WBUR
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Prices are current as of 10 Sept 2026.
WBUR has no in-app products on record in the United States.
10+ alternatives to WBUR
| WBUR |   The Boston Globe |   WCVB NewsCenter 5 - Boston |   7 News HD - Boston News Source |   KQED: Bay Area Culture & News |   WHYY Listen: News & Podcasts |   WNYC |   WBEZ |   Vermont Public |   GBH News |   The Boston Globe ePaper | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.1 |
| Reviews | 4.2K | 43K | 15K | 13K | 9.4K | 2.9K | 831 | 682 | 316 | 140 | 114 |
| Released | 2010 | 2013 | 2012 | 2010 | 2011 | 2017 | 2011 | 2012 | 2011 | 2011 | 2012 |
| Monthly price | — | $29.99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $29.99 |
| One-time price | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $4.00 |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest.
WBUR reviews
4.9 out of 5, based on 4,160 reviews.
What people like
- You can pause and rewind live audio
- News is factual, balanced, and reliable
- Great for staying current with news
What they complain about
- App crashes constantly and freezes often
- Drains battery very fast while listening
- Forced ads interrupt your listening experience
- Rewind and skip buttons are glitchy
24/7 We Listen!
The best way to stay current with our country and the world’s news and events.
Would love this station, but…
Where is the link to the podcast of the hourly local news update? I want to be able to play it first, followed by the national one. Why hide the local hourly newscast?
Search?
Hi - not a review as much as a feature request. Being able to search for an espisode at the BUR or show level would be great (an example searching either Fresh Air Marc Ronson, or just Marc Ronson interview) Thanks
Consistently stalls
It is really frustrating to be in the middle of an important story and the app just stops. Sometimes it restarts after a few minutes but more often I need to close the app and restart it. Sometimes even that doesn’t work. As a dues paying member for 30+ years, I am annoyed.
Hangs
This week I’ve have to give up on using the app several times. It frequently just hangs, “thinking” when I open it. Is it the new ad server that makes me listen to the sponsor’s blurb before I can get to the live feed? I don’t know. Frustrating. I’m a monthly donor because I listen to WBUR every day and want to give a little back, but now it’s a source of frustration. The older, simpler app was problem-free
True Truth
One should not have to say in-depth substantive reporting is refreshing, but it needs to be said, and WBUR delivers on this: No filler, no slant, just the facts with relevant details that help listeners understand what’s happening in our world.
Used to be great, now it’s terrible
Why did you ruin an app that worked well? 9 times out of 10, the Listen Now doesn’t work because it gets stuck on the Message from our sponsors and won’t play anything. It’s almost useless. I will say, the 1 time out of 10 tries when it does play, it has my favorite feature which is to pause and rewind the livestream. Which your competitor across town doesn’t have in their app.
great content, but the app is not as good as it used to be
the content, both local and national/international, is top-notch, but this new app is a big downgrade from the previous app, there also seem to be way more ads now compared with before
Long time member, but…
I listen still to WBUR almost daily despite having moved from Boston 20 years ago. However, while I like supporting them through an App and having access to the podcasts and stream, the App feels like it was put together 10 years ago and it consumes an enormous amount of CPU and battery. I have become more concerned about using badly written, battery inefficient apps now that I have not been charging my phone during the day in many years. Sadly, there are other options to listen to the podcast and streams so, please put a little effort into the App. Ideally, use native APIs, frameworks, with a decent iOS like UI (or one that just feels modern). But for now, I’ll listen elsewhere…
Better since last update
I did prefer the old logo, though
WBUR Programación Inteligente y Educativa
El programa de José Masó lo escucho en Puerto Rico, Con Salsa. Disfruto mucho. Otros programas que ofrece WBUR aparte de noticias mundiales, también tiene espacios de muy interesantes temas y diversos sobre las tendencias actuales tanto científicas, culturales y sociales. Aquí podemos incluir invitados y diálogos importantes. Además la programación de PBS, Noticias del ámbito mundial, europeo árabe centroamericano y países orientales son espacios que edifican mi conocimiento del mundo actual en que vivo. Otros programas decarácter (“Witty”) son inclusive muy interesantes. También provéen programación en cuanto a memoria musical clásica instantánea de los oyentes. WBUR La considero un foco de iluminación intelectual en muchos sentidos pues abarca grandes dimensiones. Roberto Juliá 🙋🏼♂️
Pop-Up Ads
A few hours after installing, this app, which represents non-profit, non commercial radio, displayed a spammy pop-up ad from one of their sponsors. I’m deleting this app now.
Great programming but..
I wish your app had a direct way to save or download the running program.
Unreliable connectivity
Despite a good connection by phone or WiFi reception goes in and out - especially when moving
WBUR is great - app needs work
WBUR is great. The updated app is terribly glitchy on iPhone and iPad (why I know it’s not just my phone.
The Best News And An All Round Educatoon
I’ve been subscribing on my own and through my employer (Raytheon) for over thirty years and plan on contributing for thirty more. Keep up the, “Good” work WBUR!
Sleeps With My Phone!!!!
This used to be an app that I could start up and then put my phone in a charging stand while I listened. Now, once my phone goes to sleep, so does the app, interrupting my listening! If it has something to do with the “sleep” settings, I guess I’m too stupid, because nothing helps I guess I’ll have to give up until the next revision, but this version of the app is useless
Great function, rips through battery
There is some great functionality upgrades in new update, such as not auto-pausing when switching Bluetooth source, and holding in cache programs once they conclude. My biggest complaints are bugs in the skip back and ahead functions, and it’s energy consumption. Frequently I hit back 10 seconds to repeat something and it brings me to a completely different part of the show. Also, streaming live, on wifi or network, just rips through my fairly new, healthy battery, about 25% of battery per hour. That said, I love NPR, WBUR, and the ability to pause and rewind live programming has transformed my morning ritual.
