Love WLS and the content provided, however, it's rare that I can stay connected to the app for more than a half an hour without it opening the App Store, which stops the audio from playing. I have to reload it only to sit through video ads for a few minutes, in hopes that it will load through and play the content without opening the App Store on me again. Usually I fight this loop long enough that I'm already at work by the time it starts streaming the actual content I'm trying to listen to. Other issues with with this app are it shuts itself down periodically for no reason and every time I start the app, it starts with the volume turned down turn about 25%, regardless of what I had it set at prior or what the volume is set at on my phone itself. It never used to be this bad, so a big shout out to the genius that broke it. I hope the payoff from the ads is worth the drop in ratings on the app and decrease in users of the app
On your next Update could you please do some basic major BUG FIXES.
This is the most frustrating and disappointing App I have ever tried to use. Having to register now may be one thing. Another is why it continues to be so difficult for this App to get and keep a connection to a live WLS broadcast. I love the “Po Po Report” but listening to their show on Saturday evening is impossible if I’m not near a radio. This App was to be the answer but I found that the initial connection takes far too long and then it’s almost impossible to stay connected. This evening may have been my last attempt to use this App. The “Po Po Report” was on the radio and this App. Establishing a connection on the App was difficult and once connected continuous advertisements, including numerous repeats of the same add, played while the actual show was barely on. To my amazement, the radio had been playing the “Po Po Report” for some time while this App was playing more and more Adds. Was this a joke? (I’m thankful that this show is available as a Podcast.)
I’ve had the same experience if you pause the app and come back you must listen to endless commercials before getting to what you want to hear. Constantly pre-emps the host with repeating ads then starts the show in the middle of conversations. When I pause and then play to skip over the ads the same ad keeps starting forcing you to have to listen to it before you can hear the host. Absolutely awful. Whoever set up this app did it for advertisers not the listening public.
If you just want to stream the station, get TuneIn radio- more reliable and it works in the background. I got this app for the podcasts. It would be nice if they loaded entire shows instead of the 7 minute clips they pick, but that's probably the station's fault. You used to be able to listen to podcasts in the background, but that doesn't work anymore. You now have to listen to them with the program consuming all of the phones function, which I can deal with. The problem is that you constantly lose the feed, even with wifi, and since the app doesn't have a fast forward feature, you need to start the podcast all over. There's a lot of potential here and if WLS was serious about this app, they could make it much better. If they did that, I'd bet people would pay for it.
This app is super buggy! I thought the old version was bad but this one takes it to new levels. Phone runs hot, advertising plays out of nowhere right over the radio host, AND the app itself starts playing when it's not even open!!! With the app completely closed, I can hang up from a phone call and wls starts playing! Since the app is already closed, I can't stop it without opening another audio source to interrupt it; which has me majorly concerned about my data usage. So I have to constantly switch cellular permission on and off. The only reason I even use it is because my local radio uses Iheart and I REFUSE to deal with their junk. The second I find an alternate way to listen to Rush, I will uninstall this for good
This app has tended to work pretty well but a few weeks ago it started popping up full screen covering ads. Some of these had no ‘x’ or other obvious means of closing them so I had to shut down the app to regain access to the controls. And now I’m reading about mandatory registration to continue using it (I haven’t updated to that version... perhaps the ads are to force people to update to see if that gets rid of them?). Another decent app being ruined by bad behavior and customer hostile decisions. The next day the app refused to run unless I updated. The new version almost instantly pops up a full screen ad with NO EXIT option from lending tree and I have to close the app, sure as hell not going to click a malicious ad. This has repeated many times making the app unusable. ZERO stars if that were possible. I just tried to send Airkast a note via their website about these problems and the contact form apparently does not work. I guess they don’t want to hear about it.
This is great for me when I am not near a radio or I am the only one wanting to listen to the radio. The only problem is that it doesn't work all that well when you aren't using it over your home internet connection. Using it in the park, etc. is a no go. One major problem with this App is that if you are listening to the radio you cannot use your iPhone for anything else.
It's been a month since ios4 and still no background function! You quit the app to check email, etc and you lose your stream. You can choose to stream through safari so it will work in the background but then you can't use safari for anything else. I hope they don't think their background safari streaming is an acceptable alternative to true muti-tasking.
