This American Life App Reviews

This app is great when it first came out but with each update it has progressively gotten worse it is now more of a pain to use in the joy it once was to have all of this American life at your fingertipsI would suggest not to download it

10/24/16 The app crashes less, but when I try to remove any of the 5 downloaded episodes, it tries to re-download the episode I am attempting to remove. This makes it impossible to download other episodes for offline listening. 3/31/15 The updates have fixed most of the issues with downloading episodes for offline listening. However, the app crashes quite often. 12/13/14 Same complaints. The app does not work. Waste of money. 12/10/14 Same complaints. The app is a brick. 12/3/14 Still unusable. There are 5 episodes in the section for offline listening, but once selected, each episode will not play. The "download" bar indicates the episodes are not downloaded, but when I click to download, the app alerts that Ive reached the limit of episodes available for offline listening. -___- I cant get rid of them because the app doesnt recognize them as downloaded. Ive tried reinstalling. Please fix the app. Update: The app is still unusable. Please fix! The recent updates have been consistently diminishing the function of the app. Whats going on? The app crashes with nearly every action. Ive tried deleting the app and re-downloading. No luck. Any time I try to download or listen to an episode, the app crashes. If I scroll, within seconds the app crashes. Terrible.

Its a great app and I enjoy it, but there have been a few episodes where the episode just skips forward. Clearly its a bug issue but its disappointing when Im in the middle of a story and somehow it just cuts to a middle of a second story. (Mike birbiglia episode, Lin-Manuel Miranda episode and a few others)

I used to use this app religiously, but now it doesnt seem to want to load any episodes since 2014. I have no idea what to do.

Im an avid TAL listener and this app lets me go back and listen to all of my fave episodes. When I dont know which to choose I listen to the live stream on the app which plays episodes on a loop 24/7. This app is great for veteran listeners and new listeners alike.

Has some nice features and keeps me up to date on the latest shows.

Highest quality podcast. The world would be a better place if everyone listened.

Still a lot of bugs in this app since the last time I rated it. Needs a log in option to save data when you switch devices (like what you have and havent heard). Also some episodes just dont play regardless of what you do. I do enjoy the streaming option. All and all one of my most frequently used apps bc of content, obviously. So if youre a new user, its worth the glitches.

Currently looking at my app and its missing half of 2014 on through the present. Recently aired episodes are from May 2014!

Why is this app missing all broadcasts from 2015 and 2016?? Dont you think we would pay for this app to hear some of the recent broadcasts? I mean were just missing two years worth of material. Please fix this and give us what we paid for.

Fun, interesting, and amazing stories all the time.

When youre asked to pay for an app, and it works 25% of the time, something is wrong with the equation. When it works, it works great. That said, every time a new iOS is released or any minor software update is made it seems like these engineers are constantly playing catch up. Ill continue to try to use the app, as the content is fantastic, but the user experience is absolutely garbage.

The app used to work so well but now it has so few of the back logged episodes and those that it does have dont play right. I wish someone would put as much care and consideration into this app as the do into the show. As someone who contributes to the show it would be great to have this access in a more functional app.

I wish the shows were categorized more specifically. All in all great app

TAL is one of my favorite podcasts, and so I jumped at the chance to get a $3 app to hear them all. I was disappointed to find that after owning it for over a year, and several updates, its still full of bugs. 1. New episodes are missing the thumbnail. It sounds small, but it affects the experience more than I would have thought. 2. You can only do the "10-second rewind" inside the app, not on the lock screen or from the control center. 3. There is no "10-second fast-forward". I find it needful from time to time. Its hard to scrub 60 minutes of content on a phone. 4. Some episodes wont play at all after downloaded. I have found some issues can get resolved by deleting and redownloading, but, of course, all of the "heard it" progress is lost. I am reticent to do that. I feel like I have encountered more issues than this, but these are the main ones. Please fix!

Episodes either dont play or take forever to start playing even if its already downloaded, and the commands either dont respond or takes forever to respond. Fix this!

You can only download 5 shows at a time to listen to offline. Unfortunately, the app does not allow you to delete the shows to download more. You end up stuck with the 5 original shows. Not good if you travel and look forward to listening to new shows while offline.

Good app with great content.

I love the show but hate the app. I know, strong word, but its true. TAL needs to find a developer as strong as the storytellers. I havent been able to listen to the show in months because this app is so awful. Please help this sad fan in DC.

I love the show and love listening to it on my phone. However, I have the same problem as other users in that old episodes wont erase so that new ones can be downloaded. When you hit the "delete" button it just tells you about the five episode limit without deleting. Very frustrating!