1. **Visit the Website**: Open your web browser and go to the official Broadcastify homepage. 2. **Browse by Location**: On the homepage, you will find a directory map or a dropdown menu to select your country, state, and county. Click on your state, then select your county from the list. 3. **Select a Feed**: Once you select a county, a list of active feeds will appear. Look for feeds labeled with "Police," "Sheriff," "Public Safety," or "Dispatch." 4. **Start the Stream**: Click on the speaker icon or the name of the feed. A web-based audio player will open. Click the play button to start listening to the live broadcast. You can also use the search bar at the top of the page to type in a specific city, county, or agency name to find feeds directly. ## How to Listen on Mobile Devices If you prefer to listen to police scanners on a smartphone or tablet, you can use the official Broadcastify mobile app or third-party scanner apps that source their feeds from the Broadcastify network.
* **Official App**: Download the Broadcastify app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Open the app, use the location services or search bar to find your local area, and select a feed to play. * **Third-Party Apps**: Many popular police scanner apps use Broadcastify's extensive directory. If you use a third-party app, you can search for your county or city to connect to the same live audio streams. ## Navigating the Broadcastify Interface Understanding the platform's layout makes it easier to find the specific feeds you want to monitor. * **State and County Pages**: When you click on a county, the page displays all available feeds categorized by genre (such as Public Safety, Amateur Radio, Rail, or Aviation). * **Status Indicators**: Next to each feed, you will see a status indicator. A green indicator means the feed is online and active. A red indicator means the feed is currently offline. * **Listener Counts**: The platform displays the number of active listeners next to each feed. During breaking news events, listener counts typically spike, making it easy to identify where active incidents are being broadcast. * **Feed Details**: Clicking on the details icon for a feed provides information about what specific frequencies or agencies are being scanned by the host.
## What to Do If a Feed Is Offline Broadcastify relies on a network of volunteers who host physical scanner hardware and stream the audio to the platform. Because of this setup, feeds can occasionally go offline. If a feed you want to listen to is unavailable, try the following: * **Check Neighboring Areas**: If your specific town's feed is offline, look for county-wide feeds or neighboring jurisdiction feeds, as they may cover the same dispatch channels. * **Wait and Retry**: Volunteer hosts may experience power outages, internet disruptions, or hardware issues. Most feeds return online once the host resolves the technical issue. * **Look for State Police Feeds**: State patrol or highway police feeds often cover larger geographic areas and may remain online even if local city feeds are down. ## Important Limitations of Live Scanners
While Broadcastify provides access to thousands of live feeds, there are several limitations to keep in mind: * **Encryption**: An increasing number of law enforcement agencies are transitioning to encrypted radio systems for privacy and security. Encrypted communications cannot be picked up by public scanners or streamed on Broadcastify. * **Audio Delays**: Live scanner streams are not completely instantaneous. There is typically a delay of 30 seconds to a few minutes between the actual radio transmission and the audio playing on your device. * **Volunteer Availability**: If no volunteer in a specific area is hosting a feed for a local police department, that feed will not be available on the platform.
