NPR One 12+

Just Ok, so I use ApplePodcasts

I started off listening to NPR podcasts with this app. I loved it! I had more control over what I listened to as I didn’t always enjoy the shows played on my local NPR station. Over time though, I got frustrated and started to subscribe to NPR shows/podcasts on the ApplePodcasts app instead.
1. Ad breaks in NPR One app can’t be skipped unless you pay for the premium service. I already donate $35/month to my local NPR station and I don’t want to pull that away from them. Also, the donation drive weeks are still pretty annoying in the app, so no thanks. ApplePodcasts allow the user to skip through ads and they’re just less annoying in general. I know this likely isn’t possible but is there no way to link up local station donors to an NPR One account to a premium account?
2. The app does not remember your playback position if you stop listening and use another app or even remain in the app to read an article. I will stop in the middle of a podcast to read an article in the NPR app and when I go back to listening, it kicks off with another ad, then starts in on the National Newscast, completely forgetting about the podcast I was listening to. ApplePodcasts holds your playback position in a podcast even if you close out the app, and it is wonderful.

Those are my two most significant gripes at the moment.

As essential as my morning coffee

Using the NPR1 app has become a part of my daily routine. I always start my morning with the Up First broadcast. I like how the app automatically moves between a myriad of shows, since I’m usually multi-tasking and rushing around while listening. However, I do wish it was easier to find which shows I recently listened to or which ads for new shows popped up while I was listening. The content is great, but this part isn’t very user-friendly. Sometimes I hear an ad for a new podcast and before I can process and “click on the screen to learn more,” it’s already gone. There have been many times when I’m driving, cooking, or just somehow disconnected from my phone that I miss a show I wanted to hear more about. Maybe a “recently played” or “recently suggested” would make this easier. When I’m not starting with the news, I tend to switch to other podcast platforms simply because I don’t know or can’t find what I want to listen to on NPR1 (though I know I would rather hear its content).

Other than that, I really appreciate the diversity. I don’t subscribe to one political party, so I’m always searching for a more balanced and empathetic coverage that fairly describes both views (even the view I disagree with). Though NPR can still lean more in one direction, it is the best I’ve found so far and I appreciate how the hosts usually refrain from emotional or opinionated responses. I’ll continue listening and using for a long time.

Still flawed but latest update is much improved

The mini player itself is great and pretty much the same format you would expect from any audio app on iOS. It’s not dark mode when you have it maximized but it’s close enough to not make much of a difference. The forward and back buttons are a great improvement. The main app is still going to blind you if you open the app at night but at least you can get it to something more reasonable by maximizing the player. Searching for recently missed shows on some of the podcasts with lots of shows is still a chore. When you go to the shows podcast page, they are still ordered from oldest to newest instead of the other way around like any other player would do which can mean scrolling through dozens of pages to get to a newer show for some of these podcasts. A sort button like most other apps use would go a long way to fixing this problem. Hopefully this update is and indicator that the app developer is listening and we don’t need to wait years for basic features after this. I do like NPR and this app is a significant improvement. A little more tweaking and it could be five stars.

Developer Response ,

Hi there,

Glad you're liking the new features. Thanks for the suggestion on dark mode. We hear you and will take it to the team for consideration! Thanks for listening to NPR One!