Audials Radio is an Android app that offers up over 80,000 different online radio stations from around the world, and allows you rot record songs or shows and play them back whenever. More than that however, Audials features a simple search as well as a way to “Zap” from station-to-station based on a particular artist or genre that you might be listening to. With a built-in equalizer as well as the ability to stream to Airplay receivers and a Chromecast, Audials has everything you could want in a radio streaming app. With some of the most popular stations across the US including Z-100, VirtualDJ Radio, Hot 97, Hard Radio, Radio Caraibes, The Beat LA, Undergroundradio, Kiss FM, Radio Kiskeya, ABC, RadioMargaritaville, Christian Pirate Radio, Onada Cero, Black Gospel Network and more there’s a whole lot on offer here, so let’s take a closer look.
First things first, users will need to download Audials from the Play Store, for free of course.
Should users want to record shows and keep a record of their favorite stations, creating an Audials account is not necessary. The Audials account which they might have from the PC Version is useful in some cases, but not mandatory for using the Audials Radio app. People can start exploring what Audials has on offer directly and entirely for free.
As you can see, there’s a good supply of different sections to choose from, including a local section:
You can also explore all the different genres that are on offer:
Searching for a station is simple and effective as well, and one of my favorites, Jim FM was found quickly and it was shown to be playing something that I like, a Jack Johnson song.
I’m a big Jack Johnson fan, and I also like the mix of songs that Jim FM put together, so should I want to listen a mix that starts with this song, I can record as much of this as I want to:
All you need to do is hit the big button, and then you access your recorded songs or shows from the “my Recording” part on the main menu of the Audials app. You can even record and cut tracks for simple listening of single songs later on.
On top of that, you can even record more than one station at a time, allowing you to create mega mixes or create your own station from bits of your favorites.
Aside from the recording feature, Audials sets itself apart from the pack of these apps by offering other features such as a sleep timer, something that rivals like TuneIn Radio don’t have.
Audials is a true radio app for radio lovers and it has all the sorts of features that those who love to listen to radio will appreciate. From recreating the thrill of recording FM radio onto cassettes to offering up a sleep timer for those easy-listening sessions at night when trying to go to sleep. Of course, there’s a whole lot of other features on offer here, including nearly 100,000 different radio stations to listen to all across the globe. For radio fans, this is a strong contender to the likes of TuneIn Radio and genuinely had more features on offer for those that want to do more with their radio listening.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – All of the stations load nice and quickly, and the app itself is nice and speedy.
- Theme (4/5) – At times, the interface can come across as a little crowded here and there, but it does look good for the most part.
- Features (5/5) – No doubt about it, this has all of the features that any sort of radio listener could want and it comes together nicely, with a simple and easy to use interface, and a whole host of different stations and genres to listen to.
- Overall (4/5) – It’s fairly easy to use, has a whole lot of different features and generally won’t let you down no matter when or where you want to listen to your favorite radio. Besides, it’s free, and allows you to record whatever you want!
Pros
- Huge amount of different radio stations available from all over the world.
- Completely free to use, no matter for how long or even on 3G or 4G.
- Allows users to record different stations at the same time, with the ability to clip tracks out of longer recordings to boot.
- Extra features like an alarm clock and sleep timer that simply aren’t included elsewhere.
Cons
- The quality of each station could be better, as 128kbps MP3 is starting to show its age these days.
- Interface can get a little crowded, despite being fairly easy to use overall.
All-in-all, Audials is an excellent radio streaming app to consider outside of the usual suspects, and in a lot of cases it has even more on offer than those. A great competitor to TuneIn Radio, Audials has more on offer than the majority of streaming apps, and being able to record your radio whenever or wherever you are is a powerful feature, and one that we’ve forgotten about since the days of cassettes. There’s also a paid version of the app available as well.