This American Life App Reviews

We transfer money over €4 billion every month. We enable individual and business accounts to save 4 million Euros on bank transfer fees. Want to send free money abroad or transfer money abroad for free? Free international money transfer!

Love It. This American life has impacted my life beyond my wildest imagination. I truly enjoy the wide variety of stories that this app provide. Weather it be the intense and interesting stories one hears or the edge variety of authors and stories told it never see's to amaze me. It has helped lift me out of many different grooves depression, anxiety etc. I often recommend it to many of my friends because weather your taking a walk, driving a far distance or just cleaning the house it always keeps me entertained.

The show is amazing; this app however, blows.. The content on this app is wonderful and deserves a perfect 5/5 rating. That being said, the app itself freaking blows! I've gone throw it and marked every episode I've heard (which is more than half of them) only to then have to delete and reinstall the app due to some bug. Once reinstalled, all of the previously marked episodes were gone, and now I forget which ines I've heard and which ones are new. This wouldn't be so bad, it I mainly listen once on flights and download the episodes, only to later find out 2-3 of the 5 I've downloaded for the trip, IV actually heard before. To make things worse, as of right now, I can't even download episodes at all. Please guys! Put out an app that is worthy of the amazing content you put out on the show. The show deserves better than this app!

Great Show, one of the worst apps.. I really don’t like to give one-star reviews, since they seem like such an easy way for someone who is frustrated to just get a little jab in at the developers. But I can’t give it higher than one star because the app just does not work as intended. A known issue reported two-years algo continues to plague the app: audio stops when you change apps or turn off the screen. It’s like it thinks it is a video or something. Hardly useful for a radio broadcast you might listen to on a walk, in your car, or while multi tasking. The app’s solution for dark mode was just removing any adjustments the app tried to make for dark mode. So now it’s just white and bright not matter what. I suppose that is better because the dark mode settings rendered almost every menu unreadable, due to the text and the background being completely the same color. The app struggles to remember your place in any particular episode. Downloading should be easy but for some reason it only downloaded some of the time. It’s honestly, such a frustrating and sad experience for a show that is so good! I think this app is worth it to have access to the entire catalog of episodes, however I am so sad that I have to listen to them in this janky mess of an app. Sorry guys! I hope you’ll improve upon it!

Best show ever!!. I've been reviewing some of the app reviews, & I am baffled on how many people are complaining that the app has 'bugs'. I haven't noticed any glitches, bugs, or anything of that sort. So, I am not sure if it depends upon the type of phone or devise you're using, but I listen to this app on both; iPhone7+ & my iPad. Both devices play my app w/out any issues, (used on both; WiFi &Data Plan). So., in short the App is Wonderful, I personally haven't noticed any of the negative things that have been reported on the app Review. If you're new to 'THIS AMERICAN LIFE' - & contemplating on whether-or-not you want to spend the $1.99 or $2.99... well don't contemplate ... because I can promise you, you won't regret it!!! This app has been the only reason I have been able to make the loooong drives back & forth to Oregon (from CA). On a monthly basis. I LoVe LoVe LoVe this ApP!! I ❤️ Ira Glass!!!

This app is garbage. Everyone loves this radio show and everyone hates this app. It's downright terrible. It simply does not work. I listened to 300 shows on the previous version of this app even though it crashed all the time and just wouldn't play when it didn't want to. The download function never worked and I had to reinstall it several times to get past certain bugs. Since the last update I now have 6 episodes that show under "all shows." That's all I have access to, despite reinstalling. What makes it funnier is that not even one of these randomly chosen 6 will even play. It is totally broken, and I'll be using Apple's refund process to request a return of my money just to send a signal to This American Life that they failing to deliver a working app to their biggest fans.

This app is an embarrassment to TAL and NPR. Love love love the show but come on, get it together. The most minimal standards and features don’t work -or are just plain wrong. Example: go to recommended lists, say David K’s. The stories he recommended are hyperlinks but NOTHING happens when you click on them. So you do the drudgery of getting back to the main menu ( simpler said than done) to do a search and nothing. David lists “unbreaking the bank” which is either unavailable, does not exist or is named something else. The search results give another show name, not what I wanted (scenes from a recession). In this case, I had to go to my desktop where I discovered the recommendation was a particular segment of “scenes from a recession”. It would have been nice to know that. Keep in mind that your fans do not know the show as well as TAL staff. This is but one tiny beef. I love this show and only bought the app to support TAL but it is easier to access episodes with the browser on your phone. Fix this!

Love the show--hate the app. I listen to TAL every week and use the app to fall asleep to every night. But the latest version has even more problems than it has had in the past. I've deleted and reinstalled it but that doesn't help. A lot of times I push play and nothing happens. Some episodes will play, most won't, or maybe it's just that it randomly works when I try some episodes. Some issues that have always been there: 1. If you've already listened to an episode in the past, when you go to listen to it again you have to go in and click the arrow back to make it start from the beginning. Otherwise it just plays the final 10-20 seconds of the episode. 2. For some reason I can't adjust the ringer volume on my phone when I have this app open, even when the episode is paused. My phone will only allow me to adjust the volume of the podcast. This doesn't happen when I use the podcast app on my phone. 3. From time to time the list of episodes doesn't show up and the only ones I can choose from are the ones listed under staff picks or one of the other categories like that.

Stick with the iPhone podcast app (for now). So of course I love TAL. I look forward to it all week and it makes my commute very enjoyable. The thing is, of course I almost never listen to a single episode all at once, I listen while I’m driving so I stop it when I get out of the car and resume where I left off when I get back. The iPhone podcast app has never had a problem saving my place and immediately picking up where I left off once I start my car again. This app though? It happens only about half the time, sometimes the episode will resume as normal, and sometimes it resets to the beginning. It’s of course really frustrating when that happens, because then I have to scroll around and listen for the point where I left off. It’s a hassle. It’s the only problem I have with this app and if they fix it I will update my review to five stars. Until then, I’m going back to listening to TAL on the podcast app.

New app fail. I hate to write this because of how much I have enjoyed TAL over the years, but here goes: This new app is so full of bugs it’s basically unusable. I tried to listen to the newest show in the car today and no exaggeration here, it stopped around fifty times. Basically every few minutes it just stopped. The buttons do not respond to touch, and I really miss how in the old app you could start a show and still navigate through your phone. It also restarted the show several times and a few times told me that the file of the show was not on the server. I just don’t see myself fighting with this for too much longer. I’m still a fan though. Thank you for listening.

Unlimited American Life??? Heck Yeah!!. This app has made commuting almost enjoyable. I've had no problems with it in the year I've been using it. What's not to like? These stories of real people strike a chord deep within - because the stories are not just about those particular people, they are stories of us, as a culture, as a country, and we are allowed to think about things that sometimes we might rather avoid. Somehow, "This American Life" delivers a poignant story of the various people of America without shoving it in your face. They do not flinch from the difficult stuff. They strive to understand how these events came to pass and how we are now affected by them. All of this, plus Ira Glass makes one feel involved and important to our story as a country and as a people. I think it is a definite steal!

Best App on the App Store!. I honestly could not live without this app. It turns my awful commute every morning into one of my favorite parts of the day. I don't even mind that it cost money. Paying for it allowed me to give back to a show that gives so much to me every single day. Not sure why so many people are experiencing problems with this app, bc mine works flawlessly. It's fast, responsive, well designed, etc. I love that I can close the app, re-open it, and resume the episode I was listening to right where I left off. I love that I can download shows to listen to later when I don't have Internet access. The 15-second-rewind button is a great feature and I use it all the time. A lot of love and care went into building this app, and it definitely shows. 10/10, worth every penny. Thanks TAL!

Good, but not great.. This app serves its purpose which is easy access to all TAL podcasts. However, there are some listening glitches that I hope will be sorted out in the near future. I pause and play often when I’m using this app and the app sometimes won’t load or play the podcast I was on unless I close out of the app completely and reopen the app again. Sort of like turning it on and off. Then, today I encountered another listening glitch. If I press pause on the lock screen or the small listening bar at the bottom of the app, the podcast keeps playing. This is embarrassing because I unplugged my earphones and the podcast wouldn’t stop playing. Everyone in the quiet classroom I was in heard me listening to one of the crime scene episodes. My solution was turning my volume down all the way. This hasn’t been an isolated incident. I’m leaving this review because it has happened three times now in the same day. The most recent time I could only pause the podcast if I went into the app, opened up the podcast episode’s page and paused it there. Hoping the app developers can work this out soon because I paid money for this app!!!

