Downpour.com App Reviews

it was exactly what i needed: play my books with a shutoff timer. but a couple weeks ago suddenly my library no longer loads. The only book available is the one i was apparently listening to when the app updated and broke. Downpour now tells me that it requires iOS 18 - even though the compatability list here says iOS 15. Unless they can make an older version that will work on iOS 15 available, i guess i get to go back to downloads into Books or iTunes. This iPod works perfectly and there's no reason to replace it. iPod Touch (7th Gen), iOS 15.8.3, Downpour v7.0.2 build 8

[Removed negative review reaction to a broken app upgrade. Issue was fixed in less than a week.] Y’all rule, and I hope you know that. <3

Fortunately I only have a couple of “unread” Downpour books left. 7.0.1 doesn’t work on my iPad. REVISED-the app works on iPad now. 7.0.2.

The update fixes the problems.

Mostly the same books available endlessly. In recent months books that sell for the likes of $29.99 have appeared in 99 Cents deals. Clearly, nobody is minding the store. Hoopla does a much better job of providing new books (for free), and Audible (and sometimes Apple) are better buying options. Blackstone Audio, Downpour’s owner, is flailing.

Can’t even search for an author. The moment I find the one I’m looking for and the collection of work appears…It promptly disappears along with the search bar!

App does not initialize because of a JSON error so I cannot login and access my >200 titles, or search and acquire more. Can provide the full error message. Hope yo can fix.

Absolutely wreaks havoc on my iphone 12 battery. Have been through 3 different iphones with this app and eats the battery on all of them. Simply, why?

It seemed good then it started crashing after launching the app so i don’t know how to feel.

I just made my first purchases. Tried to download them, but the app kept on cycling between 2 different ‘download’ buttons! Then l tried to relay this to customer service via the email link on the purchase confirm, but got an ‘undeliverable message’ response with the reason that l wasn’t on the group’s ‘accepted email list’. What kind of foolishness is this? Unless l get satisfaction l may not stay on this site, which would be a shame for Blackstone as well as me since I’m seriously looking to purchase the $390 Shakespeare set. Your serve, Downpour.

I paid for a download a couple years ago. Now, after completing the app update I can’t access my files without repurchasing. I find this completely ridiculous and unjust. Giving them even one star is one star too many.

Does exactly what you need in an app of this sort: wide variety of titles, excellent voice talent and a good mix of rent-or-buy options. This is an update to a prior (one-star) review. I had given a low rating because I was unable to play a rental due to an “Invalid license content” error and had no way to get around it. Tech Support had me delete and reinstall the app, and it worked fine from then out.

I see absolutely no option to rent, which was why I wanted to try this app out. The buy prices are at least $10 more than Google Books or iTunes, so I'm going elsewhere. Waste of a download!

I would like to point out three problems with your app, all of which make me more inclined to use Audible instead, even though I would prefer to buy titles directly from you, whenever possible... if only you would fix the app. First, the time display shows progress and time remaining only in the current chapter. I would like to be able to switch that display, but could not find an option for doing so. Second, the volume level drops whenever I get an email or other alert tone, but does not pause playback, and so I miss several words of the book, every time this happens. It is quite annoying, and mostly, I would like a setting to choose how I want this behavior to exhibit. Third, is that the playback will pause when I remove an AirPod, as does Audible, but if I have it out for more than a very few seconds, it will not resume without my taking out my phone, opening the app or pull-down access, and hitting the play button again. This is a lot of extra effort every time someone makes a comment to me or demands my attention for a moment, while I am listening. This also should either be changed, or be made a selectable preference option. I hope that you will fix these problems, so that I may use your service as much or more than I use Audible. If not, I will likely return completely to Audible, even though I am terribly annoyed with how poorly they treat authors. Sincerely, - Prof. Cascaddan

While searching for books and reading summaries, the app will crash for no reason. Usually doesn’t crash while listening to your downloaded books however, or else I would give the app a 1 star.

I tried to down kid a book several times without success. I am erasing the app.

I’ve never used this app before so I created a account. It said this email had been used before to I was confused and pressed ok. I saw a book I had never read and had no credits because apparently I got that book. So I tried one of my family members email and the same thing happened but they never used the app. I just wanted to read a 11 hour book without paying money for audible.

I’ve tried several times to create an account and I’m repeatedly told that I need to enter a valid email. I’ve done so, trying with several emails, and keep receiving the same msg. Thoughts?

I can’t even create an account because the field keeps telling me that my e-mail isn’t valid!

Multiple emails about error downloading rental. Problem finally fixed, now site crashes EVERYtime I try to access rentals. Boo

While I enjoy the perks of having a subscription it is hard to enjoy it when it is constantly glitching. The new update it is it working and even after I delete the app and re-install it. It continues to close before I have time to even see the screen to tap on an audio book. Not happy to pay every month and not be able to listen when I want too.

