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FCC Chairman Encourages Activation of the FM Radio Receiver Built Into Your iPhone

MacsRuleOthersDrool said:
It is true that the WiFi/Bluetooth modules in current iPhones generally have an FM Receiver section in them, too. However, I would suspect that the Antenna pins are NOT connected to anything, and doing so would require a redesign of the iPhone, since antennas for the 100 MHz FM broadcast band are on the order of 31 inches long. And now that we are not having a traditional 3.5 mm headphone jack and headset (the wires for which typically are used for FM antennas), I'm not so sure it would be a snap to incorporate that functionality into a current iPhone design.

Not everything is fixable with a Firmware update. Sorry.
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I'm not a technical expert but that cannot be true as there are hacked iPhones that have the FM enabled and there was also the Gigaware HD-Radio add-on that used the headphone jack as an antenna, so the pins must be connected. Now in the iPhone 7, there is no headphone jack, but presumably connection to the FM section of the chip is still there through the Lightning connector. I currently have the Gigaware HD-Radio & app, and it connects to the chip and the antenna pins through the 30 pin connector to Lightning adapter.
 
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If the chip is there it was part of the cost when you bought the phone. Therefore Apple should enable it. People can choose whether it's useful to them or not.
 
I totally listen to the local jazz FM station in the car. I totally do not care one way or the other about FM radio in my phone. I would love to get the jazz streaming of some of the shows, time-shifted, that would be ok. But not essential, this seems like a reason the FCC guy is in government and not working for a company designing and shipping the most popular single product in tech history.
 
mozumder said:
Ever heard of obsolescence?

Nostalgia isn't a business model. You're on an Apple board. That means everyone likes to get rid of old technology around here, because Apple likes to get rid of old tech.

You need to learn to get rid of old tech, instead of being nostalgic.
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What does that have to do with this?
 
Ladybug said:
If the chip is there it was part of the cost when you bought the phone. Therefore Apple should enable it. People can choose whether it's useful to them or not.
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People forget that Steve Jobs DESPISED AM/FM radio and TV. He considered them ancient technologies and a vast wasteland as far as content until the very end. And this is why Apple TV is an industry joke. It's not a coincidence that Apple is not a member of the ATSC 3.0 Standards Committee nor has it ever considered even HD-Radio on iPhones.

It's simply the culture of Apple to design what they think you want. Collaborating is not exactly in Apple's DNA.

As far as Apple is concerned FM Radio died years ago even though most people use it every day in some way, even if that means streaming or websites. You won't see a lot of support here because radio industry people would never come here.

The antenna issue was solved decades ago by Sony. Apple simply chooses not to lower itself to that breakthrough standard.

And finally, the most essential point. Apple sees no money in it for them, but only for others.
A benefit for consumers is not always a benefit for the company. FM would draw some people away from iTUNES/Apple Music if even momentarily! What did Steve Jobs do when he considered something a threat? Ridicule it into obsoletion or KILL IT.
 
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OMG Joni will oppose that.
Antenna wiring will require an extra flatcable = 0,00005 mm more thickness
[doublepost=1487291064][/doublepost]
Alexlfm said:
It doesn't matter how "good" your engineers are, there are some problems that just can't be overcome. Radio waves are immensely complicated. Besides, even if they could, is FM radio built into the phone really that important. Why waste the radio engineers time? I would rather have better cell/wifi reception. The fact that no one even makes a lightning FM radio tuner (which would be very easy to do) shows that there simply isn't a market for this when you can buy a FM/AM radio for next to nothing.
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Nonsense. Let those turds that have time to engineer a mechanical turning knob AppleWatch charger use their talents to reinvent FM radio
 
Of course Apple won't allow this. It's not iTunes, so they can't sell you songs you already own.
 
My HTC ONE M8 had FM radio but my headphones had to be plugged into the jack for the antenna.

For the HTC 10, I have had to download an app to get FM radio. Bummer.
 
Not only can it receive but transmit as well so you could listen to your phone on your car radio. Also the wifi chip has other tricks that are disabled like being a wifi repeater so you wouldn't need hotspot data.
 
This would have been useful 7 or 8 years ago. Today you have Apple, Spotify, Google, Pandora and probably 5 or 6 I'm not thinking of who would fight to stop it. And they have money, lobbyists and access.
 
