iOS 4.0 Update Released December 4, 2010
We have released a new App that supports background streaming on iPhone 3GS and later phones, aacPlus, start/stop and skip to next favorite channel from headphone remote, AirPlay support for playback on your AppleTV or Airport Express, and numerous bug fixes. Get it here! (Please note that you can't just use the App Store update, as the old app was discontinued, and this is a whole new app.)
Common Questions/Issues:
Does this work on iOS5?
A. Yes. We will have a free update soon that improves the graphical appearance (Retina-display images) as well as adds some new features, and make streaming over flakey net connections more robust.
Does this work on an iPad?
A. It will work in iPhone compatibility mode. We are planning a specific iPad update soon.
Why new separate app for iOS 4.x ? I fell somewhat disappointed that I have to pay for the same app twice.
A. We apologize for this, but it is because the app was originally published by a third-party developer, and we have now taken over development and publishing ourselves. The App Store has no way to transfer an app from one publisher to another so we had to do it that way. We made the new app free for the first 3 months and put a news alert on the old app telling people to upgrade, but apparently not a lot of people check the news section of our iPhone app. We hope you understand, and remember that the money we make on this app goes to support SomaFM and subsidize the development costs of our mobile apps.
Q. I accidentially deleted my app, how can I get it back?
A. If you are using the same AppleID now as you did when you originally puchased the app, you can just go into the App Store and install it again, you won't be charged again if you already own it. [SomaFM in the Appstore Link.]
Q. The SomaFM app stops playing when I go to the main iPhone menu.
A. You need version 1.2 of the SomaFM Radio app and at least a 3GS or later iPhone and 3rd or 4th generation iPod Touch devices. Apple does not support multitasking on older devices. Unfortunately, if you have the earliest version of our app, you will need to purchase the new version again as our old app was distributed by a third-party developer and not directly through us.
Q. I bought the Iphone app a couple weeks ago. It had been working until about a week ago when I updated my Itunes and Iphone 3GS to the most current version(4.3.1, i think before it was 4.2) Now the app opens, I can go into a station, but then I get a popup Error: Unable to load this station. Please try again later. I have rebooted the phone and deleted and reinstalled the app, and still have the same issue.
A. If this happens on WiFi, you may be behind a firewall that blocks "high ports" where many of our stream servers reside. Try using the 3G network instead. (See below for more information on firewall-friendly streams.)
Q. Can you stop the iphone from ringing when playing SomaFM?
A. No. This is a design feature of the iPhone where an incoming call will override any running application. You can put your phone into Call Forwarding mode and it won't ring.
There is a complex way to force all calls to voicemail. First, determine your voicemail number by dialing *#67# - you'll see the display say "Voice Call Forwarding When Busy Forwards to +XXXXX" where X is the number you forward to. You can then go into Settings -> Phone and add that number to your call forwarding, and turn call forwarding on. When you're done listening, you can go back into Settings->Phone and turn call forwarding off.
Q. Does the SomaFM app support SomaFM's AACplus streams?
A. Yes. On our channels that support AACPlus, we use 32kb aac+ for the low bitrate, and 64kb for the high bitrate. We don't have aacPlus for all our channels yet, but these have it now: Groove Salad, Secret Agent, Indie Pop Rocks, Tags Trip, Illinois Street Lounge, Space Station Soma, Lush, Mission Control and 480 Minutes.
Q. I purchased the app but it will not open, it just flashes open for a second then goes away.
A. This has been reported on phones that have been "jailbroken", and has to do with the code signing of Apps from the App Store. You should be able to delete and reinstall the app to get it to work again.
Q. Not all stations are showing up in my list.
A. You are running an extremely old version of the SomaFM app on a version 3 phone. Update the app and the problem is fixed. You will have to re-purchase the app to get the latest version in this case, as our old app was distributed by a third-party developer and not directly through us.
Q. I'm using the iPod Touch via wi-fi and it won't connect to stream the music, it does however update the song listings as it appears on each stations. It just gives me the error when I press play "unable to connect to the station try again later".
A. This is usually caused by a firewall that blocks connections "high ports", which we use for our streams. We are now including a firewall friendly streams which will be tried if the normal stream can't be connected to. This problem shouldn't happen anymore for most channels, and we are in the process up upgrading all streams to firewall friendly.
Q. Why don't you use in-app purchase for making donations, rather than taking the user to Paypal in Safari.
A. Apple currently doesn't allow in-app purchases for donations. However, we have worked with Apple and they will allow listeners to donate by purchasing "Badges" for within the app, and we plan to support this in a future release.
Q. How much data does the app use?
A. Our high bandwidth MP3 streams are 128k, and the low bandwidth streams are usually 56k. At 128k that's about 60mb an hour; so about 33 hours of streaming would use about 2gb of data. If you use our AAC-HE (aacPlus) format streams at 32k, you can stream about 130 hours a month to hit the 2gb cap. That's over 4 hours a day of streaming every day. For long periods of listening you're better off using a WiFi connection.
Q. I purchased the app for my iPod Touch...the high bandwidth stream was too choppy, but when I switched to the low bandwidth option, it does not connect at all.
A. You are probably behind a firewall that's blocking our streams. If the streams are choppy, it means either your internet connection is saturated or there is a "proxy" installed that is interfering with the streams. Try using a different internet connection.
Q. How do you use airplay to send the audio to my Apple TV or Airport Express?
A. You need iOS 4.2 or later installed to use Airplay. Once you install it, you'll see the Airplay icon next to the volume control slider. Sometimes the stream will stop when switching to Airplay, you can just hit play again to restart the stream over Airplay. We are working to fix this bug in the next release.