I have had no problems with this. It works great on my iPod touch 3G, and my cousins iPhone 3gs just with 3g connection. idk if maybe the people had bad connection, because me & my cuz almost always have full bars. this is a great app don't feel scared to get it. Its free so there's no lose trying it, just get it! :)
no way to email support within the app... after last few updates the experience has become worse and worse. now, I can barely ever get it working. last few times i just goto to wls website to listen. i wish i could use the real radio on my phone, because these apps just introduce data waste and other problems. this app in particular has been an issue since airkast started being used imo.
Long time Roe and Garry/Roe Conn fan. First, its about time, WLS! Second, this app is over-engineered and should not force landscape views. Otherwise, it streams auido just fine. Oh, and would someone please explain to these guys the difference between a "podcast" and downloadable audio? If I can't subscribe to a feed, it is NOT a podcast. I've mailed them several times over the past years about this and nobody seems to care.
Never been a fan of Cumulus apps, but this one had promise. WLS is my favorite station and I WOULD be listening all the time.... BUT I cannot because this app decided some days it just isn't going to keep me connected. Maybe it's the station, but I never ever can just fire it up and start working. There's always something. Today I can't even get it to play. I'd sure be happy if someone made this a reliable app.
Update - after upgrading to iOS 6 this app continues to crash. Thanks to the reviewer who mentioned i heart radio! Won't need to bother with this worthless app anymore! There are much better radio apps out there that WLS could learn from. Why can't you just launch the app and it play in the background? I hate that if you play in background it locks down Safari. However now it won't play in background at all. I like to listen while at work but often end up just switching to iPod.
I don't care much about the fluff. All a streaming station needs is (a) streaming broadcast, and (b) an ability to control the volume. This blares using the iTouch with speakers, and there's no ability to control that volume like with other streaming radio stations. Seems like that would be one of the first things delivered.
Love the station. I wish, however, I could multitask on the phone whilst listening to the station. It would also be nice to have the app be more interactive, like being able to text shows and have a direct call option of some kind.
It is great for simply allowing you to listen to the live stream of WLS-AM. BUT, it needs a separate volume control as well as the ability to operate in portrait mode also, instead of landscape only! Also, it would be great to have the ability to pause the stream an pick it back up somehow.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!! the worst app ever. if ur not listening to commercials AD NAUSEUM, they’ll preempt shows for their stupid college basketball games, YAWN. AND god forbid u leave the app and come back, it won’t start where u left off, u AGAIN have to listen to these redundant commercials, even tho i MUTE all these ads. the app should be put out of its misery UPDATE: WORSE than ever!!! how they’re allowed to stay on the air is a MYSTERY. PLEASE don’t support them, don’t listen to them—-let’s get RID of trash, too much of it. thank GOD for podcasts.
I must say at the outset that I have been a huge fan of WLS since I returned to the Chicago are in the mid-90's. That said, this app is terrible! First, it doesn't multitask. Second, it often fails to start properly (I have deleted and re-downloaded this app 8 times). Third, the streaming audio stops at least once every time I use it (even while I have a strong 3g signal). I wish WLS would get a better app.
The main problem with this app is the fact that connectivity is easily interrupted. It typically takes about five minutes, or closing and reopening the app,to reestablish a connection. This is really annoying. Other than the connectivity issues I can't complain.
What a piece of crap. Takes over the entire iPhone. You can not even check what time it is. Once you hit the home button on the iPhone, this app stops. With this app you have to stare it the wls screen and listen. Anything else is off limits. Extremely lazy programmer, or else they are trying to control every aspect of your life if you want to listen to wls. Time to change stations. Use Tune In radio instead.
If you really wanna know how stupid Republicans are, how unrealistic, misleading, misguided, etc, download this app. This is the home of rambling douchbags like Rush limbaugh, Mark Levine, Hannity and other haters of America. They want you to believe that they love America more than anyone else, but in reality, they are nothing but rambling hipocrites. Unless the Republican party is in power, nothing else is right. How sad their dark minds!!
When will real support for ios4 be available? This application is missing true background playing on iphone4 just like every other player out there. It is very annoying when you can't quit the app or use safari when streaming the radio broadcast.
