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Listen to police scanners online
By
Tim Fisher
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Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
- Emporia State University
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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Updated on September 23, 2020
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
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Reviewed byRyan Perian
- Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
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A police scanner app lets you listen to live broadcasts from law enforcement and fire department feeds. Unlike a traditional police scanner that requires a radio in close proximity, police scanners that access theinternetare available for anyone with the right app or website link. You can turn your phone into a radio scanner for free with apps that let you listen to emergency situations wherever you may be and for whatever reason. If you want to followbreaking newsor are just curious about what's going on in your neighborhood, you can do so with one of these apps that connect you directly to livepolice feeds. The legality of these apps depend on where you live, or maybe more importantly, where you use it (i.e., tuning in at home might be fine, but it could be illegal to drive around with a police scanner running). What We Like Finding the top 100 scanner feeds is easy. Lets you browse for local feeds among all the others. Police feeds can be added to your list of favorites for easy access again later. Shows location-specific code meanings. What We Don't Like Free version has lots of advertisem*nts. No Android app. One way to get a free police scanner is with the 5-0 Radio Police Scanner app. While it does make you watch ads occasionally, it gives you access to lots of feeds all around the world and includes police scanner codes on the same screen as the feed. You can get the pro app for more police feeds, no ads, a sleep timer/alarm, a siren noise maker, weather feeds, and other features. This police scanner also includes access to online radio stations. This scanner radio works on iOS and Windows 11/10/8. Download For: What We Like Get alerts when a certain number of people are listening to a police scanner of your choice. Get alerts when Broadcastify reveals that there's an alert on the scanner. The police scanner can turn off automatically with a sleep timer. What We Don't Like Police codes are included but they're not local to the feed. Runs on mobile devices only (not computers). One thing that sets the Scanner Radio app apart from the other police scanners in this list is that you can set up mobile alerts to get notified when lots of people are listening to a specific feed, which usually indicates increased activity on the scanner. Feeds in this police radio app can be browsed by ones near you, the top 50, location, and source (e.g., ScanBC, RailroadRadio, Broadcastify). Download For: What We Like Feeds with active alerts are easy to find. Supports lots of areas. Can browse for feeds around you or in any location in the world. What We Don't Like Feed archives and no ads are only available through a premium account. Shortcodes used by police are not displayed in the app. More than 7,000 live audio streams are available atBroadcastify, with feeds not only from police radios but alsopublic safety, aircraft, rail, and marine live audio streams. Live broadcasts are categorized into sections likeTop 50 Live Audio Feeds, Latest 50 Feed Additions, andOfficial Feedsso that you can easily navigate to what you might be looking for. There's also a Browse by Location page to find local police scanners. Broadcastify also includes these features: You can use this free police scanner on Android devices. A premium Broadcastify subscription is necessary if you want unlimited, continuous listening times, no ads, and other exclusive features. What We Like Worldwide police feeds. Record snippets from the radio. Start/stop a radio feed based on a timer. What We Don't Like Lots of ads, including pop-up ads. Doesn't explain what the codes mean that police officers use. Supports iOS devices only. This police scanner app not only connects you to over 50,000 feeds, but also lets you record what you hear and play it back later. Here are a few notable features: Police Scanner is free for iPhone and iPad users only. Police Scanner + is available for purchase if you want extra features like no ads, bonus content such as weather and airport feeds, local police codes, and more. Learn Short Codes While You Listen: 5-0 Radio Police Scanner
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Get Alerts When Something Big Is Happening: Scanner Radio
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Stream Police Radio Feeds From Any Device: Broadcastify
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Record Police Feeds From Thousands of Locations: Police Scanner
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