Maybe you still prefer listening to FM radio stations, or you want to go back to a time before music streaming was commonplace. Perhaps you purchased advertising space on a station and want to ensure your ads air.
Maybe you have a finite amount of internet bandwidth and wish to save it for more crucial data requirements. You can also use a streaming platform to listen to FM radio stations if bandwidth is not an issue. Whatever your motivation, listening to FM radio is still available in various ways.
For many consumers, traditional FM radio remains the best option for listening to music. Every mobile device has a built-in receiver, and not every phone can receive an FM signal. The majority of phones have FM radio capabilities.
Many of your favorite stations have already signed up for several FM radio streaming apps, which makes it simple for users to listen to their favorite stations. Let’s look at how you may listen to your preferred FM stations directly from your device because FM radio is still alive and well.
How to Use a Receiver to Listen to FM Radio
The first thing you should know about using your Android phone to listen to FM radio is that you must use headphones if you wish to use the built-in receiver. You may still transmit the signal to a Bluetooth speaker using workarounds. Still, to truly listen to the radio, you’ll need to keep a pair of wired headphones close at hand.
While your phone’s body has an FM radioreceptor, it lacks the antenna that all radios require.
Since you don’t have an antenna, you’ll need to utilize something else to correctly pick up the signal transmitted by stations in your area. That’s where your headphones come in, and your headphones’ cord serves as the antenna. Therefore if you don’t have them, you won’t be able to pick up a signal.
Even though the FM receiver is in your phone and can easily pick up a signal, you’ll still need to employ the appropriate software to turn the radio waves into a listenable format. This implies that you must download a specific FM radio app from Google Play, and a few options are available.
Which radio stations can I listen to on my phone?
Although “Radio FM” claims to be the most downloaded FM radio software, the user interface is quite unappealing. However, “Radio FM” might require much waiting before you can stream radio stations instead of using the built-in FM receiver on your phone.
Another excellent option is “NextRadio.” NextRadio is an app created, in part, by NPR and the National Association of Broadcasters that allows users to access regular FM radio stations (NAB). The NextRadio app is reliable, supporting many current devices and sporting an updated aesthetic design. There is no delay in listening because the app tunes straight into the FM waves broadcast in your neighborhood, so you can hear everything as it happens in real-time.
NextRadio provides a far more traditional radio experience when compared to apps that stream content over the internet. Although the app is free and doesn’t require a membership, the bottom of the app does have adverts. Of course, the radio station you are listening to also has adverts.
Utilizing NextRadio as Your FM Radio Tuner for Android Configuring NextRadio is not a challenging task. Below are instructions on how to use NextRadio on Android.
- Install NextRadio from the Google Play Store.
- Select “Open” while plugging your wired headphones into the device’s audio jack.
Before proceeding to the next screen, the application checks to see if you have a radio chip.
- Verify that your wired headset is still plugged in before tapping “I’m Ready” to start the app.
- When installing the app, permit it to effectively access your location to identify the correct list of stations.
The software looks for nearby radio stations, although it isn’t always successful. If local stations are located, a list of them is shown. You can add or remove as many stations as you like, but adding each one listed as accessible in your area will give you the most possibilities.
- Hit the “Done” button to enter the app’s UI once you add stations to your favorites.
- The “Basic Tuner” shows after the scan.
- To automatically scan for nearby stations, tap on the “track forward/backward buttons” or touch the “+” or “-” buttons to scan for stations manually.
- You can gather stations you like as you browse the frequency. To include something in your favorites, tap the “love icon.”
- There is a “naming” screen.
- After entering the name of your new favorite station, click “SUBMIT.”
- The “Basic Tuner” and “My Favorites” windows will display a label for your named station.
- Click the “stop icon” in the bottom-right corner to pause the radio at any moment.
- Tap on the same icon, now a “play icon,” to start the radio after pausing it.
How do I change NextRadio’s Settings?
Exploring the NextRadio options menu on your device is a good idea to ensure everything is tuned to your preferences. You can only use the “Basic Tuner” as the app no longer offers streaming services for regional or local stations. Below is the procedure.
- In the top-left corner, tap the “menu icon” (three horizontal lines).
- Select “Settings.”
