OPB News Reviews

I love OPB. However, I have a hard time supporting them with pledges, and it’s all due to their horrible app. The primary function of OPBNews is to stream the live programming to your phone. It fails this task miserably. The stream is so fragile that the tiniest thing will cause it to stop working. For instance: the stream always begins with a short sponsor message, and then the stream starts, BUT ONLY if you keep OPBNews open on your screen. If you switch apps during the sponsor message, then the stream will never start. Also, if you are on WiFi during the stream, then lose the signal and go to cellular data, the stream stops. The audio itself seems to use something other than the standard iOS audio protocol, so for instance if you push the pause button on your headphones, rather than pause the stream, it will START to play your music. Finally, if anything does go wrong with the stream, you can’t simply push play again to start it up. No, you must force quit OPBNews and restart it, and listen to that pesky sponsor message again! OPB, streaming the programming on your phone is obviously your future. OPBNews has been this bad for years. Your negligence of those users who’s primary access isn’t from terrestrial radio signals is a shame. It keeps me from contributing.

OPBNews has too many glitches. Please read reviews before downloading. Ditto to all the other comments about OPBNews . I would like to add my biggest complaint; the font in the articles is impossible to read. Whoever came up with the idea of using a tiny, light gray font must have stellar vision! Reading the articles is impossible without getting eyestrain. As an OPB sustainer I find this very annoying and hope that somebody pays attention to these reviews and improves OPBNews .

Have to constantly reload. Shuts down more than any broadcast app I’ve ever used. And now it keeps looping over and over. Stops in the middle of broadcasting, starts again 30-60 seconds previous, replays that section, then does it again every few minutes.

Used to love listening to the OPB app while walking or running errands. Unfortunately, in recent months, the pause button has become increasingly unreliable to the point where I sometimes have to RESTART my iPhone 6 to turn off the livestream broadcast!!! At best, I have to stop whatever I'm doing and unlock my phone, then turn off the stream in OPBNews - instead of simply touching the on screen pause button - but even that doesn't work most of the time now. I routinely update to the most recent iOS, so it's not me, it's you. Please fix this so that I can again listen to my favorite radio station when I'm not at home.

This is a terrible app. It constantly needs restarted. If I pause the stream, I have to completely close and reopen it to get it to start again. Sometimes the stream will not start after the sponsor message and needs closed completely and restarted. If it looses signal for any amount of time, it needs closed completely and restarted. Additionally, it drains my battery completely in less than 2 hours.
If you do decide to download OPBNews, be prepared to be tethered to your charging cord all day, missing out on important information because you were busy rebooting OPBNews .

This is absolutely the most dysfunctional and glitchy app I use. OPB is a smart organization and is funded by user support. As a result, you would think more effort would be made to create a functional app that doesn’t have to be rebooted every time you walk to the other side of the house or move from one network to the next. Other apps can do this and it is expected. I’d suggest that a H.S. tech class could be solicited to re-write OPBNews and could do a superb job compared to the current version. OPB, you should get your money back from the developers of OPBNews. I suggest everyone stream off of other internet services like “Tune In” and dump the OPB app.

In all my years as having a smart phone I have never reviewed a single app. But I can't help myself.... OPBNews is nothing less than public radio torture. And I say this as a 20 year member of OPB. It constantly crashes even when it is the only thing open. It was true on both earlier versions of the iPhone and on the latest iPhone 7. Please, OPB, free up the resources to make an app that would simply stay connected to your feed. In this day and age I should not have to have a countertop radio to get a radio feed.

I used to listen to OPB and was a member when I had a car. Since I no longer drive a car, I switched to my phone and computer for listening. I’m on the bus and out and about a lot, so mostly listen on my phone. But OPBNews is so buggy and problematic. It constantly just stops playing. Pause/play button are a huge problem. Never mind any issues with navigation, just simply listening is a problem. I have cancelled my membership because I don’t listen much anymore.

I've stuck with OPBNews because I am an ardent supporter. I do not understand, however, how OPB can expect support from an increasingly stream-dependent audience when it continues to ignore the gobs of bad reviews on its app, which fails almost constantly. Get with the program and fix OPBNews !

The audio streaming almost never works correctly.

I just tried to read an article and it’s almost impossible for me to read due to small print that cannot be enlarged. This makes it inaccessible to people with visual disabilities. Please do better OPB.

I was hoping that after upgrading my iPhone from a 5 to a 6 and downloading the latest iOS software that the OPB app would work properly. Sadly to say it's still buggy and some features just don't work. I've turned to KPLU's app for my NPR news and experience plus they have great jazz.

I understand that OPB runs on donations and must have a very tight budget. That said, OPBNews has not been updated in four YEARS. We rely on OPBNews to get news relating to Oregon. Reliable and well written journalism. Please deliver that in an app that is a tad more up to date. The last time OPBNews was updated, Obama was president!

What happened to the pictures?? They have gone away and I just updated...still no images.
OPBNews also doesn’t fit on my screen anymore, so words get cut off in the articles. Makes it hard to read!! Both of these issues used to not happen, which means it’s getting worse not better with upgrades!! Please fix OPB!

It’s quite a buggy app. Often times it won’t restart and the only way to get it to go is to double click on the phone main button. Also rather annoying that the play button do you have to hit moves up 1/2 inch about 10 seconds after you started OPBNews putting an ad where the play button was so you will automatically be kicked over to an advertising site.

OPB I love you, I’ve loved you since I was a kid, but your app is a bummer! I work at home and listen to the radio a lot, and I was hoping OPBNews would make it more convenient to listen to OPB at my desk. Sometimes it’s great, and I listen uninterrupted for hours. Other times, I can’t go 30 seconds without the audio cutting off and requiring a hard reset of OPBNews . Lemme know when you decide to invest in your app, because I’d love to have your quality local and national news easily delivered to my iPhone!

I'd use this more but it has two bugs that drive me nuts. One is that it drops out in certain areas of my house and yard. The other problem is that the pause button doesn't work anywhere except the open app itself. Now I listen to less news and therefore give less at pledge time.

I changed iPads recently, but OPBNews doesn’t allow pictures to appear on the new one, even though there is clearly room enough for them. It’s a small problem, true, but I’m kind of used to seeing visuals.

As many have said, OPBNews used to work well and has become increasingly more spotty in its operation. The most frustrating bug is that the the play/pause controls do not work on the lock screen or quick access tool bar. Seems like this must be a quick fix!

Please use some of my monthly pledge to get a programmer to fix this! I cringe every time I hear you tout your "optimized" mobile app.

Content, however, is stellar as always!

I am a big supporter of OPB news, and I do enjoy listening to OPB on my phone using OPBNews . However, it gets annoying that OPBNews does not seem to stream the content consistently after the initial advertisement message upon opening OPBNews and pressing the play button. I have noticed this problem come and go over the various iterations and versions of OPBNews , and for a while it seemed as though it was getting better. Unfortunately, the most current version seems to be having problems once again.

I absolutely love OPB but OPBNews glitches all the time and sometimes doesn't work altogether. There is a fix though!! I recently downloaded NPR One and set my home station to OPB, now I have the best of both! Hope this helps others seeking news!

I was hoping that after upgrading my iPhone from a 5 to a 6 and downloading the latest iOS software that the OPB app would work properly. Sadly to say it's still buggy and some features just don't work. I've turned to KPLU's app for my NPR news and experience plus they have great jazz.

I absolutely love OPB but OPBNews glitches all the time and sometimes doesn't work altogether. There is a fix though!! I recently downloaded NPR One and set my home station to OPB, now I have the best of both! Hope this helps others seeking news!