Michal Ždanský If you like to listen to music and you can't get enough of your music collection on your iPhone or iPod, you might also be disappointed that the iPhone doesn't offer an FM tuner, through which we could at least tune in to Czech radio stations. The only alternative seems to be streaming internet radio on the device using an application. RadioBOX is once like that.
At first glance, RadioBOX impresses with its nicely designed graphic environment and relatively simple user interface. This has undergone a lot of development during the existence of the application, and the current form is very successful. The main screen consists of several tabs – Stations, Favorites, Recordings, Player and More.
In the first tab, we have a list of radios that form two main massive databases - SHOUTcast, which falls under Winamp and RadioDeck. Both of these databases count hundreds of internet radio stations from all over the world across all known genres. In addition to the name list, you will also see the bitrate and streaming format of each radio. In addition, you will also find the option to play from the server here Icecast. In this way, you can stream music from your computer to the server through the client, and from there directly to your device. More information can be found on the home page Icecast.
After selecting the station you want to listen to, you will be taken to the player tab. By default, it only shows the wallpaper and a box where you can see the track and artist name, radio name and bitrate with the stream format. When you tap the screen, all the player controls will appear. In the top bar we can see the buttons to add to Favorites, Share (Facebook, Twiitter, Email), Timer when the playback should be turned off (if you want to fall asleep while listening to the radio, for example), play in the background, when the application switches to Safari and finally backlight control .
The lower control panel is a classic control with stopwatch, pause, rewind and record button. Recording is a big plus of the application, it allows you to record any snippet of the currently playing song, which is then saved in the Recordings tab. In addition to the audio track, track and radio information is also saved. So this is a practical way to note down a song that caught your eye and you might want to add it to your music collection later. This eliminates the need to write down the name of the artist's composition somewhere on the side of the paper.
In the Favorites tab, you will then find all the stations that you have marked in this way, so that you do not always have to search for them in a comprehensive list of both databases. The application offers a fairly deep integration of the RadioDeck database, which has its own section in Favorites, but you need to create your own account on the relevant pages. You can also do this directly from the application. If you don't care, you can find all the stations in the top tab My Device.
You can also use the button in this tab Add Custom URL add your own radio station if you know the address of the respective stream. You can find it out, for example, from your radio's website. If you are fixated on domestic broadcasting, you will certainly appreciate the function of adding your own radio stations. It should be mentioned that the application supports multitasking, i.e. including playing music in the background, which is considered more of a standard today.
In the last tab, More, you will find a list of recently played radio stations, a built-in Internet browser, an overview of data transfers, background settings and help. Other settings can then be found directly in the native Settings application. Here, RadioBOX allows you to set the rules for data transmissions in relatively detail. A useful feature is, for example, the prohibition of streaming outside the WiFi network. After all, just by listening to the radio on 3G, you would very quickly reach the limit of your FUP for mobile internet.
Although RadioBOX does not replace a classic FM receiver, it is a great alternative for listening to radio stations from all over the world. For the ridiculous price of €0,79 in the App Store, this is certainly a great choice, and the app is universal for both iPhone and iPad.
RadioBOX - €0,79
Michael, thank you very much for the article. I happily use RadioBox on my iPad. I've been looking for exactly that kind of thing lately. RadioBox is really cool. I also highly recommend it.