# Are there any CB radio apps available? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227 "2018-12-16T17:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/1 "2018-12-16T17:04:19Z")
I don’t mean a “works just like a CB radio if someone has the same apps” app, but one that allows access to actual CB radio, the same way some apps allow actual access to AM and FM radio? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/2 "2018-12-16T17:12:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t mean a “works just like a CB radio if someone has the same apps” app, but one that allows access to actual CB radio, the same way some apps allow actual access to AM and FM radio? I would guess no. Apps that play AM/FM only work if the station is doing internet streaming the signal they normally broadcast… So, the flip side to this question would be are there any CB radios that stream their signal on the internet for others to listen to on their cell phones? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/3 "2018-12-16T17:16:53Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Apps that play AM/FM only work if the station is doing internet streaming the signal they normally broadcast… Wrong-there are apps like NextRadio that actually receive radio signals using the FM radio chip built into cellphones. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/4 "2018-12-16T17:17:58Z")
But very few phones have FM radios (just Samsung?) and, presumably, even fewer have CB radios. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/5 "2018-12-16T17:20:16Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > But very few phones have FM radios (just Samsung?) and, presumably, even fewer have CB radios. Again, [wrong.](http://nextradioapp.com/supported-devices/) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/6 "2018-12-16T17:26:15Z")
There are [online receivers](https://www.globaltuners.com/) but you wouldn’t be able to transmit. Furthermore, the short range nature of 11 meter CB would make it sort of pointless. Almost anywhere that isn’t a truckstop, you can expect to have zero CB operators in range. I just adjusted my scanner the search the band and there’s nothing here in fairly dense Chicago. What are you hoping to do? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/7 "2018-12-16T17:26:38Z")
There are a few web pages where you can type in a frequency (in some wide range), select the type of modulation, filters, etc., and listen through the radio receiver the operator was kind enough to make accessible online, but that only enables you to listen, not transmit, and only listen to signals where that particular station is located. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/8 "2018-12-16T17:29:08Z")
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_band_radio#Current_use) informs me that “the 27 MHz frequencies used by CB, which require a relatively long aerial and tend to propagate poorly indoors, discourage the use of handheld radios,” so I suspect it wouldn’t be practical to make a cell phone that could send and receive on such frequencies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/9 "2018-12-16T17:32:49Z")
I work for a trucking firm, and thought it would be interesting to listen in on the local CB scene. The company will neither spring for or allow me to install a CB radio in me office. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/10 "2018-12-16T17:34:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Again, [wrong.](http://nextradioapp.com/supported-devices/) Since the last time that app came up in GQ, I replaced my old Samsung phone (that the app worked on) with a ZTE one that doesn’t need it–it has an app built in. (Tiny little thing, too–24 kilobytes.) No AM support in either, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/11 "2018-12-16T17:41:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The company will neither spring for or allow me to install a CB radio in me office. Yarrr, [buy a portable one](https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-CB-Radios/b?ie=UTF8&node=5811987011), matey! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/12 "2018-12-16T18:08:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I work for a trucking firm, and thought it would be interesting to listen in on the local CB scene. The company will neither spring for or allow me to install a CB radio in me office. Ok, I misunderstood. You’re hoping for an app that allow your phone to locally receive CB. Phones don’t have receivers capable of doing that. The wavelengths are too long. Similarly, are you sure that the apps you reference can receive AM broadcast radio? 1000 kilohertz has a wavelength of 300 meters, pretty long for a tiny device with no external antenna. Since the trucks you want to hear are pretty close and you don’t want to talk to them, you can probably get away with a handheld scanner. The little rubber duck antenna will be ok if the trucks are within a few hundred yards, assuming no terrain or structural obstacles. Even a very entry-level scanner will work. Consider a used one on Craigslist. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/13 "2018-12-16T19:40:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No AM support in either, though. My understanding is that AM radio reception requires a bigger antenna than FM radio, and that size makes it impractical for incorporation in a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/14 "2018-12-16T19:52:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > My understanding is that AM radio reception requires a bigger antenna than FM radio, and that size makes it impractical for incorporation in a cell phone. Even the FM reception requires a pair of headphones (or at least the wire part of it) to be plugged in to act as an antenna. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/15 "2018-12-17T13:52:06Z")
With headphone jacks going away, does this means the complete loss of possible FM radio functionality in that category of phones? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/16 "2018-12-17T15:35:36Z")
If you just want to listen to CB radio, any of those little portable transistor radios with telescoping antennas should be able to do it. If you want to chat as well, there are handheld units as shown in the above link, but keep in mind that your range might be something like a mile. I do not really get your office’s no-radio policy; are you allowed to listen to music while you work? And is only CB prohibited? What if you were to put in one of those fancy receivers that can be tuned all the way from 0.01 to 3300 MHz ? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/17 "2018-12-17T15:44:31Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yarrr, [buy a portable one](https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-CB-Radios/b?ie=UTF8&node=5811987011), matey! I think I mentioned that it wouldn’t be allowed and, no, they wouldn’t give a reason. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/18 "2018-12-17T16:00:20Z")
I meant something that looks like [this](http://stephan.win31.de/sw7600gr.jpg). Hardly a contraband item, unless the policy really is “no radios”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/19 "2018-12-17T16:03:09Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I meant something that looks like [this](http://stephan.win31.de/sw7600gr.jpg). Hardly a contraband item, unless the policy really is “no radios”. That may be a solution-looks like a table/portable radio, and no CB antennas to put up. Does it do the CB bands? ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227/20 "2018-12-17T16:04:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Again, [wrong.](http://nextradioapp.com/supported-devices/) That site lists 222 models, all Android devices. This site ([There are now more than 24,000 different Android devices](https://qz.com/472767/there-are-now-more-than-24000-different-android-devices/)) claims 24000 Android devices in 2015. Less than 1% of Android devices have FM radio tuners. That is very few. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cb-radio-apps-available/826227.md?page=2)