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National Association of Broadcasters calls for Apple to switch on the iPhone feature you didn’t know you had

You probably didn’t know it, but there’s a FM radio inside your iPhone. It’s part of the wireless chip that provides the phone with WiFi and Bluetooth (the Murata 339S0228 chip, in the case of the iPhone 6). Apple has this functionality switched off, and the National Association of Broadcasters would like the company to switch it on, arguing that there are a number of benefits over streamed radio content.

Users could avoid expensive data charges and save battery life if they listen to the FM chip for free. Listening to streaming drains your battery three to five times faster than listening to the exact same content on the FM chip [and] it’s a critical resource in an emergency.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate agrees, reports NPR, saying that major emergencies like Superstorm Sandy can overwhelm cellphone systems, leaving users unable to receive emergency information.

While NAB makes it sound like Apple could simply issue an iOS update to flick the switch, Reddit user theninjaseal says that it isn’t that simple.

What we’re missing is an appropriate antenna and an amplifier chip dedicated to driving that antenna. Unlike the murata chip that doesn’t take up any extra space, those things would take up extra space in the phone.

However, a headphone cable could potentially act as the antenna, and YouTube user Gerald Alanis has successfully accessed the chip on a rooted Android phone.

But there are a lot of other concerns like interference and more realistically adding the type of hardware that would give an Apple-like sound quality might make the phone a lot bigger than Apple wants it to be.

The call may be a little late, coming the week that the first country has announced that it will be switching off FM broadcasts from 2017, as Norway reports that listeners have switched to DAB and online streaming.

Is FM radio a function you’d ever be likely to use if it were available on the iPhone? Let us know your views in the comments.

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Comments

  1. stan1028 - 9 years ago

    Definitely able to save a huge amount of data as I’m streaming FM Radio via the TuneIn Radio app!

    • iphone6splus - 9 years ago

      Which costs more, every listener paying for data or the station’s cost to broadcast?

    • jfblagden - 9 years ago

      Does the TuneIn Radio app actually somehow use the antenna or does it use the data plan?

      • galley99 - 9 years ago

        TuneIn streams audio over the Internet, so yes, it uses data.

    • Barbara (@barbararush) - 9 years ago

      Why don’t you just buy a radio? Why does everything have to be contained in a phone? It is, after all, a phone.

      • Kent Simon (@Ksimon1966) - 8 years ago

        actually its an ipod that was turned into a phone so why cant we use the most powerful phone in the world as a radio. I mean i can fly a drone with it, tune my car motor, use it as a breathalyzer but cant listen to FREE FM radio. Not to mention i dont want to lug around an iphone and a radio

  2. markbharr - 9 years ago

    No, zero interest. Had it on Windows Phone since beginning, but rarely used it.

    Emergency information is a red herring. Phones already get emergency information over SMS.

  3. Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

    I read about this the other day. It would have been handy if more vendors had enabled this legacy chipset feature at the turn of the century, but today it’s a bit like your new car shipping with a cassette player.

    Unless it’s DAB digital radio it’s a bit shit, frankly. It’s been 10 years since I’ve had to endure hiss and crackle in my music as I pass under a large structure, and I really don’t miss those days.

    • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

      Oh, and the endless NAME THAT STUPID SOUND! competitions, and the ads upon ads, upon ads…. FM is too much like broadcast TV, and we’re moving away from that fast enough right now, too. Bring on the streaming-everything!

      • Timothy D. Nares - 8 years ago

        Streaming has commercials too. Or do you simply “tune them out”??

      • Milorad Ivović - 8 years ago

        Not everyone lives on Spotify’s free tier. You can’t pay a small subscription to remove ads from FM

  4. I had a 6th gen ipod nano that had an FM radio built in and it used the headphone cable as the antenna. It was nice because I could listen to local radio stations that may not have a streaming service for local news and weather updates. Yeah I know, I could have gotten that content elsewhere but it was still of worthwhile value…

    • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

      The first Apple Watch… I miss my old Nano 6G. I remember forums being ablaze with people wishing it had bluetooth. I’m convinced that’s when Samsung and Pebble, and other players decided they would push their products to market, so they could beat Apple to the punch.

      Not realising that Apple would take over four years.

  5. rollzey - 9 years ago

    I would definitely use the FM transmitter to listen to the radio on the odd occasion. I’ve never understood why you have the ability to listen to the radio on an iPod Nano, but not on an iPhone without using data…

  6. carmenia83 - 9 years ago

    FM? That’s that thing that’s like streaming, but with DJ’s talking most of the time, right? People have FM in their cars, yet many choose to stream or pay for satellite anyway. FM is a dying breed.

  7. philboogie - 9 years ago

    This FM chip has been inside past generations as well. Apparently nobody wishes for Apple to enable it, other wise they would’ve done so. I think FM radio on a smartphone is a feature on Windows Phones, which makes sense; ‘designed by committee’.

