Questions & answers

LUMA Radio & Podcasts is a radio and podcast app for Android and iPhone. It plays live radio from around the world and shows what is on now and next in a TV-style Radio Guide covering 2,000+ stations in 70 countries. It also has podcasts with subscriptions and downloads, and an MP3 Player for the music already on your phone. Radio and Podcasts each get their own Home, which you arrange yourself.

The Android app (with Android Auto) and the iPhone app (with CarPlay and an Apple Watch app) are in testing ahead of their public launch on Google Play and the App Store. Until then you can try the web preview in any browser.

Yes. Radio, podcasts, the Radio Guide, programme reminders, search and the MP3 Player are free and need no account. The free version keeps up to 5 favorite stations, 5 podcast subscriptions and 5 downloaded episodes, and includes 2 of the 10 themes.

Premium is an optional subscription that removes those limits and adds the features listed under What does Premium include?

No. Everything that plays works without signing in. You only need an account to buy Premium, to restore it on another device, and to sync your library and settings between devices (a Premium feature).

Stations come from the open Radio Browser and SHOUTcast directories, so you can find radio from almost every country. The Radio Guide, with real programme schedules, covers 2,000+ stations in 70 countries, and we keep adding more.

The app is available in 82 languages. It follows your phone's language by default; to choose another, go to Settings → App language. Station, programme and podcast names appear as their publishers write them.

The web preview shows US stations and the US Radio Guide, with podcast discovery, search and time-limited listening. Reminders, downloads, the MP3 Player, the Equalizer and song recognition need the installed app.

Home is the first screen of the app. It is made of sections: horizontal rows of stations, programmes or episodes, stacked one under another. Radio and Podcasts each have their own Home; use the Radio | Podcasts switch at the top of the screen to move between them.

Radio Home: Favorites, Listen Again, Guide (what is on now), You may also like, Podcasts and MP3 Player, plus a section for each genre you picked when you set up the app.

Podcast Home: New episodes, Continue listening, Popular shows, You might like and New shows.

1. Scroll to the bottom of Radio Home and tap Edit sections.
2. The Customize your Home page opens. Under Add a section, choose a country (or World), then a genre, subgenre or category.
3. Tap the button at the bottom, which now names your choice (for example Add Jazz).

The new section appears at the top of Home, and you can move it anywhere afterwards.

Switch to Podcasts, scroll to the bottom of Podcast Home and tap Add section. Pick a podcast category, for the whole world or for one country, and tap Add. The section, showing top shows in that category, is added at the end of Podcast Home.

Yes, and it is free. Open the show's page and tap Add to Home (the home button next to Share and Subscribe). The show gets its own row of its latest episodes on Podcast Home. Tap the same button again to take it off.

• Radio Home: a genre, subgenre or category for any country (for example Jazz in France or News in Germany) or for the whole world, and extra Favorites sections to sort the stations you save.
• Podcast Home: a podcast category, worldwide or for one country, and individual shows.

Press and hold the section for about half a second until it lifts and a drag handle appears. Drag it to its new place and let go. While you are moving a section the others are dimmed; tap anywhere outside it to finish. It works the same way on Radio Home and Podcast Home.

All of them. Favorites, Listen Again, Guide, You may also like, Podcasts and MP3 Player can go anywhere on Radio Home, just like sections you added. The same goes for New episodes, Continue listening and the other built-in sections on Podcast Home.

Press and hold the section until it becomes active, tap the × on it and confirm Remove. A section you added can be added again at any time, and a built-in section you remove can be switched back on (see the next question).

Yes. Open Customize your Home (Edit sections at the bottom of Radio Home, or Add section at the bottom of Podcast Home). Under Prebuilt sections, switch any built-in section off or back on.

• Radio Home: Listen Again, Radio Guide, Podcasts and MP3 Player can be switched off for free; You may also like needs Premium.
• Podcast Home: every built-in section can be switched off for free.

Removing a built-in section with × does the same as switching it off, so you can always bring it back here.

Favorites sections can be renamed: tap the pencil button next to the section's name and type a new one. Two sections can't share a name. Genre, category and show sections are always named after what they contain.