I have the radio feature on my BlackBerry Passport (BB10 OS). I use it often; almost every day. It's excellent to use something that's not connected to a network or using data. It feels like freedom.

If a phone has the ability to play radio stations then do it.

In BB10 the radio player is integrated in the music app. Get a BB10 Passport from www.shopblackberry.com.
 
EdT said:
This would have been useful 7 or 8 years ago. Today you have Apple, Spotify, Google, Pandora and probably 5 or 6 I'm not thinking of who would fight to stop it. And they have money, lobbyists and access.
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And would still be useful for many nonetheless.
 
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winston1236 said:
It's the chip card debacle all over again.
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What was the chip card debacle? Chip and Pin certainly was the best system until Apple Pay.

Anyway.... FM is a mixed bag. For a start on a smartphone it usually relies on wired headphones for an aerial, something Apple is trying to get rid of. It also relies on FM surviving the digital revolution. In the UK there is a good chance DAB will take over fairly soon. In Germany it looked as if FM had its day in the late 80s, unfortunately too many different systems ruined that. The most certain outcome is that FM will die, and will be replaced by data streams over internet connections and mobile networks.
 
Having the FM radio activated would be a great addition. If the hardware can do, I don't see why not use it. But of course we know how Apple works.
 
C DM said:
And would still be useful for many nonetheless.
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The point is that 8 years ago there wasnt the established streaming services, lawyers and money in place to stop it like there is now. How good or bad of an idea it is to the consumer is besides the point. The money is going to back streaming services, not OTA radio.
 
BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
People forget that Steve Jobs DESPISED AM/FM radio and TV. He considered them ancient technologies and a vast wasteland as far as content until the very end. And this is why Apple TV is an industry joke. It's not a coincidence that Apple is not a member of the ATSC 3.0 Standards Committee nor has it ever considered even HD-Radio on iPhones.

It's simply the culture of Apple to design what they think you want. Collaborating is not exactly in Apple's DNA.

As far as Apple is concerned FM Radio died years ago even though most people use it every day in some way, even if that means streaming or websites. You won't see a lot of support here because radio industry people would never come here.

The antenna issue was solved decades ago by Sony. Apple simply chooses not to lower itself to that breakthrough standard.

And finally, the most essential point. Apple sees no money in it for them, but only for others.
A benefit for consumers is not always a benefit for the company. FM would draw some people away from iTUNES/Apple Music if even momentarily! What did Steve Jobs do when he considered something a threat? Ridicule it into obsoletion or KILL IT.
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I hear you, and your points are valid. I just don't agree with Apple on this. I think Apple would do well if they threw consumers a bone once in awhile. Also, I'm wondering (serious question here) why would they put an FM chip in their phones if there is no purpose for it? Is that chip used for something else? Anyone know?
 
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Ladybug said:
I hear you, and your points are valid. I just don't agree with Apple on this. I think Apple would do well if they threw consumers a bone once in awhile. Also, I'm wondering (serious question here) why would they put an FM chip in their phones if there is no purpose for it? Is that chip used for something else? Anyone know?
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It's been some time since I looked into it, but as I recall, I believe it's part of some other chip essentially (either the Wi-Fi controller or cellular modem or something else like that). That said, I could be recalling it incorrectly at this point.
 
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derek4484 said:
Apple's not going to do it because it'll allow you to listen to radio for free, rather than having to pay them for a monthly subscription.
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Oooh... it's so sinister that Apple produced a device that somehow manages to stop you from listening to radio on any other device.
 
code-m said:
Design issue, affordable Android phones have had this feature for a while. Have you seen the pertruding camera on the iOS devices (iPhone 6/6S/7), I do not believe it is a design issue. I believe it is a financial issue to push people into Apple Music, if Apple had believed in Apple Music, they would allow FM radio and allow the free-market to decide. Shocking if Apple would have to lower cost for Apple Music, nope cannot have that. :rolleyes:
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Affordable android phones are not in the same market as the iPhone. Your theory that Apple is intentionally not activating the radio because of AM is pure fantasy. AM is probably the only streaming service that is actually consistently paying the artists. Spotify is perpetually bleeding money. Google rips off artists via youtube. Tidal is nearly broke. They can't even pay what they owe to taxi companies...

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/09/13/tidal-full-financial-filing-ugly/
 
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