Still buggy. I put up with the poor quality of the original app as long as I could then gave up and missed being able to access old episodes more easily (when the app worked, of course.) So, I was thrilled to hear Ira say the app had been revamped. I have a 5 day old iPhone and updated the app to find a fresh, new look and better controls- and the same bugs. It freezes up on me constantly. If I pause and then come back an hour later it’s frozen and won’t play. I have to kill the app and half the time that works but it starts the episode over and I lose my spot. This is with the most recent episode, by the way- not an archived one. Please, please, fix this thing. Please. Thank you.

Uggghhh not again. I had this app a year or two ago and abandoned it because it was so buggy. When Ira said there was a new app recently, I ran back... only to find the same issues again. TAL itself remains phenomenal, so this isn’t a rating of the radio show. This one star goes right to this app, which has proven itself to be a functional and logical nightmare for the second time. It stops playing and freezes. It doesn’t let you pick up where you left off on an episode if you close the app down, which you have to do a lot, because it freezes. It stops responding out of nowhere. It makes you reapply your search filters every time you open the app. So far, pre-2014 episodes are still accessible... but last time they just disappeared, so I feel like my days with them are numbered. TAL team, PLEASE either fix the app or stop taunting us with it. The promises are what hurts the most! ☹️

Love the show, frustrated by the app. So if you stop listening and get out of the car, for example, and then want to come back and pick up where you left up, too bad. The shows don't stay open or in any sort of queue to continue playing. Which means searching for the podcast you were listening to (I hope you remember the title). It will resume where you left off at that point but it's somewhat pointless that you have to look for it every time you stop it for more than a couple of minutes. I love this podcast but this app needs some improvement.

Never fails.. This American Life never fails to entertain, educate, enliven, enlighten, and mesmerize. I discovered this program in college, about 10 years ago. Haven't listened to nearly as many episodes as I know I'd enjoy, but every one I have listened to has given me nothing but simultaneous warmth and chills. Every time. Thank you Ira Glass and everyone else that has helped create such a stunning...thing. I just downloaded the app two days ago, and it's my absolute favorite. It's amazing how the tales from real people resonate and make you think and appreciate what we don't understand and haven't experienced. Please keep the stories coming. Seriously. Thank you. Love this Nebraska gal.

I look forward to driving two hours each day!. A log in option would be nice. I have hundreds of shows marked as "heard it" on my work phone. I'm being promoted to our corporate office and I'll get a new work phone. This means aaaaaaaaall my history will go away when I delete the app. I also listen on my computer during the day time and it would be nice if the information would sync with my application. I LOVE the show soooooooo much. You guys have helped me make it through a year of a one hour commute to work. I'm sure that TAL is one of the main reasons I lasted this long with that horrible commute. Now I'll be working from home sometimes and have a shorter commute on other days. I'll have to listen to one show a day verses the two a day I used to look forward to. Thanks so much for making my drive enjoyable. I love you guys!

Malfunctioning downloads. I have kept this app updated and tested it on three Apple devices - iPad Air, iPhone 6s and iPhone 8. On each, the problem is the same. I prefer not to use cellular data minutes to listen to podcasts and choose to download them while on WiFi. My app has cellular turned off for this app. The episodes appear to have downloaded and if I listen to a downloaded podcast while still in WiFi range, they work fine. If I am out of WiFi range when I launch a podcast that is listed as downloaded, the content screen goes blank and the podcast will not play. If, however, I am in WiFi range when I launch a downloaded episode, it will play and continue to play as I leave WiFi range. So I conclude that a data connection is required to launch an episode, even if it has been downloaded.

Love it!. This app does everything I needed to(Mark listened, rewind/fast forward 10/15?sec, download episodes, etc). It has so many this American life shows, literally hundreds, I never get bored. Compared to the Radiolab app the This American Life app is basically god. I love radiolab, but wow is that app horrible. I got radiolab before this American life and that was a mistake. Radiolab crashes all. the. time. I downloaded this American life about 4 weeks ago and it has only crashed once. Definitely download. Even if you won't use it but you like This American Life, make a purchase to support them. Content content content, they have the best content. Thanks, bye.

I LOVE This American Life, but.... The app, which costs money, is extremely buggy and needs a lot of work. For instance, you can only have 5 shows downloaded at a time, which is reasonable, but I currently have 5 shows downloaded and when I try to delete them after listening to them it tells me that I can only have 5 shows downloaded at once and that I would need to remove one to download others. This, of course, is a problem because I can't actually delete any of my already downloaded podcasts. Another issue is that not a single podcast will show up on the "All Shows" tab. Those two things are apart of many problems with this app. The show is magnificent and I listen every week and a lot of the time go back and listen to old shows again. I am just sad that the app does not work very well and I hope that it is fixed soon so my listening can continue.

All the shows.... At 72, I've been getting ready to sell, read downsize after 25 years (loved all the storage when we bought Moose Hill, but now realize "storage was my enemy"). Too many things racing through my mind about what must be done for this long distance move...hard to get to sleep even when exhausted. I've always loved This American Life and it is now my sleep solution. I put TAL and fall asleep in about ten minutes. It's so soothing, like someone reading me a wonderful story.

Fine App for A Great Show. This American Life (app) works like how I imagined it would, you listen to the entire catalog of TAL. Simple and easy with a few curated playlists. There is even a search feature. Everything on my end seems fine. This American Life (show) is one of the greats to ever grace radio, let alone podcasts. It is well worth the money for this app in the content alone. I always love their stories and diners or road stops where they just interview ordinary people. It sound boring, but I always get a lovely grim to grace my face while listening, and I am sure you will to.

American Life App Not For The Living. Downloaded this app a week before the update but the problems remain with the Aug 15 update. Extremely frustrating to try to stream or download an episode and be told that there's a five-app limit and to delete some heard episodes--then find the same message when trying to play or DELETE an story already downloaded, even though I never heard it. Another recent episode said it "can't be found" to download, even though it's a listed episode. The play button doesn't change its visual state except a brief flash, so you don't know if it's trying to play or not. And the interface doesn't make it easy to know if the episode is/was downloading. Terrible app experience unworthy of a great show.

App does not work since iOS update and still has critical flaws.. Aside from the fact that The TAM app should have log on capabilities so that listening history is not lost when changing devices, the app used to otherwise work perfectly until the iOS update happened last week. Now playback stops after about 15 seconds after starting and I have to restart the app to get it to go Adair only to have the same problem occur or the audio to drop from the headphones and revert to speaker. When is an update happening to fix this. For a paid app it should work correctly and be fixed quickly when issues occur.

Thank you so much!!!!!!!. Wow This American Life deserves credit. Their app previously did not work due to constant crashing. I was very frustrated for paying $3 for an app that did not work and wrote a bad review. However since then, a new update has fixed the problem and the app now can play This American Life Episodes! Thank you so much for making this fix! This is a great app now and the show is absolutely fantastic!!!!!!! As promised here is my 5 star review since you fixed the problem. The app deserves it. If you are a fan of This American Life get this app.

Ground Breaking show, buggy app, no tech support.. TAL is the program that got me hooked on public radio. Had an old app that worked like butter for a long time, then got buggy so I went looking for answers and saw there was a new and improved app. Unfortunately this app has never worked well for me. Programs I have listened to or marked as heard do not show as heard the next time I open the app. Downloaded programs for offline use don't play when I'm offline even though I confirmed it was fully downloaded. The app also doesn't update the most recent episodes; it is August 29th today and the most recent episode showing up in the app is from July. I had the same issue in June. I assume that these are all issues I could fix or work through however I have tried to contact the support team through the App, through the iTunes store, and via email. I've had no response.

Review-worthy. If you're reading this review, it's because you have apps and are thinking about downloading this one. Since we've established that you have apps, you've undoubtedly gotten the "Rate this app" pop-up an infinite amount of times, as we all have. This is what I will say about This American Life - it's the only app in which I've ever clicked "rate now" when prompted. It is an amazing collection of journalism and stories told by a ridiculously talented group of people. A must download for any podcast or radio lover.

Amazing Podcast Bad App. This American Life is, in my opinion, a national treasure. It's just the best podcast around period. This app, however, has major major issues. They did a large revision a while back and unfortunately they made a lot of things worse. I find my episodes failing to start often. Navigation within an episode is difficult. Paused episodes fail to start (manually shutting down the app and reopening seems to fix this). Please TAL get some talented devs to make an app your podcast deserves. Start an app donation drive! Do something. The quality of the show is to high to have an app this bad. Review update - for some reason now most of the new episodes do not show up in the app. So frustrating!

