Five Apps for iPhone: Waiting for iRadio Edition

Rumors have been circulating this week that Apple is going to unveil a new streaming music "radio" service, which people have dubbed iRadio. The rumors aren't backed by nothing—a report from the Wall Street Journal says that Apple is trying to acquire licensing agreements with major record labels and has been successful getting the rights to stream Warner Music Group's catalogue.

But even if the computing giant reveals an iRadio-type service at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week, it will probably be a while before it launches, and it may take even longer to get the kind of listening selection you want. In the meantime, check out these radio apps for iPhone and other iOS devices that can fill that iRadio-sized gap in your life that you never even knew you had.

Pandora

Rumors are that the iRadio app will stream music much the way Pandora does (in fact, Pandora's stock has taken a hit after the rumors took hold), but with an option to buy a track you like from the iTunes store. Apple may well crush the little innovative music streaming service, but until such time, enjoy Pandora Radio's huge selection of music. The free app has dozens and dozens of preset radio stations, with vast selections in genres like jazz, classic rock, and classical. You can also create your own stations by entering an artist or song you like, and Pandora will generate more tracks similar to the ones you like. You can hit the thumbs up or down buttons to further tailor your selection. There are ads on the free app (including annoying, shifty banner ads that are hard not to click while you're trying to close them), and, while you can skip tracks you don't like or have heard too many times, there's a limit. The app is free. If you want no ads and unlimited plays, you can pay $0.99 a month.

TuneIn

For those of you who are nostalgic for those halcyon days of what we now call "terrestrial radio" — or, as it used to be called, the radio — this is the app for you. TuneIn Radio pipes your local radio stations through your iPhone, and gives you the option to listen to other radio stations across the country. In fact, TuneIn gives you more listening options than you have time in your life to possibly explore all of them. With this free app, you get over 40,000 streaming radio stations from everywhere, arranged by music genre, location, or language. It also gives you weather, sports, and talk news, if you're in to that kind of thing. Browse through or search to find what you want, and "favorite" a station to add it to your presets for quick access. There's also a "Recent" category, in case you heard a great little station but couldn't remember its name. Still, that shouldn't be a problem, because an added benefit of TuneIn over old-timey radio is that you can pause and rewind, like a little radio DVR. The basic app is free.

NPR News

Face it, sometimes you need to figure out what's happening in the world. If you don't have all afternoon to click on the local NPR station (or, just as likely, you don't own a radio with which to do that), check out the NPR News app for quick access to NPR shows and stories. The app does a great job of mixing audio and text, giving you quick text synopses of individual news stories with a play button at the bottom, so you can decide if a particular segment warrants your next few minutes before starting. There's also an option to listen to a five-minute newscast every hour that gives you the top headlines. The app will also give you access to broadcasts of NPR shows across the country, like "On the Media," "All Things Considered," and "Morning Edition," so you can tune in almost any time to hear some of the most popular shows. Or just listen to the archives or an NPR affiliated station to see what's on. The app is free.

ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio is like a mix of NPR and TuneIn, but of course for sports. Get live radio from across the country or check out the stories that are "trending now" or "editor's picks." You can create stations with only the information pertaining to your favorite teams, league, sport or player, and favorite certain ESPN stations for quick access. There's also an on demand section with dozens of podcasts from the network, so when even when there's nothing happening live, you get your sports fix. That shouldn't be too often though, because there's a SportsCenter update every 20 minutes. And just like TuneIn, you can pause and rewind up to an hour of live radio. The app is free.

Stitcher

Not necessarily a "radio" app, Stitcher is a great app for people who like certain news and podcasts and know how they want to listen to them. The service offers more than 15,000 radio shows and podcasts on your device, which you then "stitch" together into customized stations that you can save for easy access. It's a great app for people who regularly listen to certain shows — like during their commute — and don't want to deal with updating their playlists with new podcasts and shows. It also gives you personalized recommendations so you can go outside your comfort zone and try a new podcast once in a while. The app is free.

We might have to redo the list after Apple's radio service is released, if it really is happening, so check back with Latinos Post for that and all your other tech news needs.