There are several radio apps for the iPhone, both free and pay, but WunderRadio ($6.99) is currently the best of the bunch. It offers a massive collection of radio stations (thousands according to its official app description) and also weather radio stations from Weather Underground and local emergency scanners from ScanAmerica.us.
WunderRadio gets its terrestrial radio feeds from RadioTime, which features thousands of US radio stations as well as stations from around the world (I enjoy the London, England stations). You can check out the RadioTime website to see the stations you’ll have access to and give them a listen before you buy.
The app uses the iPhone’s location hardware (GPS and cell tower) to pull up a list of local radio stations. For me, it brought up dozens of local Chicago stations, many I didn’t know existed. (The location awareness works with the original iPhone as well).
WunderRadio also features weather stations and emergency scanners. The Chicago scanner stations had the Chicago fire department and the northern suburban police (no city police though. Also, there are no NYC emergency channels, which would have been interesting). To browse the list of available scanners, check out ScanAmerica.us.
There are also some nice touches. The list of stations displays the name of the current radio show playing (eg, All Things Considered, America’s Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest, Rush Limbaugh, etc.). The list of stations also displays a symbol for EDGE, 3G, or WiFi to let you know what stations are available for your connection. The bitrate is also shown.
My biggest complaint about the app is that it requires a strong connection to work properly. Anything less than 4 bars on EDGE and stations will not play. So if you’d like to use the app to listen to radio at work, you should confirm your signal strength first before you buy. I compared WunderRadio’s ability to overcome poor signal strength against the AOL Radio app, and it basically failed while the AOL Radio app performed admirably. Perhaps future updates will enhance the app’s buffering capabilities.
Pros: Massive collection of radio stations from the US and around the world, some available in very high bitrates. Offers a good amount of information, including names of currently playing shows and a sound-level meter. Multiple bitrates available for some stations. Weather stations and emergency scanners.
Cons: Requires a good signal for flawless play. Costs $6.99.
- Name: WunderRadio
- Developer: Weather Underground
- Version reviewed: 1.1
- Price: $6.99
- iTunes Download:
