Scanner Radio - Police Scanner
June 06, 2024
More About Scanner Radio - Police Scanner
• View scanners located near you.
• View the top 50 scanners (those that have the most listeners).
• View scanners added most recently (new scanners are being added all the time).
• Add scanners you listen to the most to your Favorites for quick access.
• Browse the directory by location or genre (public safety, aviation, railroad, marine, weather, etc).
• Turn on notifications to be notified when major events are happening (details below).
• Add Scanner Radio widgets and shortcuts to your home screen for quick access.
NOTIFICATION FEATURES
Receive a notification anytime:
• ...any scanner in the directory has more than 2000 listeners (configurable).
• ...a scanner within a certain distance of your location has more than a certain number of listeners.
• ...a specific scanner has more than a certain number of listeners.
• ...a Broadcastify alert is posted for one of your favorites.
• ...a scanner within a certain distance from you is added to the directory.
Using the notifications feature is a great way to find out about breaking news events before they're covered in the media.
Below are the benefits of upgrading to Scanner Radio Pro:
• No ads.
• Access to all 7 theme colors.
• Ability to record what you're hearing.
The audio you're able to hear is provided by volunteers (and, in many cases, police and fire departments and 911 dispatch centers themselves) for Broadcastify and a few other sites using real police scanners, ham radios, weather radios, aviation radios, and marine radios and is the same as what you'd hear using your own police scanner.
Some of the more popular departments that you can listen to using the app include NYPD, FDNY, LAPD, Chicago Police, and Detroit Police. During hurricane season it can be useful to listen to ham radio "hurricane net" scanners which contain weather conditions and damage reports when hurricanes and tropical storms are approaching or making landfall as well as NOAA weather radio scanners. Browse the directory to find scanners from far away to hear what citizens in other parts of the country and the world are experiencing.
Interested in providing scanner radio audio for your area? If so, you'll need a real scanner radio, a computer, and a cable to get the audio from the scanner to the computer. Once you have that, program the scanner to monitor what you'd like to make available from your area (police dispatch channels, fire departments, 911 centers, ham radio repeaters, a NOAA weather radio station, air traffic control, etc). If someone near you is providing a feed that contains both police and fire you could provide a feed that contains only police, only fire, or one that covers only certain districts/precincts. Next, go to Broadcastify's web site and click on the Broadcast button to sign-up (it's completely free) to provide scanner audio for your area. As a provider you'll have complete access to the audio archives for all of the scanners they host.
Scanner Radio has been featured in:
• The "Amazing Android Apps for Dummies" book
• Android Police's "7 best police scanner apps" article
• Android Authority's "5 Best Police Scanner Apps for Android" article
• The Droid Guy's "7 Best Police Scanner Apps for Free on Android" article
• Make Tech Easier's "4 of the Best Police Scanner Apps for Android" article
The Scanner Radio app is a perfect companion to the Pulse Point, Mobile Patrol, and Citizen apps as well as weather, hurricane tracker, and breaking news apps.
Latest Version
8.3
June 06, 2024
GordonEdwards.net LLC
IT Tools
Android
37,981,005
Free
com.scannerradio
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User Reviews
Keith Lohr
4 years ago
An otherwise great app, ruined by ads. When I open the app it frequently begins an endless loop of full screen ads with no way to "x" out. A forced stop is the only way to end it, and by the time I get the app working I have missed whatever I wanted to listen to. It makes the app extremely frustrating, plus there is no chance I will buy a product or service from those advertisers. Seems like a lose-lose setup.
A Google user
5 years ago
Annoying since you added the ads in it. This app used to be the best scanner. But now you guys put ads in it. The ads would be fine if they didn't interrupt while listening! And the fact that you're forced to watch them for a specific amount of time is even more annoying! If you had the ads play when first opening the app then itd be fine. Or when first clicking a station, and when exiting that station. But they pop up in the middle of listening and that's an annoying as hell interruption!
A Google user
6 years ago
Lots of scanners to choose from. Good variety. Kind of a lot of static but I guess that's not possible to avoid. Another minor complaint is that sometimes a scanner is misidentified. For example it will say it's a railroad scanner but it's actually police and fire. Not too many ads. Sometims there will be one annoying one. All in all interesting and enjoyable to listen to!
A Google user
5 years ago
It is a great app and allows you to hear things in real time. The only issue is that when you open the app, a 30 second ad pops up, so when you hear the sirens, by the time you get through the 30 second ad they've already said what was going on and you've completely missed it, so it's pointless. I am totally fine with having an ad pop up, but it's always the 30 second ones with videos that you can't skip, so you can't hear the call. So frustrating.
S Lamb
2 years ago
*UPDATED 10/9/22* App continues shuts off for no reason even in great reception area, and ads are still an issue! Used to be great, now it's over ran with ad's! Scanner will kick in and in the middle of a broadcast, a damn ad will pop up killing the broadcast and you can't skip it! Also I've noticed is that the feed cuts in and out all the time, and it's NOT the provider!!! Thinking about going to another app till this one is fixed properly...
Michelle W
2 years ago
I've been using this app for years. In the last month or so while listening, there is this dramatic music that just all if sudden starts playing. Idk if it's a commercial that doesn't change screens or what. I can tell you that I cannot turn it off. Even when I close the app it still plays. I can only turn it off by uninstalling or re-installing it. I've done this many times already and frankly I will give this one more try and if it continues, I'm switching apps.
