In the context of cell phones it depends a lot on where you live. Outside the US this is very common, in the US it isn’t. A lot of smart phones have the hardware for listening to radio, but they are not enabled in the US for the financial gain of the phone companies. You don’t pay for minutes listening to radio. OTOH, they don’t do the same with mp3s.
I still use standalone mp3 players. Just recently replaced the battery in one. I use them in “active” situations where I don’t want to risk damaging my cell phone. I also bought a cheap one from China last year I keep on my nightstand with sleep “tapes” on the SD card. (Yes, many of this takes cards so limits are virtually gone, swapping out cards for different purposes is easy, etc.)
[ul]
[li]Music, either stored on the phone or streamed[/li][li]Podcasts[/li][li]Radio, either streamed live or catchup service, either whole programs or highlight excerpts - either the digital equivalent of a terrestrial station, or a digital-only station[/li][li]Audiobooks[/li][li]Audio-focused apps like Pixel_Dent’s friend using Zombies! Run! or other running apps; there are walking meditation apps too[/li][/ul]
I have two smartphones with the FM tuner enabled. They do make them. You do need earbuds plugged in to act as an antenna, but they’ll also play through the speaker if you choose. I have unlimited data on the one I’m currently using though, so I just use an app to pick up streaming radio over the internet.
The apps for radio stations are too numerous to list. So I don’t recognize the issue you’re talking about. I listen all the time. I have no incentive to load or stream any music. There’s too much on the radio.
“… apps for radio stations”. Um, listening to radio doesn’t need appS! I am talking about literally over-the-air local stations like you would on a portable radio. For which you need exactly one app if your cell phone has the radio part of the chip enabled.
Just for curiosity,I checked to see if my lowish-end phone (Samsung Galaxy J3) has the chip enablable and was a little surprised that it does. NextRadio works, but the app interface is a little unwieldy. Are there any better apps? (I looked a little, but the problem is that streaming apps are calling themselves “radios” too.)
You don’t know that radio stations have apps for iphones and androids? I have about 6 apps for radio stations and NPR. I don’t need to have a chip enabled. I have never even heard of that. On apps you can see playlists, comments, the website etc.
Maybe if I just get some chip I can avoid all that convenience? I have no doubt that tuning station to station on that chip will create some new “problem” I didn’t want.
What we might need is one app that coordinates all the radio apps under one command.
The point is that those radio stations are streaming over the internet and being transmitted to your phone from your cell phone provider’s cell towers. This chip is an FM radio. No streaming, no passing through your cell phone carrier, works when you have no cell phone signal. An FM tuner, just like found in an FM radio.
I think NextRadio might be the only tuner app. My phones don’t require that, though. The manufacturers (one’s LG, and the other’s Alcatel) have their own custom radio tuners built in to the software.
This is one really peculiar misreading of my postS. Really, really peculiar!
Note that with the radio circuitry enabled in a cell phone you use no data, you don’t have to be near free wifi, etc.
And some stations do not do streaming. (Yes, if you’re listening to a station over a data connection of you phone, that is streaming. Everybody got that?)
There’s one “station” that I used to listen to that was streaming only. It was great, lots of obscure oldies. Then they went to lower power FM and the streaming stopped. And I am not remotely near enough to get the signal. Sigh.
I walk an average of 6 miles per day for exercise. If I’m not walking with a friend or my husband, I’m listening to an audiobook. I go listen to at least 2/month. Usually, when I help my husband with lawn mowing (he does the rider and I do the push mower - I look at it as more exercise for me!) I listen to my music on the Amazon app.
OK. I love the idea of radio from all over. But I have enough trouble with the apps that drop out on you. It is getting hard to get non streaming reception even in the real world. Does the phone act as it’s own antenna?
No, he knew they played music, he was just asking “what else besides music?”
As for using your phone as an FM radio, it should use your earbud cord as an antenna. That’s how my tiny pocket FM radio used to work back in the Before Times.
I listen to stations in Ann Arbor, New York, Boston, Seattle, who knows where, on my iphone. If I went to air it sounds like I get only local stations. It would defeat the whole purpose of having the phone for me.
I listen to Marc Marons podcast, but leave it at that. I’m usually listening to radio on my phone.
Yeah, you do need the earbuds plugged in to act as an antenna if you’re using the tuner chip for OTA FM. That’s how it works on my two phones with the tuner.