Is audacy good for radio?

[Kent]

A problem, but at least with iPhones, I simply ask Siri to do my bidding. Covers most of what I need while in the actual act of driving. Anything else can wait.

This is my usual technique, too. Works great so long as I'm streaming a station on iHeartRadio, Audacy, TuneIn, or Pandora. I don’t have any single station apps. So, I don’t know how well they work, and I've yet to try to play a playlist since I switched from Apple Music to YouTube Music.

I know, however, that Audacy won't (or at least wouldn’t a couple months ago) integrate directly with Siri, though you could get around that so long as Apple Music was working properly. RadioPup doesn't seem to integrate with either.

 

[Kelly A]

I'm surprised the cellphone manufacturers haven't developed a drop-in replacement for a car radio, but with TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and/other online music providers included, as well as FM (maybe not AM) radio, connected via a service provider (Verizon, T-Mobile, etc). Maybe they do, but I have not heard of them.

The days of aftermarket radios for vehicles has long since come to an end. Most cars being sold now have tightly integrated networked systems and features tied directly into the vehicle Body Control Module (BCM). For example; Apple Carplay using Bluetooth(tm) has been available in car entertainment systems for ten years. Many vehicles come with drop-on chargers to charge your phone while they interface with the in-car system.

 

[NewsStud]

The problem with that is that it's difficult at best to change stations/providers while driving, even if the phone/tablet/other device is securely mounted. In some states, such as Arizona, where I live, it's illegal for the driver to even touch his/her phone when the vehicle is in motion. There's a reason for that.

I'm surprised the cellphone manufacturers haven't developed a drop-in replacement for a car radio, but with TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and/other online music providers included, as well as FM (maybe not AM) radio, connected via a service provider (Verizon, T-Mobile, etc). Maybe they do, but I have not heard of them.

Newer cars (which will eventually become older cars) have touchscreen based operating systems controlling the entertainment. You don't need your phone or tablet. Your car automatically connects to the phone when you turn the ignition (via bluetooth) and your content and subscriptions appear on the car's own screen. You can interact with it by touching, with voice commands, or by using steering wheel mounted buttons.

While more expensive cars have fancier, more involved systems, even base models now have some sort of screen and bluetooth capability. And that's been standard in many car makes for about a decade.

Under this way of thinking and doing, your local radio stations "appear" on the "tuner" next to streaming apps. The end user (i.e. the driver and/or passengers) makes no distinction between "radio" and "app." It's all just there for them to use.

 

[Kent]

For example; Apple Carplay using Bluetooth(tm) has been available in car entertainment systems for ten years. Many vehicles come with drop-on chargers to charge your phone while they interface with the in-car system.

I bought a car last year, and CarPlay with Bluetooth was only available on WiFi equipped cars (and only after the WiFi was activated). I was told, depending on how you looked at it, Bluetooth either wasn't advanced enough to handle all of the data required for CarPlay or CarPlay still required too much data to use with Bluetooth alone. From what I was able to discern on the internet, my salesman was most likely telling me the truth. It would seem to be a bandwidth issue. At least with Nissan, CarPlay also requires a certain battery life (would seem to be either 40 or 45 percent), and it doesn't seem to work if your phone is in low battery mode. CarPlay would seem to actually transmit the audio via Bluetooth and the data via the charging cable in my car.

Unless I need to use a specific app, want to charge my phone, or have a passenger, I usually connect my phone to Bluetooth and use the voice controls to operate it. I can operate the entire sound system with my voice, and it works really well. The only downside I've noticed is the voice recognition system seems to be the last feature that turns on in the car and isn't available for several minutes after starting the car. I can even switch to a local radio station or a SiriusXM channel when using Waze via CarPlay with the voice system. Getting the touch between operating the audio system and the phone took a little bit of getting used to, but it become second nature to me really quickly. I like that approach enough that I put a Bluetooth-to-FM adapter in my older car that doesn't have Bluetooth and just shout at Siri when I want to change stations.

 

[oldradiotapes]

The problem with that is that it's difficult at best to change stations/providers while driving, even if the phone/tablet/other device is securely mounted. In some states, such as Arizona, where I live, it's illegal for the driver to even touch his/her phone when the vehicle is in motion. There's a reason for that.

I just pull over to the shoulder or into a car park/driveway/fast food/petrol station/whatever when I'm able to. In the motorways I usually drive in either the far left or right lane (no, please don't conflate that with politics; I'm a dead-centre moderate) so 98% of the time it's not an issue. Depends if I'm coming up on an offramp or not and/or how closely the idiot behind me with the Califoregon plates, fartcans and rear window completely covered with Trump 2024, NRA and confederate/Gasden flag bumper stickers is tailgating. (Just another day on the road in western Washington...)

I actually used to be really good changing discs blind, when I still (mainly) used discs.

I'm surprised the cellphone manufacturers haven't developed a drop-in replacement for a car radio, but with TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and/other online music providers included, as well as FM (maybe not AM) radio, connected via a service provider (Verizon, T-Mobile, etc). Maybe they do, but I have not heard of them.

