Bongo. It used to be that when phones had the 3.5mm jack, many included the FM module because it was cheap and easy. But with the disappearing of the jack and the headphone wire with it, there's no viable way to receive that FM signal. Most OTA analog wireless signals need a wire to propagate along in order to (for lack of a better term) collect enough of the signal to reproduce. It's the same reason old analog cell phones had the antenna and extending it while wandering around or climbing up on something helped the call come in clearer. Digital signals don't have that same issue, the signal is either on or off.

No, you're right.

That is precisely the reason.

Some do. I even have an absolutely amazing radio station app that I don't want to ever change so I don't and won't tell anyone for fear it will get ruined.

But Internet radio isn't FM radio. Killing the headphone jack killed having a device that should play music without needing to pay for anything other than the device.

Losing FM radio helps then track you and spy on you, even if it's redundant for many of you, it doesn't change that they took that functionality away so you had to pay dollars for access.

Until access to free universal wireless data is the same as access to FM radio then they continue to take music away from us

Its just an observation, you might even consider it a worthless distinction, I'm simple sharing a truth that I wouldn't have realized had I not been using this old phone that still had that functionality.

And I'm old enough that I used to have a "walkman" so it's perhaps something that you may not care in the slightest about

I may not understand what point you are trying to make and if so my apologies

Something I found out, at least where I live, even without a SIM your old phone can still make emergency calls. Even your old smart phone can be useful in an emergency bag. Battery would be the issue but if there's a decent power Bank that can stay charged for long periods that might work too

Free music

There's advertisements

That would clutter the fuck out of the airwaves, and is insecure to boot. You don't wanna pick up someone else's signal.

It's an important thing to have in an emergency. The remaining cell towers will probably be overloaded, but you will likely still be able to hear an FM broadcast station to find out if you need to evacuate and where to go.

Radio tuner, and a basic audio recording application.