Macdio for iPhone

Internet radio on your iPhone.

iPhones have no FM chip, and they do not need one. Macdio streams 55,000+ stations from every country and genre, built 100% native for iOS.

CarPlay built in

A preset grid that feels like real car radio buttons. Your stations follow you to the dashboard, wired or wireless.

Widgets and Lock Screen

Home Screen widgets, Live Activities with Dynamic Island, and full Lock Screen controls. The radio is always one glance away.

Song ID, no microphone

Macdio reads the stream itself to name the song playing, so it never asks for microphone access. Heart a song and it can land in your Apple Music library automatically. See what song is playing on the radio.

Macdio internet radio with preset buttons on CarPlay
Browse 55,000+ internet radio stations in Discover on iPhone
Live synced lyrics while listening to radio on iPhone
Heart a song on the radio and it syncs to Apple Music favorites
Radio recordings split into individual songs on iPhone
Sleep timer with fade out in the iPhone radio player
Favorite radio stations library on iPhone
Add a radio station to a custom list on iPhone
Quick access to songs saved from the radio on iPhone
All favorite stations in one view on iPhone
Macdio radio Discover screen in light mode on iPhone

Does the iPhone have a radio at all?

Not one you can switch on. Apple said in 2017 that its phones carry no FM chip and no antenna for one, and no app can change that. Internet radio is what fills the gap, and it reaches far more than FM ever did: a station in Tokyo comes through the same way a station in your own city does. The longer answer is in the guide on the iPhone and FM radio.

Which iPhones it runs on

Macdio needs iOS 26 or newer. One purchase covers the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch apps, and Family Sharing works, so a family pays once between them rather than once each.

What an hour of listening costs in data

A stream costs exactly what its bitrate says, because nothing is added on top. At 128 kbps, which is the most common setting, an hour is about 58 MB. A 320 kbps station runs closer to 2.4 MB a minute, and a low bitrate talk station can be a quarter of the 128 kbps figure. Macdio shows the bitrate on the station itself, so you can pick a lighter stream when you are on cellular and a heavier one on Wi-Fi.

Radio next to the bed

Clock Mode turns the phone into a bedside radio: a large dimmed clock, the station playing behind it, and a sleep timer that fades out rather than cutting off. It works in either orientation, so a phone propped on a charger lands the right way up.

Everything a radio listener needs

Does the iPhone have a built-in FM radio?
No. iPhones do not ship with an FM radio chip, so traditional offline radio is not possible. The answer is internet streaming: Macdio plays 55,000+ stations worldwide over Wi-Fi or cellular, from big networks to tiny local broadcasters. The full story is in does the iPhone have FM radio.
How do I listen to radio in the car?
Connect your iPhone to CarPlay and open Macdio on the car screen. Favorites, discovery and a Now Playing view are all there, with custom presets that work like the buttons on an old car radio. Set it up step by step: internet radio on CarPlay.
Can I record radio on my iPhone?
Yes. Tap record while listening and Macdio saves the audio in high quality. Split by Track mode cuts a session into individual songs automatically, each with its own artwork.
Can I add a station that is not in the catalog?
Yes. Paste the station's stream address into Macdio and it becomes a custom station that syncs to your other devices. If you do not have the address yet, here is how to find a station's stream URL.
Can I fall asleep and wake up to the radio?
Clock Mode turns the iPhone into a bedside radio clock, and the sleep timer fades the audio out with presets. Alarms can wake you with your favorite station.
Does it sync with my other Apple devices?
Yes. Favorites, folders and saved songs sync through iCloud to iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. Macdio is one purchase for every Apple device you own, and the watch app runs on its own: radio on Apple Watch without an iPhone.

Ready to tune in?

Get Macdio on the App Store. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. No subscription, no ads, no tracking.