Any way to listen again to BBC radio?

Question

I would love to listen again to BBC radio in the UK. There was an app called beebplayer for watching BBC TV as catch up, and for live radio, but not for radio listen again, although it has now been withdrawn.

So are there any other apps (that don't require flash)? Are there statements from the BBC about Android support anyone could point me to? Is it flash only for ever?

My phone has Android 1.5, so I cannot use the flash player that comes with Android 2.2

Edit: Just to be clear, the "listen again" service is for catching up with radio programs you've missed, rather than just streaming what is on at the moment. Some are available as podcasts, but not all.

Answer 1

The BBC released statements about their support for Android with iPlayer back in June: BBC iPlayer on mobile: a new version and Adobe Flash 10.1 streaming on all Android 2.2 phones and BBC iPlayer on Android update. This all boils down to saying that their current strategy for mobiles is to offer a mobile optimised version of their Flash site, and not to create individual apps for every smartphone out there.

I'm also a Flash-less fan of BBC Radio and TV (though in a better position than you as my manufacturer and carrier have announced that 2.2 is coming very soon), I had Beebplayer on my previous Android phone and it is sorely missed now.

For the moment I just subscribe to the podcasts of the shows I'm interested in (and luckily most of mine are available as podcasts) using the Google Listen podcast app, this does have the benefit that they work without cutting out while I'm on the tube!

EDIT: Going through the comments on some more recent articles on the BBC Internet blog I've discovered an app called Myplayer it seems to offer access to (as far as I can tell) the full iPlayer TV and radio library with both streaming and downloads for later viewing/listening. Picture quality doesn't seem quite as good as I remember from Beebplayer, so presumably its using a different stream. Anyway it's there and seems to work, grab it before "Aunty" spots it!

Newer EDIT: The BBC have released an official iPlayer app, called BBC iPlayer though this is really just a Flash wrapper around the mobile version of the website and does require a wifi connection before it will play most content.

Answer 2

I haven't tried it, but perhaps TuneIn Radio will do what you want? It appears to be internet streams of actual radio stations, I'm sure you can find one that streams BBC. They have a listing of stations here by location: http://radiotime.com/region/c_0/Browse_Locations.aspx

Answer 3

It sounds like you need a podcatcher. I use BeyondPod which costs $7 but there are many free ones in the market (try searching the market for Podcast or Podcatcher). It will allow you to subscribe to a specific BBC show's podcast feeds then download or stream each episode. This works with audio and video (although I don't think BBC supports video podcasts anymore).

I subscribe to several BBC radio podcasts including "The Interview" and "One Planet" and there's one annoying quirk I've noticed: Unlike many other podcast providers, the BBC only offers the most recent show for download. You can't download old shows, but once you get set up you can have you podcatcher automatically download each episode and then you can get several weeks behind but have ll the episodes downloaded to your phone.