Does not do TAL justice!. I've been listening to TAL for decades and I have loved everything about it...until I downloaded this app. It actually worked with minimal interruption the first week or so, but now when I filter by "all shows", it gives me " no available episodes". So now the only choices I have are "recently aired", or "staff picks"... which is fine for now, but when I've perused those shows I'll be down to one program a week under the "recently aired" column. It has also forgotten my history and some downloaded episodes have become unplayable. Not to whine, but why did I pay money for an app that has no advantage over browser/website use? I'm all for supporting the show, which I do annually anyway, but PRX needs to right this before they start losing sizable support over such a mendable issue.

Great show, good app. I've had the This American Life (TAL) app for 3 or 4 years now; originally, on my iPod touch 4th generation it ran fine. No problems, access to all the shows I wanted. When I upgraded to the iPhone 4, the app wouldn't work at all; big disappointment, but there are many ways to get TAL so I just listened via my computer, the radio, or the available podcasts in iTunes. The most current release of the app runs well on my iPhone 6, but I don't have access to that many shows; only the five most recent shows, plus the various "favorites" playlists the staff made are available to listen. Again, this is disappointing, but I do enjoy the new 24/7 stream available in the app. Keep up the good work guys!

It could be so much better. When I first bought this app it was great! But within the last year it has seemed to have gotten worse. Shows won't play unless you download them. Then it won't let you get rid of previously downloaded shows. Also- it will only let me see 3-5 of the past episodes not all of them- which is why I paid for this app several years ago. I wish that they would just fix it. I love this American life- but recently anytime I have opened the app I have said "I hate this app" and have ended ion switching over to the podcast app already preloaded on my phone.

Love the show app could use a few tune ups. I love this show and if the rating was for that alone it would be an easy 5 star. The app has some strange things that could use improvement. When downloading a show it could use indication that a down load is taking place, the current method makes it appear as if the show is not downloading or the button was not pressed. When loading up the app after a duration it's unclear if it's trying to get new shows or if the list is up to date, perhaps a progress bar or message would be helpful.

The sales pitch was.... So let me say I love This American Life. I chose to purchase this app because the sales pitch was: buy this app so that you can access the entire TAL archives. Then a week or two in to my purchase they locked out access to the archives. Not sure if it's a bug or not. There are 50-60 available still through staff favorites page etc. but that's not what was advertised. I see there is a live stream to listen to episodes randomly but it doesn't seem to connect. And if I'm going to listen while I have no cell service then I need to download ahead of time which I can't do with the live stream. So what's the deal? Fix the app and get it back to the original idea. Bottom line, I paid money to download the app so that i can listen to my selection from the archives and that doesn't work! UPDATE********** They have redesigned the app and they are back on track. I just started using the new version but it seems to be everything that was promised. Way to go TAL! You heard the criticism and responded with a great update! I love that I can search episodes by different info. For example if my friend says, “hey I was listening to episode 432 and it so crazy!” I can go search ep 432 download and listen. Changing my review to 5 stars!!! Thanks for making a great product!

Horrible. Well this app is so frustrating I can’t believe I paid for it. I never pay for apps. While listening I was very annoyed to find that it stops playing when your phone goes into lock mode. I was literally driving down the road and every few minutes have to unlock my phone screen for it to start playing again. Also won’t start playing where you left off so I’ve actually given up listening on this app for now. I wish people would give this a one star and not say we’ll I’ll give it 5 stars because it’s a great show but a horrible app. We all know it’s a great show. People who don’t read reviews first will download the app and pay because it says 4 stars which is a good rating for an app. I’ve been a huge fan of the show for years and I would expect more from their app. :(

Nice upgrade!. This may be a little premature because I just updated but I’m already so pleased. I love, love, love TAL. It’s the show that got me into podcasts and while there are others I like, it’s still my favorite. The old app was a pain. The limited downloads and all the bugs were annoying. I also like all the categories. The best thing about TAL is the big archive and how interesting and relevant the stories can be for many years. I even like listening again sometimes so it’s nice to have things organized so you can pick something based on your mood.

Great radio program but APP needs work. Love the show but the app has glitches. You're limited to downloading 5 episodes at a time to playback without wifi/cell data. Not a problem. However, the app glitches out and somehow you can't play the downloaded episodes later. Then, the real kicker is that you can't delete these downloaded episodes to try to get new ones! What? So, you uninstall the app, lose all your data (like favs and heard episodes), the app works for a bit, and the whole problem starts all over again. When it does work (limited time) it's a good app but when it doesn't work it's terrible. Again, LOVE the show, strongly dislike the app.

Personal login and bug fixes would be nice. I like this app - it's easy to use (when it works), and I like being able to mark them as Heard and search. BUT - when I try to fix the app, maybe delete and re-download, all of my Heard stories get marked as unheard! I so wish there was a personal login that saved the ones I've Heard permanently. Especially because the app sometimes breaks. Currently I can listen to the Live Stream, but can listen to any individual stories. Please figure this out Ira and the TAL gang. Please! You were life saving after my laser eye surgery and couldn't do anything but listen to TAL for days while my eyes healed. Fix the bugs, please!

Great content, horrible app. Love this content, dearly, and use the app frequently but it is a buggy, glitchy mess. There isn’t another option for accessing this content aside from purchasing podcasts online or listening to them as they are released via an app like Stitcher, but that doesn’t give you access to the whole library. At $5, the app isn’t cheap but is worth it for the ability to listen to anything in the archive, but COME ON GUYS! You need a new developer. There are a multitude of issues, including freezing, buttons not responding, the app needing to be force quit and restarted in order to keep it from pausing the podcast every time my phone goes into lock mode. I also have to remember where I was in the podcast because if I exit the app before it’s done, it doesn’t hold my place and I have to scrub through to get to where I was. Come on Ira Glass, pull it together man and in invest in a better developer, please.

Great when it’s working. Frustrating when it’s not. Currently the app is very very wonky. It’s not playing anything other than the current episode. Other than that there is either no response at all when I hit play or it seems to start to load and then a pop-up saying “The server cannot be reached please try again later.” For context this happens whether I use my WiFi or data. Also, the streaming/live has never worked. Today’s rating would be zero stars but I have enjoyed using the app in the past so I’m giving it a 3. PS: have tried uninstalling/reinstalling and result is the same.

This American Life = a gem / app = disappointing. In a nutshell, the show is 100% transformative. Well maybe more like 95%... because once in great while, they go somewhere I don't want to go or occasionally they air a piece of (blech!) fiction. So maybe 5% of the many many years I've been listening is programming I just don't connect with. The rest of the time, I find myself feeling uplifted, others devastated. Sometimes I'm moved, charmed, schooled and, entertained but I've also been shocked and confused, enraged, repulsed and, crippled by episodes of this show. It's truly a gem. The app, though, is nothing to write home or anywhere else about. In fact, it has none of the show's inherent organic variety. Nope. It only makes me mad.

Wish I could downgrade!. Like everyone else here, I love the show, but I really hate this app. The old version certainly wasn't perfect, but at least it worked! This app used to be the only thing that made my commute bearable...and now it's ruined! It takes forever to respond to commands, like play or pause, forward or rewind. Sometimes it just doesn't respond at all. All the episodes I marked as heard are now no longer marked as such. It's no longer possible to pause your listening, quit the app, and pick up where you left off. I really hope the devs are seeing these reviews! What could have possessed them to release this shoddy upgrade??!! ------------------- Apparently TAL can't seem to find someone who knows how to write an app that works. The same head-bangingly frustrating problems exist after purported "bug fixes" in the latest update. But now there's an added bonus! Now some of the episodes won't play at all! You tap "Play," and nothing happens! Same thing when you tap "Download"—nothing, nada, zip! It's just so AWESOME! I would love to hear Ira address this problem on the show. He owes an apology to his listeners. Except, of course, we'd never be able to hear it unless we caught it on the radio.

Mehhhhhh :(. So this app has never been perfect, but it's been usable and I learned how to work with its quirks. But now, only new shows will play. I can't get it to play any of the older shows (I've been working my way back... I'm currently half way through 2012). Luckily, I've been keeping track of what episodes I've listened to on my phone's notepad in case the app ever lost my "heard" episodes. Glad I did, because in an attempt to get the app to work, I deleted the app and redownloaded it, thus losing my "heard" episodes. I'm so very disappointed. This show has been a favorite for me during my commute when I get bored with audiobooks (and plus, the episodes are free after you pay for the app). Please fix the app!!!!

Love TAL, hate the app. This app is super quirky. I've had to uninstall and reinstall it about a dozen times. Once the 5 shows are saved for offline listening, I'm stuck with them. I can neither delete nor replace them. Upon the most recent reinstall, I got the 4 most recent episodes, and then nothing until 2013. When I would change the drop down menu to show all UNHEARD shows it would tell me none existed. So I, unfortunately, had to reinstall it — again. The worst part is losing all of the "heard it" tags each time. Actually no, the absolute worst part is loving this podcast so much that I have no choice but to put up with it.