  8. chasem13 - 9 years ago

    I haven’t listened to FM radio by choice in 14 years at least. To me the options have always been a) free FM radio with songs I likely don’t want to hear (especially 15x per day) and commercials or b) an endless supply of self-supplied music with no ads.

  9. flacofromny - 9 years ago

    You guys are funny. You guys claim that FM shouldn’t be turn on because you stream music but then again how many of you actually have unlimited internet? Only if you T-Mobile or sprint and they both sucks. Good service leave you only with Verizon & At-T and they both killing with the price. Me here I be more than happy to have FM on my phone then on. 1- I could listen to my morning show on my way to work. 2- don’t use my data at all. 3- save battery for later. 4- is good for your pockets. People think b4 jumping into conclusion.

    • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

      You don’t really need unlimited internet. Youtube is the gig killer. Streaming music is about a megabyte per minute (a conservative estimate). About 17 continuous hours per gigabyte. If you’re listening at about 3 hours per day for a long commute, that’s 5.6 days of commuting with constant streaming. Round it down to 5 days.

      One week per gigabyte. A four gig plan will cover everyone’s constant streaming needs, and those plans are relatively common, even here in backwater Australia.

      But who doesn’t have their own locally stored music? How come all these 64/128gb phones sell so well?

    • Barbara (@barbararush) - 9 years ago

      You don’t have a radio in your car?

  10. spanky2112 - 9 years ago

    Anybody stuck in superstorm Sandy or any natural disaster that took out cell service wanna chime in?

    • Milorad Ivović - 9 years ago

      How long was their phone charged without power, do you think? It’s a ridiculous reason to put FM in phones when a couple of D cells will keep a radio charged for days, and 50 bloody people can all listen to the same one.

  11. sewollef - 9 years ago

    My house was front and centre when Hurricane Sandy made landfall in my part of Brooklyn. Hurricanes shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. And I didn’t need an FM radio to tell me to either get out of the way, hide or get hit by 100mph winds. WNYC [my regular station] was making announcements and alerts from at least a day before.

    That said, using my cellphone during the storm was the last thing on my mind.

  12. I don’t think they would be able to just “switch on” this feature since it wasn’t rolled into the cost of the phones that had the hardware when they were sold. They’d run into a similar situation that the did with Bluetooth cards on early MacBooks, having to charge $5, in order to balance the account sheet.

    • Apple are using different accounting practises now.

      The issue isn’t likely one able to be resolved by software alone, so questions of FM on any existing iPhone are somewhat moot.

  13. Turn it on, I may need it one day after a hurricane.

  14. madmen8 - 9 years ago

    My butt hurts. When’s the apple watch preorder statuses going to update?

  15. George Pollen - 9 years ago

    I would listen to FM on my iPhone a lot! Not every radio station is loaded with junk music and junk ads. NPR and many classical stations have few ads, as they are largely supported by donations.
    But I understand why Apple wouldn’t activate the FM tuner. Free FM means fewer people buying iTunes tracks or Beats subscriptions, and free FM would make the iPhone a less appealing platform for third party streaming services. Activating the radio would almost certainly require Apple pay a higher licensing fee to the chip designer, too. And some of the cellular service providers may even be paying Apple to keep FM disabled, so they can make more money off data plans and overages.
    The deck appears stacked against FM listeners, in spite of the obvious opportunity. It’s too bad Apple behaves just as much like a mongrel as the rest!

    • Why not AM. Shortwave or HAM? And why stop there? Let’s put an ATSC receiver in there too for TV broadcasts. Night vision goggles. A compartment for matches, maybe a flint and a toothbrush. Yes yes yes. The Pocket Buddy.

      • George Pollen - 9 years ago

        Silly! Every iPhone ever made already has AM, shortwave, ATSC, night vision goggles and a compartment for matches and toothbrush. They’re all disabled though, because Apple wants to make money selling these as extras. But if you buy an iPod nano, they are available as features.

  16. claytonkimball - 9 years ago

    If they can fit it in the nano you’d think they could fit it in an iPhone. I’m not really a radio listener, but I’d love to be able to tune into the audio on the TV’s at the gym on occasion.

  17. Warren Bowman - 9 years ago

    I would definitely use an FM tuner. Seems short-sighted to have it switched off.

    • Brian - 9 years ago

      And you can buy an FM radio for $3. Seems short-sighted of you to not carry one with you everywhere you go already…

      • George Pollen - 9 years ago

        It’s not the $3 that stops me, it’s the inconvenience that Apple and others foist upon us radio listeners.

      • Brian - 9 years ago

        Yeah, it’s really terrible that Apple is stopping you from listening to FM radio (or your old 78’s on the Victrola for that matter).

      • Brian - 9 years ago

        And, where is the cassette? Don’t get me started on Apple leaving out the cassette player. That is truly evil. /s

  18. Graham J - 9 years ago

    Of course this has nothing to do with NAB selling more ads.

