What people usually mean when they search for this
From the mail I get, the same three things come up. Ads before and during a stream that the station itself never broadcast. A subscription appearing in front of stations that used to be free. An account you have to create before the app will remember a favorite.
Macdio answers those three the same way every time: no ads, one purchase instead of a subscription, and no account beyond the Apple ID you already have. Favorites sync through your own iCloud, not through any server of mine, so there is no account or profile of you anywhere.
The catalog
Macdio reads its station list from Radio Browser, a community-run open database, and that is where the 60,000+ figure comes from. It is not curated and it is not mine. A station can go silent and nobody updates the entry, the same as every other directory. If a station you need is missing you can paste its stream address in by hand, and there is a scan that pulls the stream out of a station website. The guide to finding a stream URL covers how to get that address.
Moving over
There is no import. TuneIn offers no favorites export and I am not going to pretend a scraper counts as a feature. What people do in practice is search the ten or fifteen stations they actually listen to, heart them once, and let iCloud copy them to every device they own. It takes a few minutes.
What Macdio does that TuneIn does not
It records a live stream straight from the network and splits the session into one file per song, naming each track on its own. Songs you love land in your Apple Music library. Lyrics scroll in time with what is playing. Song identification reads the stream itself, so it works with the phone in your pocket and Macdio never asks for microphone permission, which is covered in the guide on naming a song from the radio. The Apple Watch app streams over LTE with no iPhone nearby.
One limit worth stating plainly: recordings stay inside the app. There is no export, no sharing and no copy into Files. I decided that on purpose and it is not going to change.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Macdio | TuneIn |
|---|---|---|
| No ads | Yes | No |
| No subscription | Yes | No |
| Works without an account | Yes | No |
| Split-track recording | Yes | No |
| Synced lyrics | Yes | No |
| Song ID with no microphone access | Yes | No |
| Loved songs sync to Apple Music | Yes | No |
| Standalone Apple Watch streaming | Yes | Yes |
| CarPlay | Yes | Yes |
Based on each app's own published App Store description, support pages and reviews, checked on 9 September 2026, with the listings read again on 12 October 2026. Features and prices change, so check the App Store for current details.
One thing to know before you buy
Macdio is built for Apple devices only. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch and CarPlay are covered by one purchase, and there is no Android or web version. If your listening happens somewhere else, this is not the app for you.
Everywhere else, it does what a radio app should do without asking for a monthly fee, without an account, and without playing an ad the station never broadcast.
Common questions
Is there a TuneIn alternative for Mac?
Is there a TuneIn Pro alternative?
Is there a TuneIn replacement without a subscription?
How much does Macdio cost?
Can I import my TuneIn favorites?
Does Macdio have the same stations as TuneIn?
Is there an Android or web version?
Does Macdio show ads or track me?
Try it
Macdio is on the App Store as a one-time purchase. If you want the longer version of what it does, the feature list has it, and the Mac page covers the menu bar player.