Genre and category sections fill themselves from that country's stations, so they stay up to date without any work. Favorites sections contain exactly the stations you save, and with Premium you can hold a station inside a Favorites section and drag it to a new position.

Tap the heart on any station to save it. Your first Favorites section is created automatically. The free version keeps 1 Favorites section with up to 5 stations.

With Premium you can save as many stations as you like and create more named Favorites sections (for example Morning, Work or Jazz) from Customize your Home → Favorites → Add favorites section. Each one is its own row on Radio Home. Your favorite stations are also listed under Library → Favorites.

No. Each section you add remembers the country it was made for, so a Jazz in France section keeps showing French stations even while you browse another country.

Your layout is saved on your phone automatically. With Premium and a signed-in account it also syncs to your other devices. On a new phone, choose Sign in and restore when the app first opens, and your country, genres and Home layout come back as you left them.

Yes. Android Auto and CarPlay show your Radio and Podcast Home sections on the car screen.

Building your Home (adding, moving and removing sections, and extra Favorites sections) is part of Premium. The controls stay visible in the free version so you can see how they work; when you use one, the app tells you it comes with Premium instead of silently doing nothing. Switching built-in sections on and off and pinning podcast shows stay free.

Open the Explore tab. Search by name, or use Filters to pick a country, genre or subgenre, and sort the results by popularity, rating, quality or name. You can also switch between the Radio Browser and SHOUTcast directories.

A TV-style timeline that puts the programme schedules of a country's stations side by side, with a live now marker, programme details, and country and genre filters. The Guide section on Radio Home shows what is on now; tap More on it to open the full guide.

The guide only shows schedules that a broadcaster publishes and that we can check. If a station has no published schedule yet, the guide says so. The station still plays normally.

Schedules are collected from the broadcasters' own websites and refreshed regularly, so last-minute changes can take a while to appear. Email luma@pidbiq.net with the station, the programme and the correct time, and we will fix it.

1. Open a future programme in the Radio Guide and tap Notify me.
2. Choose how early you want the notification, up to two hours before the programme starts.
3. The programme's own day starts ticked, so the reminder repeats every week on that day. Tick more days to add them, or untick every day for a one-time reminder.

All your reminders are listed under Library → Scheduled notifications, where you can change or remove them.

No. Radio-stream recording is not available. Use Notify me so you don't miss the programme when it airs.

Each stream comes straight from its broadcaster. If a stream stops, the app reconnects and looks for an alternative stream automatically. If none works, the station shows Not available; most come back once the broadcaster fixes its stream. Check your connection, try again later, and email us the station name if it keeps happening.

Email luma@pidbiq.net with the station's name, country and website, and we will look into it. You can't add your own stream address in the app, so this is the way to get a station added for everyone.

Use the Share button on the player or on the show's page. The link opens in the app for people who have it installed, and in the web preview for everyone else.

It suggests stations similar to the ones you play, the stations you return to regularly, and what is popular in your country, weighted by your favorite genres. To change those genres, go to Settings → Favorite genres. Personalised listening in Settings uses your listening statistics to improve the picks; you can switch it off at any time.

Charts, discovery and search are powered by Apple Podcasts, by country and category. Episodes play straight from each publisher's own feed.

Open the show and tap Subscribe. New episodes from the shows you follow appear in New episodes on Podcast Home. The free version follows up to 5 shows; Premium has no limit.

New episodes collects fresh episodes from the shows you follow. Continue listening keeps the episodes you have started, so you can pick up where you left off. Finished episodes are marked as played, and you can mark any episode played or unplayed yourself.

Tap the download button on an episode; downloaded episodes play without a connection. On Android they are saved in Download/LUMA by default, where your Files app shows them, and you can pick another folder in Settings. The free version keeps up to 5 downloads; Premium has no limit.

Yes. The podcast player has playback speed, 10-second back and forward buttons, and chapters when the episode provides them.

Yes. Playback continues with the screen off, with controls on the lock screen and in notifications, and headphone and Bluetooth buttons work too.

