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

[Dbolander]

Apple doesn't want people to listen to free radio (i.e. music).

Beats 1 is free to everyone and doesn't require an MUSIC membership.

 

[krause734]

I will never go back to FM radio after Spotify.

 

[BeefCake 15]

Useful for local news and weather for emergencies beside everything else people listen to FM radio for.

 

[some_apple_guy]

Seems like there are more important things to worry about than whether a phone has FM turned on or off...

 

[Krevnik]

Why not allow both. Consumer choice. If the hardware is there...! I had no idea.

The chip is there, but it still needs to be wired up to an antenna. If the antenna pins aren't hooked up to anything, that's a no go, even if there is FM support by the wireless chipset being used. And I suspect they aren't. And since antenna length is based on the frequencies you are operating at, it's unlikely that the antennas used for 700Mhz+ are going to be all that great for 80-100Mhz frequencies (plus the transmission part might throw a wrench into it, my RF is a bit rusty).

They could have it hooked up to the headphone jack and do FM that way, but when I tried that with an iPod Nano a few years ago, it was a sort of "it works, but isn't great" answer.

 

[jeyf]

of the 147 millions of peeps listening to fm radio bet FCC chairman Ajit Pai IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

 

[639051]

So how else would this allow a user to be tracked?

I don't for one minute believe this new FCC is on the side of the consumer.

 

[slimothy]

I've always wondered why there wasn't a radio built in to the iPhones. Wow.

 

[sully54]

Answers: Millions and millions of people. To be precise 147 million from 2015 statistic.

In the US, radio reaches about %72 of the 18+ population daily. That's way more than any other media.

hey, fair enough. to be honest, while its something i personally wouldn't use, i'm always for added functionality.

 

[SuperCachetes]

I would love to have this option if there were no tradeoffs, though I'm not sure how often I'd use it.

 

[StevieD100]

And tomorrow, the FCC announces the switch off of FM Radio.

Yes it could happen.

 

[macTW]

FM is majorly music, which is partly why companies don't want that activated... now, if it was AM... Millions would like this.

 

[zauriel]

So how else would this allow a user to be tracked?

I don't for one minute believe this new FCC is on the side of the consumer.

Riiiiight. You walk around with a device that has GPS and location services, but you're worried about FM radio being the culprit that allows you to be tracked by the nefarious FCC with a chairman that specifically states they neither want to mandate its use nor have the authority to do so.

 

[Takuro]

So let me get this straight, the guy has a penchant for destroying Net Neutrality but when it comes to playing "consumer advocate" for a split second, of all the random things he decides to champion, he wants to activate FM radio on phones that technically support it via their chipsets but which don't actually have the required antenna to pick up a signal. How does this make any sense?

 

[macfacts]

I'd rather have apps that can use the NFC chip. Force Apple to open that up.

 

[btrach144]

Apple doesn't want FM radio eating into Apple Music. We should at least be able to use the FM chip for emergency broadcasts.

 

[webbuzz]

And tomorrow, the FCC announces the switch off of FM Radio.

Yes it could happen.

It could, but it won't. At least not in the next 5 - 10 years.

 

[69Mustang]

So let me get this straight, the guy has a penchant for destroying Net Neutrality but when it comes to playing "consumer advocate" for a split second, of all the random things he decides to champion, he wants to activate FM radio on phones that technically support it via their chipsets but which don't actually have the required antenna to pick up a signal. How does this make any sense?

To be fair, we don't actually know if the iPhone doesn't have the required antenna. Apple has made no comment either way.

 

[Solver]

Activate? Sounds like a button could be pushed and most smart phones could be used as FM radios. It's a lie. But that's what it sounds like.

 

[rtomyj]

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.

Hmmm pretty sure beats one is free and any radio station started by an album or song with limited skips and ads. Do people even try to be apple haters anymore?

 

[and 1989 others]

Lots of comments on here are saying no thanks, not for me.

The technology is already built into the phone. It's there right now. In your hand. Switching it on will do jack **** if you choose not to use it.

However you already bought the technology and should be able to use it if you choose.

I want Fm radio damn it.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

who listens to FM radio anymore unless they really have to?

I do when I'm driving. 1) Most sports radio is on FM now. 2) I'm cheap so when the XM subscription bundled with my car expired I went back to FM when I didn't want to listen to my own music.

Outside of the car I don't listen to radio. But that's me. Others do and if the chip is lying dormant and activating doesn't cause technical issues then why not flip the switch. It would save bandwidth for all and maybe $ for those that now stream local stations.

 

[GoldenJoe]

Not useful to me, but it should be enabled. Not a fan of squashing features in order to charge for your own competing service.

 

[citysnaps]

Not something I'd use.

Prefer listening through my station's app. Perfect "reception," no multiparth distortion or fades.

 

[mozumder]

Yah but no. FM radio should be banned, since it's been taken over by monopoly radio corporations, pushing out the same 40-year old classic rock stations and bits and pieces of repetitive and overly loud commercial pop in between blocks of advertisement.

The only reason Ajit Pai wants to enable this is so that his right-wing corporate radio buddies can force more of their garbage down people's throats.

Pull the plug on FM radio already. Its time has passed.