tips to getting it to work??
Your latest iphone app upgrade does not work for me at all. Both in the figurative, as well as the literal sense. It removed all the favorites I had selected from the earlier version. And now it is essentially uncontrollable as it regularly crashes or continually spins on some task that says “Loading… Please wait” all the while I am unable to do anything with the app other than listen to the last station I had selected.
I agree with the comment by Bryan, where can I get the earlier version of the app?
I don’t see why the current version was released since it doesn’t work and the prior version was working reasonably well.
Can I get an earlier version of the tuner?
I deleted the latest version of the app when it started locking up my iphone, but I miss it dearly.
[...] Give Feedback [...]
On Demand links in version 2.o are not playing on iPhone ver. 3.o…
Many of us Public Radio junkies use BLACKBERRIES not iPhones! Please please please create an app for us, too. And not just the touch-screen Blackberry, thanks!
Would it be possible to make the station directory a directly accessible web service? I’d love to be able to add the equivalent functionality to some of the Linux Open Source media players to make it easier to find great stuff on public radio.
My friend is a member of NPR’s Los Angeles affiliate KPCC and was recently selected as a finalist in the Challenge.Create.Change contest for a video he created espousing the benefits of public radio membership. The contest, sponsored by Target and ConverseOneStar encourages people to challenge, create, or change something about their world. I thought this might be interesting to share with other affiliates as a means of encouraging people to contribute. You can watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DviTjyyw8lo.
Please encourage others to view it and if they like it, to vote for his entry “first charitable act” at
http://www.youtube.com/converseonestar.
When will the Public Radio Player app be available for BlackBerry? We listen to public radio too, and there are LOTS of us!! Thanks.
Version 1.2 locks up in “loading” on WDET (Detroit) with no way to abort. Re-booting app returns to endless loop again.
I should clarify the second and last paragraphs in my previous post:
The one instance of a dropped stream I saw seemed to happen at the end of a radio program. I got an error message about the stream’s bandwidth being too high to handle (or something like that), but before I could really read the message – let alone acknowledge it – the application terminated.
I should also say more about my request / suggestion: Implementing the handle OpenURL method would allow you to embed (and allow others to embed) calls which start up the app from a web page. Thus, on a support page for the app, you could have a button which would go to the description of the Public Radio Tuner in the App Store (if he were browsing from an iPhone), so the user could “purchase” and download the app. Then, later on the page, you could have a link which would launch the app.
You could also suggest to your member stations that they might want to use the same two links on their web sites. Even better, handleOpenURL could handle multiple URL formats, so that (for example) if the URL specified only the scheme (say, “org.publicradiotuner.iphoneapp:”), it would just launch the app, whereas, if the URL included call letters (such as “org.publicradiotuner.iphoneapp:WFYI”), the app would launch and begin playing the stream from WFYI. Then, you could use the plain URL on your web site, and member stations could use an appropriately customized URL on theirs.
I only recently saw the Public Radio Tuner, dwelling near the bottom of the top 100 free apps, and downloaded it immediately (version 1.2, which I downloaded on May 8). I have now installed it on my first-generation iPhone (running iPhone OS 2.2.1).
I am happy to report that – in contrast to many others commenting here – I’ve had only one instance of a dropped stream. It was accompanied by an error message (bandwidth too high, or something like that), and an abrupt exit from the program. It seemed to be associated with an abrupt end to a program. That leads me to suspect that there was a momentary glitch at the stream source.
I have now been listening for an hour or more with no further glitches.
After reading about the problems others have had when switching stations, I (somewhat reluctantly) switched away from a Vaughn Williams piece to another station, listened to a few words on that station, then switched back. No problems.
I gather that I am using the latest version, with enhanced handling of streams. It works! Great!
I should add that so far, I have given it an easy case: a good WiFi signal, and a stationary iPhone plugged in to my computer.
I have one request, which will seem idiosyncratic: Implement the handleOpenURL method, so that (for example) someone can start up the app using the Safari browser.
Cannot access stations since I upgraded my app. on my Iphone.
Its far too buggy to consider using on a regular basis. Almost impossible to change stations. Hitting the “<- Stations” function freezes up the app and the whole iphone. Hitting an new station on the station list does the same thing, more often than not. The program won’t admit when the stream stops, but keeps saying “playing” when its not.