Now I can hear all of my favorite radio shows when I want. WLS has wonderful show hosts and I usually had to miss some of every show. Keep up the good work!
It's light years better than that crappy iHeartRadio app that constantly drops connections and won't restart without force closing the app. Wish WLS would go back to TuneIn Radio, that always worked flawlessly.
I have listened too WLS for years both over the air and on the app. The wasn’t perfect but it works. Now Cumulus want me to register to use the App. What ever happened to being anonymous? They already know who I am it’s running on my phone. It is easy to delete the app and listen to another station.
Moved from Chicago but still get to enjoy wls in the car. This app is a little too complicated and I don't like landscape but it gets the job done. Please work on the icon though it's pixelized compared to most.
This radio app plays an ad before you can even get to the radio stream...which also plays ads. Then it usually crashes and I have to restart the app and listen to more ads before I can return to the radio program. Not using again until they fix the crashing and limit the ads.
Would like to give this a higher rating, as i listen to the station a lot, but the fact that it doesn't work in the background makes it almost useless on the iPad... If i have to listen on one device and work/browse on another, i might as well just use a radio.
When it works, it does what it's supposed to. Unfortunately it drops the stream often, and the only way to fix it is to close the app and restart (sometimes) requiring you to watch the startup ad again). If they fixed it it would be a 3 or 4 star app.
This application used to work quite well, and then came the latest update. I now spend more time trying to stay connected than I do listening to WLS programming. When will the idiots learn to leave what works ALONE! God Bless the USA!
App stopped working and I tried to reinstall it per the app makers instructions. Now it will not fully load and it prevents the phone from installing other apps. I have done numerous reboots and now I will have to wait until I get home in order to resync with my computer. Hopefully it does not require a full restore.
I hope you didnt spend a lot of money designing the app. It rarely works right. It drops the stream or wont even start up correctly. The only way to get it to start is by deleting and re-downloading all over again! Also getting tired of having to listen to a commercial about some game or uverse every time i tried to start app!
Does the job pretty well, when it works. More often than not it has connection problems. And sometimes the streaming simply stops. No error message. Nothing.
To get it to work I need to delete it from the phone and reinstall it. It's very aggravating to have to continue doing so EVERY time!!! Once I get it working the background seems to be ok but please fix this and if you integrate texting the show while on the app that would also be very cool!
Works much better than the other radio station app that I loaded. I moved nearly 200 mi away 30 yr ago & it's nice to get static free programming, keeps me company in the woods.
I listen every morning/evening and have to restart at least 2-3 times. I wonder if WLS even looks at these reviews. Especially during a great conversation, story or news item the app just stops. Hey WLS - you gonna fix this??
I cannot get this app to work. It won’t even open. I keep getting a message saying that I am not connected to the internet but I have a full connection to the internet. Strange, all my other apps work with no problem.
I constantly have to adjust the volume higher then lower during the Mancow show His volume is always different than other personalities and telephone guests then commercials. All this makes for a very frustrating morning of listening on the app.
When I started using this app it was a joy. It is the only real way for me to listen to WLS. It was reliable and a joy. Now the app is lucky to stay connected for 5 minutes at a time. What a frustration!!! Worse app on my iPhone. It's actually causing me to look for a new talk station, Sad!
This app used to be nice, now you have to delete it and install it in order to use it, it works fine once after you install it and then it just stays on the screen saying "data loaded". This has been an issue for a long time.
This app used to work great then months ago it had a pop-up that said No “Internet Connection” so I stopped trying to use it... So today I give it a try and it wants me to register soooo, it gets deleted and I listen to my other free talk radio that doesn’t require a registration.
it worked well for the longest time. now it won't work at all. I get network error. No matter what network i'm using for my ipod touch 2g or 4g. other apps work fine on different wi fi networks, but this one is dead.
I don't think there is a more frustrating app to use on the iPhone. The app shuts down the stream constantly for no reason, and then forces you to watch the same lame video commercial when you hit play again.
I've had constant problems with this app. It has not worked at all for several weeks, even with uninstalling and re-installing it. Completely worthless...they need to just remove it from the app store.
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