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FM Radio on Phones
- Thread starter Mrbiglott
- Start date
Even if the required tuner software is inside the phone and active, it requires wired earbuds to work. The wiring serves as the antenna. I haven't owned a cellphone with an earbud jack for several years. Bluetooth replaced wiring a long time ago. I'm not sure if any phones offer an earbud jack anymore.
The iHeart, Audacy, TuneIn, etc. apps work just fine.
Actually the tide is strongly turning the other way - Where streaming and apps are becoming more prevalently used vs. OTA broadcasts, and just adding an FM tuner to cell phones wouldn't stop, slow or reverse that trend. Even if a cell phone had a viable FM receiver, the app would still be superior. First, the FM tuner would be limited to only the FM signals you could receive in your given location and depending on the strength of the signal, it may fade, etc. The app is viable anywhere you have a data or internet connection. Second, the app allows you to listen to hundreds (maybe more) stations, not just the FM stations you're able to receive at your location. Third, when traveling, the app allows you to listen to stations uninterrupted. Again, as long as you have a viable internet signal or cell data. This is opposed to driving and having to turn to different stations or having to scan through and find something else to listen to once one signal fades as you drive.
I have a number of friends who aren't from this area originally. They appreciate being able to listen to stations, including news, from from their home towns, for instance, as they like to stay updated with what's going on there. The apps and streaming allows them to do that. An FM receiver would not.
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You could still make it work. Just need a dongle with a headphone jack connection that would connect to where you charge your phone and voila! There you go.
I know it sucks that they're still getting rid of headphone jacks but... yeah.
Why would anyone bother?
What would you expect out of a thin 6x9 conglomeration of plastic, metal, and glass? Sheesh....
I bought my current phone, a Motorola Moto E5 Go, in December of last year. It has FM and an earbud jack. The model was introduced in late 2018 and is still in production. I can't determine when mine was manufactured, so it's possible the features have been eliminated from this year's phones.
The 2022 MOTO G phone has FM built into it. The phone came out in May 2022, has headphone Jack as well.
I know this one is old but the Samsung S9 had headphone Jack and I was able to use NEXT radio app. The S10 also came out with headphone Jack but wouldn’t allow me to use Next radio app. I always wondered why they never tried to have a phone with HD RADIO on it. Is the receiver that big?
My wife had an S8 which had and FM tuner, I had an S9 that did not.
HD Radio has three major problems:
1. It is patent encumbered
2. Its only significant market is the United States.
3. The receiver chip takes a fair bit of power - this is why handheld HD Radio tuners were never really a thing
The phone manufacturers are all multinationals. They do not want to spend money including a technology that will provide zero benefit to a purchaser in Australia or Greece or Republic of Korea, especially if they have to pay Xperi a patent royalty to do so.
Wow interesting, like I said my S9 did. My S10 said it did but when I opened the Next Radio app on the S10 it only said something about my provider not allowing access to the radio chip
I remember the ZUNE HD from Microsoft had HD RADIO
And how long did that device last? And did they sell more than a few dozen?
The Zune was trying to create differentiation from the iPod. It didn't work, and that experience back then probably harms any case you might be able to make for Samsung or Nokia to invest in an HD Radio chip today.
FM Chips are widely available on phones today, but cellphone companies keep them hidden on purpose. However, you can download the NextRadio app to access your phone's tuner. As others have said, the Microsoft Zune was the last "phone" to try HD IBOC, and it was more of a Sony Walkman type than an actual phone. I wish greed didn't make the world go around, but it does, and ibquity sure is cashing in on those strict standards they provided, as well as patents. It would be cool to have a subsidized HD service similar to IBOC though, I think it would have a little more success. I do have FM on my phone, and I use it occasionally, but now I have a portable radio as my daily driver for FM, and I would almost rather go to the website and listen without all those dongles. It's true that the cell service can go out in bad areas, which is why I like to have AM/FM/Shortwave, but for your day to day needs, it's clear what our future is.
Apple's phones, with market penetration of 56% in the United States, do not have an FM tuner in their phones. Some android phones do have FM tuners, certainly not all.
The NextRadio app was discontinued 3 years ago because they ran out of money. It is still listed on the Android store, but was last updated January 2019. Its days are probably numbered.
Apple began their push several models ago to make the iPhone completely free of cables and cords. To their mind, there was no need for a traditional headphone jack - because they'd developed wireless earbuds (as you stated, you can get an adaptor, or they also make earbuds that plug directly into the lightning connector on the bottom). They also introduced the ability to wirelessly charge iPhones - no more need to plug them in.
Just like Tesla and a few other manufacturers felt there was no need, or real appetite anymore for an AM radio tuner in their cars and no longer offer them (I realize some of that was also driven by interference issues), Apple decided they'd given consumers plenty of options for listening to news, music and to stream radio stations using their smartphones - no need to include an FM tuner in their estimation.
And so few radios have it. For a time some home receivers had it built-in like Denon and Yamaha but that's now history. iBiquity keeping a closed source system didn't help. All about the greed!
Power requirements and/or battery life?
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