If you have a smartphone or tablet, you
could take advantage of using it to listen to any radio show from anywhere in
the UK or further afield. Radio playing
Apps are free, and you can save a shortcut to your favourite show and listen
using Wi-Fi. So you no longer need a
radio. The sound quality is excellent,
and it’s easy to use.
You can catch up on your favourite BBC
radio shows with the iPlayer radio app.
This is useful if you have missed something special or were busy at the
time, or only got to listen to part of the show.
Podcasts are downloadable radio shows on
any subject. First you need to download
the Podcast App, and then you can subscribe to any radio show that is available
as a podcast. You will be spoiled for
choice. The programmes download onto
your device, and really don’t take up much room. Unlike iPlayer programmes, they don’t
expire. You can set up your device to
delete programmes once they have been listened to, so you don’t clog up your
storage space, and you can re-download them if you want to listen again.
If you are a fan of BBC Radio 4’s “The
Archers” for instance, you can subscribe to a daily podcast or the weekly
omnibus, so you can ensure you don’t miss out on the events in Ambridge and it
means you can listen whenever is convenient, and not just at the set times of
14.02 and 19.02.
One of my favourite shows is Desert Island
Discs, and you can not only listen to the ones in the current series, but go
back to the very start of the programmes and listen to all the archived ones
from 70 years ago as well.
There are podcasts on every subject, from
Science, History, Comedy, Technology, and all are free.
In my opinion, some services are worth
paying for however. Amazon’s Audible
subscription is one of those. As ever
you need an app, which you can download for free, but you need to pay monthly
for the service if you want to download a book per month. It’s £7.99 per month to do this, and you can
try it out for a month first for free.
Most audio books are expensive, costing
over £20 or £30, so it’s very good value.
The books are read by trained voice actors and really bring the story to
life. You can listen to the story any time,
both at home, or while driving.
If you have a Kindle, you can spend a
little extra on your book to enable Whispersync, which will read your book to
you. This means you can alternate
between reading or listening to the book, according to what you are doing.
You can switch from reading to
listening within the Fire Tablet or Kindle app. Or you can switch between
reading on one device and listening on another. For example, you can read on
your tablet and then listen on your smartphone, and, thanks to Whispersync for
Voice, you'll never lose your place.
There is so much audio output for you to
enjoy, and if you find your house is too quiet, or you are ill or have a long
journey or want to be distracted from your everyday life; there is plenty to
listen to, either live, on a podcast or through an app on subscription. So don’t miss out on what’s happening on the
radio just because the programme is on at a time that doesn’t suit.
