Powered by NPR's API, the NPR News app brings many of the features of the iPhone app to Android handsets. It also adds in a few Android-specific features, including backgrounding -- meaning users can listen to an NPR broadcast while using other applications.
From the screenshots, you can see that the Android version of NPR News is very similar to its iPhone counterpart. Most of the menu designations are the same and most of the layout options are similar.
As with the iPhone version, you can read articles and browse through the app while listening to a program. Additionally, because Android supports backgrounding, you can open up other applications or surf the web if you wish and continue to listen to a program.
You can add podcasts or programs to a playlist so that you can listen to items later when you have more time, and you can also review what you have already heard.
The biggest feature missing from the Android app is the ability to listen to stations live. You can listen to archived programs, but live-streaming and tuning in to live stations won't be available until spring 2010.