It started as one of those idle moments online, the kind where you’re just aimlessly clicking around with no real purpose. I opened a random link, assuming I’d close it almost immediately, and somehow ended up somewhere completely different.
That place turned out to be Poolsuite. It’s a retro radio website that feels like it was built by someone who desperately missed summer vacations in the ’80s and decided to trap that feeling inside a browser window. It’s one of the ways you can listen to nostalgic online radio shows with a perfect tan.
What Poolsuite is
The radio station that turned nostalgia into a lifestyle
At its heart, Poolsuite (originally known as Poolside.FM) is a web-first radio experience built around a feeling rather than an algorithm. Marty Bell launched the first Poolside stream in 2014 as a sunny escape from Scotland’s dreary weather, and over time, it evolved into a redesigned web player drenched in 1980s-inspired visuals and endless summer energy.
What began as a side project has blossomed into a full-blown brand universe, complete with merchandise, a tongue-in-cheek sunscreen company (Vacation), and even an NFT-based membership called the Executive Member’s Club. Even so, the radio remains the heart of it all, with tracks that keep the same signature energy: sun-drenched disco, dreamy lo-fi pop, and Balearic lounge beats that feel like a never-ending pool party.
What it’s like using Poolsuite on the web
It’s like booting up a Macintosh at the beach
The web player greets you with a nostalgic twist, opening inside what looks like an old computer window, as if you’ve just powered on a vintage Mac from 1997 (note the date stamp in the top-right corner). The main screen plays looping visuals—grainy video clips, sunlit movie scenes, or hazy footage that fits perfectly with the station’s endless summer theme. Everything is washed in that pixelated, CRT-style glow, making it feel like a dream half-remembered.
Playback controls sit neatly at the bottom with buttons for play, pause, skip, and a volume slider. Just below sits a dropdown menu where you can pick from different channels like “Classic Poolsuite,” “Hangover Club,” “Monday Night Heat,” “Tokyo Disco,” and “Indie Summer.” Each one carries its own flavor of sunlit, retro-dance/pop/city pop mixes. You’ll also see a small timestamp showing how long the track has been playing, a waveform that dances along, and the song title with icons for sharing and favoriting tracks.
If you “favorite” a track (i.e., click the heart icon), those feed into your personal collection, producing a custom “favorites” playlist or station. Also, the web player retains your session, so you can leave the page or switch tabs, and music typically continues playing in the background, maintaining the vibe.
The desktop icons sitting just below the player window lead you to all sorts of extras: Player, Newsroom, Mixtapes, Members, Events, Instagram, Vacation (their sunscreen brand), Guestbook, and Settings. If you click on “Mixtapes,” you’re transported to a curated library of hour-long mixes, each one packaged as a virtual CD complete with its own cover art and runtime. The interface looks like an actual vintage CD player, with a spinning disc and the instruction to “Double-click a disc to begin your audio journey.” It’s oddly tactile for something that lives entirely in a browser, though it doesn’t try to mimic Spotify’s attempt at scratching the nostalgic itch.
It also has a good mobile app experience
The pool party fits in your pocket
Instead of mimicking the desktop’s vintage Mac interface, the mobile version takes inspiration from old Nokia phones (because apparently one vintage aesthetic wasn’t enough). Instead of the gray-and-green color scheme of old phones, the app opts for bright, cheery pink, with other jewel-toned shades available in a theme picker.
The main player interface displays low-bit video clips with that signature CRT-style pixelation, framed by a retro TV bezel labeled with playfully fake badges. Below the video, you’ll see the current track info, channel selector, and familiar playback controls: play, pause, previous, next, and what appears to be a stereo/audio settings button.
Navigation happens through a bottom tab bar with four sections: Player, Mixtapes, On Air, and Newsroom. The Newsroom functions as a blog, showcasing lifestyle content with dates and vintage photography. The On Air tab features a calendar icon paired with a “Notify Me” button. There’s also a membership system offering unlimited listening, a virtual members card, and event invites—all presented with witty copy about joining “global leisure enthusiasts.”
Unfortunately, the app doesn’t seem to be available on Android, but the web version runs flawlessly in any Android browser, so you’re not missing out.
Download: Poolsuite FM for iOS (Free)
Poolsuite is not without limitations or quirks
A few splashes of imperfection
For all its beauty, Poolsuite isn’t trying to compete with Spotify or any of the major music streaming platforms. It doesn’t offer an on-demand catalog or precise control over the playback queue. Its appeal lies in the curated flow of music—and if you’re someone who wants to pick every track, it may feel a bit restrictive.
Since the experience blends high-quality audio with animated visuals and looping video (particularly in the browser version), it’s best enjoyed over Wi-Fi. On mobile data, the added visual load could increase usage more than expected, though that’s based on my own observation.
Performance is usually solid on modern devices with strong connections, but the visually rich interface can push weaker hardware a bit. On older computers or slower networks, you might notice the occasional stutter or lag when switching tabs or windows.
The internet could use more of this kind of weird fun
It’s not often that a website makes you feel something, let alone nostalgia for a time you may never have experienced. That’s part of what makes Poolsuite so distinctive. Once you try it, it has this way of keeping you there. At least, that’s been my experience.