The Dan Patrick Show for iPhone brings a live audio stream of the popular daily radio show to mobile. It also offers a library of archived podcasts and some other useful features, but there is nothing ground-breaking here. Developed by AirKast, the app is an ad-supported free download available on iOS and Android. This review was conducted on an iPhone 5 version 8.0.2, with AT&T LTE service.
EN FEUGO: A live stream of the Dan Patrick Show is the app's main draw. Users can also access "Dan Patrick On Demand," a library of recent podcasts broken into three one-hour segments. Show segments can be streamed within the app, downloaded or shared with other users via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. Within the app's menu, listeners can tap a button to call into the live show. With location-based services on, users can see a scrolling ticker of local news headlines beneath the main image. Links to the show's Twitter and Facebook accounts are available, as is a built-in alarm clock with an option to have the weather read aloud. A "car mode" option allows users to tap to stop and start the show, swipe left or right for volume, or double-tap for audio weather.
SHOW KILLERS: For streaming the live show each morning, the app is acceptable, but not excellent. I experienced connectivity issues on both the AT&T LTE network and local Wi-Fi. The app's overall presentation is decent, but there is a lot of room for improvement. The main screen includes a large image with rotating thumbnail images below promoting upcoming shows or past podcasts. But without enough descriptive text to allow a user to differentiate one from another, the promos serve no purpose. The segment timer is not working properly either, as during Monday's stream of the live show the app showed over 13 hours remaining. Banner ads are inserted directly at the center of the screen, which is distracting. Many of the ads are animated, which looks dated and tacky. The scrolling ticker of local news is nice to have, but on the small iPhone screen, it is tough to read. In the on-demand library, listing descriptions include key callers, but there is no way to search the clips, and they are not in chronological order, making it hard to find anything specific.
BOTTOM LINE: For fans looking to listen to a live stream of the daily broadcast, Dan Patrick Show for iPhone answers the call, but not without some connectivity pain. Access to a library of show archives is nice, but a lack of search and filter functions brings it down, and tacky advertising clutters the experience. The app's "tap to call" button is a highlight and should be made more prominent. My rating: 1.5 stars. On my wishlist: a layout overhaul, better use of advertising and more bite-size, sharable clips. Reviewers on iTunes give the app 2 stars, citing connectivity issues and imposing advertising.
Amie Sheridan (amie.sheridan31@gmail.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
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