3 Best Apps For Internet Streaming Radio On Ubuntu

Once a vital medium of entertainment, radio is still a popular way to listen to music. As technology progressed, the form of radio has been changed, In the age of internet, radio too has been transformed from a stand alone gadget to a computer application. In this post, we’ll see 3 best radio apps in Ubuntu 13.04 (and other versions as well).

Please note that I am only listing the apps which are dedicated radio applications, contrary to various popular music players that come with the option of streaming radio.

List of best radio apps in Ubuntu:

While I am writing this article for Ubuntu, I believe that this should be equally applicable for other Linux distributions, especially those Linux distributions that are based on Ubuntu. Without further delay, let’s take a look at 5 best apps for internet streaming radio on Ubuntu.

Radio Tray:

Radio Tray is my favourite and this is why this is first in the list. A lightweight dedicated internet radio player which is merely an applet, but a must have applet. It does not eat up your resource, sits quietly (except playing radio) in the applet and integrates perfectly in Ubuntu environment. Read full review of Radio Tray here. You can install Radio Tray in Ubuntu using the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:eugenesan/ppa 
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install radiotray

Alternatively, you can install it from Ubuntu Software Center.

Great Little Radio Player:

Coming up next in the list is Great Little Radio Player. Not resource hungry, lightweight with over 300 radio stations in its kitty, Great Little Radio Player comes very close to Radio Tray. It has a nice interface that blends very nicely in Unity environment. It also provides multiple language support along with other configuration options. Read the full review of Great Little Radio Player to know how to install it.

Streamtuner 2:

Streamtuner 2 is available in Ubuntu Software Center. It plays internet radio from several popular streaming sources such as Shoutcast, Jamendo etc. Frankly, its interface reminds me of Rythembox (for some reason). I found several bugs in it. It seems as if the product is still in beta. It takes some time in starting and crashes frequently. Mislabelled radio channels are problematic here. The only good thing I could see is the record button on the top panel to record streaming music. If you have a full featured player like Banshee or Clementine, avoid it.

Apart from these three, you can also install Spotify in Ubuntu. You also have Last.fm app for Ubuntu along with some other clients for Last.fm. I could not comment on Pithos, Pandora app for Ubuntu as I don’t live in US and do not have access to it (legally and officially).

Do you use a dedicated radio app for Ubuntu desktop or you prefer to use your favourite music player for playing internet radio on Ubuntu? Do share your views.