Great idea and hot stations, please keep working on it. Give priority to stability issues over bells-and-whistles.
I found a bug in your public radio software for the iPod/iPhone. KCUR is listed as a Kansas Station. KCUR is a product of the University of MISSOURI Kansas City. Hence it would not be in Kansas but in MISSOURI. I almost wrote a negative comment about your app since it didn’t have access to a major regional public radio station.
Could you fix it in your next update? Could you also verify that you have the rest of the stations in the right states?
Thanks,
Mark Fuller
I agree with the comment above. This version is dropping more streams than the first one. Frankly, my experience so far is that it is literally unusable. Too bad.
The newer version of the tuner drops more streams than the first version. Wha’t’s up with that!? I’m one of the thousands, I’m sure, who so want to back you guys up and help any way we can, but just can’t support this app as it stands. Why was such a faulty app released before being fully tested? Hopefully 2.0 will be the answer we’re all waiting for.
A pony FTW!
Another vote here for Android! And a pony.
It would be great if you could add the local public radio for Jacksonville, Florida!
Is there a radio app for the blackberry?
Hi
I am tuning in from Singapore and love the app! It would be great if you could add Singapore’s local stations to your list as well though!! Keep up the great work!
Wish it worked (for KCRW anyway) longer than 30 seconds . . .
(& thats with a great WiFi connection)
Something that would be helpful, in additio to the work you’re already doing on stream reliability, would be to give the user some feedback and control. Specifically, a “buffer fullness” ui component would make diagnosing easier and would reduce user frustration. And a bigger/configurable buffer size certainly would make it more reliable.
Doug, et al – We are working on a fix for the reconnect issue. When a stream buffers, the Tuner does not always reconnect. This, as you point out, can make for a frustrating user experience. This fix is a top priority right now and it will be pushed prior to the release of version 2.0. Thanks to all for contacting us and giving us the details. It has been a big help in tracking down the problem.
When the stream stalls, the station doesn’t begin playing again on it’s own. I have to press pause and then press play again and then it works. The app is great and I use it all of the time, It’s just frustrating to have to pull out your player each time it stalls, open the app and start it playing again.
Thanks
Ditto on Neil Baylis’ comment, except I’m just a little bit south of him (Santa Ana to Lake Forest).
Pandora handles network switching and high-speed travel just fine, but not PRT. I’ve yet to suffer a dropout with Pandora, yet can’t go longer than a few minutes with PRT without the audio dying and the app needing interaction/a restart.
Frankly, all of the extra gee-whiz features you guys are adding are unimportant. If the app can’t reliably play streams for a mobile user with no interaction, it is useless.
In the interest of full disclosure: iPhone 3G, OS 2.2.1, listening to KCRW’s streams.
I spoke too soon. Further experimentation still gives lots of interruptions. I have an idea about it, though. iTunes does not seem to have such interruptions, but it buffers the stream, so little breaks don’t make any difference to the listener’s experience. If you could implement a similar process, I bet all these complaints would be handled.
I love the concept of this app, but like some of the comments above my frustration of the application lies within not being able to continuously stream.
I haven’t had a problem with Pandora dropping a stream.
Keep up the good work though, I really hope that 2.0 resolves these issues.
Ditto on all the comments about the stream being interrupted whenever my screen goes to sleep. If I set go to sleep to never, it does seem to continue, but not otherwise.
First of all, thank you so much for creating the Public Radio Tuner. It’s a beautiful concept and it only deepens my love affair with public radio. Thank you for very much for bringing this to the public.
As for improvements/suggestions, I have three:
1. Allow user to see what programming is currently on each station. It would be great fun to see an interesting show you haven’t heard of and tune in. As it is, you have to click around randomly in hopes of finding what you’re looking for.
2. Allow the app to continue running if the user switches to another app (mail, SMS, etc.).
3. Stream reliability is sketchy. When listening on the bus in Chicago, whatever station I’m listening to drops off within a few minutes.
Looking forward to 2.0! So happy to know further development of the tuner is ongoing. Would be happy to contribute a little something if you guys provide a means to do so.
Every day, I commute 35 miles, from Los Angeles to Thousand Oaks on the 101 freeway. If I start Pandora before I leave home, it continues wihtout interruption until I get to work. During this time, the net connection switches between wi-fi, 3g, and edge, all without the music stopping.
