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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

97.5 The Fanatic vs iHeart

97.5 The Fanatic 4.7★ · Free to download 60
Winner Tie
iHeart 4.8★ · Free + IAP 60

For dedicated fans of Philadelphia sports radio, 97.5 The Fanatic is the better choice, despite its technical flaws, while iHeart offers a broader range of content but is plagued by excessive and intrusive ads.

Full reviews: 97.5 The Fanatic · iHeart

97.5 The Fanatic is a niche app for Philadelphia sports radio, praised for its content but criticized for frequent app crashes and ad interruptions. iHeart, a broader radio and podcast app, offers diverse content but faces significant user frustration due to an overwhelming number of repetitive and intrusive ads, along with performance issues like battery drain.

Head to head

Content & Personalities tieR2R3R5R6
97.5 The Fanatic Users of 97.5 The Fanatic are highly engaged with the local Philadelphia sports content, praising specific shows and personalities, especially Mikey Miss R2R5. Many listen daily for Philly sports news and updates, even from out of state R17. However, some users express disappointment over changes in personalities and a perceived lack of diverse voices or current event knowledge from moderators R3R6.
iHeart iHeart offers a wide variety of music genres, podcasts, and local radio stations, allowing users to listen to their favorite country music, classic rock, or specific podcasts . Users appreciate being able to access stations from their hometowns . However, a significant number of recent reviews criticize iHeart for laying off local radio hosts and canceling local programming, which has led many to delete the app .
App Reliability & Performance tieR1R7R9R10
97.5 The Fanatic 97.5 The Fanatic is frequently criticized for its poor reliability. Users report the app freezing, constantly restarting, cutting off content, stopping playback when exiting the app, and failing to stream live radio R1R7R9R10. Some users note that it has improved but still has glitches . There were also issues with the app crashing on iOS beta versions .
iHeart iHeart also faces reliability complaints, with users reporting the app cutting out constantly, crashing too much, and buffering issues, especially without a perfect signal R61. Some users experience problems with CarPlay . Additionally, the app is criticized for draining phone battery significantly R76R87R90R107.
Ads & User Experience edge: iHeartR4R7R9R12
97.5 The Fanatic A major point of frustration for 97.5 The Fanatic users is the excessive and intrusive advertising. Users report an ad playing every time they start the app or restart playback, even after short interruptions R4R9R12. Ads are described as long, repetitive, and sometimes interrupting live content or commercial breaks, leading to missed segments R7.
iHeart iHeart users are overwhelmingly frustrated by the sheer volume and intrusiveness of ads. Many complain about constant, repetitive, and long commercials that interrupt radio programs in the middle of sentences or segments R66R67R70. Users report missing entire segments due to 5-minute ad breaks and unskippable ads after buffering . The ad experience is so poor that some users delete the app R67R70.
Features & Functionality tieR9R11R15R17
97.5 The Fanatic 97.5 The Fanatic offers live streaming of its radio shows, which is appreciated by users who want to listen remotely R9R17. Some users initially wished for on-demand show availability, a feature that appears to have been added later R11R15. However, the app has issues with game broadcasts switching to other content . It also includes a store and contests .
iHeart iHeart allows users to create playlists, but some are frustrated by the app adding unwanted suggestions to their curated lists or playing random songs outside of their selections . Users desire features like an equalizer and more specific podcast content . The app also has issues with notifications and some users want a dark app icon .
Pick 97.5 The Fanatic if

You are a dedicated fan of Philadelphia sports radio and prioritize specific local content and personalities, even if it means dealing with app glitches and frequent ads R5R9R17.

Pick iHeart if

You want a broad selection of music, podcasts, and radio stations, and are willing to tolerate a high volume of repetitive ads and some app performance issues .

Evidence note: Reviews for 97.5 The Fanatic are heavily skewed towards app performance and ad complaints, with content reviews often revolving around specific personalities. iHeart reviews are dominated by complaints about excessive ads and recent changes in local programming.

Frequently asked

Are there many ads on 97.5 The Fanatic?
Yes, users report a high frequency of ads on 97.5 The Fanatic, with ads playing every time the app starts or restarts, and often interrupting live content or commercial breaks R4R7R9R12.
Does iHeart have a free version?
Yes, iHeart offers a free version, but users frequently complain about an overwhelming number of repetitive and intrusive ads that interrupt shows and make the experience frustrating R61R66R67R70.
Do these apps drain phone battery?
iHeart users specifically report that the app drains phone battery significantly, with some noting their iPhone battery dropping from 100% to 30% in four hours R76R87R90R107. There are no similar widespread complaints about battery drain for 97.5 The Fanatic.

