App review – TuneIn radio

The days when the nuclear family gathered around the wireless in a state of zombie like bliss are long gone but it seems that listening to the radio still seems to be a fashionable activity.  Even in the age of spotify and podcasts the radio still seems to exert a pull on our collective psyche.  Just look at the tabloid overreaction to the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross debacle, it conjured up images of decidedly bitter humans listening to the radio, praying that they come across something over the airwaves to get mad about.

With the TuneIn radio app Mary Whitehouse wannabes can listen to the radio through their iPhone.  There are numerous radio apps available on the app store but TuneIn radio seems to be the most popular and it is not hard to see why.  The interface is joyfully uncluttered and it could even pass for an official Apple app.  It shows a logo for the station and even shows album artwork and song titles.  You can also view stations by genre and location and even buy tracks playing on the radio from iTunes.

If your local or national stations don’t take your fancy (and let’s face it when your choice is Chris Moyles it is easy to get disheartened) you can browse over 40,000 different AM/FM stations from around the world.  Some very local stations may not have streams available but you can access just about any station that you want to.  TuneIn even lets you record shows for later enjoyment, like a DVR.  You can even pause or rewind any radio programme you like.  In addition to this the interface allows you to search the different radio streams for stations that are currently playing your favourite artist.

The app has also recently been optimized for iOS4.  You can play all stations and recordings you have made in the background so you can do other things whilst listening to your favourite radio show, such as surf the internet with TuneIn radio’s built in web browser.  All in all TuneIn radio is a great app and it is not hard to see why it has got so popular.  At just £1.19 the app is something of an essential for iPhone and iPod touch owners so we recommend that you go and download TuneIn radio as soon as possible.

TuneIn radio is available for £1.19 from the Apple App store.

App rating – 5 out of 5