Kate Scarlett
2 years ago
This app used to be great. It is intuitive to use, to set favorite channels, search by locations, that's great. But all it does anymore is cut out and reconnect, frequently and for about 10 seconds each time. It doesn't sound like much, but you're usually listening to a scanner when something is happening, so suddenly you have these pockets of dead "reconnecting" air where you're missing everything being said. Easier to stream directly from the website.
michael huss
2 years ago
This used to be my go-to app for police scanners. It is now so ridden with ads as to be useless. Any time the display shuts off (read: ads not visible) audio stops. Keep in mind that I have lots of other audio applications that do not stop, so I don't blame power management for this. When I press stop, the full-screen ad that follows cannot be closed and frequently must be force-stopped. Once good app killed by ads. Go to the Broadcastify website, etc. for an objectively better experience.
ancientfilm
4 years ago
Works beautifully. First day I used it, buffered constantly. Never did it again. I appreciate the peace of mind it gives me while traveling. I love this app. Just couldn't be any better! Edit: 2-7-2021: I put back my original star rating because annoying ads are no longer interrupting feed. Now back to the best scanner app I've used, thank you!! 3-6-21: Back to terrible ads that interrupt scanner feed! And right at the time you need it... Sometimes it appears to be even two at a time! Argh!
Wilbur G Downs
1 year ago
excellent application, I've been using the other well rated app but this one has more tools and control functions good Job 👍 However- when my Samsung Android phone times out the screen - the streaming STOPS and doesn't re-start until I manually reopen the screen and select the application. This d pp es.not happen with the older version and I can't find a way to prevent it from stopping streaming!! Any ideas would be appreciated.
Stan Kaliski
11 months ago
I don't use this app much. Pretty much used it when there was severe weather in the area to listen to the storm spotters. So, I did mind the banner adds. However, when I closed the app the other night after some bad weather and it splashed up a full screen add, and I couldn't close it. That was too much. I don't like the app that much, uninstalled.
Kristina Bartlett (BiscuitBuilder)
1 year ago
EDIT: Thank you so much to the developer for helping out with MY user-malfunction! Pro version is restored. *Original review* I had to redownload the app on my phone and I'm being asked to pay for a subscription. I already paid for this app! It was not a subscription model. I had absolutely no issues with ads or anything before the redownload and there is no restore purchase option. What is this about?
kiki22005 #2
1 year ago
I've had this app for about a year and I think it's really good. There are all kinds of features you can use without ever paying. Personally I like being able to favorite certain radios like my local ones. You can also get notifications about specific ones like when it comes back online or getting notified when a certain number of people are listening. I haven't had the app glitch at all. In my opinion this is a great app if you have an interest/need for listening to this stuff
Andy “AT”
1 year ago
Very average run of the mill scanner. Doesn't offer options to break down departments by separate channels so if a department has 1 main dispatch channel but several "talk channels," then the conversations get jumbled since there's no way to prioritize one channel over another. There also seems to be a bug with the notification system as it just keeps going off every few seconds. The only way around it is to turn your phone to silent mode.
Brian Trotta
1 year ago
Good, when it works. Leaving WiFi it will not connect to cellular data without completely shutting down the app and restarting. Even that has only a 50/50 chance of reconnecting without a whole phone restart. That's been a consistent issue over four years and multiple phones. I do not have streaming only over WiFi selected. One positive bonus is that when it's working it does work with Android Auto to play through your car speakers.
Joshua Clayton
1 year ago
This is an AWESOME APP!!! Recently there has been more adds added and an especially annoying add a credit app (maybe Upgrade?) that is almost impossible to close out of and at the least a hassle if you have the app from said advertiser because even when pressing the x in the top corner your redirected to the app from the advertisement. Please fix this!!! I recommend this app to EVERYONE that asks which scanner app I use or anyone that may be interested in listening.
Arthenia Pendragon
1 year ago
With each update, the issues with this app keep getting worse. Which is a shame cause otherwise it would be a great app. But it's disconnecting constantly. It'll say it's streaming, but won't actually be playing anything (compared to another phone with the same scanner that is working). The app randomly closes. None of the provided suggestions have worked at all and it just needs fixed.
Victoria Rangel
1 year ago
Scanner Radio is great, keeps you informed when needed. I love how fast responses are when calls come in. I feel safe when there is a police presence in my neighborhood and that's when I like listening to be informed. The app has many cities you can listen to, which is also a plus. Try it, but it can also be a little shocking, when by chance you are listening, someone you may know is either the victim or the assailant. It's wild!
ebb&flow vibe
1 year ago
So far so good. No glitches, extensive options for channels, alerts, and notifications even for free version. Toggling back and forth between favorites is easy. sound is very clear. Even has international transmissions. It's addicting that's for sure. Simple and easy to navigate. Recommend.
Ben C
1 year ago
Nice, whoever is streaming our local feed has a really good set up. Clear transmission audio. The county I reside in has the new fully encrypted digital system though. So, I understand why it's not listed. But there are many other sources, as the Skywarn networks are very useful. App is working just fine with all sources I checked out.
