What happened to FM Radio in Windows Phone 8? - windows-phone

Question

FM Radio was a mandatory HW requirement in Windows Phone 7, but it's not present on any current Windows Phone 8 device.
Why there is no FM radio in Music Hub in WP8? Can we at least use the FMRadio API?

Answer 1

According to MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj206947(v=vs.105).aspx
Windows Phone 8 does not support the FM radio feature. If you use the
FM radio API in a Windows Phone 8 app, a RadioDisabledException will
occur.
Also from what I heard:
...the FM radio feature was planned to be included but got cut from this
release due to stability vs. time constraints.
(... I don't know if
there are any plans to re-enable this feature in a future update.)
You can use this test to safely determine if FMRadio can be used on current phone:
/// <summary>
/// Flag is radio device is available in this phone.
/// </summary>
public bool IsRadioAvailable
{
get
{
if (!radioInitialized)
{
radioInitialized = true;
try
{
radio = FMRadio.Instance;
isRadioAvailable = true;
}
catch (RadioDisabledException e)
{
isRadioAvailable = false;
}
}
return isRadioAvailable;
}
}
private bool radioInitialized;
private bool isRadioAvailable;
private FMRadio radio;
Update:
According to various sources FM radio will be enabled in upcoming Windows Phone 8 update that should arrive in Summer 2013.

Answer 2

I read that the Lumia 920 has FMRX and just needs to be "utilised". Not sure if they helps in any way

Answer 3

FM Radio returns, on supported hardware, in Windows Phone 8 'GDR2' (8.0.10327.77/78).
It's not clear whether the API support also returns and how it behaves:
Caution:
FM radio is supported only in apps that target Windows Phone OS 7.1.
If you use the FMRadio class in apps that target Windows Phone OS 8.0
or later, a RadioDisabledException indicates that the FM radio feature
is not available. On Windows Phone 8 devices with a build of 8.0.10322
or greater, the run-time exception may not occur if you use the
FMRadio API. However, the FMRadio API is not supported for apps that
target Windows Phone OS 8.0.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/microsoft.devices.radio.fmradio.frequency(v=vs.105).aspx
In other words, there is no Windows Phone Runtime API to control the radio.
I've just tried out an FM Radio app from the store, which does work.