Sirius XM on the iPhone: Verdict

Once upon a time, radio was a glorious thing to listen to. Personalities filled the airwaves, playing all different kinds of music for a wide variety of audiences.

Those days are gone. Larger-sized markets across the country still have some radio personalities in them. But for smaller markets, many of those “voices” are imported from cities that are sometimes far, far away. This practice even happens in some larger markets.

And the quality of the music programming? Usually, I find it describable by one word: Ugh.

In my view, Sirius XM is trying to recapture much of the personality that is sorely lacking in radio today. It also has some real chops on the programming end, too. For my tastes, all of this largely works. But the question persists: Is it worth paying a monthly subscription fee for it?

My 30-day experiment with Sirius XM on my iPhone is up. You may remember that I committed to driving around with Sirius XM as my only “radio.” I could use the iPod function on my iPhone if needed, but that was only as a last resort.

I largely succeeded at my task. I only had to switch over to the regular radio a few times, mainly for traffic and weather information. All the other times I was in the care, though, I was more than satisfied with the programming.

Additionally, because the service is on my iPhone, I took it with me elsewhere, too. I mainly used it in my WiFi-equipped kitchen, when I could mate it to a set of stereo speakers. I really cranked through making several dinners and even Thanksgiving dinner with music from the 70’s and 80’s channels.

I’ve pointed out all of the drawbacks associated with the Sirius XM/iPhone combo. You can find links to my previous articles in the paragraph at the end of this piece.

The huge question is this: Would I pay for the Sirius XM going forward? My answer is … yes. Even though I don’t have access to everything I want, Sirius XM provides plenty of programming to keep me happy. As long as I’ve got a 3G signal from my iPhone when I’m tooling around town (or WiFi when I’m indoors), I’d be a happy guy.

I have to point out that the iPhone can also be used with a separate physical unit called the XM SkyDock, where you can have access to all of the service’s channels (provided you pay for all of them, of course). With the SkyDock, you have greater flexibility, in terms of what channels you can bring in. And you can get Howard Stern and the other channels you can’t get with the standard Sirius XM app.

You have to download the app (a different one from the app I’ve been reviewing), and then plug your iPhone into your car’s cigarette lighter or similar outlet to make it work. I’d have two problems with this unit, though:

1. The physical configuration of where the lighter is located in my truck makes it impossible to use;
2. You have to stick an antenna onto the roof of your car for signal reception. While I hear the antenna is pretty unobtrusive, there ain’t no way I’m sticking anything onto the paint of my truck. I’m sure lots of other guys feel like this, too.

In short, the XM SkyDock isn’t for me. It just might be for you, though.

By the way — during this holiday time, I do need to point something out: I’m not sure I could say this would make a good Christmas gift, especially because I can’t see how you’d sneak it past the person you’d be giving it to. You’d need to get the phone, install the app from the giftee’s own computer, and sign them up. A difficult process to be sure.

NOTE: This is the final part of a multi-part series on Sirius XM — both as a service in and of itself, and as an iPhone app. You can read all of the other pieces via these links: Intro | Update I | Update II

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