There are so many news applications in the app store that it is sometimes difficult to figure out which one is the best. NPR News may or may not be the “best”, but it’s certainly one of the most useful and unique. Its strength comes in the form of radio, featuring live news broadcasts from all across the country. With this feature, NPR has leg up on the competition.

The top stories occupy the front page of the app upon startup. A photo accompanies each story, but more importantly, most articles have an audio clip attached. This audio version of the story is a high quality, detailed report of the article. This is especially useful while driving or riding a bike. Usually, news applications only contain written articles or video clips, both of which require your visual attention. The NPR audio clips are perfect for driving and any other situation where you have to concentrate on another task and are only able to listen to the day’s top stories. NPR takes these audio clips to the next level, allowing you to queue up several stories into a playlist. This playlist can be saved and played at the start of your drive to or from work.

In addition to these audio clips, NPR includes both prerecorded and live radio programs from across the country. These shows include All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation and many others. If a show is currently being broadcasted, an “On Air” icon will appear next to it and may be heard using 3G or Wi-Fi connections.

NPR stands for National Public Radio, so this application’s biggest strength is its vast library of public radio stations from across the United States. You can browse through the entire list by state, or you can search for the nearest stations by your current location or zip code. These stations are live broadcasts of exactly what you’d hear if you turned on the radio. The options are endless and really do offer a huge variety of content.

One of the most unique features of this application is the hourly newscast. This is a main button on the front page that offers a brief, five-minute audio report of the top news stories of the hour. I use many news apps on my iPhone, and this is the only one that offers such a valuable feature. You can get a summary of the top stories while you drive, and it only takes five minutes.

NPR offers many of the features that other news applications offer. You can view the top stories, browse by topic and share stories through email, Facebook and Twitter. However, there are some features that are lacking. For example, not all topics are listed to search through. Technology is nowhere to be found. Also, there is no support for landscape mode. All of the stories must be read in portrait mode and you can’t zoom in or pan around. Lastly, there are no push notifications available. For NPR to make it as a true news application to compete with others, this feature must be included.

NPR is absolutely a solid application and a great source for news. However, it will most likely become a supplement to other news apps you may also use. NPR is a free app that, even with its flaws, is a valuable source for up-to-date news. I strongly recommend downloading this application.