The app keeps crashing whenever I go to the info screen for a book and I cannot download anything.

App crashes whenever I leave my own library.

Countless times I’ve downloaded a book and it will not play. It only allows to to download. I left the app for a while hoping maybe it would improve. It hasn’t. I’ll be using Audible from now on. It is beyond frustrating communicating with customer service having them tell you to just re-download with the same results over and over.

want to access a chapter from a Table of Contents? You cannot. the list items are “tracks”, a music concept. they do not equal chapters, so you cannot count tracks to find your chapter. this is a huge oversight — maybe okay from a generic audio player. not acceptable from an Audiobook app. it’s doable: see libby app, e.g. use case: you buy a nonfiction/how-to/reference or self improvement book. you want to re-hear the chapter on “how to fix X”, because X is newly relevant. you cannot get to your chapter. because of DRM you cannot open the book you bought in a better app. pros: synch to other devices, speed controls, and an alternative to audible.com.

The browse function is pathetic, just a sort of top 100, no breakdown of actual literary categories that you can go through. It didn’t have the title I was looking for but I found it on another app (not the one you’re thinking of). I did immediately stumble onto some LGBT “children’s” books that looked like political propaganda. Wow so progressive or whatever.

Fantastic service, would be even better with an Apple Watch app!

I love downpour! It allows me to keep all my audiobooks in one digital library without requiring me to have them all downloaded (which saves me lots of memory on my phone). Endless options of audiobooks as well!

Prior to the last update, I would have given this app a 3 star rating because you couldn’t purchase or rent any books from it...you still had to do those things through the website and then log into your app and refresh it to see the purchase/rentals on your bookshelf. Now that that functionality is available in the app, I’m upping my rating to 4 stars. However, I will not give it 5 stars until there is a compatible iWatch app. I want to be able to seamlessly transition from my phone to my watch without losing my place in my book...but right now I have to download the audio files to my music app in order to listen to my books while exercising...and then remember where I left off so that I can adjust the playback setting on the Downpour app when I get back to my phone. I will gladly update my review to 5 stars once an iWatch app has been developed.

I as recommended this by a friend and I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed my experience so far. This would be a five star review, but it seems there could be improvements to the flow of use. How do we delete titles? It’s not clear. However, the customer service received is beyond stellar. Calls are answered in a swift manner, with courteous and generous service. Highly recommend this app!!!

Renting audiobooks makes them so much more accessible. Other reviews seem to reference the app before in app purchases were available but I got the app in June 2018. It works just fine and I’m a fan. Thanks for Downpour.

The customer service here is outstanding. My original review is below but I have to say that the customer service has really blown me away. I am now a subscriber and stand by the company. The app gives me lots of issues and force closes a lot but the service and support are great. I would rate the app a 3 until they can fix it but customer service a 5. So I’ll rate in the middle of a 4 stars The service isn’t bad but misleading. I assumed which is a fault of mine to think it was just like audible. I instantly purchased 6 credits and a membership to find out that the books that I wanted are more than 1 credit. I’m on the fence of just going back to audible because I am leaving such a large library. Also some of the books listed here that I’m interested in aren’t available in digital form. So I want to not be so quick to pull the trigger as I have because you’ll lose money as I have.

The app will comstantly save there’s a problem with the player, but I have no other problems on my iphone.

I had updated my original review with negative comments based on one glaring bug, but it’s time to retract that. The developer has responded and I’m satisfied. What follows is the balance of my original review, which gives my overall impression of the product. ....For some reason I always find myself rooting for the underdog. In the audiobook world, Downpour comes in second behind Audible. But for me, that's all the more reason to support it: I get nervous when one company has such a dominating presence in the marketplace. Downpour has most of the standard features: access to your online library, a monthly subscription, the ability to buy additional credits, the ability to speed up playback, to sleep after a specified time, and to apply bookmarks. As others have noted, one advantage of Downpour is that the audiobooks are DRM-free. It gives a little extra peace of mind - if the service goes away, you won't lose your investment. In the latest version, the app has added in-app purchasing, which could make expanding your library easier than ever; but my use of this is too limited at present to comment on it.

So I wanted to update my review and give some bonus points to their support for getting back to me. They have now put in a feature request for audio equalizing books whose volume is all over the place and they are checking the original audio to make sure there wasn’t a problem. They also gave me credits for the books I bought that are having the issues so major kudos to their support. ———original review——— This app doesn’t even have basic features. If you purchase a book series there is no way to put them in one playlist, no repeat or loop, and no spoken word enhancement or equalization. I purchased my first series of books that have to be played in the downpour app and I’m so disappointed. The book frequently goes from very quiet to very loud. There is no happy medium. I can’t even listen in my car because I have to keep one hand on the volume control to keep adjusting it. I opened a ticket with support as I have no idea if it is an App problem or book option or if there was some solution. The answer I got was that there was no equalizer feature and I have no other options due to copyright restrictions. They didn’t even offer to put in a feature request.

