Public Radio Tuner

[mkrishnan]

Project Homepage
iTunes / App Store Link

I was just pondering on how I've generally completely resisted the idea that I want or need a radio on my iPhone, but on the other hand it might be nice to sometimes listen to Morning Edition instead of music while walking to work (my walk is about 14 blocks, so it takes about 20 minutes). Podcasts are certainly an option, but this is another one.

Public Radio Tuner is a free application that tunes streaming radio of about 200 different US Public Radio stations, including Chicago's excellent WBEZ. I know, this means I need to donate money to NPR again (it's been a while, sorry Ira Glass ).

The application allows streaming over data services, which is de rigeur for this kind of usage. Not to be outdone by it's first release, the planned second generation of the app this spring was stated to offer a program guide and on-demand content, making it battery sucking but a lot more convenient than listening to NPR via podcast.

First off, the new version of the Tuner will offer a program guide. With this feature, you will be able to open the iPhone app and see what’s on right now. The programs currently airing across hundreds of station streams will be right at your fingertips. A large number of users have requested this feature, and we’re planning to make it happen for version 2.0. This is a big job, and we’re gathering all the program schedules and related metadata from participating stations to create this new feature.

But it’s not just about listening to public radio where you want. It’s also about listening to your favorite programs when you want. With that in mind, version 2.0 of the Public Radio Tuner will offer streaming of select on-demand content from both networks and local stations. With this feature, you will be able to pull up the Public Radio Tuner on your bus ride home and listen to recent episodes of Studio 360, Fresh Air, and Marketplace, just to name a few. The development team is working with the collaboration partners to determine the roster of programs and segments that will be made available for streaming on the Tuner. On-demand streaming has been another of the most common user requests, and it will be a great addition to the Tuner.

I just downloaded it and so I haven't really tried using it on the way to work, but I wondered if others are using it?

 

[WishIWasHere]

I got this app as soon as it became available, it was exactly what I wanted, WUNC streaming to my phone. The only radio that I really listen to is NPR, so for the moment this is the only radio app I need. I read some of the reviews and I have to wonder what many of those people were thinking. If they were actually looking for hip hop stations, they couldn't have read the app description at all. App works fine for me.

 

[mkrishnan]

If they were actually looking for hip hop stations, they couldn't have read the app description at all. App works fine for me.

This does seem to be a particularly egregious example of bad rating on the App Store. A simple perusal of StuffWhitePeopleLike would make it clear why this was ill-conceived.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Thanks for mentioning this excellent free app. I had been using the AOL Radio tuner on my touch, but they stream only one NPR station, and it dropped out constantly. I'm still waiting for my local NPR affiliate to be listed, but in the meantime, I can listen to another in the area quite reliably, or pick another one from around the country randomly (You never know when you'll need the traffic reports from Arizona or Boston!). Good stuff!

 

[mkrishnan]

or pick another one from around the country randomly (You never know when you'll need the traffic reports from Arizona or Boston!). Good stuff!

Glad you like it!

This actually is something the next version claims to make more useful -- if you like the experience of listening to your radio live, the channel guide could help you find a show you like playing "live" somewhere else on a different member station.