topic Re: FM Radio in The Lounge

FM Radio

Ermine — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:49:50 GMT

Hi folks,

I'm wondering if it's possible to activate the FM receiver in my Galaxy A5 (2017). I would like to pick up the local radio stations.

Thanks.

Re: FM Radio

Luddite — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:54:27 GMT

Not sure of the settings but check whether earphones must be plugged in as the antenna

Re: FM Radio

HALIMACS — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:13:21 GMT

@Ermine

I recently found that my Samsung device had one built-in. I use NextRadio to listen to the radio.

Here's how:

https://www.wikihow.com/Activate-an-FM-Chip-on-Android

Re: FM Radio

Ermine — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:32:16 GMT

Hi,

Yes I did all that, it tells me the FM has to be activated.

I guess Public Mobile has to do that.

Thanks

Re: FM Radio

esjliv — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:37:30 GMT

@Ermine ,

This feature would be phone or app specific.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:44:49 GMT

@Ermine wrote:
Hi,
Yes I did all that, it tells me the FM has to be activated.
I guess Public Mobile has to do that.
Thanks

This is a not a Public Mobile issue. Public Mobile can't enable the FM radio. Samsung did not enable FM radio in many devices, even ones that have the compatible hardware. And, in many others that did have the feature enabled, the software was never included that was needed to use the radio. The Canadian variant of the Galaxy A5 (2017) doesn't have FM radio.

Re: FM Radio

HALIMACS — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:46:36 GMT

@Ermine

Where did the phone come from?

Some Canadian carriers have deactivated the FM tuner services in devices they have provided.

Popular belief is that they do that too try to coax users into purchasing data plans as opposed to having free access to a built-in tuner.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:48:04 GMT

@HALIMACS wrote:
@Ermine

Where did the phone come from?

Some Canadian carriers have deactivated the FM antenna in devices they have provided.

Popular belief is that they do that too try to coax users into purchasing data plans as opposed to having free access to a built-in tuner.

The carriers themselves didn't deactivate anything. This is a device manufactuer issue, althoguh the manufactuers like to blame the carriers. The programming of the software in a phone, Samsung in this case, is done entirely by Samsung. As to whether the carriers requested that the feature be disabled, that's a matter of debate.

Re: FM Radio

HALIMACS — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 01:55:31 GMT

@computergeek541

I believe the carriers do absolutely have a hand in this.

Why would the manufacturer put a feature in a device that it doesn't intend the end user to use, unless they are selling mass quantities of the device to a particular carrier who would rather THEIR purchasers use data ( that they're selling) to access streamed music, news, sports sources which are freely available by FM radio.

EDIT: I would agree with you that the manufacturers are complicit when dealing with large sale volumes to carriers.

Re: FM Radio

Ermine — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 02:13:58 GMT

Thanks people,

The articles I've read say the provider can enable/disable the receiver, the app I installed is Nextradio.

When I open the app it says ask the provider to enable the FM.

I'll keep researching, thanks.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 02:14:28 GMT

@HALIMACS wrote:
@computergeek541

I believe the carriers do absolutely have a hand in this.

Why would the manufacturer put a feature in a device that it doesn't intend the end user to use, unless they are selling mass quantities of the device to a particular carrier who would rather THEIR purchasers use data ( that they're selling) to access streamed music, news, sports sources which are freely available by FM radio.

EDIT: I would agree with you that the manufacturers are complicit when dealing with large sale volumes to carriers.

Sure, but that doesn't explain why, in the past, some Samsung devices in Canada did have the FM radio. It also doesn't explain why some device manufactuers, notably HTC, Motorola, and Nokia had FM radio receiveers enabled in most devices sold by Canadian carriers at one point. I have also seen some LG and Blackberry devices that had it enabled, and even had the necesssary software installed with a shortcut in the app drawer. In thie end, Samsung isn't going to release any software updated to enable a feature in a 2017 model.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 02:15:44 GMT

@Ermine wrote:
Thanks people,
The articles I've read say the provider can enable/disable the receiver, the app I installed is Nextradio.
When I open the app it says ask the provider to enable the FM.
I'll keep researching, thanks.

Nextradio is just plain wrong. The feature can only be enabled by the device maker. In cases of the hardware being present for FM, this is purely a software issue.

Re: FM Radio

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 02:17:15 GMT

My old Blackberry's had radio. Then they didn't after an update. My old Samsung S7 did. Then it didn't. My Samsung A31 has radio. It works. Currently. I don't know why they bother having it and then don't.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 02:22:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My old Blackberry's had radio. Then they didn't after an update. My old Samsung S7 did. Then it didn't. My Samsung A31 has radio. It works. Currently. I don't know why they bother having it and then don't.

I still have a Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018). The original sotware from the device's iniitial release did work with Nextradio. When Samsung updated it from Android 8 to Android 9, Samsung disabled the feature. Many people complained and the disabling of the feature wasn't related to the carrier you were with. It was disabled for everyone. Samsung issued an update a few months later and re-enabled the FM radio.

In summary, a carrier can't just enable the feature.The device's software needs to be updated by the device manufactuer.

Re: FM Radio

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 05:24:28 GMT

Well that was fun. Coincidentally, I just watched Pirate Radio. Great soundtrack. Fun, anti-authoritarian, sub-culture story.

Re: FM Radio

Korth — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 23:47:43 GMT

The provider can enable/disable phone features ... when a new phone is purchased through the provider. Providers might rebrand and reconfigure whatever they like, they sometimes remove built-in software, they often install their own bloat to replace it.

If you bought this phone from Public Mobile then maybe Public Mobile can do (or undo) something to make the FM radio work. If you didn't buy this phone from Public Mobile then there's nothing they can do (or undo) for you, regardless what some half-informed or out-of-context website advice might claim.

You can try installing different FM radio software. You may have to root the device to install different FM radio software, if it's configured in such a way that user privileges are denied.

You can try asking Samsung (or some kind of Samsung support forum) for a working fix.

Re: FM Radio

CellphoneuserPM — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:58:54 GMT

You missed the FM radio operation. It was stopped by Samsung with the update of Android 11 and UI 3. Samsung does provide a radio app for other countries such as India and Australia.

https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/using-the-radio/

I would recommend you notify Samsung you want the radio app installed.

Re: FM Radio

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 02:04:35 GMT

@CellphoneuserPM : A31 on 3.1 on A11 - radio app still there and works.

Re: FM Radio

computergeek541 — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:00:50 GMT

@CellphoneuserPM wrote:
You missed the FM radio operation. It was stopped by Samsung with the update of Android 11 and UI 3. Samsung does provide a radio app for other countries such as India and Australia.
https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/using-the-radio/

I would recommend you notify Samsung you want the radio app installed.

Samung won't install the radio app on current models on Canadian models. They've made it pretty clear that it's being left up to user to figure out how to find a way to get this feature to work. Samsung enabled the FM receiver feature on some models from a few years ago, only to break the feature in a future Android versions. After months of customers likely displaying dissatisfaction about this, they re-enabled the feature, but still did not provide an app for customers to make use of it. Samsung and/or the carriers don't seem to want customers to be aware of this feature.

Re: FM Radio

CellphoneuserPM — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:14:03 GMT

If Samsung doesn't activate the built in radio with their own radio app then people can make a decision as to if they continue with their product. By letting people know that a radio app is available and the app could be installed then users will wonder about other apps Samsung provides that they don't want.