A pinch of Caveat...

I got super excited yesterday when I thought about this, and after posting it, I started to of course worry that maybe I was overly confident that this will work...

My ooTunes Radio iPhone app DOES work with several thousand windows media audio (wma) streams (those are the format the church uses to stream the audio live) and it works on almost everything that I've tested it on, BUT there's always the possibility that the Church's stream will be somehow different and incompatible with my app. Though unlikely I just thought I should make that clear. However, my app already has several KSL streams as well as the live KBYU streams added so at least for english transmissions, I'm very confident we'll have something. (please let me know if any of your local stations also play conference and if they're not on my master list of ooTunes Radio streams list, I'll test them and add them (the more the merrier!)

I've emailed Tom Welch to ask if he can help clarify the exact bitrate and parameters of the live stream, and maybe provide something live to test it out beforehand.

So, don't make it so you have no other way to listen to conference besides your iphone and my app! That would be like not having enough oil for your lamp :)

Also, in case it wasn't clear the streams will be AUDIO only, no video (this time at least :)

And the April General Conference Streams in the list now are just placeholders (that is they won't play anything yet) but they'll be updated to point to the live streams as soon as they are available.

How to hear LDS general conference live on your iPhone or iPod Touch

In church today, I realized that this year (next week!), I'll be able to listen to LDS General Conference in my yard, or car, or just about anywhere using my own iPhone app, ooTunes Radio! I thought, "hey there are probably lots of others who would like that too!", hence this blog. Since my app costs $4 (and does a lot more ... see Live Radio on iPhone and iPod Touch) but since I don't want to profiteer from General Conference, the first 40 people who leave a comment below telling who you look forward to hearing from most and why you'll want to listen to the 179th Annual General Conference April 4-5 2009 from your iPhone or iPod touch, will get a free "promotion code" that gives you the app for free. Unfortunately, Apple only gives me a set number of these codes (50 to be exact), they expire within 4 weeks (don't ask if you don't have an iPhone or iPod touch or don't plan to use it!) and they ONLY work for those with a US iTunes account (sorry! I know over half of the members are excluded by that alone!)

Also, you'll have to provide me with an email address somehow for me to be able to give the code to you, so the easiest way is for you to send me a message here. with a link to your comment or your name/blogger id and email so I know how to send it to you!

If the demand is overwhelming, I may try to give the app away for a short time for everyone else, but the problem with that is a) I lose my ranking in the for-sale apps and b) I have potentially a lot more customers to support with no payment for that.

But we'll see, maybe only 40 people care and the app is only $4.

Also, I should note that there is at least one app for free that can do the same thing, called FStream so if you don't get a free one from me, you can still listen for free with that!

Thanks and tell your friends!

Steve

P.S. If I didn't think of this so late, I would have created a free version that just does general conference! Maybe in October :)

Additional Languages available for live conference streams

The previous post about listening to LDS General Conference on your iPhone or iPod Touch didn't mention that aside from the English version of the audio, I'll be adding the French, Portuguese, and Spanish streams as well, so you'll know:
How to Listen / Instructions pour la réception par Internet / Como Ouvir a Transmissão da Conferência pela Internet and Cómo escuchar :)