Car Mode, Equalizer, and Sleep Timer — How to Use WaveSphere’s Player Tools
WaveSphere is not only a station list. The player tools exist because live radio is something you leave on while working, driving, or falling asleep. Here is how Car Mode, the equalizer, and the sleep timer work in practice.
Sleep timer
Open the sleep control (sidebar, more menu on mobile, or Podcasts dock). Enter minutes—common choices are 15, 30, or 45. When the timer fires, playback stops. Clear the timer if you want to keep listening.
Good for: night listening, avoiding a full-night mobile data burn, kids’ rooms.
Not for: alarm-clock wake-up (use your phone alarm; this only stops audio).
The timer is client-side. If you close the tab entirely, browser behavior may cancel pending timers—leave the tab open in the background for reliability.
Equalizer
The EQ is a client-side audio adjustment (bass / mid / treble style controls and presets). It shapes what you hear after the stream arrives. It cannot fix a terrible encode on the station side, and extreme boosts may distort on small phone speakers.
Practical use: slight bass lift on thin web streams; cut harsh highs on talk radio; reset to flat when switching genres.
If EQ seems missing, check feature flags (operators can disable experimental tools) and use a modern browser.
Car Mode
Car Mode is a simplified overlay: large play/pause, volume, searchable station list, exit control. It is designed for glanceable use—not as a replacement for Android Auto / CarPlay certified apps.
- Start a station in the normal player first when possible; Car Mode continues the current station.
- Use search for quick switches.
- Exit returns to the full UI.
Dedicated landing page: car-mode.html. Safety: do not interact with any screen while driving; set the station before you move.
Combining tools
Example night stack: play a calm station → light EQ cut on treble → 30-minute sleep timer. Example day stack: upbeat station → small bass boost → Car Mode only when parked and setting up.
Podcasts note
On-demand episodes use seek, skip, and speed. Sleep timer still applies because it stops the shared audio element. Queue and continue-listening help multi-episode sessions.
Limitations to remember
- Tools cannot invent a working stream.
- Browser audio policies differ on iOS vs Android.
- Picture-in-Picture and Media Session depend on browser support.
More: Docs · EQ article · Sleep timer article.
About the author: Prateek Pareek builds WaveSphere Studio, a free browser radio and podcast product. More: owner page · for AI · docs.