FM transmitter iPhone 5?

[Givmeabrek]

Apples hardware has always been behind the curve in terms of connectivity.

That's pretty funny. Apple is behind the curve in terms of connectivity! Wow, think that through. They've always been far ahead by eliminating wires way before everyone else and adding new connection types.

FM radio?? Seriously? Talk about crappy audio quality. That does not belong and will never be in an iPhone. Apple is way beyond that....

 

[paulrbeers]

The OP never mentioned streaming. The others who misunderstood him did. I suspect OP has one of those 'older than 5 years' vehicles without the AUX port or else he probably would not be asking the question.

My use of streaming was simply as a point that he wants to send audio from one source (his iphone) to another source (his car stereo) for instant playback (so he is streaming audio from his phone via fm transmitter to his stereo). Not sure how hard that is to understand....

 

[Aniseedvan]

ov

Lol illegal in the UK?
You don't have a clue what you are talking about.
Nokia has had this for over 10 years on their smartphones
Please don't give out false information when you don't have the source or evidence to back this up.
Apples hardware has always been behind the curve in terms of connectivity.

The laws were relaxed about 2006.

Which Nokia phones have had an FM transmitter in? I've had ones with receivers, but not transmitters.
I know it's not exactly this years tech but I used to enjoy listening to Radio1 over the FM radio knowing I wasn't eating my data allowance.

 

[jlake02]

I think most new cars are coming with Bluetooth included and Apple knows this. FM transmitters are a tech of the past, not the future, and it would be a step backwards.

The lack of NFC (or some other wireless e-pay) is more disappointing.

 

[jbachandouris]

The plug on the other end is not for audio. It's a special antenna plug (looks like audio though) that plugs into an FM Out jack on the satellite radio. I've installed these on a few cars, you most definitely cannot plug it into the headphone jack of an iPhone.

That's not to say there's not an adapter that allows you to plug it into an iPhone - you would need something plugged into the dock connector or headphone jack that modulates it to an FM signal, then it would plug into the FM adapter which then plugs into the back of your radio. I don't know of any, but there might be one out there. They take some knowledge to install, since you have to get to the back of your radio, and some extra hardware could be required (American and European cars usually need an antenna adapter), but they do work well if your radio doesn't have a regular AUX input.

However, like I said, if you just pick up one of the adapters used for satellite radios and plug it into your iPhone, it won't work.

That's good to know. I was planning on that solution, but ended up trading in my car before I made the decision. Makes sense.

 

[erratikmind]

I used a few FM transmitters when the 2nd generation iPod was introduced. They were terrible to say the least. Sound quality was frequently poor. When driving on long trips, one would have to constantly reset/find a new FM station.

I do not believe I did ever find a FM transmitter unit, which work well.

 

[gentlefury]

It's called bluetooth.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

FM transmitters have terrible audio quality. And I do use one every day.

 

[joshwithachance]

I just bought a Griffin iTrip Universal+ that has a usb port if you want to charge your iPhone 5, but if you don't want to it just plugs into the headphone jack to transmit the audio.

 

[b24pgg]

There are plenty of radio apps that do this already. Not needed.

It's so obnoxious when people say a feature isn't needed just because they don't use it. FM Radio is a huge feature for some people. Here are two huge reasons off the top of my head.

1. Local radio stations often broadcast sports audio, but are restricted by the leagues from broadcasting it on their online stream.
2. Tons of gyms have multiple communal TVs that broadcast their audio over FM and require you to tune in to a specific station to get the TV audio.

OP, get an Android device. My Motorola Droid 4 has FM radio and I love it.

 

[hobsgrg]

The laws were relaxed about 2006.

Which Nokia phones have had an FM transmitter in? I've had ones with receivers, but not transmitters.
I know it's not exactly this years tech but I used to enjoy listening to Radio1 over the FM radio knowing I wasn't eating my data allowance.

The Nokia N97, N85, N86, N8 all have an FM transmitter as well as receiver.

 

[paulrbeers]

It's so obnoxious when people say a feature isn't needed just because they don't use it. FM Radio is a huge feature for some people. Here are two huge reasons off the top of my head.

1. Local radio stations often broadcast sports audio, but are restricted by the leagues from broadcasting it on their online stream.
2. Tons of gyms have multiple communal TVs that broadcast their audio over FM and require you to tune in to a specific station to get the TV audio.

OP, get an Android device. My Motorola Droid 4 has FM radio and I love it.

Yeah but the OP isn't asking about an FM TUNER, OP is asking for an FM TRANSMITTER (i.e to TRANSMIT the songs FROM his iPhone TO his car, not receive FM).

 

[b24pgg]

Yeah but the OP isn't asking about an FM TUNER, OP is asking for an FM TRANSMITTER (i.e to TRANSMIT the songs FROM his iPhone TO his car, not receive FM).

