With the rise of 4G technology, streaming shows, and music on your smartphone have never been easier. All you need to do is download the right apps to turn your smartphone into a true multimedia device. We today have compiled a list of 15 of the best streaming apps for your smartphone for both movies and music:
Best Movie Streaming Apps
- Amazon Instant Video (Android | iOS) – the current market leader, you can get access through it with an annual subscription fee which gives you access to thousands of movies and TV shows, as well as the ability to rent new releases a month or so after their cinema release.
- Netflix (Android | iOS) – you can either rent movies and box sets individually and pay for them as you go, or pay a monthly subscription fee to get as many free videos as you can watch.
- NOW TV (Android | iOS) – owned by Sky, the app is also available to anyone without a subscription package to their network. You buy a “pass”, either for a day, week, or month, and get access to whatever Sky content you desire from sports to the latest Sky Atlantic box sets.
- MUBI (Android | iOS) – a perfect streaming app for people who want to watch less mainstream movies. It charges one monthly fee, but unlike other services, all the movies are then accessible. It’s great for cult, classic, and independent films, and new movies are added weekly.
- blinkbox Movies (iOS) – finally, if you’re looking for cheap, Blinkbox, previously owned by Tesco, is your best option. There’s no subscription fee so you can either rent or buy movies, with the latter costing you a little more.
Best Music Streaming Apps
- blinkbox (iOS) – Blinkbox is also the place to start if you’re looking for somewhere to stream music. You can download the app for free complete with Tesco adverts (but pay £1 a week and the ads disappear) and whilst there are only 12 million songs, they are all ones you’ll want to listen to.
- Deezer Music (Android | iOS) – Deezer offers a much wider range of songs, some 30 million in total, so if you like rare or unusual music, it’s the app for you. £10 a month gives you offline access to the tracks that you’ve “liked” online.
- Google Play (Android) – if you look hard enough on the Google Play store app, you’ll find there’s plenty of music to stream directly to your phone. The interesting feature is that you can either pay a £10 monthly fee to access the site including music videos or upload your own music, such as your CD collection and receive a free account.
- Spotify (Android | iOS) – the biggest and still the best. It doesn’t have most songs anymore, but still has the best playback speeds for perfect music quality.
- Apple Music (iOS) – many people forget that iTunes (now Apple Music) is where music streaming all began. You can still purchase individual tracks and albums as well as listen to 10 million free tracks.
Best Radio Streaming Apps
- Rdio (iOS) – a radio-based streaming app that finds music that you like and finds similar songs. Rdio’s free service is worth the download alone, but pay £10 a month and you can permanently access the radio stations you create.
- MixRadio (iOS) – at £4 a month, it’s the cheapest paying subscription out there, but you can only use it if you have a Windows Phone.
- Pandora (iOS | Android) – one of the original radio streaming apps, where you can “tell” the app the types of music you like to create your own music genome. You then hear more songs based on your previous preferences.
- TuneIn (iOS | Android) – TuneIn gives you access to just about every radio station around the world for a £10 a month subscription fee. However, you’ll suffer at the hands of the different time zones, but you’ll soon find some favorites.
- BBC iPlayer (iOS | Android) – the final download is a must for any UK-based streamer. Not only do you get access to dozens of national and local stations as well hundreds of hours on the On-Demand service.
What are your favorite streaming apps? Let us know in the comments below!
