Best Radio App for Android: Online and Offline FM

Radio apps come in two kinds, and the name on the store rarely tells you which one you are getting. An internet radio app plays a station’s online stream. It works wherever you have Wi-Fi or mobile data, and it can reach stations in other countries. An FM radio app switches on a receiver inside the phone. It costs no data and only picks up the stations broadcasting near you.

We went through the Google Play listings of the apps this article named in 2019 and of the ones that lead the store’s search results now. We also read what Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi and HMD say about FM radio on their own phones.

Radio without internet

Listening with no data takes hardware: an FM receiver in the phone, and a wire to act as the aerial. The phone makers all describe it the same way.

• Samsung: its support site in India says compatible Galaxy phones come with a Radio app for listening to local stations without an internet connection. You plug in wired headphones and the wire serves as the aerial. You can send the sound to the speaker, but the headphones have to stay plugged in. Pull them out and the radio turns off.
• Motorola: its support page for the moto g04 says listening to the radio does not use mobile data. It adds that the wired headphones are still needed as the aerial when the sound goes to the speaker or to Bluetooth headphones.
• HMD: the user guide for the Nokia C30 says the headset is the aerial, and that it may be sold separately.
• Xiaomi: the spec page for the Redmi 15C lists FM radio support and ties it to the headphone jack.

To find out whether your phone has it, look in the app drawer for an app called Radio or FM Radio, then read the phone’s spec page on the maker’s website. The receiver is a part inside the phone. If the phone was built without one, an app cannot supply it.

Motorola’s FM Radio is the only phone maker’s FM app we found on Google Play. Its listing says it is designed for Motorola phones with an enabled FM chipset. It scans for stations, keeps a favourites list, records and has a sleep timer. It is free and carries a “Contains ads” label. On other brands, the FM app is the one that came with the phone. NextRadio, which older guides recommend for this, is no longer on Google Play, and the apps using that name now come from other developers.

Be careful with store apps named “Radio FM Without Internet” or “FM Radio Without Earphone”. We opened several of those listings, and the descriptions under the titles were of internet radio: stations from around the world, streamed. They need data like any other streaming app.

Radio apps compared

The big station directories

TuneIn Radio carries the most besides music. Its listing counts more than 100,000 AM and FM stations from 197 countries, next to podcasts, news channels, live sport and audiobooks. The free app plays adverts. TuneIn Premium is a subscription that cuts them down and adds commercial-free music stations. There is also a separate paid app, TuneIn Radio Pro, where a one-time fee removes the display ads and the adverts that play before a stream starts.

Radio Garden is the one to open when you do not know what you want to hear. The screen is a globe covered in green dots. Each dot is a city or town, and tapping it tunes you to the stations broadcasting from there. The listing says the radio keeps playing when the phone goes to sleep, and that you can save favourites.

myTuner Radio and Simple Radio are plain station lists. myTuner’s listing gives more than 50,000 stations from over 200 countries and territories, with an alarm, a sleep timer and a search by country, city or genre. Simple Radio, from Streema, counts over 90,000 stations and keeps your favourites one tap away. Both listings say plainly that an internet connection is required.

Fewer ads, less data

Replaio Radio has two settings worth having on a metered plan. Its listing says you can choose the stream quality separately for mobile data and Wi-Fi, and have playback stop when the phone is on mobile data. The ads in the app go away for good with a single payment, with no subscription. You can also add a station yourself if you know its stream address.

Radi-oh! is the only app in the table without a “Contains ads” label. The developer says the app shows no banners and no videos, and sells a one-time unlock for extras such as widgets, casting and unlimited favourites. Stations still play their own adverts inside the stream, as they do in every app here.

Audials Play does one thing the others do not: it records. Its listing says it can save a whole programme, or split a stream into separate songs, and play them back later with no connection. It also shows what a station is playing before you tune in. Only keep recordings you have the right to keep.

Nigerian, Indian and BBC stations

A country app puts local stations on the first screen. Radio Nigeria – Online Radio lists more than 150 Nigerian stations, and its listing names Cool 96.9 FM, Wazobia FM 95.1 Lagos, Nigeria Info FM 99.3 Lagos and BBC Hausa among them. The same developer publishes FM Radio – all India radio, with more than 500 Indian stations including Radio Mirchi, Red FM and Vividh Bharti. Both stream over the internet, despite the FM in their names.

Some stations have an app of their own as well. Cool FM Nigeria’s is on Google Play from Steam Broadcasting & Communications Ltd, free with ads.

For the BBC, use the BBC app. Its listing says you can listen live to the World Service and Radio 4, including in the background while you use another app. BBC Sounds is closed to listeners outside the UK, and our guide to BBC podcasts explains where everything moved to.

iHeart is a regional service. iHeart’s help site says it is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Anywhere else, pick another app from the table.

How much data streaming uses

That depends on the stream. A station that streams at 128 kbps uses about 58 MB an hour, and one at 64 kbps about 29 MB. An hour a day at the higher rate comes to roughly 1.7 GB over a 30-day month. The directories do not publish each station’s rate, so treat those figures as a guide. FM costs nothing, which is the whole case for it.

Which one to pick

• Your phone has an FM radio and you own wired earphones: the Radio app that came with the phone, or Motorola’s FM Radio on a Motorola. No data used.
• Stations, news, sport and podcasts in one app: TuneIn Radio.
• Browsing the world for something new: Radio Garden.
• A tight data plan: Replaio Radio, with the stream quality turned down on mobile data.
• No ads in the app: Radi-oh!.
• Nigerian stations in one list: Radio Nigeria – Online Radio.
• Keeping a programme to hear later: Audials Play.

If the sound needs work, Replaio and Audials have an equaliser built in, and our guide to equalizer apps for Android covers the rest. To play any of this through an older car stereo, see what works in place of an FM transmitter app.

What happened to the old list

TuneIn, myTuner and iHeart are covered above. AccuRadio is still on Google Play, free with ads. It plays its own music channels, not broadcast stations. XiiaLive no longer turns up in a search of the store. Radio Online is now a name several apps share, and we could not tell which one the old article meant.

Pandora and SiriusXM are American services. Pandora’s listing says it is available to US customers only, and SiriusXM’s says use of its app is limited to the United States and certain US territories. Spotify is a music service, so it does not belong in a list of radio apps.

Quick answers

Is there a radio app for Android that works without internet?

Only the FM radio app on a phone that has an FM receiver, with wired earphones plugged in as the aerial. Apps that stream stations need Wi-Fi or mobile data, whatever their name says.

Can I listen to FM radio without earphones?

You can listen through the speaker, but the earphones have to stay plugged in. Samsung, Motorola and HMD all say the wire is the aerial.

What is the best radio app in Nigeria?

If your phone has an FM radio, that is the cheapest way to hear local stations. For streaming, Radio Nigeria – Online Radio lists over 150 Nigerian stations in one place.

Which radio apps work with Android Auto?

The listings of myTuner Radio, Simple Radio, Replaio Radio, Audials Play and Radi-oh! all name Android Auto. Google’s help pages do not include Nigeria among the countries where Android Auto is offered.

Is there a free radio app without ads?

Radi-oh! has no ads label on Google Play and sells a one-time unlock in their place. Replaio Radio removes its ads for a single payment. The adverts a station plays in its own stream stay, in any app.