With NPR tuner, the streaming stops after a few minutes, no matter what station I’m listening to. I then have to close the app and re-open it. This is very inconvenient, frustrating, and dangerous while I’m driving.
I’ve repeated this experiment multiple times. It’s not a problem with the equipment, or the signal. It’s a problem with your software.
What secret does Pandora know that you guys dont?
I am writing you from my Palm phone. I got it after frustrating attempts to run my business with an iPhone. This is my respectful request for a Palm OS app.
Oh, on hearing about this on All Things Considered, I thought we Yanks had finally taken to Internet Radio, in miniature. Alas, iPhone is part of the “solution.”
Someday, I hope something will let me listen to BBC World Service on wi-fi. That’s all. Love NPR, but ’tain’t BBC-WS
Contributions?
Since I’m now downloading podcasts AND listening to streams from public radio stations around the country, I feel more compelled than ever to financially support stations outside of my market. Is there a way I should share that I am sending the contribution in part because of their participation in this app? Can you / the app facilitate my contribution? Do you need contributions, be they ever so humble, to continue developing this app?
Great app! Best fix would be if it could work in background!
Nick – Interesting idea about click to purchase the song playing. We are planning a program guide for v 2.0, but not live playlists. I don’t think many stations are set up to stream the metadata of artist and song title. Still, great idea for future development
Korry – yes, Publicradiofan is a great example of a program guide for streams. I’ll check to see if we have been in contact.
Christian – Yes, we do plan to make the public the code for the app. Our hope is that the Public Radio Tuner will kick start a slew of mobile applications for non-profit public media.
Ralph, and others having issues with streaming. We are continually looking to identify bugs in the app and make fixes as we find them. Stick with us – the Public Radio Tuner is a work in progress, and your feedback about the issue is really important in helping us track down the problem. We do suggest that you check on your internet connection, and with other music streaming apps (like Pandora) to see if the problem is isolated to the Tuner in general, or perhaps a specific station.
Some replies to recent comments
J. Mason Sisler – I am able to access KUNC on the Tuner this morning. Try again, and check your wifi/phone signal.
C Bauknight (and others requesting stations) – the Public Radio Tuner is an opt in project for local public radio stations. You can contact your favorite local station and politely suggest they to submit their stream so you can enjoy them on your iPhone/iTouch.
And as DUB explains, Apple does not allow us (or any app) to run the Tuner in the background as iTunes does.
To all the people who want the stream to continue when you close the app: Stop asking, it is not happening.
This is not possible. It’s not that the developer can’t do it, it’s that it is currently prohibited by Apple in the terms of the SDK. Third party apps running in the background is not something that Apple currently allows.
Anyway, great app. I’ve only been playing with it for about 20 mins but it works as promised. I look forward to new features in 2.0.
There is not a single channel for South Carolina, so it’s rather difficult to listen to “local” stations when the closest station to me is in another state.
I recently downloaded the app, but was unable to get KUNC out of Greeley, CO to work. I have notified them but not sure who is the one to fix the problem. Looking forward to receiving KUNC when the issue is resolved. Thanks for a great app!!
I love this app and love this idea! My local NPR station has gone completely news and talk. I love public radio for the classical music. I currently have XM radio for that specific purpose. This app is likely to replace XM for me at some point. I too have the problem of the stations dropping out after some period of time I do have a strong internet signal and current SW on my IPhone and I Touch. Some ideas: Show what’s playing now MN Public radio stream has that functionality, have the app reload itself after the shut-downs noted above as I have my ITouch streaming throughout the house and outside having to stop what your doing to reload is a pain, or perhaps if one stream stops automatically go to the stream of your next favorite station to keep the music playing without having to stop what you’re doing. Keep up the great work!
Love the app! Please add http://www.xlnc1.org/
Great app… I see that you are working on a program guide. Have you seen publicradiofan.com? They have a great program guide – you may able to work out a cooperative agreement with the people who publish that site.
A link to purchase the ‘Now Playing’ song on iTunes would be great, and a source of revenue as well.
Awesome App!
Please add WXEL 90.7fm in West Palm Beach, Florida!
Thanks!
Thanks for developing such a great app.
It would be great if the user could see what song is playing currently.
I downloaded the PRT and I love it. I can finally take my favorite Public Radio station with me. I was surprised to find a non-Public Radio station on the tuner. KDFC in San Francisco is a great classical station. But it is owned by a for profit company. What gives?
