# Smartphone Listening

Part of the Radio Merit Badge Digital Resource Guide: [Introduction & Overview](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/radio/guide/index.md)

*8. Option C: Shortwave Listening*

> **8c5.** Demonstrate listening to a radio broadcast using a smartphone/cell phone. Include international broadcasts in your demonstration.

## How to Listen on a Smartphone

Modern smartphones don't have traditional radio receivers (most lack even an FM chip). Instead, you listen to radio broadcasts via **internet streaming** — apps that connect you to live streams from stations around the world.

### Recommended Apps

- **TuneIn Radio** — aggregates thousands of live radio streams worldwide; search by country, language, or genre
- **Radio Garden** — a globe-based interface where you spin the Earth and tap on green dots to hear live stations from that location
- **iHeartRadio** — primarily U.S. stations but includes some international content
- **BBC Sounds** — direct access to BBC World Service and BBC radio stations
- **NHK World Radio** — Japan's international broadcast service

### For Your Demonstration

Show your counselor that you can:

1. **Find and play a domestic station** — tune to a local or national U.S. radio station through a streaming app.
2. **Find and play at least one international broadcast** — listen to a station from another country. Good choices include:
   - **BBC World Service** (UK) — English-language news and programming
   - **Deutsche Welle** (Germany) — English and German broadcasts
   - **Radio France Internationale (RFI)** — French and English
   - **NHK World** (Japan) — English-language service
   - **All India Radio** — multiple languages

3. **Explain the difference** between this internet-streamed listening and the over-the-air shortwave listening you did earlier. Key point: the smartphone is using the cellular or Wi-Fi internet connection, not receiving radio waves directly. The audio travels as digital data packets, not as an analog radio signal.

> **Did You Know?**
>
> Radio Garden (radio.garden) is one of the most fascinating radio apps. It shows a 3D globe covered with green dots — each dot is a live radio station. Spinning to Lagos, Tokyo, or Reykjavik and hearing live local radio is a visceral demonstration of how radio connects the world.

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