BMBX Is a Fast and Free Internet Radio App for Every IPhone User
Sometimes you want to listen to music created by a human rather than an algorithm, in which case radio can be a great alternative to music streaming services . There’s no shortage of internet radio apps on your iPhone, but the recently released BMBX (think boombox) is everything I love about indie apps: simple, fast, and fun to use. Before BMBX, I didn’t really try to find new Internet radio stations, but now everything has changed.
Installation and configuration
Setting up BMBX is as simple as installing the app, searching for your favorite radio stations, and pressing play. The app doesn’t require an account, but BMBX will still sync your favorite radio stations between devices (if you want it) using your iCloud account.
Once you launch the app, tap the rectangular library icon to the left of the Play/Pause button and tap the + button in the top right corner to browse for radio stations. The built-in search feature, based on the community-run Radio Browser directory, is great for finding radio stations. I found almost all the radio stations I was looking for, but for some unknown reason I couldn’t find Portland Radio Project , a public radio station based in Portland, Oregon that I like.
In situations like these, the app allows you to manually add the radio station’s streaming URL. Once I did this, I was able to listen without problems. I would really like BMBX to allow me to directly add station covers directly from the internet. Right now it asks you to upload an image to your Photos Library and import it from there.
Save your favorite songs and stations
BMBX makes it easy to keep track of your favorite songs and radio stations. The application library is divided into three sections: “Stations”, “Favorites” and “History”. If you like the song that’s playing, open the app and tap the Heart button. This will save it to the Favorites tab in the app’s library. You can tap any song from this list to be taken to it on Apple Music. You can also go to the History tab and tap any song to open it in Apple Music.
The Stations tab is where you’ll likely spend most of your time when you’re not actively listening. To add a station to your favorites, swipe left on it, tap the pencil icon, and select Show in Favorites . Click the “Save” button in the top right corner to complete the process.
That’s pretty much all there is to BMBX, and I appreciate it. The beauty of the app is its simplicity. This makes it easy to use for all types of people. BMBX is free to download and ad-free, meaning that if you connect it to your friendly community’s radio station, you can listen to ad-free music whenever you want.