Swift Radio Android

An open-source starting point for building an Android radio app with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and Media3. Load stations from a local or hosted JSON file, using the same format as Swift Radio on iOS.

Features

• Live and on-demand audio with background playback and controls on the lock screen and in notifications
• Now playing bar that swipes up into the full player, built on compose-popupbar: a pane of glass tinted by the artwork by default, with the bar style, progress strip and background as config switches
• HLS (.m3u8) streams alongside the usual MP3 and AAC endpoints
• Android Auto integration with browse tree, playback controls, and artwork
• Album art and track metadata from streams and the iTunes API
• Multiple stations from a local or remote JSON file
• Search and filter stations by name or description
• Material You dynamic color support on Android 12+
• App text in string resources for translation

Download

Download the latest APK from the Releases page. The app runs on Android 7.0+ (API 24).

Forks can publish their own signed releases: add the four signing secrets described in release.yml, then push a version tag like v1.0.1.

Build Requirements

• Android Studio
• Android SDK Platform 36.1
• JDK 17, the version used by CI

Use the included Gradle wrapper to build the project.

Getting Started

1. Fork or clone this repo and open it in Android Studio.
2. Choose a station source using the table below.
3. Set your contact details and feature flags in Config.kt.
4. Add any bundled station images to app/src/main/assets/, as described under Station Format.
5. Run the app on an Android 7.0+ device or emulator.

Station source	Settings in Config.kt	Where to edit the stations
Bundled JSON (default)	useLocalStations = true	app/src/main/assets/stations.json
Hosted JSON	useLocalStations = false; set stationsURL to your JSON URL	The hosted file, using the same format shown below

Changing stationsURL has no effect while useLocalStations is true.

To build a debug APK from the repo root:

./gradlew assembleDebug

The APK is written to app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk.

Station Format

Each station in stations.json supports the following fields:

{
  "station": [
    {
      "name": "Station Name",
      "streamURL": "https://example.com/stream",
      "imageURL": "station-image",
      "desc": "Short description",
      "longDesc": "Detailed description shown in the station info sheet.",
      "website": "https://example.com"
    }
  ]
}

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Station name displayed in the list and player
streamURL	Yes	Direct stream URL, including MP3, AAC, or an HLS .m3u8 playlist
imageURL	Yes	Image filename in app/src/main/assets/ without its extension, or a full URL
desc	Yes	Short subtitle shown below the station name
longDesc	No	Longer description shown in the station info sheet
website	No	Station website URL shown in the info sheet

For a bundled image, "imageURL": "station-logo" loads app/src/main/assets/station-logo.png. PNG, JPG, and JPEG files are supported; leave the extension out of the JSON value. When reusing an iOS station file, copy its bundled images into the Android project too.

For a remote image, use the full URL, such as "imageURL": "https://example.com/station-logo.png".

Configuration

Common settings in Config.kt:

object Config {
    val gradientColor: Color = Color.White       // diagonal gradient overlay color
    const val useLocalStations = true             // false = fetch from stationsURL
    const val stationsURL = "https://..."         // remote stations JSON URL
    const val hideNextPreviousButtons = false      // hide skip controls on the player
    const val enableSearch = true                  // show/hide search bar on station list
    val popupBarStyle = PopupBarStyle.Floating     // Floating, FloatingCompact, Prominent, Compact
    val popupProgressStyle = PopupProgressStyle.Top // progress strip on the bar: None, Top, Bottom
    val popupBackground = PopupBackgroundOption.TranslucentCoverTint
        // Opaque, Translucent, TranslucentAppTint, TranslucentCoverTint (glass tinted by the artwork), Artwork
    const val email = "contact@example.com"
    const val feedbackURL = "https://..."
    const val shareText = "Check out Swift Radio!"
}

Customizing Text and Translation

App text lives in app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml. To add a new language:

1. Create a new directory: app/src/main/res/values-XX/ (e.g., values-fr for French)
2. Copy strings.xml into the new directory
3. Translate the string values

Android will automatically use the correct language based on the user's device settings.

Dependencies

Library	Purpose
AndroidX Media3	Audio playback, media session, Android Auto
Jetpack Compose	UI framework with Material 3
compose-popupbar	Now playing bar and its swipe-up player
Coil	Image loading and caching
AndroidX Palette	Dominant colour of the artwork, for the glass tint
Ktor	HTTP client for remote station loading
Kotlinx Serialization	JSON parsing

Single Station Version

The single-station version skips the station list and launches straight into the player. One purchase includes the iOS and Android projects.

If you've built an app with Swift Radio or need custom work, email me.

Credits

• Fethi
• Based on Swift Radio Pro for iOS

License

Swift Radio is open source and available under the MIT License.