If you’re looking for a way to listen to FM music on your phone, you have a couple of options available to you right now. The best FM transmitter app is available for your Android phone that will allow you to tune into popular FM stations, and then there are full blown FM Radio applications that will allow you to not only listen to local stations, but to listen to popular State- and nation-wide FM stations. Unfortunately, you do have to have an Internet connection, such as your mobile data, in order to listen to these applications, as most manufacturers and carriers have the radio chip in your phone turned off by default.
With that in mind, there are plenty of options available for listening to your favorite FM radio stations! Follow along below, and we’ll show you our favorites.
Best FM Transmitter App For Android
1) SolarFM
SolarFM is a neat application for configuring the SolarFM Transmitter by WorldCast Systems — this transmitter actually works with your phone to be able to listen to local radio stations. You can get the transmitter here, and then the application at the link below. Unfortunately, it isn’t very portable, as it’s designed to be a dedicated transmitter for your home, allowing you to listen to FM radio tunes on your property. Still, if you want to sit out on your porch with a beer, listening to your favorite radio stations, it’s totally worth the investment.
Download it now: Google Play
2) TuneIn
Like we already mentioned, the downside to SolarFM is the lack of portability, as it is a dedicated transmitter. However, if you really do need something for on the go tunes, look no further than what TuneIn Radio has to offer. TuneIn Radio hand picks the stations available, and is actually one of the largest radio streaming services available, having over 100,000 stations available for you to pick from. When you want to listen to your favorite sports or political shows, or maybe your favorite music channels, TuneIn radio has something for everybody. And, with a Premium subscription, TuneIn lets you listen to channels ad-free, and even gives you access to live play-by-play for NFL, MLB, NHL, and even the NBA. You can even enjoy TuneIn radio straight from your Android Wear watch.
Download it now: Google Play
3) iHeartRadio
You’ve probably been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of iHeartRadio. They offer unlimited music streaming for free, but the best part: they give you free access to the streaming of thousands of radio stations. You can literally discover thousands of AM and FM radio stations on iHeartRadio, whether that be in your locality or across the nation — it all depends on what you feel like listening to in the moment! You can even catch up on your favorite sports stations — ESPN Radio, Fox Sports, and a few others.
Download it now: Google Play
4) Radio FM
Last, but certainly not least, we have Radio FM. Radio FM will allow you to listen to a ton of different radio stations. Whether you’re interested in rock, country, pop, hip hop, Top 40 Favorites, comedy or talk shows, there’s something for you in Radio FM. There’s over 30,000 stations available across 200+ countries. You can search for radio stations by country, add stations to your favorite list so you can access them quickly at any time, and more. If you like listening to the radio to put you to sleep, Radio FM even supports a Sleep Timer (i.e. how long until it automatically shuts the app off) as well as an alarm clock so that you can wake up to the radio playing.
Download it now: Google Play
5) FM Transmitter Music Pro
Last on our list is FM Transmitter Music Pro. The idea with this application is that you’ll be able to listen to your favorite nation-wide radio stations over the Internet. FM Transmitter Pro basically looks for stations that have websites and software that stream’s their programs to the Web. FM Transmitter Pro acts as a RSS feed, pulling the information from those stations streaming to the Web, and allowing you to stream their content within this app. It’s kind of a hit or miss, as there’s a lot of steps to pull that information, which leaves a lot of room for failure. Still, it works really well when it does work.
Verdict on the best FM transmitter app
As you can see, there are a lot of great FM Transmitter Apps on this list. They might not let you stream directly from the radio chip in your phone, but they’ll at least let you stream FM stations on a local or nation-wide basis.