Yes. Turn on Settings → Auto-play in the car. When your car or a Bluetooth device connects, the last radio station or podcast resumes where you left off.

Yes. Android Auto and CarPlay show your Radio and Podcast Home sections on the car screen. The Apple Watch app controls what is playing on your iPhone and has a complication for the watch face.

Yes. The timer on the player stops playback after the time you choose; this is free. With Premium, the same timer can also wake you by starting playback at a set time.

Tap EQ on the player to choose a preset, such as Full Bass, Rock, Jazz, Classical or Voice, or to adjust the bands yourself (5 bands on Android). The Equalizer does not apply while audio plays on another device, such as an AirPlay speaker.

Yes. Tap the Shazam button on the player to identify the song on a live station, in a podcast episode or in your own music. Everything you recognize is kept under Library → Recognized songs, where you can search, sort and filter it, like songs, and open them in Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube.

Yes, for free. The MP3 Player in Library plays MP3 and other audio already on your phone: add a folder, then play by folder or use the queue, shuffle, repeat and playlists. Supported video files open in a separate video player.

Yes. Settings has 10 color themes (2 in the free version, all 10 with Premium), a dark theme, Auto day/night, Bold UI, and two styles for the radio player: classic large artwork or a spinning vinyl.

Yes. Statistics gives everyone a summary of what they listen to most. Premium adds the full charts: trends over time, genres, countries and your listening streak.

• Unlimited favorite stations, podcast subscriptions and downloads
• A Home you build: add, move and remove sections, and extra Favorites sections
• The Equalizer
• Shazam song recognition
• All 10 themes
• The wake-up timer
• Your library and settings synced across your devices
• Full listening statistics

Premium is a monthly or yearly subscription. The app shows the exact price in your local currency before you confirm; prices vary by region.

Yes, new subscribers usually get a free trial on the yearly plan. The app shows how long it lasts on the plan before you confirm, and the store's purchase screen shows it again. Nothing is charged on the day you start, and the app reminds you two days before the trial ends. If you don't cancel before it ends, the yearly plan begins. You can cancel at any time in your store's subscription settings.

Yes. Sign in first, then subscribe. Premium is tied to your account, which is what lets you restore it on another device.

Subscriptions are managed by the store that sold them:

• Android: Google Play → your profile picture → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions.
• iPhone: Settings → your name → Subscriptions.

You keep Premium until the end of the period you have paid for. Uninstalling the app or deleting your account does not cancel a subscription.

Sign in with the same account you used when you subscribed, open the Premium page and tap Restore. Your phone must be signed in to the same Google Play account or Apple ID that made the purchase. If it still doesn't appear, email us with your platform and the store's order number. Never send card details.

Refunds are handled by Google Play or Apple under their own policies. We can't issue refunds for store purchases directly.

Go to Settings → Account. You can continue with Google, continue with Apple, or use an email address and password.

On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password? and we will email you a link to set a new one. If it doesn't arrive within a few minutes, check your spam folder, then email luma@pidbiq.net from the address you signed up with.

Install LUMA on the new phone. When it asks Have you used LUMA before?, choose Sign in and restore. With Premium, your country, genres, Home layout, favorite stations and recognized songs come back as you left them. Downloaded episodes and your own music files stay on the old phone.

Go to Settings → Account → Delete account in the app, or follow the steps on the account deletion page. This permanently deletes your account and Premium status. Your downloads stay on your phone. An active subscription must be cancelled separately in the store.

Core listening works without an account. The Privacy Policy explains what is used for optional accounts, subscriptions, local files, network services, song recognition and recommendations, and the choices you have.

Some Android phones close background apps to save battery. Open your phone's Settings → Apps → LUMA → Battery and choose Unrestricted. The exact names vary by phone maker.

Check that notifications are allowed for LUMA in your phone's settings, and that the reminder is listed under Library → Scheduled notifications. On Android, battery saving can also delay notifications; see the answer above.

Email luma@pidbiq.net. Include your phone model, the station or podcast name when relevant, what you expected and what happened. Never send passwords, payment-card details or other secrets.