ABC listen: Radio & Podcasts 12+

Sounds from a continent that is also my home. But too vast to discover without ABC Listen. From the latest news around the world to the beauty of ABC Classic and everything in between. So much to discover, learn and enjoy. This morning I found a podcast, “Nature Track”, a series of soundscapes from around the country. “Gentle rain on a tin roof in the outback”, needs no introduction to anyone who has ever been here. Not a week goes by without finding something new to listen to for entertainment, to learn or just to relax to. I have my favourites, ABC News and ABC Classic (and ABC Classic 2) but also some radio shows from another city I used to live in. And too many podcasts to keep up with so I dip into whatever is topical at the time. The variety is part of what keeps bringing me back time after time. I don’t think there is anything I would want more on my desert island than ABC Listen. A true testament to the great work of our National Broadcaster.

This was a great app until someone decided they should force users to provide their private info and log in to be able to use it. Failure to do so has resulted in an annoying login screen popping up every time I open the app, and now it’s got even worse. Instead of the app retaining the last station I listened to on the home screen, the ever-more Sydney-centric, supposedly national, broadcaster no longer has the full range of Victorian stations in the scrollable buttons, with my most recent option visible. Instead they have all vanished from the list completely, with only Radio Sydney and the national stations included in the list. I have to use the search function to find my local radio station. We pay for the ABC with our taxes and I expect to be able to listen to my station without giving up my personal info as if they were a private corporation grubbing for personal details of customers. Their spiel when they made the change was that logging in would enable users to personalise their app experience. I could do that before. My station showed up first, and I could save favourite podcasts. Now because I won’t give up my personal information, all that has disappeared. I don’t appreciate being gaslit, andI won’t be bullied into compliance. I now hate and hardly use the app, which I used to use extensively.

This app could be so much better. One of my main niggles is that it doesn’t cater well for regional audiences - including travellers on the road with inconsistent or absent mobile reception. We may not be able to stream content but how about improving delivery of downloads and providing us with radio frequencies in my area - please don’t ask me to fill in a form, use device location. I’d also like to see signal coverage maps.

Digital providers struggle with the detail of classical music, with long, similar track names and numerous contributors - composer, conductor, soloists, orchestra and other performance information. The playlist truncates this in a very frustrating manner such that most information is inaccessible and successive movements may not be distinguished (which of Vivaldi’s seasons comes first?).

My state is shown at the top of the screen but the playlist often reflects another timezone. Why? I know there have been disastrous cuts to ABC funding but this app is an important medium for our National Broadcaster - worthy of more investment.