The “Settings” menu’s options have been reduced due to the removal of streaming features. You can refresh your station list, switching to “Seek by favorites” from “Seek by Frequencies,” and using the “Sleep Timer” are all options.
Can I listen to FM Radio without a receiver or headphone port?
You might not be able to use your phone to listen to the radio in your location, even though it has an FM receiver built into the device’s body. You won’t be able to utilize your headphones as antennas, for instance, as more and more phones, such as the flagship models from Google and Motorola, stopped having a headphone port.
Some smartphones, such as the first-generation Google Pixels, cannot use their FM receivers if they’re present. Moreover, there’s a significant likelihood that these more recent devices merely omit the FM adapters.
This omission is similar to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models that are missing them), so you’ll have to start relying on your data connection to listen to the radio. Fortunately, many national radio stations have switched to online streaming. This switch makes it simple to tune in to your preferred stations back home, even if you’re halfway across the globe.
You are free to connect the streaming versions of your preferred radio feeds because these streams don’t require headphones. As mentioned above, NextRadio can stream radio stations online. However, it is advisable to use an app like TuneIn Radio.
TuneIn Radio has more than 100,000 AM and FM streams, podcast compatibility, and programming from NPR, CNN, BBC, and ESPN. TuneIn is the more attractive app and has more streams available on its platform than almost any other apps in the Play Store, despite not having the same basic FM features as NextRadio.
Compared to apps like NextRadio, TuneIn has a much more excellent interface and is generally more responsive. The home screen of TuneIn resembles that of iTunes in that it features a revolving carousel of suggested shows and lists of the top ten shows in descending order.
You’ll discover a variety of material in that list, including sports, podcasts, news programs, commercial-supported music stations tuned by TuneIn, and more. As we’ve seen with many music-focused applications in the Play Store, TuneIn has worked hard to grow its content roster to include exclusive shows and stations. If you were unfamiliar with TuneIn, it might be challenging to determine whether the app can be used for traditional radio stations.
You can choose the “search” option or go to the menu and explore to locate your favorite FM stations. If you know the FM station you’re looking for, it’s simple to utilize the search box at the top of the screen.
The station results should appear fast after you type the name of the station you’re looking for and click Search. There is a decently large selection of stations on TuneIn, including Toronto’s Indie88, which we couldn’t locate on NextRadio. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it could be challenging to find stations, so make a list of the stations you want to listen to before opening the app.
The app locates your location, as you can do on NextRadio and the “Location” option in the browse menu allows you to browse through radio stations in your local area. This way, you can explore places that aren’t your own, like, say, the radio stations in your hometown.
Most FM stations display their emblem on the now-playing screen, load the artwork for the song being broadcast online, and display the song name at the top of the player. Although there are no banner adverts at the bottom of the screen, you will notice that an ad pops up instead, covering the album cover art.
Can I use my iPhone to tune into a broadcast radio?
- On an iPhone, you can listen to countless broadcast radio stations.
- Use Siri to Say something like, “Play Wild 94.9,” “Tune in to ESPN Radio,” or similar commands after activating Siri.
- To find a station, select Search, type the station’s name into the search area, and then select a result to start the station.
- Using the name, call sign, frequency, and nickname search options, you can find stations.
- Pick a radio station from the Radio tab: Select a station below the Local Broadcasters or International Broadcasters heading after tapping radio and swiping up.
Conclusion
You can listen to a radio broadcast without an Apple Music subscription. Not all countries or regions have access to broadcast radio, and not all stations are available everywhere. Smartphone users may still listen to FM radio both over the air and online, thanks to apps like NextRadio and TuneIn.
With the ability to tune into a station and listen through headphones or the device’s speaker, NextRadio is fantastic software for phones that still have access to their FM chips. The ability to pick up radio stations on phones that support them is a godsend and something that not enough people know.
It may be used for free listening around the house or to allow listening to FM stations in times of emergency. Naturally, TuneIn also enables you to access several stations that are streaming globally as well as locally.
In some ways, it’s a tiny wonder that NextRadio and TuneIn let Android users start listening to their preferred FM stations on a device that’s always in their pocket. Although not everyone wants to keep listening to their FM stations, NextRadio and TuneIn are essential apps for those who do.