Paid and can't listen to podcasts anymore. Do not pay for this app. You're better off browsing to the This American Life website and listening to the podcasts from there. They will stream on your iPhone directly from their website FOR FREE. This app used to work. I used to be able to listen to This American Life podcasts and could keep track of them pretty easily. Then, I think they stopped updating the app and all went downhill from there. New podcasts rarely play even after repeatedly clicking the play button. The "new podcasts" filter doesn't actually show new podcasts and neither does the "all podcasts" filter actually show all available podcasts. It's almost as if they stopped even though we paid to get this app.

Pause and Play Button Doesn’t Work!. I absolutely love the content on This American Life. The stories they tell are informative and interesting and you always come out learning something new. However, app has bugs that make the listening experience subpar. The episodes will never pause. I will press the play/pause button if I want to take a break and the button will switch from ⏸ to ▶️ but the podcast will continue playing. No matter how many times I click the button, the episode will keep going. I have to physically clear out of the app to make it stop playing and then my place in the episode gets lost. Please please fix this bug so I can actually enjoy listening to the podcasts!!

Bugs with the App. I love TAL and love that I can listen to all the episodes, but the app itself is not user friendly. The app repeatedly stops mid podcast and doesn’t pick up where it left off. Once it stops have trouble restarting the episode need to move on to another episode and come back to the one I was listening to later. One additional minor complaint, the app doesn’t move episodes from the feed after listening to them to a “previously played” list. I’m only a few episodes in but I’m not looking forward to scrolling through hundreds of episodes to get to the next one.

A good attempt but far from complete. I'm a long time listener and a software engineer. This app in its current iteration is a great start but there are so many bugs that need to be resolved before I can regularly use it everyday. I notice when changed from wifi to network connection while listening to an episode that is not downloaded the app would often hang and pause the episode. Sometimes when I play an episode and lock the screen the episode pauses as well. Bookmarking episodes doesn't always bookmark the episode. The app lacks many features such as: Playback speed Playback resume when app closes List of partially listened to episodes Random episode/shuffle feature (from the list of unheard episodes) If all you need from this app is the ability to listen to any episode, it does a great job. If you want more, it doesn't quite hit the mark. I don't regret spending money on the app from the company that has provided me countless hours of quality content. The app has basic functionality but I do hope it improves in feature iterations.

No Option to Sync Between Devices. I typically listen on my iPad but sometimes use my iPhone (in the car). The episodes I have listened to or bookmarked on my tablet do not show as “heard” on my phone nor do the bookmarked episodes show. I do like the app, since it allows visibility to the entire archive of episodes (unlike the native Apple Podcast app), but the inability to sync between devices is unfortunate. If there is already a way to do this, I’m unable to figure it out, and the app also doesn’t show as an option to backup to iCloud — so, if removed and re-added, I assume that my bookmarks and “heard” episode tags would be lost.

can't delete saved episodes / update. .. but can't download new ones for offline listening until they are deleted. And it took me forever to figure out where my saved episodes were when they last redesigned the app. They really could do better here. Why not categorize the episodes, allow a topic search, or anything else that would make browsing for old episodes to listen to easier? But first, fix the broken stuff. ^^ I don’t know when I wrote that. Update July 2020: I’ve just downloaded the app anew, so it’s definitely up to date, and it crashes and crashes when I try to search. Plus hasn’t saved my previously bookmarked episodes. So I guess we need a way to log in?

Crashing fest. Update after downloading onto new phone---SO unhappy the app no longer has my "heard" and "favorite" data. This is the first time it has happened. Always kept my info phone to phone and after past updates. Too cumbersome trying to guess what old episodes I haven't heard while trying to concentrate on driving. A shame a paid app is this quirky. ----------- The content of the app is of course worth every penny I paid for it. The 1 star comes from how unstable it has become at least with iOS 8, not sure if or how much it crashed before that. It crashes with every use sometimes more than once. Also needs some sort of user settings. While I'm driving I don't want to have to tell it to show me unheard, I want that as my default. No improvement since my last rating

Did you know that you can earn 25 USD from our site just by registering? Get $25 for free by joining Payoneer!

Great show. Love the app and going through the archives. I've had to re-download twice though as the downloaded shows at times get 'stuck' in the offline downloaded section and I've been unable to delete them (or download others).

Good content bad app. Good content (albeit heavily left fielded ) Terrible app (constantly crashes ane sometimes just wont work )

Awesome content, but the app....... Love the content of this show !!! It is amazingly put together and produced so well. The app however does leave a lot to be desired ( and yes the irony of a free app not working so great, is not lost on me) there have been many times I have had to delete the app and start again, It just stops working or it just won't play when you press play !!! Don't know why.... But what can I say, We are able to hear this amazing show for free, So a few inconveniences are not a big deal !!

Love this show. One of the best podcasts ever

Great show, not great paid app. I love the show (even as a non-American) but having to listen to ads on a paid app pisses me off. Plus the app can be buggy, forgets where i’m up to if I have to pause and doesn’t always play. May as well just access the website through your browser.

Rubbish app. This review is not a reflection of the podcast (which is amazing, obviously). My biggest peeve is that if I’m halfway through a podcast, pause, and come back later, it ALWAYS starts that episode from the beginning again. It’s generally glitchy, and I have to use the buttons inside the app to play/pause (it won’t link to the control on my phone home screen) and doesn’t let me send the audio from the app to other speakers. The heard/unheard function is a good idea, but it doesn’t switch automatically once an episode has been listened to. I’ve got my entire ‘heard’ history inside this app since I’ve been back-listening to old episodes for years now and really don’t want to switch to another app for this reason, but gosh it is so frustrating dealing with this app’s quirks. Wonderful podcast, awful app. I really hope this can be fixed soon 💛

Just so good. The new weekly episode of This American Life is one of the high points of my week. The things I have learned that I would have no idea about otherwise; the places they go; the other side of the story you wouldn't always hear elsewhere; I recommend this podcast to everyone. And Ira has nailed the "we're just friends having a chat" presenter style.

Great show, buggy app. The show itself and the podcast is fantastic, even as a non-American. The app needs work, however; every version I've had for last few years has had problems with crashing, glitches in episodes, now it just doesn't show past eps. Still worth it.

The Only Podcast I Listen To. Simply the most wonderful stories to listen to. The hosts take me to new places, they make me think, and fill me with some kind of wonder. Well done to all involved.

A treasure trove of stories. Everyone should have TAL. I was hooked after the first episode. Such an great education on life. Great for daily walks!!

Keep pushing buttons to no effect. When you push 'play episode' nothing happens. Please fix/update now!!!

Love this app. This has kept me sane through early parenthood and the daily commute to work. One of my favourites.

Great app, great stories. Always works well. Great content.

Great stories, glitchy playback. Brilliantly told and produced stories. Tech-wise, though, the app often starts playback of its own accord at random times.

Great show, Not so great App. It's awesome to have the entire back catalogue at your fingertips, but this App is in need of a usability overhaul.

Brilliant stories, just can’t play ‘em in Australia!. Wish this app worked, I can stream from the website (still buggy) but I would listen to these episodes until my ears fell off if I was able to. Agree with above - I’d repay the purchase price if the app was rereleased as working. C’mon guys, you’re whole vibe is getting through to everyone the quality content you’ve thought SO long and hard about to produce. Don’t let it fall over at the last, crucial stumbling block of tech

Not to happy. Excellent podcasts but app is a waste. Bought it to access archives and listen to older casts but that does not seem to work. 5$ wasted for what I can get in iTunes

Terrible app. The show is good but this app isn't worth downloading even if it was free. So many bugs and crashes.

Yay!. This American life has opened a world I would never have known. Thank you TAL for working so hard year in and year out.

Clever, witty and informative podcasting!!. I enjoy listening to both current as well as older episodes. An all around entertaining and education podcast!

Still glitchy. Still only plays episodes on pressing play button one third of the time. Still no access to back catalogue. Can't play individual episode segments. Time to give up on this feature-overloaded version and return to the 2012 TAL app.

Excellent show, useless app. App won’t play audio in the background, you have to have the app open on your screen. When the phone locks, it stops playing. Pretty simple thing, pretty amazed that it wasn’t designed to work that way.

Great podcast great app. Being a late comer to This American Life, I found it cumbersome to listen to old episodes with the standard podcast apps or browsers. I really love the story telling of this show - it’s unlike any other - and didn’t want to miss out. This app makes it so simple.

Love the show. The app really needs a couple of weeks/ months more work put into it though. Not optimised for iphone6, annoying bugs stoping playback, unresponsive and unreliable. Why not ask the users to chip in a few dollars each to get the devs back in to tighten the screws? I would pay the purchase price again to have this work as expected.

