Phones still do. Xiaomi phones for example.
Phones should have FM radio again
Submitted 8 months ago by corbin@infosec.pub to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.spacebar.news/p/phones-should-have-fm-radio-again
Comments
steakmeout@aussie.zone 8 months ago
ahriboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Almost any mid-range phone with headphone jack
Eww@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Bring back PTT! Miss my Nextel.
AA5B@lemmy.world 8 months ago
That was a horrible gimmick, mostly useful for annoying people. But I believe iPhones have it, or at least Apple Watch does
Eww@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
I was in my late teens and annoying AF! But the ability to speak quickly with my most frequent contacts without having to dial was really convenient.
littlecolt@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I just looked, the app I used to use for a Nextel replacement still exists, it’s called Voxer. Cannot speak to it’s quality anymore but I did use it a lot back in the day.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
The last couple major power failures we’ve had in my area, information was by far the most difficult thing to come by.
The power goes out, and shortly thereafter so does cable internet. My UPS usually keeps my cable box up longer than the service itself lasts. That puts everyone on the cell network, which is immediately overloaded. So the internet is essentially worthless during most hours.
FM radio stations are similarly worthless. I remember a power outage last winter where there was going to be a press conference, I think the governor was going to talk about something…couldn’t get coverage. The local FM station was up and running, they were broadcasting just fine, but they were trying to patch into the press conference via Facebook, and the internet wasn’t up to it. They apparently don’t have their own radio uplinks anymore.
The local television station would have been more help…if I could get an antenna high enough to hear it.
And during normal business hours most broadcast FM stations are IHeartRadio transmitting the same 20 songs intercut with the same 90,000 advertisements. Or broadcasting The Two Retards Named Chris show three times a day.
You_Are_Breathing@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m sad that my Asus Zenfone 9 (it has a headphone jack) can’t get FM radio. The app I use (NextRadio) can’t detect a FM tuner on the phone.
bugieman@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You might like radiogarden! It pulls streams for any radio stations that clone their feed online. You won’t get everything but you have the option to listen to radio from anywhere in the world!
Melco@lemmy.world 8 months ago
[deleted]Balthazar@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
The statement here is “all standard phones should have radio”. Is yours standard? And if you would be oh so gracious could you also give me the brand and phone type so that I might look it up myself?
Plagiatus@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Not OP but my Samsung Galaxy M21 has it, too. It’s slightly hidden as you don’t find it on your home screen or app list, only when you search for it inside the app list.
helio@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Are you in the EU? Here in the US phones haven’t had FM in a long time, or at least have access disabled/restricted
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 months ago
My LG V600T has an FM Radio and it works fine other than the fact the radio stations in my area basically no longer exist. I’m in the US.
SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 8 months ago
I’ve not heard of this feature for over 10 years… what phones do you have that have it?
arin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Digital FM? Analog is a piece of crap
tristar@lemmyfly.org 8 months ago
Why not both? Digital is obviously better but analog is painfully simple hence it’ll probably be the medium used for transmitting emergency alerts
arin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Because analog takes up the wavelength bandwidth
Smokeydope@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Even most cheapo mp3 players have this functionality built in
cosmicboi@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I miss when MP3 players were popular. There was a lot more variety in consumer tech before 2013-ish
Smokeydope@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I love my Surfans F20 got it 3 years ago and its still going strong after quite a few drops and nicks. I wish they made a updated usb-c version but otherwise as a big music guy that hates music streaming, downloads everything, and prefers the convinence of a dedicated digital audio device its just awesome.
rallatsc@slrpnk.net 8 months ago
This is still a feature in some major brands though. I have a Moto g power from a relatively recent model year and it comes with a built-in FM Radio app that uses wired headphones as an antenna. It also still has a headphone jack so I don’t know how indicative it is of the broader US market.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
Every phone I had that did this also used the wired headphone cable as an antenna. Personally I do like Bluetooth on the go (for casual listening only), so I’m not actually sure it would be usable unless the phone had a separate antenna.
Tathas@programming.dev 8 months ago
So, what, we’re just going to carry around USB antennas now?
agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
A lot of phones already have the capability to recieve broadcast band FM, the type and electrical length of the antenna matters a lot less when you’re just receiving signals.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
You do SDR on your phone? The last time I played with one of those dongles was like a decade ago and mostly I used it to check out NOAA satellite data and eavesdrop on air traffic control at the local airport.
I wonder how useful that would still be to keep tabs on the local pigs during the protests the next time they murder someone?
brophy@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Fun fact: almost every phone on the market has the hardware. It’s just drivers/software that are missing (and, more recently, the antenna’s been unavailable with the removal of the audio jack. The radio chip is still in there though)
eumesmo@lemmings.world 8 months ago
Well, thinking about it like that really puts things in a new perspective.
randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 8 months ago
So glad that mine does.
Tygr@lemmy.world 8 months ago
No thanks. I listened to radio the other day (not in my car) and it was all ads and a shortened version of a song so they can do more ads.
