14 DAY TRIAL // iTunes makes it quite easy to listen to Internet radio and there are many other applications out there well suited for this task. Unfortunately, when you are on the go, listening to random music that is not in your collection becomes a bit more difficult. The iPod does not have a radio tuner built in and while you may purchase an accessory that will add this functionality, it is not always convenient. Fortunately, there is a pure software solution for listening to radio on your iPod: pre-record it. This approach may sound counter intuitive, but it doesn't have to be. All it takes is the right kind of application to make recording Internet radio a snap? something like iFill.
What it does iFill is a great little application for getting radio music on your iPod. With a combination of well-designed, intuitive interface, management options and easy automation, iFill will make Internet radio recording for your iPod as easy as syncing.
Working with it Working with iFill is actually more complex than you might initially think, but the application does a good job of keeping everything so manageable that you likely won't notice. The first step before actually being able to use iFill is to ensure that the iPod has Disk Use enabled, which can be toggled from within iTunes. This is mandatory in order to use iFill and so is free space in order to actually record the songs.
At the center of the iFill window is the wheel, which offers important information about your iPod. The wheel indicates the storage capacity of the iPod, how much is filled with data, how much is filled with music and how much is filled with iFill content. It might look strange at first, but once you get used to it, you will be able to tell at a glance what your iPod contains. Besides the iPod wheel, the main window also contains the list of radio stations that you have added and the recording controls. There are two additional windows that you can view when needed. One is the station's listing, from where you search for radio stations and add them to you list. The other is the iPod contents window, from where you can manage and listen to songs, as well as delete those you no longer need.
Recording a radio station is simply a matter of selecting it and hitting the record button. The software will automatically create tracks, name them and add them to your iPod.
Fine Tuning Although iFill lets you record from radio stations with no configuration beyond actually selecting them from the list, getting good results actually requires a bit more work. First up, the metadata needs to be properly indicated. Unlike computers which keep artists and track titles in two separate strings, radios transmit everything in one big string separated by a dash. Some stations place the artist first, while others place the track name first and it is up to you to tell the program which is where if you want proper tags. While the metadata is just a matter of a simple toggle, actual song formatting can be more complicated. iFill will cut a track and begin a new one when the metadata is sent, indicating the start of a new song. Unfortunately, not many stations bother to actually time the sending of this information properly and it can come several seconds before or after the actual break in the songs. In order to correct this, you have to cache a transmission from the station you want to record and listen to it in order to determine the correct offset. While this process is a bit around, it only needs to be done once per radio station.
Almost automatic While using iFill on a regular basis might sound like a lot of work, it is actually surprisingly little. The first important factor in heavy usage is that the program keeps track of all content added by itself, with the exception of the Shuffle where this doesn't work properly. Because iFill can instantly tell exactly what belongs to it, it makes it very easy to delete everything with just one click and be ready to replace it with new content. The next factor is the ability to reserve a certain amount of space for iFill content. This lets you set aside a fixed amount of storage that you will always use for Internet radio. Last but not least, iFill is capable of recording from multiple radio stations at the same time, the only restricting factor being your Internet connection. Once you add all this up and set everything right, you can just plug in your iPod, delete all iFill songs and hit record to get a new batch saved.
The Good Intuitive and easy to use, makes a rather complex process seem mundane. Once everything is set up, using it becomes a matter of a few clicks, on par with syncing.
The Bad Does require tweaking in order to get good results and some features don't work with Suffles.
The Truth iFill is the next best thing to an actual radio tuner accessory. Sure, it requires tweaking to get perfect results, there are few things that don't, and once you are done, it is as easy as possible to use regularly.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