Where are the eps?. Bought this app to track down some recent episodes but there's no episodes from the last 2 years?

Worthwhile. Great content and I've found the app really easy to use, with its offline download aspect particularly.

A class of its own. I have tried other podcasts, but I can't find one that does story telling half as well as This American Life. I have listened to so many episodes it's hard to find new ones to listen to, and the voices of the various regular contributors have become so familiar, it's like listening to friends in conversation. And I love the fact that you never know what you'll hear next, even though you know the theme. It's inventive, original, entertaining, interesting, accessible, esoteric, ambitious and worthwhile. I just wish they could afford to release more new content, more often...

My traveling companions. I love This American Life and all of the presenters, they are like my daily fellow commuters there to tell me funny stories.

Amazing. This is the app I have been waiting for! This American life has quite literally changed my life, I will donate to keep the show going,you should too!

Great show. Fantastic show & nicely designed app. Haven't encountered any of the bugs mentioned by other reviews yet - fingers crossed.

Simply love it!. Always informative & thought provoking, simply what quality radio should be. Looking forward to it every week!

LOVE LOVE LOVE This American Life !!!. Podcasts just don't get any better than this. This is my never miss show. I love the way the shows are put together and investigated and told! Keep doing what you do, you're the best there is out there!!

Best podcast, bad app!. Please fix the bugs - ios14 has made them even worse... any new notification or sound pauses the episode and the app must be force quit a few times to get it playing again

Love it. The show that has reengaged my heart and mind in the stories of life

Amazing. So interesting and very well done.

What's the use. If you can't get anything to play, what's the use, feel ripped off for paying for this

Rubbish app. Again!. Can't play it delete episodes. Don't want to delete app and lose track of listened to eps. Done that twice already!!

Brilliant show, average app. The show is the best thing you'll ever listen to. The app needs work. Before the latest update it was fine, not so good now.

Essential content for happiness. Doofus interface.. The podcasts / radio shows are the only thing that sustains my life and sanity. The interface/ app design is defiantly crappy though.

Fantastic. I love This American Life so it's great to have access to old episodes. I think Ira Glass is terrific and the team at This AM life do a great job of composing episodes that not only tell us interesting stories, but do so in a way that is perfect mix of entertaining and thought provoking. If you're a fan of this podcast or you have you just discovered the app, I would 100% recommend you purchase it.

Great show, terrible app. Terrible app! I've had it for a year now and it's never worked properly. New problem with every update. 5 stars only because I love the show and hope this will be fixed soon. Come on guys!

My favourite.. Listening makes my heart happy and my brain hungry. Thank you x

Amazing content let down by app. On iPhone 5, UX is poor with small buttons and lack of feedback on user input. Unable to view past episodes and app can become unresponsive when downloading content.

Best app I have. Smart, easy, entertaining and challenging - the best money I have ever spent on the App Store

Best driving companion. I love you this American life. Now if only you could pass me my water bottle while I'm driving and open the crisps packet I would no longer need a co pilot!

Love the content dislike the app. My rating is purely for the app as the content is exceptional. I’m let down by the app as it feels very clunky, slow and unresponsive to input. Through the last few episodes I’ve had to force quit the app after pausing as it just locks up.

Brilliant. Absolute perfection on a stick. My favourite app on my phone.

I'm in heaven. I find each episode enthralling and hard to leave. I love the sensitive way the crew treat this wonderful stories

Always entertains and teaches. I have been a huge fan since finding TAL a few years ago and in addition to being constantly entertained I'm always learning about new and effective ways of communicating.

Love the show, but the app.... Sorry, I love the show guys but the app is pretty bad. Often it's better to get the shows through the Apple podcast app

Imagine you at your best. All the time. Picture yourself at your sharpest and most productive. Your most alert and focused. Your most lucid, creative and confident. At work. At play. In every area of your life. Add Mind Lab Pro® v4.0 to your daily routine and uncap your true potential. Buy Now!

Awesome app. So far I don’t have any issue with this app. And everything runs smoothly. I really like the design of this app. Most of all it allows u to download all the episodes of This American Life. Awesome app!!!

Downloads disappeared. Since the new update, episodes won’t download and the previous episodes I’d had downloaded have disappeared. Trying to reopen episodes I’d previously been playing opens them from the beginning.

Awful. So glitchy. This app needs to seriously be fixed before they charge for it. Can I get my money back?

Bugs. It is unusable. I cant get episode more recent than 2014 it used to work to well it was perfect. Now i stopped using it.

Live Stream!. Like several users here, I've had a few issues with bugs, but the live stream function has kept me company with really amazing, curious, intricate, well-researched, thoughtful, careful radio throughout many a dark night and lazy Sunday. 📻💕

Miserable app. Totally disappointed that my favourite podcast and radio show is virtually inaccessible through this farce of an app. Offline podcasts cannot be downloaded, none of the buttons work (except for live streaming). Very frustrating considering this app cost $3.99!

Still broken. This American Life is great content... no doubt about that. However, this app is absolutely terrible. It's been buggy since the first version. With every update, something gets fixed but something inevitably gets broken in its place. Hope TAL gets their money back from the developer.

Good looking app. But frustrating number of bugs.. I really wish they would fix the bugs. It would be a great app. The player doesn't auto resume when it's interrupted by another app (like GPS) or a phone call. And under some circumstances it doesn't keep playing if you switch apps or lock the phone. Other bugs have also been mentioned by other users. A shame. If these bugs didn't exist it would easily be worth the 3.99 I paid. But Right now I feel a little ripped off.

Some bugs but I love the show so much. A feature to cue episodes would be awesome or just play the next episode automatically.

Campballse. Great content but the app crashes all the time. Been that way for years.

Great app. Great app. Sometimes buggy, but the content makes it all worth it. There's a good mix of stuff available and a lot of it contains enough context that it's easy to identify with even outside of a specifically American context.

I love this app but.... I love this app. I love the access to all the past episodes. With that said, however, the app is a nightmare in terms of being able to play downloaded episodes. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. They definitely download but are very hit and miss as to whether they will play. Or sometimes you partially play it and try to come back to it and it won’t play. If this gets worked out, I will amend my rating to five stars. Otherwise, I can’t give it the star love that it deserves with this bug. In Canada, with no unlimited data plans, the download is fantastic for my frequent long trips in the car,...not so much now.

Where are the new episodes?. I stopped listening to podcasts for awhile and let my iTunes subscriptions lapse, thinking I could catch up with this app, but they haven't put episodes on it for years. Frustrating, considering they've recently touted the new, improved app.

App is great but won’t work with Bluetooth headphones. I love the program. App has worked great, even in the car with Bluetooth, but bugs out completely with my new Bluetooth headphones. Really frustrating.

Great show, buggy app. Will often stop displaying new episodes for months, and may become unable to download for offline listening. Apple's podcast app seems more reliable. It would be nice to track which episodes I've heard, but that data is not stored in the cloud so it will be reset if you change phones or have to reinstall the app to fix the above problems.

Best radio show ever. I can listen the every episode of this show, doesn't matter what it's about and I love it ... Thank you

My favourite podcast. I listen to many podcasts during my week - this one is my main love

Great content; horrible app. When I do get to listen to the content it is first rate. However, the app is crap. Downloads are there, then they are not. Sometimes they play, sometimes they don't. The developer should be totally embarrassed by this. I will continue to try to get it working because the stories are such high quality.

Love it. So sorry you’re shutting it down but understand the expense. Love the ability to play all downloaded episodes. Great features while driving. Only suggestion would have been a sign in so that when you switch phones you don’t have to start all over again with what your heard and what you haven’t

Playback speed button is needed. It's a good show but there should be a way to increase the playback speed to 1.5x and 2x. There are also a few bugs with skipping to a section by tapping on the playback line.

How????. I love this American life so much, but I don’t understand how an app could have so many bugs. It honestly wouldn’t care if it was old or slow, but you can’t play downloaded episodes without starting them with wifi? That’s the whole point of the app. How was that not tested? How has that not been fixed? There’s like 10000 other bugs but whatever. Let us play download episodes please!!

Search Engine Not Working. I just purchased this app to listen while I am at the office. I’ve been working my way through the archives for the past several months. Very disappointed with the search engine in the app. It will not pull up anything but current episodes. Unless this is fixed, it’s not worth investing in and supporting the This American Life app.

Never had a problem. Always worked well for me. And the content is unparalleled.

What now.... Time to hire new developers or start this app from scratch, folks. Whattamess. Again.

This app needs a way to save user data. I lost my data when I got a new phone so now I don’t know which episodes I already listened to and I lost my list of favourites.

