Along with its video camera, one of the major hardware changes introduced with the 5th generation iPod nano is an FM radio tuner. But this tuner does more than just pull down a signal. It also lets you record live radio and tag favorite songs for later purchase.
Tuning Channels
You'll find the Radio menu item on the nano's home screen. In order to listen to the radio, though, headphones must be plugged in to the nano (presumably because they function as an antenna). You can use practically any headphones, either third-party and Apple headphones are fine.
When you first click on the Radio menu item, you'll be able to tune to different channels by moving the clickwheel left and right.
When you're listening to a channel, but want to switch to a new one, double click the center button to bring the tuner back up.
When you're done listening to the radio, be sure to click Stop Radio. Unlike listening to music on the iPod, you can't just click the play/pause button to stop the feature.
Recording Live Radio
The nano can use its built in storage and FM tuner to record live radio for you to listen to later. This feature, called Live Pause, can be turned on and off from the Radio screen.
To record the station you're listening to, click the Play/Pause button on the clickwheel. This will bring up a progress bar with a timestamp on it. As radio is recorded, you will see the white section of the progress bar moving to the right.
To listen to what you've recorded, simply click the Play/Pause button.
To move forward or backward in the recording, hold down the Rewind or Fast Forward buttons on the clickwheel. The recording must be paused to move back and forth in it.
If you tune to another station, you'll lose the recording.
Favorites, Tagging, and Recent
The nano's radio also allows you to create favorite stations and tag songs for later purchase.
When listening to the radio, if you hold down the center button, a menu will descend from the top of the screen letting you favorite the station, tag the song, or cancel. Click the center button to make your choice.
You can remove favorites from the same menu.
Favorite radio stations are accessible from the main Radio menu. When you're listening to a favorited station, you'll see a star next to the station number.
Tagged songs are accessible from the main Radio menu and have their name saved so you can investigate them, and perhaps buy them, later.
The Recent Songs list shows what songs you've listened to recently and what stations they were on.
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