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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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The verdict on

iHeart

40
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

iHeart Radio offers a wide variety of music, podcasts, and live radio stations, but recent updates have led to significant issues with app stability, excessive and repetitive ads, and the removal of Canadian content, contradicting its previously high lifetime rating.

4.8★ lifetime (636,877) Free + in-app purchases since 2019 by iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc. updated 0.1 mo ago recent negative 51% 100 reviews across 2 regions
App Stability & Performance Advertisements Canadian Content Content Variety
5★34
4★7
3★8
2★12
1★39
recent reviews across 2 regions, vs the 4.8★ lifetime average

iHeart Radio provides access to numerous radio stations, podcasts, and custom playlists, with many users appreciating its diverse content and free access R19R35. However, recent reviews highlight severe problems including frequent app crashes, buffering, and long loading times, making the app often unusable R5R14R60. Users also complain about an overwhelming number of repetitive commercials, even for paid subscribers, and the disappearance of Canadian stations R12R59.

What users like

  • Offers a wide variety of music, podcasts, and radio stations across genres and locationsR18R19R26R46
  • Many users appreciate the app's free access to contentR35R61
  • Allows listening to favorite radio stations from anywhereR62
  • Some users find the ad-free premium version to be a good valueR32R41

What users complain about

  • Frequent app crashes, freezing, and failure to load, making it unusable for manyR5R14R25R54
  • Excessive, long, and repetitive commercials, often interrupting programming or playing multiple times in a rowR2R13R29R39
  • Paid 'ad-free' subscription still includes ads for podcasts and stationsR12
  • Significant buffering and stalling issues, even with good internet connectionR6R34R37
  • Canadian radio stations have been removed or are inaccessible for Canadian usersR52R59R64R94
  • App takes a very long time to load or openR57R66R72R84
  • Plays ads in different languages that users do not understandR44R50
  • Podcasts can be glitchy, repeating or skipping content, and the interface is cluttered with added podcastsR30

Latest update · v10.65.0

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

The new and improved free iHeartRadio app is finally here. Everything you love about your car radio, in the palm of your hand. New features like: Live Radio Dial - Explore the best live radio stations around the country by city or genre. Presets - Just like in your car, save your favorite stations, artist radio, and podcasts to your custom presets. Lyrics - You can see the lyrics on the iHeartRadio app for songs on artist radio, playlists, and even live radio! Scan - Just like in your car, tap scan to seamlessly sample stations nationwide, by city, or even genre. Rankers - Find out what everyone’s listening to. Podcast Host Recommendations - Listen to what your favorite hosts listen to and get curated recommendations! And more! iHeartRadio has all your favorite artist radio, playlists and podcasts too – anytime, anywhere.

Recurring themes

App Stability & Performance negative
Many recent reviews report severe issues with the app crashing, freezing, failing to open past the logo screen, and experiencing frequent buffering or stalling during playback. Users also note long loading times for the app itself. This directly contradicts the developer's notes implying an 'improved' app.R5R6R14R25
Advertisements negative
Users are highly frustrated with the quantity, length, and repetition of ads, often playing multiple times in a single break or interrupting programming. Some paying subscribers report still receiving ads, which is a major point of contention. Ads in unfamiliar languages are also a common complaint.R2R4R12R13
Canadian Content negative
Several Canadian users report that the latest update has removed all Canadian radio stations, making the app useless for them. This is a significant regional issue.R52R59R64R94
Content Variety positive
Despite the technical issues, many users still praise the app for its wide selection of music genres, podcasts, and live radio stations, appreciating the diversity of content available.R18R19R26R33

Who it's for

This app is for users who want access to a wide variety of live radio, podcasts, and custom music stations and are willing to tolerate significant app performance issues and a high volume of ads R19R35. It might be worth considering for those who find the ad-free premium version effective R32R41. It is NOT for users who prioritize app stability, an ad-free experience (even with a subscription), or access to Canadian radio stations R5R12R59.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative, focusing on app performance and ad issues. This contrasts sharply with the high lifetime rating, suggesting a significant decline in user experience with recent updates. The developer's release notes mention 'new and improved' features, but recent reviews directly contradict this by reporting widespread app instability and issues, indicating the update may have introduced more problems than it solved.

