A Handbook on Online Radio Listening In A Car
I don’t care if you’re going Online Radio across the country or taking a short whip around the city, every drive is better with a good radio station. And motorists can listen to far more than the terrestrial radio services that FM/AM car radios receive.
Listening to that favorite online radio station from your car is now as easy as it’s never been. All you need is
- A mobile internet connection
- A device which is connected to the internet.
- As one of the methods, connecting your gadget to your car stereo system.
In some lucky cases your cars entertainment system already has it all! Read on to know how to listen to online radio on your car.
How to listen to online radio in your car in 3 ways.
1) Smartphone Bluetooth
Bluetooth is one of the most common methods of linking a smartphone to a car stereo. With such a system in place, you can stream internet radio on your mobile, and from your car speakers.
Ensure that your car stereo is Bluetooth enabled. Scan the media choices and be on the lookout for the symbol for Bluetooth.Sometimes the Bluetooth function is a little difficult to locate.
If it does have Bluetooth then turn it on. After that enable Bluetooth in your smartphone. You will most likely need to choose your smartphone in your car stereo settings, and if it’s the other way around. Connect your car stereo with your smart phone. At times you would see a code appear to make sure you’re pairing the right devices to each other.
When paired whatever you stream through your smartphone will now be able to play at your car stereo. Play your most loved internet radio through your browser or through its application. And there you’ll be listening to an online radio station in your car.
2) Aux-in Cable
If your car stereo uses 3.5mm aux-in port, then you can connect your Smartphone to the same using any aux-in cable.
Naturally, newer smartphones have sadly gotten rid of their 3.5mm headphone jack. If your smartphone is one of the victims, and you’ll need a USB-C adapter to 3.5 mm, or a lightning adapter to 3.5 mm.
If you use an extra cable to connect your smartphone to your car stereo then by stream in any audio from your smartphone, it will play through you car stereo. To hear online radio through your car, you have to stream a station via your browser, or an app.
3) Android Auto or Apple CarPlay
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are methods for reaching your smartphones’ app capabilities from your stereo system in your vehicle. And this, includes entertainmentradio player apps.
Android Auto Compatibility
You can download Android Auto from Playstore if you have an Android phone using Android 8 Oreo or later (Android 10).
For Android phones on and above Android 11, Android Auto comes preinstalled.
Listening to Online Radio while using Android Auto or CarPlay
In order to use either of these apps you normally would need to hook your smartphone using a USB cable in to your car stereo. After connecting, your car’s display will mimic Android Auto or CarPlay.
Very unfortunately, only a limited set of apps that have been certified by Google or Apple will work on your car’s display. However, it does include radio player apps such as BBC Sounds and TuneIn, and Pandora.
From here, you can choose which Internet radio station to listen. If it is not available through the radio player apps or you simply don’t like them interrupting to air adverts you can play the radio station through an app on your phone. Just don’t control this through your phone when driving.