Just when I thought it was working well…
Well now much of the time it doesn’t work! I get a message that tells me that “Something went wrong.” As I was writing this review, I went back to the app and it started working but then stopped again. I noticed that when I drag the slider back from the present, the fine print tells me I’m thousands of minutes behind. Am I the only one with these issues?? I gave 2 stars instead of 1 because I love WBUR; I just hate the app!
Good but not as good as the prior version
I love being able to listen on demand. The new version, however, is very difficult to rewind or fast forward with any accuracy. I often rewind just to hear one sentence or fast forward if I’ve already heard a story. It seems that the 15 second or beginning of the show buttons are not yet calibrated and I often lose my place. This didn’t happen to me with the prior version.
Great source of balanced news
I find the news programs to be factual, balanced and thought provoking. Given all the noise, fake news and distortions of science that surrounds us, WBUR is a safe haven where the information can be trusted and is reliable. Whether you agree with their opinions or the subject matter that they stress , WBUR does not fabricate or distort. Critical that this source of information not only survive but thrive.
Doesn’t work at all
I was forced to do an upgrade a few days ago, and I haven’t been able to listen since. All it does is spin. there was a brief. One evening when I could listen for a short period of time and then it stopped. And when I tried to restart it it went back to spinning.I use the old app for years and it worked great mostly except for a few periods of time when there were issues of it shutting itself down, but it had been working fine recently. I hope this issue gets fixed because I miss listening.
Loved the older version
I really loved the older version of this app. Sometime in early 2023. It was replaced with the current one. One of my biggest issues is the tagline/ad that takes the 1st 20 sec of listening time. The GBH app has always had something similar and the fact that the previous BUR version did not have the tag line was the primary reason I chose to listen to WBUR. Now that they are equally annoying I will no longer be choosing choose WBUR first. I have also had the app freeze a few times and am hoping that the bugs will be worked out. Am also hoping the tag intro can be removed at some point!
WBUR APP
I like the ease with which I can be in touch with the news anywhere I might be….at work, at home or away on vacation. The App enables me to receive my favorite programs anywhere, anytime.
Another update that breaks things
Supposedly, they fixed the fast forward and rewind issues. However, when I switch out of the app and come back in, I can no longer press play to resume the audio. I have to hit either the rewind or fast-forward button to get audio to play. How much QA is being done on this app? Also, can you please edit out the money begging from the news podcast versions of the shows? I am listening to the Friday episode during the fundraiser week and I swear that half of the podcast is them begging for money. I don’t mind supporting BUR or NPR, but I don’t want to hear it on the podcast.
用来练听力很好，但是节目经常加载不出来啊
也不是网络的原因，就是会经常卡，体验感很不好
From start to finish
I love that if I start the program late, I can go back to the beginning and listen to the entire show.
Well the app is broken again!
This app constantly crashes! Move from one router to the booster router at home, it crashes. Move from Wifi to LTE or what is fake 5G, it crashes. The phone rings, it crashes that’s this morning in 20 minutes of listening! Get your app right WBUR. This new rendition of the app is trash compared to a year or two ago when you had the previous app. And, no, it’s not the updates. I update regularly.
节目经常加载不出
希望能改进一下
Plausible
The ability to pause or return to live is an excellent feature!
Doesn’t play
Hit play, nothing happens. Deleted app, redownloaded, allowed bluetooth, etc. Doesn’t work!!!
Thank you for fixing the new app's issues!
Updated review: The new fixes do indeed work - thank you so much!! The rewind and fast forward seem to be working very well now, including on a locked screen. So lovely to have this functionality back! Old review from January 2023 - 2 stars) The old app was the best one I’ve seen for any local NPR station across the country - and the live pause/rewind feature was one of the biggest reasons. As others have said, that continues not to work on locked screen, and I’m sometimes having issues with it on unlocked screen too. There are other bugs you (and yes, the ad every time you open it isn’t fun, but I can live with it) but that’s the functioning issue that is the most problematic. Such a shame to replace what was a great app with this, and like others who’ve commented I’ve been a sustaining member, with automatic monthly contributions to the station, for many years. Please, please restore this feature to its full abilities as it was in the last app!!
Horrible
I am deleting the app from my phone and pausing my $1200 annual donations until there is a version that doesn’t ask for money every time I launch it. The rest of the app is terrible with bookmarks, etc. But I assume that will get fixed over time. Good bye for now…
New version does not crash!
Updated - with latest version all of the issues are resolved! Have updated to 5 stars Old review: I don’t know why this app has such high reviews. It crashes for me multiple times whoever I use it. It seems triggered by either skipping ahead or back. 3 stars because it still beats live only playback.
Update is awful
Buggy, freezes, crashes. Salt in the wound—you’re forced to listen to an ad over again each time you have to re open the crashed, frozen app. Poor marketing because it makes me loathe the sound of the ad and I’ve developed a negative Pavlovian reaction to the advertisers.
WBUR FAQ
- Is WBUR free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 175 countries it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does WBUR have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to WBUR?
- The Boston Globe (4.6 from 42,952 reviews, premium from $29.99), WCVB NewsCenter 5 - Boston (4.6 from 15,450 reviews) and 7 News HD - Boston News Source (4.7 from 12,656 reviews).
WBUR download
Last updated 1 month ago.
WBUR sells in 175 countries. It was released 16 years and 3 months ago, on 5 Jul 2010. It holds a 4.9 rating from 4,160 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does WBUR make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.