Frequently asked

Does iHeart Radio have a lot of ads?
Yes, many recent reviews indicate that iHeart Radio has an excessive number of long and repetitive commercials, often interrupting programming and playing multiple times in a row R2R13R29R39.
Is the iHeart Radio app stable?
No, recent user reviews frequently report that the iHeart Radio app is unstable, with common issues including crashing, freezing, failing to load past the initial screen, and constant buffering during playback R5R14R25R60.
Can I listen to Canadian radio stations on iHeart Radio?
Many Canadian users report that the latest update has removed or made it impossible to access Canadian radio stations, with the app often defaulting to US content even without a VPN R52R59R64R94.
Does paying for iHeart Radio remove all ads?
According to some users, paying for an 'ad-free subscription' does not completely remove ads, as they still encounter ads for podcasts, stations, and events R12.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 100 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R18] 5/5 · US Various music topics: Great podcast, radio station s, genre
  2. [R19] 5/5 · US Everything Radio App: This is my everything media app
  3. [R26] 4/5 · US Outstanding: Outstanding variety of songs for all contemporary /modern musical tastes
  4. [R46] 4/5 · US Outlook: iHeart has such a large variety of choices. Being able to make playlists and add to those playlists is what makes it so great. Just picking a group/artist and listening to that group/artist iHeart adds other groups/artists that are similar. Making my playlists more complete and to my liking.
  5. [R35] 5/5 · US Optimal: Has everything I need with no cost or fees!
  6. [R61] 5/5 · CA Love Love Love: Love iHeart opens so much more options. Free is awesome. Paid for Sirius for a decade and this app has the same options. ❤️❤️❤️
  7. [R62] 5/5 · CA CJAY92 on the go: I love being able to listen to my favourite radio station anywhere in Canada, or the world for that matter! CJAY ROCKS! Check out Jesse and JD in the morning
  8. [R32] 5/5 · US Amazing: I have Apple Music, Sirius xm and Spotify and I started looking into this app and it is much better than I expected and the commercial free section is the best. It is a well made app.
  9. [R41] 5/5 · US ON DEK: Great mix of channels. I suggest the ad free version w unlimited skips.
  10. [R5] 1/5 · US Just stops playing: For months now the app has just been stopping after every song that plays. I’ve tried restarting and updating but so far nothing has worked. Update June 2026: I gave up. Even after uninstalling and reinstalling it still doesn’t work. Now it won’t play at all.
  11. [R14] 1/5 · US The App Sucks! After its most recent update, I have had nothing but crashes. The app fails to load.: The App Sucks! After its most recent update, I have had nothing but crashes. The app fails to load. I hope the sponsors take note. I don’t have time on my job site to mess around with a dial. I found another app that doesn’t give me these problems. Good riddance.
  12. [R25] 3/5 · US App crash: I really like the app, until it crashes. This happens too much.
  13. [R54] 2/5 · CA App keeps failing to open: I open the app and it keeps failing to actually allow me to use the app. I have restarted my phone, deleted and re downloaded the app, and tried to forget my network and re link to network and even tried my data nothing makes it work!
  14. [R2] 1/5 · US Sucks: Got to many adds now I be making it to my destination before I get a chance to listen to music
  15. [R13] 3/5 · US Commercials are way too long!: Commercials are way too long
  16. [R29] 1/5 · US Endless commercial loops: This app stinks. All I want to do is to get in and listen to my local news and you get stuck in endless loops of commercials. When trying to listen to 700 WLW for news back home, all it does is go into commercial after commercial commercial. It has been doing this for a while and it’s not a glitch. This app is it disappointment.
  17. [R39] 1/5 · US 8 commercials for every two songs is ridiculous: You get to hear two songs for every 8 commercial is ridiculous. I won’t ever purchase anything from these commercials and hope others refuse to as well. About to delete this app permanently and just go back to iTunes.
