Many people, especially motorists, cannot imagine life without radio – this is fresh music every day, which does not need to be selected to suit your taste, news, various shows, interviews, and much more. True, listening to the radio through a smartphone is much more practical than on an analog counterpart – you can choose any radio stations, and not only those that “catch,” including even foreign ones, plus many categories, a convenient menu, settings, and even the ability to record sound into the smartphone’s memory. So if you want to download the radio to your phone, this article is for you. Let’s take a look at the best apps for listening to the radio on an Android smartphone – there aren’t really many of them.
FM radio
The application may not have the most thoughtful and modern interface. Still, everything is fine with the set of functions – you can select radio stations by country, genre, language, or franchise, and a search bar with a voice input function has been added. There is a tab for your favorite radio stations and what you have listened to recently – handy if you want to find the content you want, but you don’t remember the name. There is even a recommendation tab, but, to be honest, it does not work very well. Additionally, there is an equalizer, the ability to choose a color theme and set a sleep timer, and even settings with duplicate functions.
✅ Benefits:
- you can select content by the desired category;
- simple and straightforward player;
- recently listened content tab;
- built-in equalizer;
- delayed shutdown function.
❌ Disadvantages:
- terrible translation into Russian;
- built-in advertising, which is unknown how you can turn it off.
Download FM RADIO 14.4.7 – Tech Suppo
FMPLAY
The FMPLAY application certainly loses to competitors in terms of functions for dividing into categories but wins in the conciseness of the interface. On the main page, popular stations are listed in even rows (you can configure), plus there is a search function – you can find the radio station you need. The player itself displays tracks, titles, and covers. There is a function to rewind and add to favorites. There is also a mode for a car, but only in the horizontal orientation of the screen, the ability to set a shutdown timer, and many settings for the interface itself—an excellent option for those who do not want to fool their heads with a search by category.
✅ Benefits:
- very simple and user-friendly interface;
- excellent player with covers and track list;
- flexible settings;
- mode for the car;
- delayed shutdown function.
❌ Disadvantages:
- no categorization.
TuneIn Radio
One of the most popular applications for listening to the radio right away offers to pay for a paid subscription, but in fact, you can use all the functions without it. Here you can listen to local radio, read the recommendations or, for example, select the category you need and listen to it. There are sports channels (you can select the radio for the sport you need or connect to a popular broadcasting channel), you can listen to podcasts, find out the latest news, or even choose the broadcast language you need. The last point is handy for those who are learning a language and want to listen to content only in it.
✅ Benefits:
- very convenient categorization;
- you can select music by genre;
- the category “Sport” has been worked out in great detail;
- you can select the language of the content broadcast.
❌ Disadvantages:
- advertising banners;
- some ESPN channels can only be listened to with a premium subscription
Download TUNEIN RADIO 27.0.1 – Tech Suppo
Online radio – PCRadio
For some reason, the developers of this software decided that one row of scrolling categories would be convenient (although this is not so), but, on the other hand, there are just a lot of types of content here. There is even a section with audiobooks, and, frankly, I was very pleased with it – there are even all the books about Harry Potter. You can also open the side menu to navigate the music category – pop, rap, metal, chanson, and so on: a search function, a sleep timer, a built-in equalizer, and a small set of settings. Of the paid functions, only the ability to select a higher bitrate of content and disable ads – for the first bonus, however, you do not have to pay since not all radio stations can boast high sound quality.
✅ Benefits:
- a huge set of categories;
- there are audiobooks;
- built-in equalizer;
- simple and straightforward player;
- concise settings menu;
- delayed shutdown timer.
❌ Disadvantages:
- advertising banners;
- bitrate can be increased only in the premium version, which costs 180 rubles per year.
Audials play
A very convenient, simple, and concise application for radio fans – the main page shows the radio stations that the user will add to their favorites, plus a list of recommendations based on your preferences. There is also a tab “Radio” – here are the categories by genres of music and country (very convenient if you like to listen to foreign stations). You can even select hits by artists, listen to podcasts on certain topics (there are tons of major podcasts in Russian), or listen to music from your smartphone. And in the player itself, you can set a shutdown timer or record a track in the smartphone’s memory.
✅ Benefits:
- user-friendly intuitive interface;
- categories by country, performer and genre;
- the ability to record the broadcast in the smartphone’s memory;
- podcast listening function;
- built-in music player;
- there is a mode for the car.
❌ Disadvantages:
- sometimes track covers are not loaded;
- the picture in the background of the interface is terribly compressed.