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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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Is it worth paying for

WAFB 9News

40
Value score / 100 Worth paying? No Skip it

WAFB 9News is a free app that provides local news, weather, and sports, but recent updates have introduced significant usability issues and an overwhelming number of ads, making it frustrating for many users.

Free to download 4.6★ lifetime (16,693) since 2011

The WAFB 9News app offers local news, weather, and sports updates for free. However, recent updates have led to numerous complaints about excessive and loud auto-playing ads, broken links, navigation difficulties, and persistent notification badges, significantly detracting from its value despite a historically high lifetime rating.

Free vs paid

The WAFB 9News app is entirely free, with no in-app purchases or paid tiers mentioned in the product page or user reviews. All content, including news articles, videos, weather forecasts, and notifications, is accessible without payment. However, this free access comes with a trade-off: users frequently encounter numerous and often loud auto-playing ads, which many find disruptive and intrusive R1R3R10R16. Some users have expressed a desire for an ad-free paid option, which is not currently available .

Value complaints

  • Users are frustrated by the overwhelming number of ads, many of which play automatically with loud audio, making the free experience feel intrusive and leading some to delete the app.R1R3R10R16
  • The app's privacy policy forces users to accept tracking and personal information access without an opt-out option, which some find unacceptable.R17

Where it delivers

  • The app is praised for keeping users informed with local news, weather, and sports updates, often being the first to report breaking news.R7R70R75R96
  • Many users appreciate WAFB as their preferred news source for its long-standing presence and reliable coverage in the Baton Rouge area.R10R70R96R162
  • The app is valued for providing timely notifications and alerts, especially for breaking news and weather, helping users stay updated on the go.R6R75R166R202
Worth paying if

N/A, as there are no paid features or in-app purchases available for this app.

Skip / stay free if

You should skip this app if you are easily frustrated by frequent, loud, and auto-playing advertisements, or if you require a highly reliable and easy-to-navigate news app R1R3R10R19. Users who value a clean interface, consistent article loading, and accurate notification management will likely find the current version of the app disappointing R1R2R3R4.

Evidence note: The lifetime rating of 4.64 from over 16,000 ratings suggests historical satisfaction, but a significant number of recent reviews R1R2R3R4 are highly negative, indicating a sharp decline in user satisfaction following recent updates. The monetization section states 'in-app purchases=False', which is consistent with reviews not mentioning any paid features or subscription options.

