You, too, can make this ESP32-S3 internet radio with a touchscreen world map to surf the planet

Credit: Ok-Distribution8411 Published Nov 11, 2026, 3:19 AM EST Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account One of the coolest parts about internet radio is that you don't need to make do with your own country's stations. If you really want, you can go on a mini world tour and listen to different countries' radio stations to check out what kind of music they enjoy. But what if you could put that experience into an ESP32-S3 device with a touchscreen? Well, that's exactly what one tinkerer did with their own microcontroller, and it's an excellent way to explore the world from the comfort of your own desk. This DIY internet radio brings the world to your fingertips There are a lot of stations to pick from Over on the ESP32 subreddit, Adrian Cubas showed off their cool ESP32-S3 radio based on a Freenove FNK0104. It features a touchscreen with the world map on it; tap on a country, and the radio will start playing a station from it. Cubas says they wanted something that's a little more approachable and prettier than just a huge list of stations, and I think they really nailed it with this design. Here are some of the tech specs for the project: - LVGL 8 + LovyanGFX for the UI, ESP32-audioI2S for MP3/AAC streams (one core for audio, one for the UI) - ~3,700 stations from radio-browser.info, filtered and tested on a PC the same way the board requests them (one gotcha: zeno.fm returns 401 without a User-Agent, so I patch the library to send one) - The station list lives in LittleFS and updates over Wi-Fi from GitHub Pages, no reflashing If you'd like to learn more, check out the video above to see it in action. You can also check out the code on GitHub and follow this build guide to make your own at home.