  18. [R12] 1/5 · US Paid for add free, but still is not add free.: So I have been trying to put up with this for a while. But after an almost 5 minute long add for a podcast I couldn’t care less about, I am done being nice. I am paying for an “add free subscription” I expect no adds. That means when I open the app (when it doesn’t crash) not to have an add for this station or that artist or this event. When I am list
  19. [R6] 1/5 · US Buffers/stalls when others don’t!: Utterly sucks. Buffers/stalls CONSTANTLY! Problem is in the app, not my service. Apps with audio AND VIDEO (YouTube, Amazon) run smooth. Fire your engineers. They should be ashamed
  20. [R34] 3/5 · US Notification and buffering: I like that I can find over my podcast on this app. The only problems I have is if I don’t have a perfect signal it will not play it just buffers. The other apps play my podcast just fine whenever I’m in these areas. It’s not necessarily even a low signal always. It’s very temperamental when it comes to how much service I get. I also don’t like that I constantly have a
  21. [R37] 4/5 · US Buffering: It would be nice if the app would stop buffering while listening to 94HJY. It does this on my WiFi and on my data.
  22. [R52] 1/5 · CA Where did all the Canadian stations go?: All the Canadian stations are gone since last update
  23. [R59] 1/5 · CA Canadian content gone: Not sure why the latest version has removed all live radio stations from Canada. Please fix this.
  24. [R64] 1/5 · CA No more Canadian content: Latest update has removed all Canadian radio stations. Very disappointing. The app is now useless to me
  25. [R94] 1/5 · CA Can’t listen to Canadian channels: I’m in the GTHA and can’t listen to Canadian channels. The app thinks I’m in Buffalo NY, with no vpn. I only get US content. Now I use TuneIn which seems to work much better.
  26. [R57] 3/5 · CA Good app but takes forever to load: If it didn’t take like 60 seconds to load it would be super
  27. [R66] 1/5 · CA Super slow: Yeah idk but takes like 3 minutes to open on my iPhone 15. Takes a minute of more to get dateline to play if it doesn’t freeze first.
  28. [R72] 3/5 · CA Good but needs improvement: It takes forever to load the app whenever opening it for the first time. Also, at random points it stops playing music. That’s when I need to close the app and reload it and it takes upwards of 5 mins sometimes.
  29. [R84] 4/5 · CA Super application une fois lancée: Beaucoup de patience a été nécessaire pour le premier démarrage. J’ai même désinstaller et réinstaller car l’application demeurait sur le logo et semblait ne plus répondre. Après plusieurs minutes d’attente, l’application a finalement démarré. Probablement une mauvaise communication avec le serveur ou trop de trafic… Ceci étant dit, une fois l’application lancée
  30. [R44] 2/5 · US Good but has an odd flaw: The app works like it should and it’s nice to listen to favorite stations or podcasts. But the ads in Spanish (about a quarter of all ads) makes no sense. I don’t speak Spanish and have no idea what is being said.. No one likes ads to begin with but having them delivered in a different language is extremely odd. Could see if it was location based but that wouldn’t even ap
  31. [R50] 2/5 · US Huge disservice to the actual stations: Love some of the shows you can listen to. However, listening live to any station is spotty at best. You start getting spammed with all of the ads and if you stop and play again, then it goes back into the radio station, but the app eventually learns that you’re doing that and makes you listen to old songs from early 2000s and you know that because if you sto
  32. [R30] 2/5 · US Glitchy and over crowded: One of the glitchiest apps for podcasts. Pods will repeat content halfway through, skip content and freezes often. Have had same issues one multiple phones and will great service of WiFi connection. They also throw in so many added podcasts into the thread of the actual podcast thread. Makes it very cluttered, and hard to scan and search for older episodes. Be better iHea
  33. [R4] 3/5 · US Gun ads? Really?: I do not want to listen to gun ads
  34. [R33] 5/5 · US IHeart radio: Love the music and love the ones who do what they do for the community. I heart Radio is the best!! Keeping us going throughout the day.
  35. [R60] 1/5 · CA Stuck on the initial loading screen: The app doesn’t load anymore. It gets stuck on the initial loading screen and doesn’t proceed. Latest update must’ve had a bug

Synthesized from 100 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store