  19. Brian - 9 years ago

    You know what would also really be helpful in an emergency? A blender! Apple should be required to add one to every iPhone–there is already a vibration motor in the iPhone–how hard could it BE?! (I think Android is way ahead on this super ‘innovative’ feature addition!) /s

  20. akarantze - 9 years ago

    My daughters iPod has this, my nokia’s had it and so have most androids. It would be an awesome feature – and we know it can be done by Apple – so turn it on already

    • Brian - 9 years ago

      LOL, if it’s so great, go buy an Android, and ‘enjoy’ the experience.

  21. jwink3101 - 9 years ago

    If (and I emphasize the if) Apple could do this at no cost (or space in the phone) that would be awesome. For those who don’t need it, it won’t matter but the ability to get FM would be great! I listen to a lot of radio via apps which gives better sound quality but can be expensive on the data. (I usually use it for NPR). FM would be nice. If not, it’s not a big deal.

    • mhuggies - 9 years ago

      I have a BB Curve for work, which, in general, I hate, but it has an FM tuner, which I thought was great (until I actually tried it). Reception was so poor it was almost unlistenable, and I frequently couldn’t even find the stations I wanted. This was in a small city in the UK where I know that FM is fine, if you have a decent tuner and antenna. And don’t even get me started on the UI of the FM app on the Curve…

      • mhuggies - 9 years ago

        Sorry, meant to post this as a comment, not a reply

  22. pecospeet - 9 years ago

    I’d welcome the ability to listen to FM from my phone without needing to use my data. The only streaming services I have used to date are some broadcast radios – I’m one of the dinosaurs who is not interested in paying subscription fees and data charges for my music.

  23. nikatomuirhead - 9 years ago

    FM, Not really, AM is where the knowledge, News and Talk Radio is.

  24. Andre de Guerin - 9 years ago

    With the CPU in the Iphone there’s a fair chance that DRM (aka Digital Radio Mondiale) could be decoded in software so that might be better than enabling it just in FM mode.
    Also the chip can tune from 74 to 110 MHz not 88 to 108 as it is multi-region.

  25. Andre de Guerin - 9 years ago

    Additional, to OP with the reception problem which headphones are you using? I experienced this issue with some which seem to include a ceramic filter inside the connector to reduce noise.
    Changed the headphone jack and problem gone!

  26. sonicsoundvw - 9 years ago

    “listening to the exact same content on the FM chip”… do they not know how a streaming music subscription works? I think there is a flaw in their logic… lol

  27. prius3 - 9 years ago

    I’d like to have a DAB receiver, if it has to have a Radio.

  28. Frank Maddox - 9 years ago

    Yes, Apple, switch on the FM capability ! ! ! ! !

  29. Bruce McAlevy - 9 years ago

    At least half the young Ecuadorians I see with Samsung smartphones are playing the fm radio. Americans are in now way representative of the world market from which apple derives more than 60% of its revenue.

  30. Ethan Stevenson - 9 years ago

    Definitely would use it at the gym where the only way to listen to audio on the myriad of tv’s is to tune in via radio… this is an instance where there is no internet stream available. Also local weather or tourist/driver information stations rarely stream online, and if they did, would be difficult to find. Also, streaming uses data and drains battery life. This is a feature that should be added.

  31. Jim Necci (@jimnecci) - 9 years ago

    I have wanted a radio accessory for my iPhone. Then I would only carry one device while running or walking. I did buy a HD FM radio, it is small, paid $35 and it receives CD quality music. The separate radio is the cheap way to hear HD-FM.

  32. Listening to the radio is only one thing that the FM switch could do – users with hearing impairments would be able to utilize the FM with an app and drive the cost of classroom assisted hearing devices down. Hard of hearing people frequently use FM systems for amplification.

  33. Lori Lemond - 9 years ago

    Would love to have to listen to TVs in the gym while working out…..without pYing for data!!!

  34. Dave Hall - 8 years ago

    I really want this feature as a safety device.

  35. La Mitchell - 8 years ago

    FM sounds sooooo good! Its thick/rich sound is better sounding than digital streaming. Turn it on!

  36. Richard Graham Poster - 8 years ago

    I had FM radio working on my jailbroken iPhone in 2007. It is that simple. The headphone cable worked as an antenna. I don’t jailbreak anymore, but it would be nice to have local radio on my phone.

  37. Peter Rogerson - 8 years ago

    Yeah, Windows phone has always had using the headphones as the antenna. In fact, my 20 year old Nokia worked like that too.

  38. Ron Young - 7 years ago

    I ABSOLUTELY believe a cell phone radio is a public service need! If a terrorist attack or natural disaster occurs, we ABSOLUTELY need a radio on our phones to hear news or public service announcements FOR SAFETY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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