[...] Give Feedback [...]
Are their plans for this project to become an open source project?
I love my Public Radion Tuner. I would like to be able to listen in the background while I check my email, for example. Is this functionality currently in development? Thanks.
My 2nd gen itouch keeps crashing with this app. A station comes on and if you stop it or choose another station it freezes up every time.Any suggestions out there?
hey if anyone knows how to can you add Key 103 to the public radio tuner?
This is my favorite app – I love exploring new stations. Couple of ideas:
1. Add the Mississippi Public Radio network.
2. Allow tuner to run in background so I can use my iPhone while listening to NPR
3. Add a search for specific programs, eg., On what station is Gestalt Gardener currently playing.
our station, KAFM 88.1 Grand Junction, is not listed under ‘colorado’ stations on the iphone app. We have to search for it top find it. Can this be fixed?
I’d add streaming when the app is closed, and add KPBS.
I have a 1st generation iPhone with the latest software update. Tuner will play for a few minutes, then stop although the screen indicates it is “playing”. Requires constant reloads. The app is simply not usable with this bug. Hopefully, a fix will be coming.
We’re Public radio fans. We got an iPod specifically to be able to take advantage of streaming broadcast on the internet and have access to PBS stations around the country. We’re disappointed because we have run into unexpected problems, any station we listen to will cut out after about 20 minutes. We spent time with Apple to help us. We followed all their suggestions but the problem persists. Their position is that the iPod works and Public Radio Tuner is a 3rd party software and they cannot support it. I listen to streaming broadcast on my computer trouble free. I see other users similar complaints on your web site can you please help us.
It would be great if you could add the features that public radio fan has. Specifically, the ability of showing what programs are being streamed by public radio stations at any given time.
I love it, but I would like to request SC (charleston area) added.
Would it be possible to add more urban talk radio like WAOK Atlanta please? Thanks.
[...] Give Feedback [...]
After playing a station for a short while, the station stops playing. Public Radio does not quit, it just stops playing the station, and it is till in play mode (the pause button has not been invoked). To get the station to play again, I must press the pause button (pausing the app), which turns into a play button, which when pressed, resumes playing; the stream starts over.
I just loaded Public Radio Tuner for my iTouch/iPhones. Great app. Are you working with KCBX San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara to add them?
Mary Ann, the Public Radio Tuner is an opt in project for stations. We hope all stations will choose to join the project so we can provide public radio streams from coast to coast. You may want to contact your local station and suggest they submit their stream.
Agree completely with the previous comment, love the app, but it would be that much better if it continued to run, ipod fashion, once you closed the screen.
I would love to have the ability to close the app and continue to listen while I use other apps on my phone. I assume the audio stops b/c apple does not let thirt party apps run in the background.. but don’t know for sure. Assuming this is apple’s limitation, how about embedding a silly game on the UI just so we can keep our minds occupied. Even better, maybe there’s some sneaky way that you can embed other IPhone apps (or the iphon’es main screen) into the station’s screen (w/ an iFrame or something)….
We live in the Buffalo, New York area and neither of our highly acclaimed public stations are listed on your website. They are WBFO fm, the original NPR station and WNED fm, a total classical music station.
How could these stations have been missed?
Awesome application you have there. Mighty fine tool for my travels. I’m sorry about all of the negative reviews in the App Store… Some people just don’t quite grasp the concept of PUBLIC radio… *sigh* … I’m enjoying it nonetheless. I only ask that you guys work a bit more on the volume… Its still a bit low for me. Oh, and 1920s radio rocks!
I just wanted to be able to listen to my local station live and now I can and so much more!
The station oriented structure paired up with the topic/program oriented structure of NPR Mobile is an amazing combo.
Would love to see program schedule for a station as a feature in the future.
Excellent app! Great job!
As an individual who prefers to get most of my news from NPR, I am pleased that I have access to this app. I must say however that an inability to get a steady stream for over one minute has become quite frustrating. I have all the software updates, and understand that this may be an issue with AT&T rather than the software. This is really unfortunate. If I can’t figure out a way to get a steady stream without the program cutting off, then I’ll have to dump the app shortly. Someone help!!
A note to those who are encountering problems listening to streams – there are a number of factors and variables involved in getting the radio stream over the internet delivered to your phone and very few of them are within our control.
