Today, even traditional media need to be interactive. Frekvence 1 listeners can now send a voice message straight to the radio from the mobile app. The message reaches presenters, who can play it or respond to it. A similar feature will soon appear on other stations.
From the listener’s point of view, the feature is very simple. Open the Frekvence 1 app, choose Voice message to radio from the main menu, and record a message of up to thirty seconds. Once the listener sends it, a process starts in the background to handle the recording.
What happens in the background
An AI model transcribes the voice into text, and the message is delivered to the Frekvence 1 team. The presenters therefore have both the original audio and a text version, which they can work with depending on the situation. It is one more way to strengthen the connection between listeners and the radio.
Focus on simplicity for users
While the back-end technology was ready quickly, the front end received much more care. Frekvence 1 listeners are not from the youngest generation, and voice messages are not common for them. The controls therefore had to be extremely clear and safe. In testing, it turned out that preventing errors and making sure the user knows exactly what is happening in the app matter more than a “cool” design.
Technology for multiple stations
The voice message is available in the iOS and Android apps, and in the future we can easily bring it to other stations too. The technical principles behind our app development make this possible. The development is handled by Qubix studio, which we have worked with since 2018.
The apps are built on the native languages Swift and Kotlin, share one codebase and a modular architecture, so they are stable and sustainable in the long run. Frekvence 1, Evropa 2, Dance, Pigy and Bonton are based on the same code. This means a new feature needs to be developed only once and can be deployed across all stations immediately. It speeds up development and keeps all the apps consistent.
Individual features are designed as separate modules that can be switched on or off as needed. Each radio therefore uses only the features that suit its format and audience. The voice message is exactly such a module, which can be added to other apps without major changes.
Today, our app is already used by 45,000 people. On the Qubix side, its development is led by Ondřej Přidal. On our side, Lubor Zoufal, Lukáš Kocourek and Tereza Tiller take care of the smooth running of the project.
AI in practice
This is not the first time we have used AI at Frekvence 1. Already last autumn, we launched a virtual clone of presenter Tomáš Fíla, who presents the daily news summary on the radio. Together with the voice message feature, it shows how traditional radio is looking for new ways to connect technology with listening and to involve its audience.
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