Updated iPhone software = smooth sailing

January 14th, 2009 → 5:33 pm @

We’ve heard from a small number of people having trouble running the updated Public Radio Tuner. In most cases, it’s a result of phones running older versions of the iPhone operating system. You can easily check what version of the operating system is on your iPhone.

  1. From the iPhone homepage select “Settings”
  2. Scroll down and select “General”
  3. Select “About” and about halfway down the page you will see “Version”. 2.2 is the latest version of the iPhone operating system.

Alternatively, when your iPhone is connected to your computer, open iTunes and select the iPhone from the main navigation. The summary page shows you the OS version running on the phone. If you are not running OS 2.2, we recommend you click the update button on the summary page.


30 Comments → “Updated iPhone software = smooth sailing”


  1. winston

    4 years ago

    Great app! The new version works great for me, but there is one issue. The lowest volume level on this version is much too loud. Is there any way to lower it?


  2. Ray

    4 years ago

    The app works fine for me. I second the call for a desktop version!


  3. steve

    4 years ago

    This app is working fine for me, and I’m enjoying it. I second the request to look into running it in the background, but I understand this is a limit of the current iPhone API.
    More importantly, is there an equivalent app for desktop macs? Any plans for development?


  4. Tim

    4 years ago

    I’m also having drop issues with it (I have OS version 2.2.1 on an iPhone 3G). It will run for 10 seconds – 10 minutes and then cut out. It will not restart the feed on it’s own, I have to stop the feed then restart it.

    This is a fantastic app (probably my favorite). Can’t wait for all the bugs to be worked out!


  5. Joseph

    4 years ago

    The stream droping issues seems to happen most when listening to higher bitrate streams. It’s like the program doesn’t rebuffed the signal if it gets dropped


  6. Luke

    4 years ago

    Hello Public Radio Tuner workers.. :]
    This app is amazing. I know you get bad reviews because people are ignorant and don’t know what the difference is between this and a fm radio,
    And those people who are ungrateful that they can’t listen to the radio for more than one minute without it crashing.
    This app IS FREE! Criticizing this app are what the ungrateful ones are doing..
    Keep up the good work! It needs connection improvements, but it’s free, and you continue to work on it!
    Thanks!


  7. Jim

    4 years ago

    The software is current on my iPhone and feed is lost intermittently independentt of the station; sometimes stations play for a few minutes, other times for hours when at home. The problem is exacerbated under monbile conditions when using Edge. I love NPR and this is a great application when it works!


  8. Matt Paulzy

    4 years ago

    Http://www.mediacprpradio.com/ RIA 89.7


  9. joe LEVACK

    4 years ago

    Total Freeze !!
    Good Luck with all that


  10. Robert J Welch

    4 years ago

    I have an Apple IPod Touch with Software Version: 2.2.1.
    I have Public Radio Tuner Version: 1.1 installed.
    On Feb 3 starting around 2PM every 20 – 40 I received “Audio Stream Unavailable. try again” messages while listening to Jazz24. After trying again I received the signal. After several times of this occuring I turned on my laptop and used only the wireless connection and the laptop did not loss connection to the stream when connected to wwww.jazz24.org, but I stilled received the above message on the IPod Touch.
    Today Feb 4, 2009 the same has happened @ 1257,1307,1317,1343, and 1353 Centeral time. Can you put up the old software? I do not remember having this problem.


  11. Todd DeWoody

    4 years ago

    Everytime I try to play KCRW it stops!!!

    My fav station. Can you help me with this?

    I am up to date on everything


  12. Monica

    4 years ago

    I also can not get this to stream….It runs for about 3 to 20 seconds and then stops. I am running OS 2.2- It is a great idea- I wish it worked.


  13. Joe

    4 years ago

    The application stops the stream for me as well. I’m on an iPod Touch Gen 2, running OS 2.2. I’m trying to listen to Michigan Radio stream. I can get anywhere from 20 seconds up to 20 minutes. Randomly in that time, the sound will stop. When I wake up the screen, it shows the message “Audio stream unavailable, please try again…”. I press the play button, and it immediately stops again, and says “Stopped”. Then I press the play button one more time, and the stream starts again.