I’m also having problems listening to streams here in Harvard Square, but when I walk home the streams magically start working again. Some things to consider – AT&T network reliability, internet stream availability and saturation.
My check to see if it’s Public Radio Tuner or the network that is having issues is to open another streaming radio app and see if they are also having problems. Most of the times if I can’t use Public Radio Tuner then Pandora or Wunder Radio also aren’t working.
Please add KUAC to your radio station.
http://linux0.cs.uaf.edu/radio/playlists/kuac64stereo.m3u
I love the idea of the public radio tuner. I have also had some problems with “audio stream unavailable” stoppages every few minutes, which is frustrating. I have a very strong wi-fi signal in my house, and have a second gen. iPod Touch. I downloaded the program from the app store yesterday, so I assume I have the newest version. I also updated firmware on the iPod about a week ago, so it should be good. Any idea if it is a bug in the app, or my internet connection perhaps? Is there something else I should be doing to optimize using the tuner?
Thanks for you work on this very nice project.
J. Woods
Although I have the latest updates for iPhone and the PRT App, the stream quits after about a minute.
Great app when it works.
Is the source code for the tuner available?
When I click on ‘local’ the app suggests that KAFM 88.1 Grand Junction [Colorado] is ‘within 50 miles’ of Little Rock, Arkansas. Probably not.
help!
this is a great app
I’m having an issue with KUNM which was why I got this app. the sound is all tinny (sounds like bad compression) is there any way to fix this?
What about unsigned artists and internet radio stations?
I operate an internet radio station that only spins indie and unsigned artists music. How can I add my stream to Public Radio?
underworldcommunications@hotmail.com
I love it, BUT how do you listen to an entire show for the day. The app stops after each segment. Example: Weekend Edition Saturday…I would like to listen to the entire show from Feb 14, but after each story I have to tap to get the next one to play.
Thank you, in advance for considering this!
A suggestion for Austin, TX. Add Majic 95.5 which is streaming at http://www.majic.com
Thanks Josh,
I guess I should have figured that out since it is similar to some of the other apps. Or, in other words, “I see” said the blind man
Ralph, you can delete a favorite by clicking on the favorites menu tab and at the top of that page, there should be an Edit button. Hit that and delete any of the stations you have bookmarked.
How does one delete a Favorite?
jlika: Thanks for the love. We agree that on-demand program content will be a great addition to the live station streams. In fact, we’re working on that right now, and plan to launch a new version of the Tuner in May.
David: Check out our thoughts on “Life Beyond the iPhone”.
George: Thanks for letting us know. We’re keeping an eye on everyone’s bugs, and working on fixes where we think the app is the source of the issue.
Like Erik Moser, when I open the app on my iphone, it plays the first station, but then freezes/crashes the iphone if I pause or try to get to another station.
I’d love to see this app ported to the Android platform!
I love your app!! I’m able to listen to my old public radio station in Ohio, which was only possible during holiday visits.
Please give us specific program options going forward. Some stations in larger markets have greater programming options. I would love to find these programs listed and be able to listen without randomly discovering them.
Congratulations and Thank You. This will quickly become one of my favorite iPhone apps!
I’d also like to support Julie J-W’s comment about having the audio stream persist if you switch away from this application. That’s the only missing piece I can see!
[...] is to post them at PublicRadioTuner.com. Here’s the link for general feedback and discussion:http://www.publicradiotuner.com/?page_id=165;And watch the blog there for [...]
I tried the app on my 2 gen iTouch. It immediately plays a station but when I pause or go back to the listing of stations to choose another it freezes/crashes and I have to restart the iTouch. I see no other comments about that. Is it a known problem at all, or any way for that not to happen?
I just got Public Radio Tuner for my iPhone and I love it! I’ve gone through several apps looking for one that lets me listen to my local Hawaii public radio stations. Yours’ is the first to receive their streaming broadcasts. I agree with Julie W. (1/26) that being able to listen in the background while accessing other apps would be great, but that may have to wait until Apple implements multi-tasking. In any case, this is great. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thomas, I am able to get NET radio to play on the tuner this morning. When you encounter an intermittent stream, the first thing to do is to check if other streams are working on the Tuner. The issue you encountered may have been some downtime at the stream source.
Great application! One suggestion – display whatever show the station is playing as well as the station. That way, I can find a particular NPR show without going through all the stations.
I am unable to get NET Radio out of Lincoln NE (netNebraska.org/radio) to play.
