App: iheartradio

Available for: iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android

Rating: 5/5 downloads

When you turn the radio dial, odds are you’ll hear the same song over and over again. And though most people don’t mind listening to Katy Perry or Justin Bieber, sometimes it’s good to find something different. That’s where ‘iheartradio’ comes in. The app accesses more than 750 stations from around the country, ranging from pop to jazz and even talk show stations.

The variety ‘iheartradio’ has to offer is evident right as the app opens. The list of radio stations is divided into five categories. Tapping on ‘Local Stations’ will kickstart the device’s GPS function and bring up the closest stations. Whether it’s a slow song to sway to or a rock song to pump users up, the ‘Genres’ menu will find the right station. Here, the entire list is divided by the type of music playing. The ‘Personalities’ menu brings up some of the stations devoted to a particular band or syndicated radio personality. For instance, there’s a 24-hour station that broadcasts the Elvis Duran morning radio show. The ‘All Cities’ tab shows a list of cities, and the ‘Premium’ menu lists stations that are only available if paid for.

Then there’s the actual listening experience. The radio station and the name of the current song playing are shown at the top of the screen. The user will always know what is playing in case he or she wants to download the song later on. If album art is available for the song, this screen will show that as well. Plus the app can stay on even when users navigate away from it on their smartphones. Users can e-mail, text and surf the Web while ‘iheartradio’ continues to play.

Going through 750 stations is not easy. And not many people have the time for it either. This is where ‘iheartradio’ also shines. First, the app’s home page suggests several featured stations that might get users’ attention. If they find a station they enjoy listening to, they can make it a favorite. Tapping on the heart in the upper right-hand corner adds the station to a separate list for easy accessibility. An additional tap on a favorite station tells the app to automatically begin playing it upon the app’s startup. Finally, the app can randomly select a station on its own. Using the ‘Shake It!’ feature, the app will cycle through all the cities and genres, randomly select two each and play the station that comes up. If users lock in a specific city, the app will select a station for them.

The BlackBerry version of ‘iheartradio’ provides users with a wide selection of music videos, from rap artist Ne-Yo to rock group Bon Jovi. Users can also watch previews of upcoming movies. There’s currently a video that takes users behind the scenes of newly released Seth Rogen film ‘The Green Hornet.’

With ‘iheartradio,’ users can access hundreds of stations nationwide and across all genres using their favorite mobile device. It places all the hits and some of the best radio talk shows in the palm of a user’s hand. And it’s free, so giving it a shot is a no-brainer. Download ‘iheartradio’ and rock on.

nerivera@syr.edu

Published on February 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm