radiosure.com
Traditional PC apps such as Radio Sure have faced decreasing demand in the face of streaming services like Pandora, Live365, and Slacker Radio. In the past, people would install these apps on their laptops or desktops to listen to online content; however, with the rise of streaming services, this is no longer the case.
What is Radio Sure?
Radio Sure is an app more than an online streaming site. It is one of the most popular software when it comes to recording and listening to radio files. Not many people know about it but by downloading this app, you can stream top-quality music from the best radio stations around the world.
The interface is easy to use, with a great number of radio stations that can be sorted in more than one way. Additionally, you can add or delete stations from the network.
Radio Sure - A RadioZilla alternative
Back in the days, RadioZilla was a free Windows application that allowed users to not only listen to the radio stations from around the globe but even download the songs without requiring any third-party applications. However, as time passed, RadioZilla failed to live up to its expectations and thus created a room for its toughest competitor - Radio Sure. On Radio Sure, there is absolutely no dearth of content as you can access 17,000+ channels with the ability to add or delete stations.
History
Radio Sure is an online service that does not have a clear description of its ownership. All we know is that the software was developed in 2008 by a company called "The Best Ware Studio." As per the developer, Radio Sure because of its cutting-edge design and ease of use was able to cut through the competition quite easily.
If you banked on the Radio Sure's data, then you would likely find content on the first few pages of the database that offers high-quality content. Out of the nearly 40,000 stations in the database as of December 2017, only 20,000 are considered to be genuine radio stations. If you add and remove your own radio stations as you please, then it's possible that more than half of Radio Sure's stations aren't real.
Why should you stream on Radio Sure?
Unlike other streaming services, Radio Sure allows you to listen to the service in a variety of ways, through the main interface, by using the small bar, or by minimizing the taskbar. This allows you to take advantage of traditional Windows features. There are many reasons why you should stream using this app.
Recording feature
Though this feature might seem ancient by contemporary standards, it is actually quite handy. The ability to record your favorite station is a great alternative to offline listening. Today, the services offer offline listening as part of a premium plan - with Radio Sure, you can record content from your favorite channel. Sure, there are limitations to the number of simultaneous recordings but it still remains an important feature.
Quality Feed
The graphics and presentation were on point as well.
The radio app Radio Sure has a strong signal that loads quickly. I tested more than two dozen stations and I didn't find any hiccups in the form of signal cutsouts or audio breakage. The testing was smooth. I liked the content I saw within the app and was able to navigate and test out different features with relative ease. The graphics and presentation were on point, too.
Clear interface & Easy Setup
One of the simplest and most appealing aspects about Radio Sure is that it is incredibly easy to set up. You can download the app and once that's done, you can run the software and carry it on a USB stick. There are just a few buttons that help you navigate across different panels. The interface remains super clean and simple, with just a few buttons.
Configurable settings
You can crossfade between stations - that's really cool! Using the options menu, you can enable or disable features such as crossfade, show song titles in the system tray or modify output destination. Apart from that you can choose the bitrate, avoid duplicated recordings, split recordings by track, select audio device, enable global hotkeys, and configure proxy settings.
Easy content consumption
When you open the app, you will find the radio stations immediately. You can view the stations and sort them on the basis of language, genre, title or country. You can also access the search function so you can find a piece of content directly. Additionally, since this app was created in 2008, its innovative sorting features are a nice touch.
You can add stations to Favorites, record a song in an MP3 format, and adjust the volume. Watching and utilizing these features sometimes makes me wonder that with the present approach, developers are dumbing down the streaming model and capabilities.
Design
Radio Sure provides access to a wide variety of radio stations, but their website is quite poor. I mean, it has no graphical elements and was made in 2011/2012, which is supposed to be a premium theme? It's just not usable, especially given that it's not an online streaming network.
Header
Radio Sure has a bleak header with only five options: Download, Features, Stations, Forum and Feedback. Out of these options, only the Download option has sub-categories which have dedicated inner pages.
Hero Section
An Editor's review from softonic.com is featured on Radio Sure, appearing before the footer. The review is not integrated well into the hero section of the website and makes it look worse overall.
Body
Finally, some graphical elements can be seen in the body section. As you scroll down, you will find Radio Sure's popular radio channels with nine tiny thumbnails which have again a poor graphic approach. You would see such design from Apple back in 2007. As you scroll further, you will find other content related to but not limited to Preinstalled radio stations, Radio Player, and Radio Skins.
Footer
The website's text-only approach is evident in the footer section, which has just five options: Register, Log in, Entries Feed, Comments feed, and WordPress.org.
Inner Pages
Upon entering the inner pages, you will find the list of stations with Station Name, Genre, Country, and update date. Hundreds of radio channels are updated each day. These include channels such as Hit 40 Radio, Pure FM, Variety 80s, Vinyl Days, KSDJ 90.7 to name a few. The only part I like on the website is the ability to edit a station - with proper formatting like structure, you can add information on the network.
Content
With over 20,000 legitimate radio channels, you have access to the top radio stations available across the web. RadioSure allows you to listen to radio stations from any genre and any country. You can use the sort feature to choose a station you love. You don't need to compromise on content and you can listen to the best radio stations on the globe. Whether you're into music or radio shows, you'll find something that suits your taste.
Some of the top radio stations on the network include various music genres, 1.FM, PureFM, ShoutedFM, Sky.FM, Serve.FM, Energy, 101.ru to name a few. Apart from music channels and genres, you can choose from a wide range of formats such as Hip Hop/R&B/Soul/Funk/Latin, Pop/Rock/Reggae/Cumulative Hits etc to name a few.
Desktop/Mobile experience
I downloaded Radio Sure on my desktop and had a good time. There are hundreds of high-quality radio stations on the app which will make you cling on to it. Again, it's the app that offers quality, not the actual website. I didn't like the website on my desktop screen and similarly was my experience with the mobile site. As of the streaming experience, it was top-notch at a steady 128kbps quality.
Plans & Pricing
You can download Radio Sure for free. However, if you would like to enjoy premium features, then you will need to pay $9.99.
Suggestions I have for Radio Sure
While I have no issues downloading an app, I do have an issue with trusting a platform. For a general user looking for an app, he or she might be dissuaded after looking at the website- which does appear spammy with little to no visual appeal. Thus, I would advise the developers to work on it.
Conclusion
The Radio Sure Internet radio player has a large database of content and a decent response time. The streaming quality is steady, and you can customize the player to your own preferences.