The bugs keep coming. Guys it's been too long, this isn't okay to leave these bugs in, compromising user experience for supporters of your podcast!!! Guys pick it up.

Love the show, HATE the app. App is insanely glitchy and poorly designed. Listening on 3G or 4G will take quite some playing around with to get to load. App stops playing when the screen is locked, you have to keep turning it off and on to get it to work. Hate it hate it hate it.

The bugs never stop. So after update the offline episodes are still listed as downloaded but they're not (can't play them). Trying to delete them actually tries to re-download and errors out because it thinks five episodes are already downloaded. What a way to smear TAL's name through the mud with an embarrassing user experience and app.

Great Radio Program. Not So Great App. I would give this app one star if I didn’t enjoy the show so much. Glitchy for so many different reasons. I spend way too much time closing then opening the app just to get it to work.

Doesn't work. I can't believe it just stopped working. When I pay for an app I expect it to work. I love This American Life and I want to support them, also why I purchased this app. It worked fine for months and then it stopped working. Please fix it or give me my money back!

What Am I Missing?. I bought this app several years ago and enjoyed it for quite a while without issue. In the last few years it has been nothing but problems with ZERO support or explanation. I can no longer access the entire library, If I have to pause an episode while listening I am unable to make it play again, often times I can't even make the most recent episode play at all. I have tried deleting the app and re-downloading to no avail. I have tried reporting it in the app to no avail. What gives TAL??? Please fix your App!!!!! I am such a fan and it is so disappointing to not be able to access the content that I did originally pay for with this app.

Great show, bad app. This app is pretty annoying because it is buggy and often won't play shows that I already downloaded. On the other hand I've listened to over 500 episodes so not fair to give an app that have me over 20 days of entertainment anything less than 5 stars.

Worst app ever. Long ago set myself a project of listening to the entire catalogue. Update after update has failed to make that possible. What is the point of the app of you can't listen to the show?? Years have gone by. Best radio show ever, worst app ever. So frustrated.

Amazing show, terrible app. The old app was perfect, then they 'upgraded' to the new one and it has been down hill since then. The new app has so many problems and broken my addiction to this amazing show. Great job guys! I am sure Ira is impressed!

Love this radio show!. Excellent app, years of great content. User interface has room for improvement but it's not nearly as hard to use as some people suggest

Glitchy. The content is wonderful and the show amazing. The app itself is glitchy. I am only able to listen to an episode when the app is open on screen, with my phone automatically going to screen saver after a few seconds or if I go to another app it will not play in the background. I listen to this while cleaning, driving, running etc so this is so inconvenient and a drain on battery life. I have double checked all my settings and everything is sorted. This seems to happen every few weeks and then adjusts back to normal.

I used to love this App - now I don't.. I'm am early adopter of this App. I loved it at first - now there are so many bugs and glitches. All I want is this App to run properly so I can listen to TAL... Instead I'm forever swearing at it, because it either won't: play, stream, update the playlist, delete downloaded content... The list goes on. Get your act together NPR. My suggestion, create a working pledge page in the App for fans to support the development of future Apps? I mean, since this one didn't turn out great.

Buggy since the update. Ever since the update, I am unable to download most episodes, and there doesn’t seem to be a pattern for which ones do work to download. Moreover, even when they do download, they will disappear randomly.

Disappearing downloads!. I’ll download a bunch of episodes only to find them “deleted” when I go to watch them offline!! Please fix this, offline is pretty much the only time I get to listen to podcasts!

Great podcast, terrible app. I want to love this app so much, as I’m a huge TAL fan, and yet every update seems to bring nothing but trouble. The most recent update deleted every episode I had downloaded which was awful when I was out and realized all my content had disappeared. But more importantly, and more frustrating, it also deleted my history of heard/unheard episodes. With more than 600 episodes available, it is incredibly annoying to no longer have the history of what I’ve already listened to. Please, for the love of goodness, fix the bugs.

Stops playing when screen turns off.. Whenever my screen turns off...it stops playing. This makes the app useless if I have to wake up the screen every 30 seconds.

Can't play any episodes. Can't seem to play any episode or even the downloaded ones.

One star for the show; second because the app worked for awhile. Fix the app!! My commute is so boring now that TAL won't work! Do I have to delete the app and redownload it? I don't want to!

Gr8. Love this show. App seems to be working great so far. Thanks!

This app is everything the podcast isn't. A disaster: poorly put together and buggy as hell. Ira would ya fix it please so we can enjoy your wonderful podcast!

Give me a refund. Hi This American Life. I love you but this app is completely broken. I can never see any shows listed that airee after 2014. What is the point of Paying for this app if I can't use it the way I am supposed to be able to. Very frustrating.

Doesn't work. It's not working anymore

Keep having re download the app!. I love these podcasts, but it's been super frustrating having to delete and re-download the app every time something goes wrong, and it happens a lot. All of the older episodes will randomly disappear, I won't be able to save any offline anymore... Etc. And now it keeps crashing. Please fix the bugs!

Can we add a function to sign in. Can we sign into our profiles like we do online ?

Good App - Didn't pay to listen to ads. Love the show. Don't love that I pay for the app only to have ads play in the newer episodes.

Adsterra is the most preferred ad network for those looking for an alternative to AdSense. Adsterra is the ideal choice for new sites with low daily traffic. In order to advertise on the site in Adsterra, like other ad networks, a certain traffic limit, domain age, etc. is required. There are no strict rules. Sign up!

Bug in app- please fix!. For the past few months, the iPhone app doesn't allow me to access any past shows. When I open the app, the first four "recently aired" shows are available and visible, but nothing else. The years are listed on the right, but I can't click on/tap any of them. After scrolling down to the bottom of this page, it says "No episodes. Please select a different filter" - but there is no filter activated. I can search by show, but can't browse for any. I have written directly to the show, but haven't received a response. Please fix!

Since 98'. This American Life has defined the American experience like nothing else could or can for the better part of two decades. It is top notch in the best of ways. Before, iPads, iPhones, or Podcasts I listened to TAL on two CDs a friend gave to me in 98' or 99' and haven't stopped listening since. TAM even inspired me to donate my SUV to the Public Radio station at pledge time. Come to find out Public Radio International and National Public Radio were/are unaffiliated...such is life. So, here it is.

Love the show. App needs work.. The content is great. But the app is a bit of a mess. Frequent crashes when trying to download multiple episodes at once, "null" episodes that appear in the list and crash the app, having to restart the app after waking it because it simply refuses to play, etc. There is a also lack of basic features such as being able to mark an episode as heard from the main list, or playing the next episode automatically after one ends.

Awesome programming. The app is really wonderful - 10+ years of incredible shows at your fingertips, with local storage for five shows at a time. I use this app constantly, on long trips and for listening around the house. The episodes themselves are fantastic, I haven't heard a single one yet that I didn't love. It's no wonder so many people tune in each week - it's always thoughtful, interesting, clever, and funny too. You can't go wrong getting this app.

Love the show, but very buggy app. I am a long-time fan of this American life, so I was looking forward to mobile access to archival episodes. However, I wish they could have tried to do less with the app, and done it more reliably. There are many bugs that remain unaddressed since the initial release, and they impact my experience enough that I’ve started listening to other podcasts or just waiting for the weekly release of new this American life episodes, so that I can use the regular iTunes podcast app (which isn’t great, either). A sample list of current bugs: - a random episode I have listened to in the past queues instead of the one I just paused, if I minimize the app and then bring it back up - the list of episodes I’ve downloaded won’t load without LTE or Wi-Fi - all of my checked “listened” marks disappeared after the most recent update - the play tracker skips backward in the episode sometimes (but not always!) if I minimize the app and bring it back up

Amazing Show - decent app. This American Life is one of the best radio programs ever produced. This app does a good job of bringing me the show whenever/wherever I want to listen - but it's not 100%. Sometimes shows just will not play and I'll have to restart the app 2-3 times to get the show to start. Also the organization of past shows is a little difficult to navigate - tough to quickly find a favorite episode from 2003 for instance. But overall it is a reliable app- especially when connected to a good WiFi signal.

This Buggy App. I have to agree with some the others here on the uneven performance of this app. Even basic functionality is lacking. An example is the "play" button never toggles between play and pause, you just have to tap it and wait to hear if anything plays or not. Many buttons (like Download) are non-responsive or take, literally, a minute to respond. Many episodes just won't play at all (like 165: Americans in Paris). I've tried this both on my recently-purchased iPhone 7 and my iPad Pro with similar, disappointing results. The Streaming function works fine, but playing episodes from the archive is hit-and-miss, at best.

