Top 9 iPhone Radio Apps

Triode

Triode starts off with suggested stations, but can help you find thousands of additional stations with just a few taps. One of our favorite features is if a song is playing and is also available in Apple Music, a simple tap lets you add it to a playlist).

This app is from the folks at Iconfactory which means you can expect it to not only behave as expected, but the attention to detail is quite satisfying. Oh, not only do you not need an account, you don't need to give the company any information. The app also works on the Mac and Apple TV.

Broadcasts

Broadcasts can not only play internet radio stations, but it can also play nearly any audio on the web. If you have a favorite radio station you can add it to your favorites (called Collections in the app) so you don't have to search for it. While this app works without any purchase, a one-time fee unlocks the ability to add more favorite stations so they're always at your fingertips.

This app works on every Apple platform from the iPhone to the Mac to the Apple Watch.

Pandora

Pandora allows you to create your own customized radio stations and fine-tune them to be just what you want. Start with an artist you like and branch out into similar music from there, based on your feedback and Pandora's massive database of likes and dislikes from users like you. Add other artists and your rating for songs to improve your stations and discover new music.

Pandora also offers a library of popular podcasts and attempts to apply its music-recommendation smarts to help you find podcasts.

The paid Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium tiers let you create custom playlists, download music for offline listening, provide unlimited skips, improve audio quality, remove ads, and more.

This American Life

The app from long-running hit public radio show and podcast This American Life lets you stream every previous episode of the series (over 700!) for free. You can download songs for offline listening, mark episodes as having been listened to, and bookmark episodes for future listening. The full archive can be browsed and the search feature lets you find episodes by topic, contributor, and year.

iHeart

iHeart gives you free access to thousands of live AM and FM radio stations from across the country and the world. With so many stations to choose from, you'll be able to find almost any kind of music or other content, from rock to Christian, from news to sports to weather.

Beyond radio, iHeart offers up curated playlists, podcasts, and the ability to create your own Pandora-style station based around an artist.

In-app purchases unlock additional features which let you pick the songs you want to hear, save and replay radio, skip songs, and listen offline.

LiveOne

LiveOne, formerly named Slacker, offers a Pandora-style create-your-own station feature but goes well beyond that, too. Besides those custom stations, it offers pre-made stations, a regular schedule of programs with lively hosts, news and sports content, and the ability to pick the songs you listen to.

The paid tiers unlock features including increased audio quality, unlimited song skips, the removal of apps, and the ability to download songs to listen to offline.

Jazz Radio!

Looking for a strong selection of jazz radio stations? Look no further than Jazz Radio! This app delivers 35 channels of different styles of jazz, including Smooth Jazz, Bebop, Vocals, Swing, and Big Band. Each channel is programmed by an aficionado of that style. You can also save favorite channels for easy access and set a sleep timer so that the app goes to sleep after you do.

The paid Premium tier removes ads, improves sound quality, unlocks the ability to play Jazz Radio on other hardware, and even grants access to sister apps for Classical and Rock music.

NPR

In addition to being able to read news stories, the NPR app offers live streams of shows like All Things Considered and Fresh Air, previous segments from the shows, and live streams from member stations across the country.

Additional features include the ability to listen to your local member station no matter where you are in the world and to get breaking news alerts.