Macdio on iPhone and iPad: Tabs, Player, Clock Mode, Widgets

Macdio on iPhone and iPad is one app with tabs along the bottom, a mini player above the tab bar and a full-screen player behind it. On iPhone, Settings sits under More until you move it into the tab bar, and with the full player in landscape you can open Clock Mode, a bedside clock radio with an alarm. Widgets, the Lock Screen player and CarPlay come with the same app, which needs iOS 26 or iPadOS 26.

To find Settings on iPhone and keep it in the tab bar:

1. Tap “More” at the end of the tab bar.
2. Tap “Settings”.
3. In “Appearance”, set “Tab Bar” to “Settings”.
4. Settings now has the third slot in the tab bar, and “Tracks” moves under More.

The iPhone tab bar shows four tabs: “Library”, “Discover”, one tab you choose and “Podcasts”. The tab you choose is “Tracks” at first, so “Recordings” and “Settings” wait under More. Settings > “Appearance” > “Tab Bar” picks which of “Tracks”, “Recordings” and “Settings” takes the third slot. The choice applies to that iPhone only.

At the top of Settings, jump buttons take you straight to “Playback”, “Recording”, “Podcasts” and “Sync”.

On iPad every tab, Settings included, sits in the tab bar, and the tab bar can also open as a sidebar. The “Tab Bar” setting is only on iPhone.

While something plays, a mini player sits above the tab bar. Tap it or swipe up to open the full player. Its chevron (“Hide mini player”) folds it into a thin strip, and so does a long press and “Hide Mini Player”. Tap or swipe up on the strip to bring it back.

The full player closes with a swipe down or its chevron. For a station it has “Search on Apple Music”, “Identify song with Shazam”, a heart that saves the song, and a ••• menu with “Sleep Timer” and “Share”. The bottom bar holds lyrics, AirPlay and record. See Song ID and Auto Shazam and recording in Macdio.

For a podcast episode the transport changes to previous episode, skip back, play, skip forward and next episode. You also get a speed button, a moon for the sleep timer, a bookmark (“Mark this moment”) when the episode has a transcript, the transcript button and “Chapters”. Podcasts in Macdio covers these.

1. Open the full player.
2. Turn the iPhone to landscape.
3. Tap the moon and stars button (“Clock Mode”) at the top left. It is hidden while lyrics are open.

After 18 seconds without a touch the screen dims; tap anywhere to wake it. Settings > “Playback” has “Keep Screen On (Clock Mode)” and “Auto-Dim in Clock Mode”, both on by default. The sleep timer menu in Clock Mode has the usual presets, “Turn Off” and “Repeat Timer”. “Exit Clock Mode” takes you back to the player.

A game controller can open Clock Mode by itself when it connects. That is “Clock Mode on Connect (Game Controller)”, on by default; see game controllers. More on timers in sleep timer and Clock Mode.

1. In Clock Mode, tap the alarm clock button.
2. In the “Alarm” panel, set the time on the wheel.
3. Pick “Repeat”: “Once”, “Every Day” or “Weekdays”.
4. If you follow podcasts, a menu below reads “Wake to the last station”. Pick a show there to wake up to its newest episode.
5. Tap “Set Alarm”. The alarm button now shows the time.

When it rings you see “ALARM” with “Snooze 9 min” and “Stop”. “Turn Off Alarm” in the panel cancels it. If Macdio is on screen at the alarm time, the radio starts. If it is not, the alarm arrives as a notification, so Macdio needs notification permission; without it the panel says “Enable notifications for Macdio in Settings to use the alarm.”

Widget	Sizes	What it shows
“Now Playing”	Small, medium, and Lock Screen circular, rectangular and inline	What is playing with the artwork. A tap opens Now Playing.
“Your Stations”	Medium, large	Your favorites or one of your lists. Edit the widget to choose “List” and, on the large size, “Secondary List (Large Widget)”.
“Your Shows”	Medium, large	“The shows you subscribe to. A tap opens one.”
“Latest Episodes”	Medium, large	“The newest episodes of your shows. A tap plays one.”

Add them like any other widget.

The Lock Screen and Control Center also show the system player. For a station it has previous and next station buttons. For a podcast episode it has skip back and skip forward with your own intervals, and a scrubber. The Dynamic Island shows the system Now Playing; Macdio has no Live Activity of its own. What AirPods presses do is in AirPods and headphone controls.

CarPlay runs from the iPhone app. In the car you get the tabs “Home” (with “Recently Played” and “Quick Switch”), “Favorites”, “Discover”, “Podcasts” and, when the car allows a keyboard, Search. Now Playing adds a heart to save the song, a star for favorites, record and Song ID for stations, and a speed button, “Up Next” and (with a transcript) a bookmark for episodes. More in the CarPlay guide.

“Playback” holds “Safety Buffer”, “Live Pause”, “Auto-Play on Launch”, “Auto Shazam”, “Game Controller” and the Clock Mode switches. “Recording” sets “Recording Mode” and “Max Duration”. “Podcasts” has speed, skip intervals, “Headphone Presses Skip”, downloads and transcription languages. “Swipe Actions” sets what a swipe does on stations and episodes. “Custom Stations” has “Add Custom Station” and “Edit on Computer”, and “Siri” lists every phrase Siri understands. See customize Macdio, add a custom station, edit stations on a computer and Siri radio.

• Clock Mode and its alarm are on iPhone only, not on iPad.
• The alarm needs notification permission when Macdio is not on screen.
• “Tab Bar” and “Swipe Actions” stay on the device where you set them.
• Macdio needs iOS 26 on iPhone and iPadOS 26 on iPad.

Under More at the end of the tab bar. To put it in the bar, open Settings > “Appearance” and set “Tab Bar” to “Settings”. “Tracks” then moves under More.

Open the full player, turn the iPhone to landscape and tap the moon and stars button at the top left. It is hidden while lyrics are open.

No. The Clock Mode button appears only on iPhone, when the full player is in landscape.

Yes. In the Clock Mode alarm, pick a show you follow instead of the last station. The newest episode plays when one arrived overnight, the last station otherwise.

“Now Playing” (also on the Lock Screen), “Your Stations”, “Your Shows” and “Latest Episodes”.

Tap its chevron, or press and hold it and choose “Hide Mini Player”. It folds into a thin strip; tap or swipe up on the strip to bring it back.

Get Macdio on the App Store, or read more about Macdio for iPhone and iPad. One purchase covers every Apple device, with no subscription.