While I like that the new app updates my library almost immediately. Since I'm not a subscriber I can't purchase books through the app as it only seems to want to use credits. I'm not fond of the new interface, you've shrunken my sorting options to title and most recent and replaced everything with a Hyde icon. Really it doesn't need to be flashy it just data and columns I just be able to list it in text and sort by author/title or author/series, date purchased, whatever. I'm also not liking the management. I don't like the idea of having to mark something as finished. Really what's the point in that. I want to be able to delete a book whether it's finished or not. I'm not sure that it is actually deleting the book locally even when I mark it as finished. Downloading seems to be funkier and less reliable with the new app. It says that it's downloaded things completely but there are way too many times I've received an invalid file error, and had to re download the next 10 tracks. It's really annoying when this happens and I'm driving. Also the addition of DRM books is disturbing. I would prefer it that you keep downpour DRM free.

As promised, Downpour just released their new app for iOS 11. It’s totally functional and you can now shop and buy items and view your wishlist. They have a great selection and prices are much much lower than Audible. Every time I’ve contacted customer service they get back to me quickly. If you’re looking for a less expensive, more independent alternative to Audible, this is it!

I love blackstone audio but their app is pretty terrible. It crashes constantly. It looses its place in the book every time I pause. I have to take screen shot before I pause the app so I can find my place again. It wipes books that have been downloaded and then they are inaccessible. Just really a bad app.

Although it does a decent job of managing files, the playback user interface is a real disappointment. For example speed control is buried in the settings (not accessible from the player), on the lock screen the advance-reverse 15 seconds buttons are missing (the only movement buttons are skip to beginning or to the end of the entire chapter), and the app often looses place (sometimes using an external process to resync -- a new addition). Given this, I have to conclude that the publisher doesn't really care about the quality of this app. That's sad because they are in the business of producing and selling audiobooks, and the quality of this app materially determines whether or not I (for one) will buy from them in the future -- which is unlikely at this point (given the state of the app).

Using for more than 6 months now. Books stop frequently mid-chapter requiring the user to navigate back to the app and push play. Playback stops multiple times during a 30 min listening period. You can not purchase audio books through the app.

This app is just terrible. I pause my book then hit play 5 minutes later and it starts playing 5 chapters back and then I have no clue where I was. I use this app at work hitting pause and play via headphone remote. Highly not recommended. 5 stars if this problem ever gets fixed, otherwise I'm unsubscribed.

Crashes on login. Deleting and reinstalling does nothing.

I hate losing my place every time I open this app. I try to circumvent that by bookmarking but that only works about 1% of the time.

This app worked for me for a bit, but now just closes out every time I sign in, and therefore, I cannot even use it. I purchased a membership, so this is very irritating! I contacted app support, who said "Our app team has fixed this, and the new version should work. I recommend uninstalling and reinstalling the app again. If that doesn't work, please give Customer Care a call..." I have deleted and reinstalled, but it made no difference. Also, the app doesn't even show that the version has changed, so one can only assume that it was not updated. I will have to call them now, which is super inconvenient.

This app aggressively pops up an alert asking if I want to resume playing from my most recently synced position. This occurs after pausing the audio for only a few minutes. If I do not select this option then the app rewinds my audiobook and I permanently lose my place. I control playback through my earbuds. I never see this alert on screen and can not respond to it, so the app defaults to rewinding the audio. Each time I pause and resume playback there's nearly a 100% chance that I'll need to waste the next five minutes manually scrubbing through the audio to figure out where I left off. Resuming playback from the most recent position is the choice that people will reasonably make 99% of the time, so this needs to be the default behavior.

Probably the worst of the audio book Apps. Can't download in background, doesn't que books for download. Books which have been painstakingly download vanish apparently randomly. I travel a lot, this is just totally and completely aggravating. Please, even Overdrive is better than this. Please see Graphic Audio, iTunes or Audible for how an app can be clear and functional.

I like this app, I needs more features, but I like the fact that titles can be played on any device and are DRM Free. I like having options.

The app stops playback when a chapter ends. Aside from that, the downloads are quick and the play back is smooth. I still wish that the bookmarks would include AM or PM on the time stamp. I'd even settle for military time (13:00 vs. 1:00PM)

Really nice app enjoy it my books downloaded fast and I had really good service definite 5 stars