The current tech of ground-based terrestrial networks prohibits it, particularly once you leave a populated (urban) area. Ever tried using a cell phone to make a voice call in an area like e.g. the Columbia River Gorge? Yeah, doubt streaming would even be conceivable whilst driving. (The rather interesting stories I could tell about using AMPS in the Gorge during the 90s/early 2000s!) It might work fine in the city but even in flat, wide-open places in the middle of nowhere, where towers are sparse, it can really be hit and miss depending on propagation. This is one of the few circumstances where broadcast radio actually has an advantage. Even when you're 50 miles from the closest FM there's a good chance you might still be able to pick it up. But if you just want music there's still no substitute for a local on-device library.

If, someday, satellite-based networks become cheap enough and proliferate then the problem might be mitigated to some degree.

 

[KeithE4]

Newer cars (which will eventually become older cars) have touchscreen based operating systems controlling the entertainment. You don't need your phone or tablet. Your car automatically connects to the phone when you turn the ignition (via bluetooth) and your content and subscriptions appear on the car's own screen. You can interact with it by touching, with voice commands, or by using steering wheel mounted buttons.

While more expensive cars have fancier, more involved systems, even base models now have some sort of screen and bluetooth capability. And that's been standard in many car makes for about a decade.

Under this way of thinking and doing, your local radio stations "appear" on the "tuner" next to streaming apps. The end user (i.e. the driver and/or passengers) makes no distinction between "radio" and "app." It's all just there for them to use.

Depends on how one defines "newer." My 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan has none of those things. It has an AM/FM/CD/SiriusXM receiver, with no Bluetooth. I still need an audio cable to connect my phone to the stereo.

 

[Kelly A]

Depends on how one defines "newer." My 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan has none of those things. It has an AM/FM/CD/SiriusXM receiver, with no Bluetooth. I still need an audio cable to connect my phone to the stereo.

Time for a new car? Of course if you drive an older car the tech will be less advanced than a current model. Been that way since cars were first sold.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Depends on how one defines "newer." My 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan has none of those things. It has an AM/FM/CD/SiriusXM receiver, with no Bluetooth. I still need an audio cable to connect my phone to the stereo.

Time for a new car? Of course if you drive an older car the tech will be less advanced than a current model. Been that way since cars were first sold.

Keep in mind as well that some of the tech in a 2017 model vehicle may harken back to previous model years, or in some cases, back to the original design of that particular generation of the Grand Caravan. In my 2017 vehicle, I have AM/FM/SiriusXM, but also bluetooth, OnStar and the vehicle itself can also act as a WiFi hotspot (for a monthly fee) that anyone in the vehicle can connect to and use. Apple CarPlay is also much upgraded with the ability to display the map from Google Maps from my phone on the screen in the dash, and have those directions announced over the sound system while it "ducks" the radio volume if I so choose. I can also use the touch screen in the dash to control the music or even YouTube vids that are playing from my phone.

That said, I think the first year for that particular model was 2013 and there was a more or less complete redesign of the dash and entertainment system for the 2017 model year.

 

[Kelly A]

Keep in mind as well that some of the tech in a 2017 model vehicle may harken back to previous model years, or in some cases, back to the original design of that particular generation of the Grand Caravan.

Saw the best bumper sticker ever on the back of a newer Dodge minivan yesterday. It said: "I used to be cool"

 

[Delete My Account]

Audacy is good for talk radio in a few markets, at least. KMBZ (FM) and WWL are stellar, local and diverse talkers that don't just broadcast syndicated rants all day.

 

[boombox4]

and/or how closely the idiot behind me with the Califoregon plates, fartcans and rear window completely covered with Trump 2024, NRA and confederate/Gasden flag bumper stickers is tailgating. (Just another day on the road in western Washington...)

Not many of those in this section of Western WA. In fact -- none at all. There are a handful of conservatives and Trumpers but none that have Trump 2024 Confederate or any similar regalia on their vehicles. They would probably be keyed or rocked in an instant.

RE: integrated systems: I think Mercedes and a few others started that with the necessary code that the car's computer needs to 'see' for the stereo to work. If pulled from the car, the stereo was otherwise useless. This would have been over 20 years ago. I'm sure the added technology only made it more difficult for modification, aftermarket radios / stereos, etc.

 

[oldradiotapes]

Not many of those in this section of Western WA. In fact -- none at all. There are a handful of conservatives and Trumpers but none that have Trump 2024 Confederate or any similar regalia on their vehicles. They would probably be keyed or rocked in an instant.

You should drive SR 503 (i.e. NE 117th Avenue) into Battle Ground sometime, then into Chelatchie, Amboy and towards Cougar. Oi. I'm a bit surprised there aren't more keyings or rockings than there are, especially considering Clark County's* unfortunate proximity to Potland.

[ * Yes, I do know Cougar is in Cowlitz County. 503 is the main drag that runs through it before becoming Forest Road 90. ]

I was just through there a few hours ago coming back from camping at Mount Loowit. I didn't DX broadcasting there though I managed to snag a neighbour on 151.880, 2 watts into an half-wave whip on a Yaesu HT last night. So I guess that sort of counts as DXing. The smoke in the upper atmosphere makes the sky conductive and reflective. (There, I made a connection between my usual biting social commentary and radio.)