App looks good otherwise. Thanks.
I just found this application this morning and I am excited about getting public radio stations from around the country. I can listen to the NPR programs such as Weekend Edition Sunday earlier than Chicago Public airs the program, especially the Sunday Puzzle at 7:40 a.m. It works well on my iPod-Touch second edition.
Okay, I’ve used it some more. Now it will start playing a station but stop after about 30 seconds. Then the stream won’t reload. Another station, another 30 seconds.
I have a strong WI-FI connection and using iTouch first gen w/the latest update.
Can you tell me what stream would be the
‘24 hour stream’ that appears on the top of the npr.org page?
Great app! Desperately needs to keep running after the iPhone goes into sleep mode!
I’ve downloaded the application for the iPod Touch and it looks great, but I can’t get it to access a single station. All I get is “audio stream unavailable, try again.
Please see the comments under “iPhone software=smooth sailing”. There are 20 comments similar to my posting of 3 Feb
I have an Apple IPod Touch with Software Version: 2.2.1.
I have Public Radio Tuner Version: 1.1 installed.
Today starting around 2PM every 20 – 40 I received “Audio Stream Unavailable. try again” messages while listening to Jazz24. After trying again I received the signal. After several times of this occuring I turned on my laptop and used only the wireless connection and the laptop did not loss connection to the stream when connected to wwww.jazz24.org, but I stilled received the above message on the IPod Touch.
Is there a way I can find out if the problem is in the IPod Touch or in the Public Radio Tuner?
The application is great except for one thing. Instead of stopping when there is an interruption to the stream the application needs to automatically re-establish the link and continue streaming. Right now everything stops.
Thomas and Doug, KPFA is available on the Public Radio Tuner. In fact, I am listening to it this morning. Please make sure you are using version 1.1 of the Public Radio Tuner.
Thank you so much! I work in a valley with poor radio reception. I have been streaming via my computer, but this new app frees me to move around without missing anything or forcing others to listen to my radio choices. Love it!
KPFA (Berkley) is listed under ‘current stations’ and KPFA’s website even has a link for the app, but it does not appear on the downloaded app…what gives ?
Great App! I use it on the iPhone. May it be accessed through iTunes when at one’s Mac/PC?
Keep up the great work.
Fabulous. 2 notions…
NPR stations need to put links on their websites so it is easy to donate, since we are now highly likely to listen to websites a long way from where we live. Most, but not all stations do this already, and to the extent PRT can facilitate this it would be good.
Second, I would REALLY like being able to do the same thing with C-SPAN. Given that they already have a web stream, it should be easy to add them.
Best regards.
Great application on iPhone. Even greater if you add San Diego’s KPBS!
Your app keeps stopping on my iPhone 3g. Had 2.2 firmware, now 2.2.1. Any idea why?
This project(and the Tuner App) is the future. I’m a financial supporter of KPLU/Jazz24, WWOZ, WBGO,WXPN. I’ve used my Treo 650 and pTunes to listen to my favorite stations at a cost of $50/month for the Verizon data package, for over 3 years. I’ve also subscribed to XM (now XM/Sirrius) for 6 years (and watched the slow deterioration of satellite radio to a series of talk fests with music interspersed). I just purchased my iTouch and through the support of the Webmaster at Jazz24 I found out about the Public Radio Tuner App. This app will allow me to discontinue both my cell phone data package and my XM subscription (I finally did get over the need to have instant email access and I don’t twitter or instant message). I would rather channel my support to public radio and this project. Keep up the good work! I will continue to financially this project and the radio staions that invest in this project.
Best Regards, Bruce Amos, Philadelphia
Are there regulatory, trade, copyright, or other legal reasons why say, a Canadian public radio station like ours – CKUA Radio -Alberta, Canada’s listener-supported network, cannot be listed or made available?
[...] Give Feedback [...]
hi,
great app. I love to listen to us-public-stations in europe.
Please add KPFA Berkeley to the stations.
Greetings
Thomas_U
I love the app on my girlfriend’s iPhone. Any chance you will make a version that will work with my Windows Mobile phone or with my Android phone?
[...] Give Feedback [...]
I recently downloaded the Public Radio Tuner app onto my iPhone and I am loving it. But I have one suggestion….it would be great if the app continued to run after I closed out of it, allowing me to access other apps simultaneously.