How to broadcast radio from your mobile phone

Did you know that you can broadcast live to your internet radio station from your phone? That’s right! Your mobile phone, or tablet (for you fancy people), can be your very own mobile radio studio.

The phone in your pocket has quietly become the main screen for almost everything. In the UK, 75% of the time adults spend online each day, three hours and 15 minutes, happens on a smartphone, rising to 83% among 25 to 34 year olds (Ofcom, Online Nation 2024). It can be a broadcast studio too.

Broadcasting live is a core part of radio. Internet radio platforms, like ourselves here at RadioCult, normally come with a range of tools that enable you to automate your broadcast but sometimes going live to all of your listeners is just more fun.

Interested? Let’s get into it.

Requirements

You need exactly four things to broadcast live from your mobile phone:

• A mobile phone or tablet (pretty self explanatory),
• A stable internet connection,
• A mobile broadcasting client and
• Your very own radio station

We can’t help with a mobile phone or fast fibre but we can help with setting up your own radio station. Interested? Consider us if you’re wanting to start your radio station on a simple, yet powerful internet radio platform.

Additionally, for the optimal experience some extra, nice to haves are:

• A good pair of headphones
• A quality microphone for recording audio

Why would I want to broadcast from my mobile phone?

Now that you’ve gotten the prerequisites for broadcasting live: maybe now is the time to ask not can we broadcast live from our mobile phones, but should we?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that broadcasting live from your mobile makes sense for a variety of reasons. Maybe you want to present a laid back, relaxed show without expensive broadcasting equipment. Maybe you’re out at a festival or a game and don’t have your laptop with you. Maybe it’s been a long week and you can’t make it into your studio so you want to go live on your radio station from the comfort of your home.

There’s a bigger reason too: your listeners have already moved to their phones. In the US, mobile devices overtook the traditional radio receiver as the single most-used audio device back in Q3 2022, taking a 33.3% share of all audio time versus 33.1% for the radio set. That was a striking flip from 2014, when the radio receiver led by 49% to 18% (Edison Research, Sound Data, 2024). Smartphone ownership now sits at 91% of Americans aged 12 and over, around 262 million people, up from just 10% in 2009 (Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2025).

Among younger listeners the shift is sharper still. For US 13 to 34 year olds, 48% of all audio time is now spent on a mobile device against just 19% on a traditional radio (Edison Research, Sound Data, 2024). Even in the car, radio’s long-time stronghold, the gap between the radio set and the phone has narrowed from 62 points in 2015 (71% radio to 9% phone) to 35 points by 2024 (58% to 23%) (Edison Research, Sound Data, 2024). In the UK, nine in ten weekly podcast listeners now listen on a smartphone, and almost seven in ten (69%) use it as their main device (Ofcom, Audio listening in the UK 2025).

There is still plenty of room to grow, and that is the opportunity. Live radio is one of the last formats yet to make the jump: in the UK, mobile phones account for only around 6% of live-radio listening hours, with FM and DAB sets still dominant (RAJAR MIDAS, Summer 2024). As audiences keep shifting to the small screen for on-demand audio and podcasts, going live from your phone puts your station exactly where attention is already heading.

Whatever your reason for broadcasting from your mobile phone to your radio station, we’re here to make it a reality.

Broadcasting live radio from your mobile device

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty details. Once you’ve got your internet radio station set up and your mobile phone connected to a good cellular or wi-fi connection then you’re ready for the next step: choosing your broadcasting client.

It’s actually quite an easy decision as there aren’t too many options. It all really depends if you’re on iOS or Android. If you’re on iOS then you’ll want to go with iziCast. If you’re on Android then you’ll be choosing BroadcastSelf.

Broadcast live radio from iOS

To broadcast live radio on iOS we recommend using iziCast. iziCast was created by the same person who made BUTT - a popular live streaming client for Mac, Linux and Windows.

Izicast is only available on iOS and is a paid app. It’s very stable and well-liked by it’s users.

Broadcast live radio from Android

To broadcast live radio on Android we recommend using BroadcastSelf.

Broadcast self is free to download but some features are unlocked via in-app purchases. There’s also a standalone version of BroadcastSelf Pro that you can purchase directly.

BroadcastSelf is only available on Android.

Connecting live with your client

Once you’ve downloaded a mobile streaming client you’ll invariably want to connect live. If you’re using RadioCult then all of your live connection details are displayed on your dashboard. Simply enter them into your mobile streaming client and click connect live.

Your mobile client should let you know whether the connection was successful. You’ll also see a “Live now” indicator in RadioCult after a few seconds, letting you know that you are connected live and broadcasting to all of your listeners via your mobile device.

Both apps support broadcasting internet audio files or external audio captured by your phone’s microphone.

How RadioCult makes mobile broadcasting easier

Broadcasting live radio from your phone couldn't be easier. Simply download an app, fill in some details and connect. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to have everything setup!

If you’re using RadioCult to host your internet radio station’s stream then you’ll also have all of the safe guards around going live that we provide.

You’ll be able to ensure station presenters only go live during their own slots, that the live show doesn’t go over other scheduled content and more. You’ll also be able to specify a fallback for live radio shows in case you connect late or your internet connection out in the field is spotty.

However you run your radio station, RadioCult has the tools you need to make your station sound professional. Try us for free and see if RadioCult is a fit for your station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do people really listen to radio and audio on their phones?

Increasingly, yes. Mobile devices overtook traditional radio receivers as the most-used audio device in the US in 2022 (33.3% of all audio time versus 33.1% for the radio set), and among listeners aged 13 to 34, 48% of all audio time is now spent on a mobile device (Edison Research, Sound Data, 2024). With 91% of Americans aged 12 and over now owning a smartphone (Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2025), broadcasting from your phone reaches listeners on the device they already use most.

What app do I need to broadcast radio from my phone?

On iOS, use iziCast. On Android, use BroadcastSelf. Both connect to Icecast and Shoutcast streaming servers.

Is the audio quality good enough for a live radio broadcast from a phone?

Yes, both apps support standard broadcast bitrates. For the best results, use a stable Wi-Fi connection and consider plugging in an external microphone rather than relying on your phone's built-in mic.

Can I broadcast from my phone and play music at the same time?

Both iziCast and BroadcastSelf support broadcasting audio files stored on your device as well as capturing audio from your phone's microphone, so you can mix voice and pre-loaded music during a live broadcast.