Iceman22

Hello. I was wondering what apps you guys use for streaming internet radio stations to your Audi MMI?
I used to stream with the Audi MMI connect music stream feature through the car's built-in WIFI and 3G connection because I can change stations directly in the MMI, but there are a lot of problems with this app which prevents me from using it. I have built-in Bluetooth which works fine streaming my Spotify playlist, but when I get tired hearing my favorite songs all the time I want to use the radio. I'm looking for something new and I hope someone can advice which app I can use because I can't find something perfect. Here is my opinion on radio apps that I have tried so far:

Audi MMI music stream
Pros:
You can add stations to favorites on the phone and then choose them in the AUDI MMI without having to use the smartphone
+ A lot of stations to choose from from all countries
+ Free with no ads
Cons:
- Alot of bugs, the newest version is currently unusable because of huge battery drain bug and connection problems
- Forced to use a older version, it's a big problem because you can't use the "auto update all apps" in google play
- Takes huge amount of time to buffer a radio station, we talk like almost one minute buffering time and the connection still drops after few minutes every time
- The Audi developers seem to be a bunch of amateurs when they release a new updates which only causes new problems and never fixes anything
- Both the apple appstore and android have negative reviews and low rating because of the problems

Tunein Radio
Pros:
+ A lot of stations to choose from from all countries with much variety
+ Free with some adds
+ Good quality stations (mostly)
+ No connection problems like audi stream
+ Takes only few seconds to buffer radio
Cons:
- Cannot change station through audi MMI, you have to use the smartphone (while driving) to do it
- Play next radio station function does not work with the songs you follow (favorites), it just start playing another station that is not in your favorite list

Spotify and Pandorra
Pros:
+ Good quality radio stations
+ No connection problems like audi stream
+ Takes only few seconds to buffer radio
+ You can change the song with the "play next" button in the car through bluetooth once you have selected the radio station
Cons:
- Cannot change station through audi MMI, you have to use the smartphone (while driving) to do it
- Spotify radio function not so good in my opinion
- Have to use VPN to get Pandorra work in my country

DSL_PWR

You could try iHeart radio. Not sure if it'll work where you are but worth a shot.

19hole

I just use the built in XM radio....

Iceman22

Thanks for the tip, Iheart radio was quite good.
I can change the stations with the "favorite button" on the wheel and use the scan radio function I guess I will use this app until Audi have fixed their own music stream app.

localbrew

Interesting...Thanks for the tip.

maledictis

I use each of these at various times, depending on mood and the availability of whatever station/content I'm looking for at the moment. I use all of these with my home AV receiver and with a headset when I'm not in the car. These are listed in most-to-least frequently used.

• Google Play Music both for listening to my own music - I stuffed my entire CD collection and purchased MP3s into their cloud a few years ago - and their streaming stations based on a particular genre, artist or song. I don't pay for the ad-free, Spotify-like play any song feature. The ads are (so far) minimally intrusive.
  
• TuneIn - I use this for both radio stations and podcasts.
  
• IHeartRadio - they have some stations that aren't available on TuneIn and vice versa. features a car mode with bigger/easier to hit buttons and as the previous poster mentioned, you can cycle through your presets using the "*" button on the steering wheel.
  
• Pandora - I have the paid version, which gives me a higher bit rate (and thus higher sound quality) and no ads. The sound quality is noticeably different. This is the only service I pay for. It's cheap and they've done a great job at embedding their apps in lots of other devices (Samsung Smart TVs, Roku, Denon AV receivers, etc.) so it's easily the most accessible service I have.
  
• SoundCloud - Mostly for podcasts and curated playlists that are posted by both artists/DJs (famous folks) and other SoundCloud users (non-celebs.)
  
• Amazon Music - access to the MP3s that I previously purchased on Amazon, which is nice but I also have these stored in my Google cloud so I use Google Play Music usually. Unique feature: if you're an Amazon Prime customer, you get access to lots of streaming music as part of Prime. Because if less is more, think how much more "more" would be.

And then there are apps that I don't use much or not at all:

• Audi MMI - Doesn't fill any particular need or niche, worst UI/UX of all the apps, and it's buggy. I tried really hard to like it but... meh. With Audi's progressive move to Android Auto and the resulting tighter integration with the major music apps maybe they can put this app out of its misery at some point.
  
• Samsung Milk - Bless Samsung's heart. They so badly want to be a content provider like everyone else but this is just a me-too rebranding of the Slacker app.
  
• Songster - Used to use this fairly often but Google bought it and folded its unique feature - the ability to create a playlist based on the time of day, your mood and what you're doing (reading, driving, getting ready for work, etc.) into the Google Play Music app so not much reason to launch this one anymore.