TuneIn Radio is easily one of the best apps on my iPad. At the crazy price of $0.99, it still blows away all the other radio apps I’ve tried. In an era where media is increasingly delivered on-demand, TuneIn Radio provides some of that nostalgic radio experience, with all the bells and whistles we expect from our devices today. Listen to local FM stations from around the world, Internet streams and podcasts, or Talk radio. The feature list reads like my grandmother’s grocery lists – oh, delicious anticipation. And boy, it delivers. But the top selling feature for me was hands down the ability to record, so we’ll start there.
Record Live Streams on your iPad
This was a huge deal for me. I often listen to obscure global channels and like to keep a small archive of material. I can even ‘rewind’ if I decide to record mid-song (up to 30 minutes, after initiating the stream). They currently do not allow you to export your recordings, but you might be able to get at them via PhoneView if you have a mac. Recording sizes are based on bitrate and length, and can be renamed for organization.
Are Your Favs on TuneIn?
Easy. Before you purchase, I suggest browsing their website to see if your favorite stations are there. They have several pathways to find stations of interest to you, and you’ll probably discover some new favorites. Listening to radio from other countries can be liberating! Expand your foreign language vocabulary almost effortlessly just by listening, or see life from a different cultural perspective. Worth $0.99? Hell yes.
TuneIn Radio iPad App Features
- Record! on-demand, or with a recording timer. It’s DVR for your radio!
- Pause, rewind and fast-forward live streaming. Tell your car stereo to do that!
- Bookmarks and presets Create presets for your favorite stations for easy access later on
- Sleep timer and alarm clock: very bare-bones, but it works
- Supports TuneIn Radio accounts, but not required! Big thumbs up.
- Robust station finder: search or browse by keywords, locations, or genre.
- Play in the background: This was the other major draw when I purchased this app (pre-multitasking) – now it just works. But if your device doesn’t for some reason, it will open a safari player that works nicely in the background to simulate it.
My Personal Wishlist
There’s not a lot I would do to improve this app – the most obvious the ability to export recordings. But according to their FAQ, that’s a limitation imposed by Apple.
- Recording Editor I would love a rudimentary in-app editor for my recordings; an intuitive tap-and-splice function with options to save as a new track or replace the full recording. With no export function, I don’t like hanging on to a long recording when all I want is 5 minutes of it.
- Add a link to the FAQ: Don’t make us think! We need all our brain cells for watching Jeopardy. A simple link under settings would do just fine.
- Battery life seems to drain pretty fast when running TuneIn. Perhaps some reconfiguration would help?
- Allow more than one timed recording along with the interface to manage them
- A bug fix, please! I can trigger an annoying scenario with 3 factors: Set a recording timer, have the app open when it’s due to start, and *ahem* no free space on the device. When the recording is ready to start, it alerts me that it will not record due to lack of space (good) and continues to pop up every second until I shut down my iPad (bad). It’s an unlikely scenario, but very annoying when I can’t halt the popups long enough to manually stop the recording or remove the timer.
Help! My TuneIn App is _______
When questions or problems arise, head to the TuneIn website for help:
- iOS (iPad/iPhone) support: http://tunein.com/support/ios/ for answers about downloading, installing, app settings, and troubleshooting your TuneIn app.
- TuneIn Listener Support: http://tunein.com/support/listening-help/ for more general service-oriented answers about TuneIn Radio.
- The Contact Form: http://tunein.com/support/contact/ When all else fails, contact the app devs directly. Don’t just complain in your app store reviews, where they can’t reach out to help you!
Closing Thoughts
For a dollar, you can’t go wrong. The ability to record – live or by a timer – is a huge advantage over other radio apps. The interface is nice, not overdone. And it’s just a pleasure to use. The downside – not being able to export recordings, and possible battery drainage – are mitigated by the price tag. So give it a go, and let me know in the comments what you think!
