The RadioKit™ SDK

Looking to develop your own iOS radio app, but don't want to go through the time intensive process of writing your own mobile audio streaming engine? Then this is the proven solution for you!

The RadioKit SDK is designed for software developers who want to simplify the iOS app development process when creating an iPhone or iPad radio app. This SDK is targeted for developers already familiar with the iOS SDK, but who want to save a large amount of time by using radio streaming features from a well tested library. This will allow a developer to focus more time on creating other portions of their app to make it unique, such as the user interface or other features.

SDK features

  • Time-shifting with live streams: pause, rewind, and fast forward back to "live"
  • MP3 "on demand" file streaming with time-shifting features
  • Support for MP3, AAC, and AAC+ v1 (also called HE AAC), and HE AACv2 audio streams
  • Audio recording to a file and local file playback
  • Robust error handling including seamless stream stitching when data connection is dropped
  • pls, m3u, and direct URL support
  • Automatic handling of interruptions due to incoming phone calls or audio from other apps
  • Embedded Shoutcast/Icecast song/artist metadata parsing if present within the stream
  • Support for parsing AudioVault XML and Live365 stream "now playing" information
  • iOS 11 compatible using Xcode 8.0 and higher
  • ARC-compatible - the SDK will work with both older non-ARC and new ARC projects
  • Support for Audio Taps - get access to the raw audio data just before playback to create visualizations or audio effects
  • Does not contain any GPL/LGPL open source code - no possible issues with GPL or LGPL licensing restrictions

Low Pricing - only $99

This SDK is licensed on a per-app project basis. The cost is just $99 per unique app project, regardless of the number of users or downloads your app receives. A reduced pricing of $50 per app project is available for students and college radio stations. Volume discounts are also available if you would like to license the SDK for a number of different iOS app projects. If you are interested in any other licensing arrangements, please contact us via the "Contact" link at the top of this page.

Time-Tested, Proven Solid

Our RadioKit SDK is a static library which provides all the audio handling functionality one would need for an iOS radio app. Used internally here at Stormy Productions since 2008 and released as a stand-alone SDK in 2009, RadioKit has been constantly updated to maintain compatibility with each iOS release. This is solid proven technology - it is used in iPhone radio apps that have been downloaded tens of millions of times and are used on a day-to-day basis.

Over 100 iPhone radio apps make use of the iOS RadioKit SDK and these apps have tens of millions of downloads. While we do not list the names of the many companies that have licensed the RadioKit SDK, the following are just a few examples of apps that make use of RadioKit:

Why RadioKit SDK?

Why use the RadioKit SDK for your iOS apps instead of other solutions that make use of open-source code?

First of all, the RadioKit SDK is designed for mobile use. We developed this technology making extensive use of RF isolation test equipment to optimize the code for the best handling of dropped streams and low signal strength wireless situations. While dropped streams will always be unavoidable in the wireless world, we have worked hard to minimize the disruption using our unique "stream stitching" technology. This technology can often make dropped data connections or movement from WiFi to cellular in some cases not even noticeable. We like to think the difference in our technology is what you don't hear.

Secondly, this SDK provides some advanced streaming features allowing DVR-like playback with a live stream - you can easily pause, rewind, and fast forward back to live!

Finally, you need to be aware of potential licensing issues of any library you choose. Often, open-source code is licensed under the GPL and LGPL. The GPL and LGPL place a large number of legal restrictions on how the licensed code can be used, especially important when it comes to the iTunes App Store. While there are apps in the iTunes App Store that make use of LGPL code, there have also been well documented instances of Apple removing apps from the store because of GPL and LGPL legal issues. Do you really want to have to jump through hoops with how you distribute your app or risk the potential for your app getting pulled from the App Store at a later date due to the legal nuances of the GPL or LGPL?

The RadioKit SDK does not use any GPL or LGPL code in its implementation and as a result is free of any such potential legal issues.

Demo

Included as part of the SDK is a complete iPhone radio app Xcode project demonstrating the most common usage of the SDK's features, including the time-shifting pause, rewind and fast forward features. It's a simple way to get started testing the SDK right away. This sample project includes an example of how to support background play on iOS 4 and later as well as how to display album artwork and song title information on the lock screen and on AirPlay devices via iOS 5 and higher. (NOTE: the RadioKit SDK does NOT provide a method for retrieving album artwork from a server - there is no standard method for this and only a handful of stations provide album artwork and those that do supply it in different ways. This demo assumes you have already retrieved the artwork and shows how to then send that artwork to the lock screen and other Airplay devices.)

You are free to use the source code from the demo projects in any of your own projects if you find it useful.

The RadioKit SDK is available on a demo basis with absolutely no commitment to purchase a license. In demo-mode the RadioKit SDK provides all the functionality of a licensed version of the SDK, however it is limited to functioning for only 10 minutes at a time. When using the SDK in the simulator in demo mode, there are no time limit usage restrictions.

In this way you can safely try out the SDK to see if it meets your needs without any financial risk.

If you would like to get a demo copy of the SDK and a few sample Xcode projects, you can find them here.

Xcode 8 / iOS 11 compatible Demos

A very nice Swift demo project is available on GitHub here (courtesy of Matthew Fecher). This project has been modified so RadioKit is already integrated into it.

An Apple TV(tvOS 9.0) demo project is currently under construction and will be posted soon!

If you already have a RadioKit license and just want the most recent version of the SDK (version 2.15.4), it can be found here: http://www.stormyprods.com/Libs/RadioKitLib-XCode7.zip


Older Demos:
(Please note, while these demos were originally written for Xcode 4.5 and earlier, they will work with Xcode 8 and iOS 10 with minor adjustments.)

If you would like to view the documentation for the RadioKit SDK, it is available at http://stormyprods.com/products/RadioKitDoc.pdf.

Contact Us Today!

If you have any other questions or would like to make a purchase, please contact us at the link at the top of this page.