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. [R2] 97.5 The Fanatic 5/5 · US Great Philly sports radio show: Ray dunne great producer. Bring back Mike again tho
  2. [R3] 97.5 The Fanatic 3/5 · US Not enough info: The moderators are on for only about 4 hrs per day, yet many don’t seem to be up on current events, and often don’t provide much in the way of insights or specifics. Then, go off half cocked based on a lack of real facts, or technical understanding of the specifics. It’s basically laziness and no interest in becoming fully knowledgeable.
  3. [R5] 97.5 The Fanatic 5/5 · US These folks know sports: Love the afternoon shows. Unfiltered is number 1!
  4. [R6] 97.5 The Fanatic 3/5 · US Country club: This station needs more melanin talking about primarily melanated players. Or at least some people who sound like they’re legitimately from Philadelphia. I’d reach out to TOP BILLIN. No one breaks down football better. The station has become the mens golf lounge at the cricket club. At what point do we break athletes down to shucking and jiving. Get some frigging seasoning on this st
  5. [R1] 97.5 The Fanatic 2/5 · US Bad app: Freezes constantly
  6. [R7] 97.5 The Fanatic 1/5 · US Long commercials: All of sudden started cutting off from content and playing long commercials and sneaking them in during a commercial break have to stop and restart to get back to live radio
  7. [R9] 97.5 The Fanatic 3/5 · US Frustrating app: I love being able to stream 97.5 during work so I don’t miss anything and am not always able to have a radio. My biggest complaint is that that app constantly restarts itself while listening. Repetitively I must hear Mikey Miss repeat his commercial like as if I were first opening the app. Its not a connectivity problem with the phone. It does it on wifi or the phones data. Its th
  8. [R10] 97.5 The Fanatic 1/5 · US Operation: The sound stops playing if you exit the app.
  9. [R4] 97.5 The Fanatic 1/5 · US Ads: An ad to start each time so I can then listen to the ads every 10 minutes on the show and if I don’t want to listen to them and put on music and go back I then have to listen to another ad.
  10. [R12] 97.5 The Fanatic 3/5 · US Good, but not optimal: 1. The iOS app will start playing automatically when the phone wakes, even if it’s not in the foreground. I unlocked my phone this morning and opened Facebook, and I hear Missanelli’s commercial start blaring. Not connected to my car or anything else, and the app hadn’t been used in 12+ hours. 2. It would be great to put a cookie or refresh token in. As it is, the commerci
  11. [R11] 97.5 The Fanatic 5/5 · US 97.5: I love the shows but wish the app made every show available on demand like Wip does
  12. [R15] 97.5 The Fanatic 3/5 · US Where Are All The Interviews?: Last one is in early December if 2016...c'mon man!!
  13. [R17] 97.5 The Fanatic 5/5 · US Ex Pat: Born and raised in Philly; now live in North Carolina. But, in you heart, I will always be a Philly guy. I listen to this station via the net to hear about Philly sports. I enjoy the wit and wisdom of the journalists and the call in listeners.
  14. [R61] iHeart 2/5 · US Cutting out: I love this app but it cuts off constantly I don’t want to pay for another app because I only use it once in a while so either do away with the free version or please repair it so I can listen to music and commercials
  15. [R66] iHeart 3/5 · US WiFi radio is necessary: WiFi is just a thing we need now, local stations are limiting and it’s nice to be able to tune into stations outside of your home networks. But huge drawback for me is all the adds, sooo repetitive it’s like a hammer on the brain, I just turn off when the same commercial plays for the thousandth time in 2 days.
  16. [R67] iHeart 1/5 · US DELETING: I understand the purpose of commercials but right in the middle of sentences in my radio program?? The final straw was 2 separate commercial stops in the middle of the SAME SENTENCE! We’re done here. Deleting
  17. [R70] iHeart 1/5 · US Constant ads: Ads will interrupt you radio show in the middle of a break, and they will play for 5 minutes. I’ve got a list of products I will never purchase. This company is garbage and the app sucks.
  18. [R76] iHeart 1/5 · US App drains battery: The latest version seems to suck battery life from 100 to 30% in four plus hours.
  19. [R87] iHeart 3/5 · US Makes iPhone Double as Heater: Makes the phone physically warm. I just stream through the website in Safari
  20. [R90] iHeart 2/5 · US Phone battery: This app will drain my phone battery I have an iPhone 17 it didn’t do it before now it really does it I think it might be a bug in the app you may want to do another update and see if you can fix this problem with the battery being drained
  21. [R107] iHeart 5/5 · US radio turns on: the station and/or other sites turn on without my doing , so the battery is being used up! how can this be corrected as I do not like that my battery charge is used up! thank you

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