  14. Tom VanDam

    4 years ago

    …New ipod, downloaded software Jan 6; drops out after 1-5 minutes….. tried to reload but…..


  15. mac

    4 years ago

    Wayne… I also cannot get this version to run at all… Go with ShoutCast App…25,000 stations. I use Flycast because of 24 hour BBC stream off of VPR . If I could find BBC on the iPhone elsewhere, I would use it. I only mention the Flycast background capability (funky) as a matter of fact. In response to this Apple mythology cited. Like you… I want the previous version back. See my first post here


  16. wayne

    4 years ago

    @mac: I’m happy for you that you can agonize over whether this app should run in the background or not. some of us can’t even get it to run in the foreground. I’ll be waiting for either a new version that works or a rollback to the previous version. in the meantime, I’ll be using streamitall to listen to my local NPR station since this app can’t deliver.


  17. mac

    4 years ago

    And furthermore, Flycast app currently runs in background…it launches from their website and then maintains the app control panel in the iPhone. You can also go on the web with it’s built in browser, while you are listening. So please…tell us something different.


  18. mac

    4 years ago

    Then screw Apple… Make a desktop version that we can use. Why does everything have to be what Apple wants?


  19. Jason

    4 years ago

    What will it take to convince apple to lift the restriction on running this in the background? They seem to be in a mode of loosening restrictions (re: iTunes). This is the only limitation on an otherwise fantastic application.


  20. Michael jull

    4 years ago

    I can’t adjust the volume in the app. I have a generation 1 itouch. Thanks for a great app.


  21. wayne

    4 years ago

    count me as another user who preferred the previous version of this app. the new version tries to make a connection for about half a minute, then times out and quits. when you’re thinking of what to do for the next version, how about just rolling back one version to a player that works?


  22. J Johnson

    4 years ago

    With OS2.2 upgrade,works much better. Still drops out regularly on 3g, pretty stable with WiFi


  23. David L

    4 years ago

    Love the program. Unfortunatly, even though I have 2.2 installed on 16gb 3G iPhone and have the most current version of PRT; radio stations drop after a random period of time (no greater than 4-5 min). It doesn’t seem to matter edge, 3G or WiFi. I love your effort and the price, but I would love being able to rely on it more! ;)

    Thanks for your hard work!


  24. Will Davis

    4 years ago

    This app works like a charm on my iPhone. Thank you for all the hard work. I hope the issues other users are experiencing get resolved so they, too, can enjoy their favorite station.


  25. mac

    4 years ago

    Horrible….download the new version and welcome to a total freeze. Download iPhone update, then you need iTunes update, then you need QuickTime update, then you need Leopard and Leopard updates, then you can’t use all the software you paid zillions for, unless of course you update those… We are sick of all this

  26. Matty – we’ve heard from some users that Public Radio Tuner is still freezing even with the OS 2.2 upgrade – others are reporting that the upgrade has resolved their issues. Please know that we are actively looking into the freezing/lockup issue, but these bugs can be difficult to track down and once we figure out what the issue is we’ll push out another update. We’re sorry you haven’t been able to enjoy Public Radio Tuner but stick with us and we’ll get this issue resolved.

  27. James, that’s a current restriction imposed by Apple in the SDK. No third party apps can run in the background.


  28. James

    4 years ago

    Really need to be able to run other apps while listening to PRT. Great app that will only get better if this can be done.

  29. Matty, I will bring your issue to the attention of the team.


  30. Matty

    4 years ago

    Sorry, but the new version isn’t working well. No matter how many stations I try, or when I try them, they run for a few seconds (20, at most) and then drop. I’ve tried deleting and re-installing the app several times, and my iPhone OS is current– but I still get the stream freeze.

    Love the new features and display of all the stations, favorites, etc., but at the end of the day I need the streams to work more than I need anything else. Any tips? Is there some way to install the old version again? That worked great.