Feature

The song, named, without listening to the room.

Thousands of stations send no title, no artist, no cover. Macdio identifies the song from the stream it is already playing, so it works with the phone in your pocket and the volume at zero.

As of 12 October 2026 Macdio identifies songs with Apple's ShazamKit fed with the audio of the radio stream itself, decoded in memory, not with the microphone. The app declares no microphone permission at all, so it cannot hear the room even by accident. Song ID runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch, by a button or automatically on stations that send no titles, and the result shows the title, the artist and the cover, with a heart that saves the song.

Why no microphone matters

A microphone-based identifier needs the song audible in the room, a permission prompt, and a quiet moment. Reading the stream needs none of that: AirPods in, phone in a pocket, car speakers, a muted Mac at the office, all the same. It is also why Macdio works on the Apple TV and the watch, where holding a phone up to a speaker makes no sense.

Automatic on silent stations

Stations that never send a title can be set to identify on their own, on a cadence, so the cover and the name appear as each song starts. On the watch that runs only on Wi-Fi by default to spare the battery. On stations that do send titles, the station's own data wins and Song ID stays out of the way.

What you can do with the result

Heart it: the song is saved to Tracks with its cover and the station it came from, synced to every device.
Apple Music: with Love Songs in Apple Music on, a heart also loves the song in Apple Music; on iPhone and iPad it can go into your library or a playlist.
Lyrics: an identified song is what the synced lyrics need to find their text.
Recordings: the same engine scans a finished recording and lists the songs in it with timestamps.

Macdio next to the apps that name Shazam

Song identification in Macdio, Broadcasts, Eter, Triode, TuneIn and myTuner
App	Macdio	Broadcasts	Eter	Triode	TuneIn	myTuner
Identifies songs on radio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated
Without the microphone	Yes, reads the stream	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	·	·
Automatic on stations with no titles	Yes	Not stated	Yes	Not stated	·	·
On Apple TV and Apple Watch	Yes	Not stated	Not stated	No watch app	·	·

Based on each app's own site and US App Store listing, read on 12 October 2026. Broadcasts, Eter and Triode name Shazam without saying whether it uses the microphone. "Not stated" means the page did not say.

Common questions

Does Macdio need microphone access to identify songs?

No. It reads the radio stream it is already playing. The app has no microphone permission and never asks for one.

Does it work with AirPods or with the volume down?

Yes. The room is not involved, so headphones, a muted Mac or a phone in a pocket all work the same.

Is it Shazam?

It uses Apple's ShazamKit, the same catalog Shazam uses, fed with the stream's audio instead of a microphone recording.

Does it work on Apple TV and Apple Watch?

Yes, on both. On the watch the automatic mode runs on Wi-Fi by default to save battery.

What happens on stations that already send titles?

The station's own title and artist are shown and Song ID stays idle; it runs only where the station is silent.

Try it

Macdio is on the App Store as a one-time purchase. The guide compares the three ways to name a radio song, including this one.

Written by Sait Firat NEMIS, the developer of Macdio. Checked on 12 October 2026.