Perfectly American. Perfectly Human.. The stories on This American Life span most aspects of truly, an American life. The storytelling is human, and real. Every single person you will ever meet has a story - and This American Life brings different perspectives and experiences into a story that is a luxury to listen to. My only criticism I can give is: as a gay man in an American Christian family - I'd be nice to hear some stories and experiences of other people like me, in families like mine, in America.

My most used and least favorite app. For me, the value of the content makes the flaws in the app tolerable. It frequently stops, crashes, or restarts when streaming. Also restarts from beginning when paused for more than a few minutes. Recommend downloading episode before listening, works well most of the time. Streaming from phone browser works too but not as convenient.

Full of unpredictable bugs. I'm a long time lover of the show itself, but this app is a joke. I had got the app a couple years ago, paying for the upgrade to be able to download files and listen to them offline, and ended up deleting it because of the bugs in the app. Not actually downloading shows when I click the button, not playing shows, and just generally being unresponsive randomly and unpredictably. I downloaded (or should I say, paid for) it again a week ago seeing that it had upgraded, but still disappointed with the same exact issues.

Just buy it.. In all honestly, I think this is my favorite application on the App Store. Of all the fancy things my smart phone can do for me, my favorite is that it allows me to hear stories about the lives and experiences of others. The app works well and makes it easy to listen to This American Life broadcasts with just a few clicks. The broadcast itself is the perfect balance of humor, heart-wrenching realities, eye-opening truths, and inspiring anecdotes.

Play next option?. Unless I cannot find it, there seems to be no way to build a queue of episodes to play. This is how I use my other podcast app to not mess with my phone while driving/ cleaning/ working out etc. I’ve had to actually pull off and park somewhere, get my phone out and put another podcast on. I know, first world problems but still. It’s an option that exists on plenty of free podcast apps! Other than that, the app works good for me

Quality Content (if you can get the app to work). I love the show but somewhere amongst the upgrades this app became a nightmare. I feel like I have to delete and reinstall at least once a month, losing track of which episodes I've listened to in the process. Sometimes the episodes seem to disappear, leaving only downloaded episodes and those recently aired. Other times it won't allow me to delete downloaded episodes, a real pain when I'm trying to bulk up on entertainment for long car rides in the signaless woods of WV. I miss the earlier versions. While not as fancy, they were reliably functional

Downloads disappear. Love This American Life. App not good. Worked for first two weeks, but now my downloaded list appears empty although it shows I successfully download episodes. After closing and opening later, what I had downloaded is now gone. Download screen either shows “no downloads” or is simply blank white screen. Then, if I attempt to download again, receive “error: episode already downloaded” What gives? Not a fan. Didn’t pay money to not be able to download. Also, would like better if playback could be sped up/ slowed down at varying speeds like one can do in iPhone podcast app.

Can’t listen to downloaded ep. offline. I really love This American Life. It’s my favorite podcast and makes any mundane activity 10 times better. However, the only reason I paid for this app was to be able to download episodes and hear them on flights (I fly a lot). The app doesn’t play any of my downloaded episodes when I’m offline! Come on... I would have just stuck to the website if I knew that the app wouldn’t let me listen while offline. Pretty upset.

Great but buggy. I love TAL and the stories— not my complaint. This app is buggy. For me, if I have my google maps directions running it will stop the sound anytime it says a direction and then never pick up again unless I manually press play. The ones I am listening to don’t remember me either. Should be able to log in or something so user data is saved. There definitely is room for improvement.

Show is amazing, but the iOS app is a train wreck and never works. Update a year or so later... I uninstall the application and reinstalled it and got it to work for some number of months every once in a while. And then it just stopped playing anything. Even when it was connected to Internet it said I couldn't do anything unless I had Internet but it ALSO would not play the offline tracks! Frustrating. And the SHOW itself is FANTASTIC beyond words. It's a bummer that the app doesn't let people actually listen to the show :-( ------ Show is amazing, but the iOS app is a train wreck and never seems to work. So many bugs, things don't play nearly ever, even deleting a downloaded show makes a dialog display that says that you can't do that because you need to delete a thing first. So weird. There seems like perhaps no substantive QA on this app. Which is too bad, because the show itself is amazing and wonderful so I am sad. I have given up.

So frustrated!. I absolutely LOVE This American Life, and got this app years ago. It's always been unpredictable and the old version would often quit unexpectedly. I stuck with it though, because I figured like most apps, they would work things out with time. But the new version is even worse! I can rarely get episodes to play (hitting play and nothing happens!) or do other basic functions, even after closing and reopening the app repeatedly. I usually just get frustrated and give up, moving on to other podcasts. Please TAL, fix your app once and for all!

Great show, but app is whack. That TAL has great content is obvious, but know what you're getting with this app: tons of bugs. The most annoying is that even though you have no filter applied so you should be displaying every episode ever, often you will just see the five most recently aired episodes. They are all there - so if you search for a show you can find it - but that doesn't do you much good if there is no list in the first place. The player is also buggy with lots of pauses and crashes. Oddly it used to be a very reliable app. Cmon PRX, how are you not seeing this in testing?!

Love the show, App, not so much.. You wouldn't think that making an app that basically plays MP3 files would be very hard. Rick Steves has one (that's free BTW) that worked flawlessly on a recent trip to Europe. This one for TAL has given me endless problems from the beginning and I paid for it. The downloading of episodes for offline listening is infuriating. It loses the downloads somehow, and you can't even delete them and start over. Very disappointing experience.

Used to be great. I used to love this app as I frequently go without listening for several months then catch up over a few days or weeks on my commute. For this reason, offline listening is very important. The app is virtually unusable at this point. Many times the offline episodes disappear or just don't work. I have reported my issues through the feedback function but nothing is ever fixed, or even acknowledged. I believe I spent $10 on this app and I was happy to, knowing it would have the functions I need. That is no longer the case. Please address!

2020 is Terrible. Please don’t make us mobile users struggle though listening online, it’s not a good experience! Could you post all episodes on the Apple podcast? I’ve been scrambling to listen to as many shows as possible and it’s STRESSING ME OUT! PLEASE DON’T LET 2020 WIN and take the ability to listen to past TAL’s in an easy way! I understand this app may require too much maintenance, but why not have them all on the podcast version? Please forgive my lack of knowledge of how much work that may be, but I’m seriously stressed out about this. Could we donate or start a go fund me? I know listeners like me would be happy to pitch in to make it happen! Thanks for all you guys do!

This is awesome!!!. SO excited that the app has finally been updated-- I gave up on it a few years ago due to poor functionality, seems to work smoothly now! However, I am very disappointed that rather than fixing the 24/7 stream function, it appears to have been removed from the app. Good thing I can still listen to it on TuneIn (as I've already been doing for years since it hasn't worked in the app since like 2015!). The quality of the content is so good, I'll let it slide. 😘

Great show and the app works. I use the app to listen to the show streaming to my home in Japan. Well organized app. Easy to find new and past episodes and I rarely have trouble connecting which probably has more to do with my wifi than anything else. Anyway, it makes it easy to listen to one of my favorite shows. Thank you

Better than a Mocha!. And cheaper, too! Seriously, though. This is the best $3 I've ever spent. My brain has grown, my heart has healed, my soul has been fed. Recently, four of my friends and I started listening to an episode and then having a conversation about it. We do this at the same time every week, sometimes even using Skype - once in the middle of the night for our friend traveling overseas. It's that good!

LOVE TAL, but this app.... For some reason I can no longer see episodes past 2014 now😩. Multiple episodes will not play, or will get stuck when you pause them - you can keep reopening and closing down the app as much as you want, restart your device, and still, nada. Many people have rightfully pointed out that this is a paid app, and the expectations we as fans have are higher than the makers of this app could deliver on. It should not be this difficult to listen to this beloved series. If you won't put your library out as podcasts, then please, please, PLEASE fix this app.

More bugs. I'll purchase this app all over again if you'll just make it so the current version actually shows "All Shows" in the "All Shows" view instead of "no episodes. Please select a different filter." I can search for any show I want, but wouldn't it be nice to just scroll through as in days of yore and pick one at random ... Ah those were the days. Actually while you're at it, why not add a "play random show" button? That would be great. But in the meantime you can just fix this obvious bug. Thanks!

Love the show, hate the app. It's a shame the app is so clunky and awkward because the show is amazing. And the app just hinders the listening. It randomly pauses for 2-3 seconds while streaming on wifi. Sometimes it doesn't start back up. The play/pause controls on the lock screen doesn't work half the time. Marking episodes as played when swiping right is awkward, it should spring back when you're done with your selection. Sometimes episodes just don't play, I have to restart the app. Filtering episodes based on played/unplayed sometimes just shows up as "null" and doesn't work. Would like a skip forward and backward 15 seconds (like podcasts app does), and also for it to show up on the lock screen. The play/pause big button is sometimes unresponsive. I'm using an iPhone 6, updated to latest firmware. I don't mind supporting the show and the app, and would gladly pay more for the app than I already did if it actually worked well.

