Game Controllers in Macdio: DualSense, Xbox and Backbone

Macdio works with game controllers that use Apple’s extended gamepad profile, such as a PlayStation DualSense, an Xbox controller or a Backbone grip. On iPhone and iPad you can remap every button, with separate maps for radio and podcasts, and the Menu button opens a browser for your stations and shows. The Mac uses a fixed default map, and Apple TV has no Macdio button mapping.

On iPhone or iPad:

1. Pair the controller in the Bluetooth settings of iOS.
2. In Macdio, open Settings and find the “Playback” section. “Game Controller” is on by default.
3. Check that the “Controller” row shows your controller’s name instead of “Not Connected”, then press A to play.
4. To change what the buttons do, open “Controller Buttons” in the same section.

Any controller that reports Apple’s extended gamepad profile: DualSense, Xbox controllers, the Backbone One and similar pads and grips. Simple remotes and micro gamepads are ignored, and the Siri Remote does not count as a controller. While none is connected, the “Controller Buttons” screen says “Pair an MFi or Bluetooth controller with your iPhone.”

The radio map is used while a station plays, the podcast map while an episode plays.

Button	Radio map	Podcast map
“A Button”	“Play / Pause”	“Play / Pause”
“B Button”	“Stop”	“Stop”
“X Button”	“Song ID”	“Episode Songs”
“Y Button”	“Favorite”	“Star Episode”
“L1 Shoulder”	“Previous Station”	“Previous Episode”
“R1 Shoulder”	“Next Station”	“Next Episode”
“L2 Trigger”	“Volume Down”	“Skip Back”
“R2 Trigger”	“Volume Up”	“Skip Forward”
“Options Button”	“Open / Close Player”	“Open / Close Player”
“L3 (Left Stick Press)”	“No Action”	“No Action”
“R3 (Right Stick Press)”	“No Action”	“No Action”

On PlayStation controllers, A is Cross, B is Circle, X is Square, Y is Triangle and Options is the Create/Share button. “Episode Songs” opens the episode’s song list in the controller browser. On iPhone, L2 and R2 move the system volume in the same steps as the volume buttons on the side of the phone.

“Song ID” only works on stations that do not send song titles themselves. More on that in Song ID and Auto Shazam.

1. Open Settings, “Playback” section, “Controller Buttons”.
2. Use the “Button Map” switch to choose “Radio” or “Podcasts”.
3. Tap a button under “Radio Buttons” or “Podcast Buttons” and pick its action.

Changes apply at once. The radio map can use “Play / Pause”, “Stop”, “Next Station”, “Previous Station”, “Favorite”, “Song ID”, “Open / Close Player”, “Previous Tab”, “Next Tab”, “Volume Up”, “Volume Down” and “No Action”. The podcast map adds “Skip Back”, “Skip Forward”, “Star Episode”, “Episode Songs”, “Episode Chapters” and “Mark This Moment”.

“Reset Radio Buttons” (or “Reset Podcast Buttons”) asks first and puts only that map back to its defaults; the other map stays as it is. Menu and the d-pad cannot be remapped, so the browser is always one press away.

Press Menu to open the browser. Its first page lists Favorites, My Stations, Recently Played, each of your own lists, Podcasts (once you follow a show or have an episode in progress), Genres and Countries. Inside Podcasts you can go down to shows, episodes, chapters and songs.

Move with the d-pad or the left stick. In the browser, A opens, plays or jumps, and B goes back or closes, whatever your button map says. Hints at the bottom of the screen remind you, for example “A: Open B: Back Menu: Close”.

Outside the browser the d-pad works on playback: left and right switch stations or episodes, up opens the player and down closes it. The left stick only scrolls inside the browser.

When you press L1, R1 or the d-pad several times quickly, Macdio takes them as one move, shows each station as you pass it, and connects 0.4 seconds after the last press. The list wraps around at the end. If you did not start the station from a list, the controller moves through your favorites, sorted A to Z.

“Clock Mode on Connect (Game Controller)” is on by default. When a controller connects to an iPhone, Macdio opens the landscape Clock Mode (even with rotation lock on) and starts your last station or episode if nothing is playing.

It does not happen during the first-run setup, within 2 minutes of the last time it did, within 10 seconds of you using the controller, or within 60 seconds of a disconnect. When every controller disconnects, Clock Mode closes. To stop it, turn the switch off in Settings, “Playback” section.

In Clock Mode, Y steps through the sleep timer (15 min, 30, 45, 1 hour, 2 hours, end of track, then off) and X opens or closes the alarm panel. “Keep Screen On (Clock Mode)” and “Auto-Dim in Clock Mode” are both on by default. Sleep timer and Clock Mode covers the rest.

Yes, with the default map only. The switch is in the Settings window, “General” tab, “Playback” section, “Game Controller” (on by default).

• While a station plays, the buttons follow the radio map in the table above, except that L2 and R2 change Macdio’s own volume, not the system volume.
• While an episode plays, they follow the podcast map, except that X runs “Mark This Moment” instead of opening the episode’s songs.

The Mac has no remap screen and no controller browser. Menu, Options and up and down on the d-pad do nothing there.

On Apple TV a paired controller moves through Macdio the way the Siri Remote does, through Apple TV’s own controller support: stick or d-pad to move, A to choose, B to go back. Macdio does not map controller buttons there, so there is no remapping and no Song ID or favorite button on the controller. The Siri Remote is described in Macdio on Apple TV.

• Turning “Game Controller” off makes Macdio ignore every press.
• While a controller is connected, pause always mutes the station for up to 60 seconds, even with “Live Pause” on, because a cold audio start can block Bluetooth input for about 5 seconds. AirPods and headphone controls explains Live Pause.
• “Mark This Moment” needs a transcript. Without one, the message reads “Could not mark this episode”.

Yes, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Any controller with Apple’s extended gamepad profile works, such as a DualSense, an Xbox controller or a Backbone grip.

On iPhone or iPad, open Settings, then “Controller Buttons” in the “Playback” section. Pick “Radio” or “Podcasts” and choose an action for each button. The Mac has no remap screen.

A plays and pauses, B stops, X starts Song ID, Y toggles the favorite, L1 and R1 switch to the previous and next station, L2 and R2 change the volume, Options opens and closes the player, and Menu opens the browser on iPhone and iPad.

“Clock Mode on Connect (Game Controller)” is on by default. It opens the landscape Clock Mode and starts your last station or episode if nothing is playing. Turn it off in Settings, “Playback” section.

Yes, on iPhone and iPad. Press Menu, move with the d-pad or the left stick, press A to open or play and B to go back.

Only for moving around. A controller paired with the Apple TV moves through Macdio like the Siri Remote, through Apple TV’s own controller support. Macdio adds no button mapping there.

Get Macdio on the App Store, pair your controller and press A. On iPhone, Macdio on iPhone and iPad shows where everything else lives.