Frequently asked

Why are there so many ads in the WAFB 9News app?
The WAFB 9News app is free to use, and user reviews indicate that it relies heavily on advertisements, including frequent, loud, and auto-playing video ads, to support its operations R1R3R10R16.
Can I turn off auto-playing videos and ads in the WAFB 9News app?
According to multiple user reviews, the WAFB 9News app does not offer an option to disable auto-playing videos or mute ad volume, leading to frustration for many users R10R19R20R24.
Are there issues with notifications in the WAFB 9News app?
Yes, many users report persistent issues with notifications in the WAFB 9News app, including an un-clearable notification badge that remains even after checking all alerts, and alerts that are too frequent or not relevant R6R13R14R15.
Is the WAFB 9News app easy to use and navigate?
Recent updates to the WAFB 9News app have made it difficult to use and navigate for many users, with complaints about a confusing layout, difficulty finding the latest news, and articles not loading correctly from headlines R1R2R3R4.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 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. [R1] 2/5 · US Unreliable: Too many times a day/week/month the link from headline to article itself does not work. No problem getting the advertisement but not the actual story.
  2. [R3] 1/5 · US Terrible update: The new format is horrible. It’s not user friendly and hard to find the latest news. Even when you get an alert, if you click on it, go through 3 ads, you still don’t get the article you were trying to get. Terrible. After years of using WAFB exclusively, I’m deleting and moving over to WBRZ 😡
  3. [R10] 5/5 · US Terrible update: While I LOVE WAFB, and they are my go to news channel, the new application, is awful! It is terribly glitchy, and when I go to read an article, the media player automatically plays, and the majority of the time, it’s not playing on the actual story I’m trying to read. For example, I was trying to read about the shooting at the mall, and there wasn’t a video on the article, but aud
  4. [R16] 1/5 · US Terrible: Nothing but pop-up ads from businesses and an untalented plaintiff attorney (yes, you Gordon). Delete it as I have.
  5. [R17] 1/5 · US App deleted for tracking and ads: I don’t normally look at the WAFB app, so when I opened the app today, it forced me to go through several pages with their privacy policy. The App did not allow me to limit cookies or opt out of their privacy policy, which included access to my name, account and tracking personal information. I stayed on the app long enough to write this review, and when I’m don
  6. [R7] 5/5 · US Gotta get it!: It’s Awesome
  7. [R70] 5/5 · US The Best in Baton Rouge: Channel 9 is the best in Baton Rouge and always has been for as long as they have been on the air since the 1950’s. Always up to date with the news and the weather and the sports. The personnel are top notch as are the reporters in keeping us up to date with all of the news in the viewing area.
  8. [R75] 5/5 · US News: Always be first to know what’s going on in the area
  9. [R96] 5/5 · US WAFB channel 9 in Baton Rouge:: I grew up watching WAFB , with the children program, the news and weather, Sports. When hurricanes hit south Louisiana WAFB is always there with the professional staff covering every bit of it. There is no other station that covers the news and weather in sports like WAFB ,bar none.
  10. [R162] 5/5 · US Need you love: It’s the best by far. This is the station I go to. For all my worries & facts. Thanks for sharing what’s new in Baton Rouge & local. For weather & local news. ❤️
  11. [R6] 4/5 · US My opinion: It is a great app to have. I receive to many notifications
  12. [R166] 5/5 · US News: This station keeps me informed on the latest happenings in my area, also the alerts are so important, I must say WAFB don't leave it's viewers ignorant.
  13. [R202] 5/5 · US Channel 9 news app: This app constantly keeps me up-to-date on current events. I love having it’s notifications popping up on my phone of things that I otherwise would not be able to know about until I got home to watch the news on TV. Thanks.
  14. [R19] 1/5 · US Annoying app: This app has obnoxious ads and videos just start playing as soon as you open a story. Sometimes you can’t even see where the video is on the page. This is one of the worst news apps I have. It’s about time to delete it.
  15. [R20] 1/5 · US Took away too many features: Basically took away any weather updates, Prompting you to download the weather app which I refuse to do. Any article you press to read automatically starts playing a video. I should have the option to do this if I want.
  16. [R24] 1/5 · US Hate the inability to mute: It’s irritating to have automatic audio when opening a news story. Not every user of the app is a visual junkie. I prefer reading news not watching or hearing it.
  17. [R13] 1/5 · US This new app is difficult: This app don’t allow you to navigate through it like the last app did. It’s certain things that you can’t find and my app has an alert stuck on it that I can’t clear although I have went into every story to try and clear it. I also have deleted the app and reinstalled it and it still shows up. I don’t know what to do to fix it
  18. [R14] 4/5 · US Notification: Love the app… but I can’t stand that it constantly shows that I have a notification…. I can’t stand any unread notification on my apps
  19. [R15] 4/5 · US Notification: Ever since the update, I can’t get rid of the notification alert. I have no notifications at all. It’s annoying seeing the red dot all day.
  20. [R2] 2/5 · US Not as good: App used to be much better. Now it’s hard to find things, and there is no rhyme or reason as to the order of stories.
  21. [R4] 2/5 · US Changes made me delete the app: I am and forever will be a WAFB news girlie. But the recent changes to the app has left me frustrated. It seems that some of the weather information is no longer available and a new app is required for specific details on weather. Clicking on the push notifications doesn’t take you to the new story. I’ll have to tune in now because I’m taking a break from this app.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store