Americans who purchased the unlocked Galaxy S9 or S9+ haven’t been able to access FM Radio on the handsets. This is despite the fact that the devices should have been enabled to support the feature out of the box.
After some investigations into the matter, Samsung has conceded that the reason U.S. unlocked models of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ do not support FM Radio is that it forgot to add a certain API to the handsets. Apparently, the Korean company mistakenly did not add the NAB FM API to the unlocked S9 and S9+, but this issue is not shared by those using carrier-bound models of the pair.
On the brighter side, folks at NextRadio reached out to Samsung for a clarification on the matter and in response, Samsung said it is readying an update that will enable FM Radio support on the unlocked Galaxy S9 and S9+. However, we still don’t have any timeline as to when this feature will be enabled, but it’s said to be part of the next update.
Note that if you are using the Exynos 9810 variant of the Galaxy S9 or S9+, FM Radio isn’t supported. Unlike American and Canadian models, however, there is no hope for an update that will enable this feature on your handset.
