TuneIn Radio
TuneIn Radio is ground zero as it pertains to multifaceted radio apps. TuneIn gives you access to more than 100,000 radio stations from all over the world, which makes for the largest selection of news, music, sports, and talk radio among all similar applications. TuneIn’s free version lets you stream any of the aforementioned radio stations live and in high quality, allows you to tune in to your favorite podcasts on demand, and also brighten up your day by immersing yourself in the live coverage of a wide range of sporting events and concerts. TuneIn’s premium option, available for $9.99 per month, gets you season-long live play-by-play action from MLB, NLF, and BPL games, enhances your daily commute to work with a library of over 40,000 audiobooks, and gives you access to more than 600 commercial-free music stations.
iHeart Radio
iHeart Radio is a free app that is personalization heaven. IHeart boasts the most listened-to AM and FM radio stations from major US cities including New York and Los Angeles, an amazing assortment of podcasts, news shows, live talk shows and music countdowns, and last not least local radio stations delivering live sports broadcasts. Thanks to the “My Favorites Radio” option, you can have your very own and easily sharable radio station with your favorite songs and performers, while the “Perfect For” feature allows you to search for music based on everyday activities.
Pandora – Free Music & Radio
Pandora is an essential iOS radio app, but its latest update has unleashed a tsunami of ruthless user backlash, which includes accusations of false advertising, bashing of the subscription-based Pandora Plus, and harsh critiques of pestering and way-too-frequent in-app ads. What we’re trying to say is that despite the app’s immense popularity, you should proceed with caution. As for Pandora’s actual abilities, it allows you to create personalized stations based on artists, genres, and even songs, and browse a multitude of curated genre stations. To get the mercilessly bashed Pandora Plus, the artist formerly known as Pandora One, you’ll have to shell out $4.99 per month. The subscription gets you ad-free listening, limitless skip and replay, and the option to tune in offline.
Slacker Radio
Slacker Radio is currently on the other side of the user feedback spectrum, as it is enjoying a thorough and seemingly well-deserved lovefest on account of providing the same services as Pandora, but at a much higher quality. Slacker gets you free access to customizable, curated music programming, including stations hosted by some of the music industry’s biggest talents, countdowns, news and sports shows, and many more. Just like Pandora, Slacker has an offline mode and also an on-demand option, both of which are available in the Premium subscription plan costing $9.99 per month. In case on-demand listening is not something you need, go for Slacker Plus, which only takes a $3.99 bite out of your budget each month.
KCRW Radio
Through KCRW, a user can listen live to the Music Channel, which keeps a running tab of artist, song, and time played (and you can conveniently purchase songs here too). The app’s On Demand section features daily and weekly episodes of the music, news, and talk programs you love. The crowning feature of this app is its Events Calendar, which chronicles daily happenings from around the country almost a month in advance. It should be no surprise that KCRW, a National Public Radio affiliate based in Santa Monica, Calif., is trailblazing how broadcast radio apps function on mobile devices. It’s tempting to be overwhelmed by KCRW Radio, but it’s even better to just give in to the greatness and take full advantage of what KCRW Radio has to offer in all its finest app glory.