Very glitchy. I've had the app for about 3 weeks or so. I love the content so so much, but the app needs work. I have now uninstalled and reinstalled 3 times. Using the 'feedback' button results in no communication. The first install had a few episodes that would not play or download. With the second download I cannot see any of the 'all shows' or 'unheard' so I can only listen to the categories of recommended and such. It is just so glitchy. What is happening in the coding that are causing such random issues! I will be happy to redo my review if there are new updates to fix these problems.

Great Show, Bad App. The show is still great but the app is buggy and/or broken. I haven’t been able to delete episodes I previously downloaded through the app for years (when I tried delete, it would unhelpful tell me I had to first make room by deleting an ep without actually letting me delete it). I held off uninstalling the app for a long time though, b/c I didn’t want to lose my record of eps I had “marked played”. But I finally gave in and reinstalled the app, only to find out that the app doesn’t show any new episodes beyond 2014- so now I can’t see/play anything from the past 3 years. Please fix this and also please allow me to log in and sync my played/favorited websites with the TAL website.

Crashes galore. Love this podcast and the idea of this app BUT it doesn’t work well/consistently. For no reason it will just pause or crash completely. I have to restart the app and figure out where I left off a lot. Also, it doesn’t sync with other devices. So if you listen to an episode of a show on your phone and mark is as listen-to, it doesn’t do so on other devices so not great for multiple devices. Fix these issues and it’s golden. Otherwise, not worth the purchase. Just listen using other podcast streaming apps because this one is beyond frustrating. Still getting annoyed with crashed in May 2018. Wish you would do something about this!

Thankful for this app. I was fully aware of the "This American Life" website and used it to listen to over 100 episodes before purchasing this app. I wanted to contribute to them because of all the amazing shows they have given us and continue to give us for free. This app works great. I've been using it for about a week listening to about 6 episodes daily without any issues

Addictive. I cannot stop listening to This American Life! I just started listening this year! I started with Serial and once I was caught up I needed something to fill that hole. This American Life is interesting, educational and making me a better human. My goal is to listen to every episode. This app is the perfect place because I can do that for free! Thanks for changing my life Ira Glass and team! I am truly grateful!

Great show, TERRIBLE app. I love TAL. But I haven't listened in probably two years and now I remember why... because this app is a piece of garbage. I like to download episodes and listen offline. The app allows five episodes in the listen offline queue but won't let me delete them once I've listened to make room for new episodes. As a result, I have five episodes from 2011 that I've listened to five times each and no way to update them. This app has been terrible ever since it came out. Why can't this hugely successful show- run by young brilliant people- Get someone to make them an app that actually works? It's baffling. And SO disappointing because I love this show.

Not satisfied. I was really excited to learn about this app so now I could listen to all of the episodes instead of just what is released each week. I’m hoping the bugs will be fixed because I’m disappointed, especially since I paid $2.99 for this app. It’s really annoying that when you go back into the app that you can’t immediately return to the episode you were already playing. Also several times I’ve clicked on an episode for it to tell me that they are working on the site. Please fix the problems.

Major issues updating list of episodes. The app is mostly unusable for listening to specific episodes. Often the list of episodes will not update, and it now only provides access to the four most recent. I would love to be able to use this app to listen through the archive and keep track of which ones I've heard and which are my favorites, but I can't. Instead I'll just have to use the website and try to remember which one I'm on. I've started donating to This American Life, and I would gladly pay $10 or $20 for an app that works, but this one just doesn't.

The upgrade killed the app. I upgraded from the previous version and now the app is unusable. It's impossible to hear a show, if you're lucky you can have a portion of a show. You can download (I believe) up to five shows. Whereas before you could download all of them. I enjoyed supporting the show, but this is ridiculous. It's simply got no value. I've also noticed that shows are not being produced regularly, so as a new purchase I would definitely skip it. I don't think they care much about the show anymore. Certainly not about the app. And if you haven't upgraded your app then don't do it!

The Show is amazing. The App is awful.. I recently discovered This American Life and quickly devoured all the available podcasts and was thrilled to learn about the existence of the app - I quickly downloaded it and the problems began. At first it wouldn't let me download anything at all for offline listening. The button simply didn't function. And now, since the last update I can't delete any of the five episodes I have for offline to download a new one. Very frustrating to say the least. But! The show is amazing and one of my favorites. Certainly worth a listen!

you CAN delete downloaded eps. Fantastic app. To those complaining about not being able to delete offline episodes after you've listened, just click on the episode, then click the same "download" button and it will be removed from your library. Unlimited episodes forever!! My endless commutes are now something I look forward to. Thank uuuu TAL.

Not very functional. Has everything I wanted which was all the podcasts without having to stream from their site. That should solve the data usage. But. It never works correctly. The sound quality is not as good as the Apple Podcasts. It has to be restarted if you switch to another episode. So. It does not transition well at all. If you try and run another app, forget about it. If your screen locks. Forget about it. One thing after the other! But. If you can get an episode going without interruption. You’re golden! For $2.99 I expect more functionality. It’s just a bear to use and makes the car ride more difficult!

I love the show but don't like the app. While this App is better than nothing it certainly need some improvement. Namely deleting the five allotted episodes save for off-line listening. When I go to delete them while pressing the delete button a screen pops up and says that I have to delete my saved episodes in order to add more but I'm pressing delete button which doesn't make a lick of sense. Please fix this so I can manage my saved episodes. I am a financial supporter of the show. I love you Ira Glass! I look forward to an improved app. Thanks!

Great show, miss the old version of the app. Great show. I liked the older version of the app better, I found it easier to use. Sometimes I have to close the app and reopen it in order to restart an episode. If I stop a program in the middle and try to come back to it later, the app does not always remember which episode I was listening to and I have to search for both the episode and where I stopped previously. Overall though, the show is so good that I'm willing to overlook some of the technology flaws.

My first review ever...that's gotta mean something. As a was a wee one, I remember listening to This American Life while driving to see my grandparents. It made the hour commute a delight! Now, as an adult, one of the special joys in my life is being able to peruse through the entire library of episodes and listen whenever and wherever I find myself. The kinks have largely been worked out of the software, and for that I am grateful. Thanks TAL. You make my heart smile.

I can't get enough!. So thankful for all the hard work that gets put into each and every episode. I just started listening over a year ago and was so excited to see I had over 15 yrs of episodes to catch up on. The app has been great as well. Way easier than listening thru the website. Keep up the great work!

The app that everyone should have. I love TAL, the stories and reporting is done SO well. I consistently recommend this app to anyone who will listen. If you want fascinating, thorough, and objective stories than you have found the right app! While the stories are incredible, someone the app crashes, or has a hard time starting a story. I've had to get creative with various ways to push the play button. The technicalities can be frustrating, but TAL is so good I can't stay mad.

Show is excellent, app could be better. I really love the show! Have been a listener for many years, and one of the first apps I got (for pay!) was "This American Life". I have enjoyed it, until the last update. I have had more connectivity issues since I updated than ever before. I thought it was my phone or my internet connection at times,but seeing the other reviews, I think it's the app.

Love this show, the app needs a little update. I love this show! It's so easy to get lost in the stories. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because the app crashes on me a lot lately. And I used to be able to see all the shows and now I can only see the most recent 3. I like listening to the older shows but you can only listen to them now by clicking on staff picks. And not all the older shows are available. If my app started showing all the shows again and stops crashing, I'll gladly give 5 stars :)

Love the program, the app not so much. I listen to TAL everyday at work and have my favorite episodes, but now several episodes have lost their link to the data base and won’t play at all. The screen doesn’t even look right when you open those episodes. It’s been going on for months and I thought eventually it would be fixed, but it hasn’t been, hence here I am. Please please please fix this, I miss my faves and listening to them online is pretty frustrating because they restart every time I have to go out of them to take a call, ect.

Terrible Update. I've been using this app for about a year. It's always had some bugs, but previously it was usable. Unfortunately a recent update has essentially ruined the app. I've heard most of the recent shows, so I was using the app to work through the back catalog. You used to be able to scan through all the episodes by year and choose any you want. Now on the home screen I can only see the last four episodes and the year picker on the right does absolutely nothing. I have no idea how to find the old shows unless I know the title already. Please fix the app!

This is the my favorite podcast in the world!. This American Life opens my mind and my spirit. The stories draw you in, hold your interest and end up making you feel passionate about things you previously knew nothing about. Ira Glass is a great host: compassionate, engaged and informed. I walk in a local park and listen each week. It feels as though I’m walking with a friend. Just can’t say enough good things!