By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
TuneIn Radio has set a stunning example that all app developers and programmers should aim for. First of all, it is a truly useful app bringing over 40,000 global AM and FM stations to tablets and smartphones via Wi-Fi or 3G. TuneIn is also ubiquitous and can be found in all of the mobile operating systems today (BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone, WebOS and Android). It also ties-in live and streaming radio to the buy-now capabilities of iTunes as well as Last.fm and offers access to thousands of podcasts.
Some feature phones and smartphones come with FM radio tuners and while these are a convenient feature, they require a connected headset (to serve as the antenna) and are limited to local FM broadcasts.
TuneIn Radio is a free (on some platforms) or $1.99 app that uses Wi-Fi or 3G data to bring most of the planet's radio stations (AM and FM) to your smartphone and tablet device.
Tapping into the power of the Internet, TuneIn Radio doesn't only offer searcheable, location based or thematic indexing of radio stations, it can tell you what is playing complete with album art plus hotlinks to buy the singles you are listening to in iTunes or the artist's website or Last.fm page.
TuneIn Radio for iOS also allows the live or scheduled recording of radio programmes which is useful for talk radio or to save your favourite program from back home to listen to while you are travellng.
Remote access to stations all over the world is just amazing and works so well. Soccer fans, for example, can get access to radio feeds of Euro league games same with other sports not accessible through local or even satellite radio.
Ubiquity is also a welcome aspect of TuneIn Radio. We used it frequently in our iPhone and iPad but were happy to install it in our test Windows Phone and Palm Pre 2.
The best realized versions are the iOS ones which have a longer list of features but each of the versions we tried had an abundance of functionality and managed to find and play many of our favourite radio stations and podcast feeds. The feature set for iOS, just to give you an idea of the depth of functionality is outlined below:
Key Features on iOS
• Record any station for playback later (on demand or with record timer)
• Alarm Clock
• Play MP3 and AAC stations in the background in Safari on non-multitasking capable devices
• RadioTime directory featuring 40,000+ radio stations and thousands of radio shows
• Simple, quick, and easy-to-use interface
• Browse or search for your favorite shows and find out what stations they're currently available on
• Browse local stations with GPS or WiFi location
• Search for stations by keyword
• Browse stations by genre or location
• Pause live streams for up to 30 minutes
• Rewind and fast forward within last 30 minutes streamed
• Listen to podcasts of radio shows when available
• Bookmark your favorite stations, categories or shows
• Sleep timer
• Search for stations playing your favorite song or artist
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
• Bookmarks list displays current song or show for each station when available
• Show or station logo displayed when available
• Album art displayed when available
• Current song or show information displayed when available
• View station schedules when available
• Choose an alternate stream or bit rate when available
• View related and recommended streams, shows and genres
• View station website and twitter page
• Listen to artist station in Last.fm app
• Buy currently playing song on iTunes
• Automatic restart of last playing station on startup
• Automatic reconnect on loss of connection
• Enter custom stream URLs
The ability to tap into almost any radio station in the world through TuneIn Radio is like taking a mini-vacation and for those with unlimited 3G data, a viable option to local radio or satellite radio. We did find that some radio streams were incompatible or refused to play on TuneIn Radio but this may be an issue with the source rather than the player.
IF you like music, if you like talk radio, podcasts or live sports and have a smartphone or a tablet accessing the Internet via Wi-Fi, TuneIn Radio is a no brainer. It will enhance your device and give hours of entertainment and information. it is one of the first apps we look for on new devices we use and test and it is one of the few that we go back to every day.
Rating: 5 out of 5