Q. I just installed the updated iPhone app on my iPod Touch and it stops streaming whenever I exit the app. Doesn't it have background streaming now?
A. You need iOS 4 installed on a 3rd or later generation iPod. Older iPods do not support background audio.
For other SomaFM iPhone support questions
Post a message here and we'll respond. You can also email dj@somafm.com and we'll get back to you. Please include as many details of the problem you're having, your carrier, iPhone/iPod Touch model, and what you were doing when the problem happened.
I have an iPhone 4s and bought/downloaded the somafm app. I was wondering what the purpose of the pause/play button since it appears as though it does not 'pause' but stops the stream. I enjoy somafm but this feature does drive me crazy when I think I am pausing. -- Guy Harris, January 31, 2012 at 8:32a
When the app is paused is it really OFF or is it still using bandwidth? Or is there a way to just kill it so I know it's off? Thanks! -- Phil, January 25, 2012 at 3:04p
test -- test, November 3, 2011 at 5:14p
I'm puzzled. The app was working fine on my iPhone 4, with iOS 4.2. Then the other day, it stopped playing when the app was in the background. I didn't change any settings, and the app is up to date. What happened? -- Daniel Buysse, October 27, 2011 at 7:41p
Does the app works both in the US and EU? -- Vincent, October 25, 2011 at 7:44p
I installed the 4.2 update for my Ipod touch and i don't know whats new. Can you tell me so i can find out? -- Autumn, September 24, 2011 at 6:34a
Dear there! I am in Taiwan, Could i get SOMA if I purchase the application? I got iPod touch the latest model! Thanks there! -- Ken, September 24, 2011 at 12:39a
Hi, I have just purchase your app today having the online stream for a while. However, i have notice that the app stops playing/streaming when I go to the main iPhone menu and when the phone goes to sleep. I have a iPhone 4, running 4.3 iOS, so the multi tasking function should be supported. Please help. Thanks! -- Ruairi McGuigan, September 21, 2011 at 2:13p
Hi, Whenever I try to listen to the station 480minutes on my soma fm app (iphone 3gs) I get an error that says unable to load station at this time. the other channels seem to work fine. What should I do? -- Jon, September 7, 2011 at 6:16a
Truly Excellent Project...... Pls update iPhone App to Universal (so i should use in native mode on my iPad with rotation Screen) Thanks Davide -- Bradips, August 27, 2011 at 8:52a
I have version 1.4 and play it on my iPhone4 with 4.3.5 (8L1). I can't seem to play the player in the background. When I tried to install a update which I paid for in Jan 2011, the app store screen shows an tab button that says 'installed' but it's shaded and not clickable. How can I get the player to play in the background? -- Steve, August 25, 2011 at 10:03a
can I fit the station icons e.g. groove salad logo into my iTunes library rather than the blank space. thanks rick -- rick southwick, July 25, 2011 at 8:38p
Also requesting that we be able to sort the Favorites - thanks! -- Andrew, July 25, 2011 at 11:45a
i uploaded the new app before jan 31, then just this week deleted the old app on my itouch only to discover i deleted the new app. how can i get it restored without paying the $3.99? cheers. johanna. -- Johanna Vanderpol, May 12, 2011 at 11:17a
Hi, I'm still having trouble with the App when trying to use it on the iPad 2 and wifi. Tried low and high bandwidth and music continues to skip and show the buffering ring. Hope to see an Ipad 2 specific app. No problems using it on iPod Touch 4. -- Rick, April 30, 2011 at 11:59p
So I bought the Iphone app a couple weeks ago. It had been working until about a week ago when I updated my Itunes and Iphone 3GS to the most current version(4.3.1, i think before it was 4.2) Now the app opens, I can go into a station, but then I get a popup Error: Unable to load this station. Please try again later. I have rebooted the phone and deleted and reinstalled the app, and still have the same issue. Any help will be appreciated. -- doug, April 4, 2011 at 11:08a
why new separate app for iOS 4.x ? I fell somewhat disappointed that I have to pay for the same app twice -- dude, April 3, 2011 at 11:31a
A few suggestions for the SomaFM iPhone app: 1) Currently the app stops playback if I insert or remove headphones. I like that the music stops when I remove my headphones as that usually means I reached my destination and I'm taking the phone with me out of the car, disconnecting it from the stereo system. But if I'm inserting headphones it's usually because I started playback and wanted to listen on a different audio system. I'd prefer it if removing a device from the headphone jack still stops playback, but inserting doesn't playback (much like how the iPod app works). 2) I would very much like the ability to sort my Favorite stations list, rather than them always being listed in the order I added them to my Favorite stations. 3) Sometimes when I'm driving in my car playback stops because my phone is transferring from one network to another (WiFi to 3G as I pull away from the house, or 3G to Edge as I'm driving on county roads). Right now the app tells me I lost connection with a popup message and stops playback. I would prefer it if the app tried reconnecting at least a few times before giving up and saying it lost connection. Thanks for all the great music! Bryon -- Bryon Perona Jr, March 26, 2011 at 7:09a
I have the lasted version of your app (1.2) and have an Ipod Touch 2nd Gen ruinning iO2 4.2 and background streaming is not working. -- Matthew, February 14, 2011 at 8:47p
I have the latest version installed on my iPad (iOS 4.2 loaded) and I don't see the Airplay button. (Airplay works with the youtube and ipod apps) -- Epoch Wolf, February 11, 2011 at 10:51a
Hi there, bought your new app for my iPhone 3G using iOS 4 and can't seem to make it play in the background. Any advice? Thank you -- David, February 8, 2011 at 2:17p