I don’t know about you, but I really like having music on in the background while I’m pottering around the house of an evening. I’ve got various playlists that I listen to through the Amazon Music app (which is quite good if you’re an Amazon Prime member), but sometimes I like to just pop the radio on.
I use my phone for that as well, though – partly because the radio signal is a bit shaky in my kitchen, but also because I get a lot more options that way.
Most radio stations don’t just broadcast over FM radio or DAB digital radio these days, they also “stream” their shows live on the internet. You can go to the website of the radio station to listen to it, but the easiest way to tune in to online radio is to use one of the many dedicated apps that are out there.
For UK radio stations, I use the “Radioplayer UK” app. It’s completely free to download and use – you can find it in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It has over 500 stations to listen to from all over the UK. A lot of them are commercial stations, so you do get adverts between the songs, but the BBC stations are on there too.
If you’re looking for talk radio, you’ll find various options in the Radioplayer app, or you might prefer to listen to some “podcasts” instead. These are pre-recorded shows that you can listen to whenever you like, rather than joining in part way through a live radio broadcast. You’ll find lots of podcast apps in your app store (“Podcast Addict” is pretty good), but my favourite is the “BBC Sounds” app.
Or if you’re after something a bit more exotic, you’re not limited to UK radio.
There’s a whole range of apps by a developer called “AppMind” that give you access to radio stations from all around the world – with a separate app for each country. Just try searching in your app store for “Radio” and the country you’re after – so if you wanted to find a French radio station, you could search for “Radio France”.
Bonne écoute!