Scanner Radio App

Scanner Radio App

Initially, I looked for the Scanner Radio app as a way to figure out what was happening in my neighborhood.  In conjunction with the site Nextdoor.com I could help to provide my neighbors a more clear concept of what was happening nearby.  But my general curiosity continues and whenever I see or hear an emergency vehicle; I want to know what's going on.

The Scanner Radio app allow anyone with a Smartphone (or PC with internet), to listen into any of thousands of scanners across North America.  All the contributors are volunteers who appreciate the fact that our community services use a radio band that is widely available.

Although it is entirely possible to use the app to listen to popular fire, police, and air traffic control, I personally do not. I only ever use it to find out what is happening in my vicinity.  Therefore I will not reviewing the full scope of this app, merely how I personally use it.

I live in Roseville, Placer County, California, United States of America as of the writing of this article.  The county is actually quite large encompassing a great portion of the heavily traveled and popular Sierra Mountains, including Lake Tahoe and Folsom Lake.  Tahoe is a very large, fresh water lake, but is far better known for its ski resorts such as Squaw Valley Resort, Heavenly Mountain Resort, and Sugar Bowl Resort.

I listen to both "Placer County Law Enforcement and CAL Fire" and "Roseville Police and Fire".

Finding & Listening to a Station

After you I a station that I like, I tag it in the Favorites section.  I have many options to find scanners in my area or any area, whether by search through the Top 50 or Nearby Scanners, or tapping the Search Icon and entering a City or Zip Code.


 The app includes a great number of features as it has improved and updated over the years of its existence. The most basic listening features are lauded by tools and added functions.  Merely listening as I have done, is still applicable, but there is much more.  Personally, I like to change the Equalizer.  Most of the audio that comes across is in the vocal bands and so very low and very high bands aren't as useful and so I turn them down;. bands like 60 Hz and 14 kHz.
   I also recommend setting a snooze timer, especially if you like I, forget that the app is still streaming.  It's nice to listen to late at night, but if an emergency comes over the app at 3 AM, it is an unpleasant wake-up call.

The app will run well in the background, continuing to stream the audio.  If you have a pair of headphones on, you may notice that the audio is not mono.  Many stations have more than 1 channel, especially for Police & Fire channels. Usually each channel is parsed for one side and the other.  So you may get Police in the left ear and Fire in the right ear. It can be confusing and bothersome when something BIG is happening and both departments are speaking.

Other Features

If you find yourself becoming more interested in Scanner Radios, there are many popular stations and even audio chat via Discord.  If you want to keep an "ear" on what's happening, you can set up alerts, which for the most part will notify you that many people have joined a listening channel.

   As an example, when I lived in Sunnyvale, CA there was a reported incident of a man barricading himself into his home when the police arrived.  He barred his door and fired his shotgun at the police through the door.  This caused a HUGE ruckus and the event took place barely a mile from my home.  The number of people who jumped onto Scanner Radio multiplied exponentially within a few minutes and I received an alert, which allowed me to listen to the harrowing conclusion of the stand-off in my own neighborhood.  (they shot and killed him).

Another interesting feature that has been available for a while within the app, is the capability to change the theme color.  I prefer the default orange because it reminds me of an old World Band Radio that my dad got when I was a kid, but there are several other colors.  It's nothing functional, but it may allow you to distinguish features within the app, and if nothing else make a somewhat flat app, look more fancy.

Conclusion

I have used the Scanner Radio app for so long that (when it was available) I purchased it.  The initial release did not include advertisements, but eventually it did to support the app.  I continue to use it because I do not own a physical Citizen Band radio any more and in the digital age it is not so practical as a Smartphone.  Although there are many extras in the Scanner Radio app, I do not use most of them, I leave that to your discovery.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this app.