He also explicitly said "radio receiver" in the first post.

 

[silentsim]

I use a Bluetooth speakerphone that has fm transmitter to do this. (Jabra freeway)

 

[dasx]

There are plenty of radio apps that do this already. Not needed.

Even if the OP was referring to just a transmitter I see plenty of advantages to have a FM receiver in the phone. No internet needed to listen to the radio, what means not only you can receive FM while out of carrier coverage but also no data consumption. Also, apps which offer internet radio do also 'offer' delays between 30 seconds to 1 minute if not more, so no point in watching sports and listening to the radio as you'll have the worst lag ever.

Why don't apple include a FM receiver? Well I dunno tbh, I don't think it'd take that much of space so who knows. I guess this is one of those things we just have to accept... Want radio FM? Buy a nano...  says.

 

[Jimbo47]

For FM transmitters, you definitely have to go the more expensive route. Not super expensive, but the cheap ones for $20 are horrible. I bought a Belkin one from Amazon for $34, and it works like a charm. Any cheaper than that, they're complete crap. FM signals here are very crowded, so I wasn't sure any would work. This one is powerful enough to completely override the signal coming through, so it works perfectly. No static, don't ever have to change the stations, etc. Of course, I have a 4S, so I don't have the lightening adapter.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035AN31A/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

 

[wratran]

You never heard of apps like TuneIn Radio, WunderRadio...there's another one I can't think of the name. They all stream radio stations.

you an idiot...think before posting
these app require data connection.
FM transmitter does not.

 

[dk206]

That's pretty funny. Apple is behind the curve in terms of connectivity! Wow, think that through. They've always been far ahead by eliminating wires way before everyone else and adding new connection types.

FM radio?? Seriously? Talk about crappy audio quality. That does not belong and will never be in an iPhone. Apple is way beyond that....

Hmm let's see.
Stuck in underground (subway)
London has no cellcoverage. Id like to send a picture/document/mp3 etc etc to my gfs phone and share it with her...hmmm other phones heck not even smart-feature phones have been able to do this over the last decade. That's what I mean by CONNECTIVITY

P.s BUMP? What if the other friends phone doesn't have it? No cell coverage - impossible for a iPhone. Its one of the things I don't like about it.

 

[Ntombi]

For people in large cities, FM transmitters are a freakin' nightmare! I tried one back in 2007, and quickly gave up. Living in the LA Metro area, every available frequency is taken by a station, so trying to find a free frequency to transmit over is almost impossible. Then, even if you find one, if you drive more than a couple of miles in any direction, that seemingly free frequency is taken over by a local radio station.

Same in NYC, Chicago, SF, and other large markets.

I'm not commenting on whether it would be helpful to some people; I'm sure it would be, but for a lot of us, nope.

 

[HMI]

Awesome!

I'm still rockin' the 3.5mm to cassette adapter!
Not everyone has a brand new shiny BMW.

 

[tmanto02]

I have used an fm transmitter for my old iPhone 4 for over two years. It worked seamlessly! Now I know what you are going to say "the sound qual is terrible" bla bla bla... Mine was great - good radio quality - no static. I'm not saying its better than other ways I know it's inferior to aux but it was my only option. I tried about 5 versions over the years which all sucked, however the Belkin Tunecast was the best they get! *preparing for troll abuse*

 

[devilsnj30]

I've had a few. One was a Griffin but it was crap. I also have a DLO fm transmitter that used the 30 pin and plugged into the 12v outlet. That has been awesome. Could be better but majority of the time I have no issues.

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Don't remember Last time I listen FM, i just remember noise and commercials. If i need news AM is better option to me. Otherwise $4/month Pandora rules!

You're still not getting it. An FM transmitter broadcasts audio content from your iPhone/iPod touch on an FM channel such that your car can receive the signal and play it through your car's audio system. In other words, say you, like me, have around a 1 hour drive both to and from work, and that you have made a playlist with podcasts for your enjoyment during the drive. Having an FM transmitter is a way of being able to listen to those podcasts while driving.

I actually used to use an FM transmitter daily. Now that I have an iPhone 5, I can no longer use my existing FM transmitter, as the dock adapter is the 30-pin variant. I need Belkin to make one with the 8-pin variant.

The best thing about using an FM transmitter with your device is that you get to listen to your own content, without the commercials that ruin AM radio. I am now getting back into listening to AM talk radio, but once I can get an FM transmitter for my iPhone 5 I will once again be switching to listening to podcasts or my music, on my daily hour drive to and from work.

 

[sviato]

On the bright side, without a transmitter there's less people listening to the top40 crap

 

[vistadude]

Get the griffin universal that uses AAA batteries. It's really fantastic and will work with any device that has a headphone out jack. Never buy adapters that plug into the dock connector as they will go obsolete quickly with apple's drm management and can easily break off your port!