I didn’t realize radio got so bad.
simon_greenwood@feddit.uk 8 months ago
The one headphone adapter I have doesn’t seem to work, and I don’t think there was one with the phone. Finicky is probably right!
MooseBoys@lemmy.world 8 months ago
FM access would cut down on mobile data usage… up-to-the-minute weather reports and automated alerts… are broadcasted at 162.400, which means you need specialized radios to pick up the stations… maybe an external antenna could use the shield or one of the pins on the phone’s charging port, or wired USB-C headphones and 3.5mm adapters could be updated to work as antennas… There could also just be an adapter that connects to the phone and contains all the required hardware…
What the fuck is this person smoking?
Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 8 months ago
No idea?
but to break the points apart a bit…
FM access would cut down on mobile data usage
FM radio is something like 54kHz. Simplisticly we can say that would be 54kbps… let’s even say it’s double that to account for overhead. so 108kbps. That’s just about 1 GB/day. That’s not really an amount that carriers sell anymore… Nor do people normally listen to music 24hours a day.
up-to-the-minute weather reports and automated alerts
Only if you’re listening… and our phones do automated alerts already… as long as those systems are working. And considering that FM is a completely different well documented thing… it’s worth keeping it around.
are broadcasted at 162.400, which means you need specialized radios to pick up the stations…
Nah, FM has been built into chipsets for well over a decade at this point. Most radios even still have them today. Just disconnected. But even if it wasn’t available… Most phones at this point use RTL-SDR radios… software define radios means you can just program it to FM frequencies and it will work.
maybe an external antenna could use the shield or one of the pins on the phone’s charging port, or wired USB-C headphones and 3.5mm adapters could be updated to work as antennas…
Or even the wireless contacts for Qi charging and NFC… Just disable the radio app when these things are actually in use…
There could also just be an adapter that connects to the phone and contains all the required hardware…
No need, the vast majority of phones already have what you’d need. Just never connected/used by software for some reason.
a4ng3l@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I must be ootl; what’s the upside compared to Spotify ? Having to endure ads, talk-shows and other open mics while having shitty reception isn’t enticing… at least here there isn’t any station I would find satisfying content-wise; given the whole frequency assignment bullshit small stations are few and far between with nothing that would cover metal and / or frenchcore. So the small benefit of music discovery isn’t really possible anymore for me.
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
News during emergencies
pjhenry1216@kbin.social 8 months ago
Do these chips have AM radio? Otherwise it's not that useful for emergencies.
a4ng3l@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yeah that would be a good one and the reason I keep a receiver at hand and charged. But I see the point.
obinice@lemmy.world 8 months ago
If you can afford to pay for all that mobile data usage, and if you’re walking through an area with good mobile data coverage, go right ahead.
For the rest of us, we have to suffice with saving our MP3s to an SD Card and listening that way, or using the radio, though as you pointed out radio sucks haha. But it is very low power and low barrier to entry!
a4ng3l@lemmy.world 8 months ago
What mobile data usage? I’m loading my tracks at home save a few times I browse where I have network coverage… for all intents and purposes bar the monthly tax it’s the same as my good old mp3 player. Also audio streaming isn’t exactly the most bandwidth consuming thing right ? Unless you want lossless quality but then good luck with FM radio…
Ddhuud@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Wdym again?
TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 8 months ago
One of the reasons why I picked the Xiaomi Poco X3
Matriks404@lemmy.world 8 months ago
All my Android phones had FM radio, what are you talking about?
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 8 months ago
Had. Recent ones don’t.
Blizzard@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
espentan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
FM was switched off in 2017 (Norway), but a DAB chip would’ve been nice.
Irkam@jlai.lu 8 months ago
Thankfully my Cardo headset supports FM radio because my Fairphone doesn’t and I like to have radio when I’m on a ride.
Nihilore@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Fuck no, commercial radio is a fucking cancer
PixxlMan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Mine still does. puts on shades
ikidd@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Are people missing some ads that they could otherwise be getting with an FM radio on their phone?
Radio has enshittified it’s way to being turned off whenever I get in a vehicle that has it turned on, so I’d miss any emergency broadcasts anyway. Can’t imagine paying extra to have it on a phone.
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
IHeartMedia can be blamed for that
benvars@kbin.social 8 months ago
What do you mean again, my smartphone has a radio and it came out in 2019?
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 8 months ago
My phone has an FM radio.
I’ve listened to it in long international flights just to see how things change.
other than that it serves no purpose whatsoever.
I suppose it could be useful in an emergency but I’d bet just having cell seryqould fair better.
Pratai@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
But why?
corbin@infosec.pub 8 months ago
If only there was a link to click that explained that ;)
NathanielThomas@lemmy.world 8 months ago
FM radio is terrible. At least Sirius XM is putting out music people want to hear.
Snapz@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Mobile carriers are worried about “congested mobile broadband” right? Surely they’d want something like this implemented if it could cut down on peak usage and not have to force their hand to do that awful throttling they must hate so much?