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You can currently try Skip & Stay through TestFlight with full testing access. This access is limited to the test environment and is not carried over as a purchase for the later Store version.

In the App Store version, you explicitly start seven calendar days by confirming the free 7-day Trial. Playback then stops until you permanently unlock the player software with a one-time Skip & Stay Pro purchase. No subscription or automatic charge.

Before confirmation, the app explains the duration, what happens after expiry and the current full-unlock price from the App Store. Apple supplies prices and currencies. In Settings → Access & Purchases, you can restore purchases with the same Apple Account. This does not restart a trial that has already begun or expired. The purchase applies to supported iPhone, iPad and Mac versions; it includes no rights to broadcasts, songs, logos or cover art and no Apple Music subscription.

The home screen has Recommended stations and your listening history. Recommended brings you 24 music stations each day, spread around the world as evenly as possible, with real local times. Station families don’t repeat within a selection, and no station returns within seven days. Real time zones and station locations mean the clocks aren’t always exactly an hour apart.

Swipe through the selection. On Mac, use a mouse, trackpad or the arrows. Arrows move by the visible area and are disabled at the ends. Open the heading to see the full list.

Search by station, country, language or genre. Find local stations using optional location access, or enter a city yourself. Availability and catalog details can change. You can enter cities you’ve never visited. No one’s checking your passport.

Select a station to play it. Its outline and playback status show the selection. Connecting and buffering have their own states. Open the small playback panel to reach the player.

The station heart saves the station. The separate heart beside a recognized song saves the song. They have their own favorite lists, with new additions at the top. A short green confirmation appears when you add or remove a favorite.

To rearrange them, open the three-dot menu in Favorites and choose Sort. Drag entries into place and finish with Done. Search and regular list actions make room while you sort. One job at a time.

Optional iCloud sync includes their order. Recently Played opens the full listening history. On Mac, station tooltips also show the total listening time recorded for that station.

Play/pause, audio output and sleep timer have a fixed area in the player. The horizontal slider underneath controls the app’s volume.

Short-lived playback buffers keep audio moving, including up to one minute of decoded sound in memory. These do not create a saved recording.

Recording, audio export, rewinding, adding your own streams and copying stream links aren’t available in this version. It’s live radio. If the song isn’t doing it for you, change stations. You don’t owe the DJ anything.

Under Settings → Playback, choose extra buffer seconds and a maximum mobile bitrate. A larger buffer can bridge short interruptions but may delay startup. The bitrate limit applies to mobile data; Wi-Fi stays independent.

Choose 64, 96, 128, 192, 256 or 320 kbit/s, or Unlimited. At a constant 128 kbit/s, audio works out to about 58 MB an hour; at 320 kbit/s, about 144 MB. That matters when your holiday data package has a very definite end. Your favorite station can come on the trip without getting its own travel budget.

Automatic, Data Saving and Best Available use only variants offered by the broadcaster. With a mobile limit enabled, direct streams with no declared bitrate aren’t started. For adaptive HLS streams, the limit is a target. You can hide stations with no suitable quality option; they return on Wi-Fi.

Under Radio Data, enable the mobile-data limit if you want one and choose an allowance in MB or GB. The app shows usage and remaining data. When its measured allowance is exhausted, mobile radio playback pauses. Wait for Wi-Fi or explicitly grant another limited amount. Previously consumed data stays counted. Resetting data statistics doesn’t reset the allowance.

Control the Wi-Fi and mobile usage displays separately. Hiding a display doesn’t stop counting. The figures cover radio audio on this iPhone. Other app requests, connection overhead and other apps aren’t fully included. This isn’t a carrier spending cap. Received data, buffering or delayed accounting can cause small overruns. Your carrier determines roaming charges and billing.

Streams above 320 kbit/s or known lossless formats may take longer to start. A loading note explains when that applies. Supported audio formats can also drive the visualizer; a station’s format label alone doesn’t guarantee actual format support.

When broadcaster metadata or enabled music recognition identifies a song, the title and artist appear. Artwork is shown when a matching Apple source with a direct track link is available. Tap the cover or Apple Music button to open the track in Apple Music.

Recognition uses radio audio the app has already received. It doesn’t need your microphone and works independently of the visualizer. The particles don’t need to know the name to enjoy the song.

Under Settings → Music, control recognition and saving new tracks separately. Choose a retention period for music history, delete individual entries or clear the list. Favorite songs remain until you remove them yourself. Provider links remain visible for matched Apple content.

Open audio output in the player or the small playback panel. Compatible AirPlay and Bluetooth devices appear there.

An Echo needs a suitable output path supported by the device, such as Bluetooth. The iOS output picker can’t send any arbitrary stream address to every Echo.

Radio that’s already playing can continue when you leave the app. This is independent of the radio alarm. You’re allowed to use your phone for other things too.

The sleep timer fades the sound out and stops playback after your chosen time. You don’t have to stay awake to turn it off. That would rather defeat the point.

The iPhone radio alarm needs night mode to stay open, a suitable audio output and a working connection to the broadcaster. A fully closed app can’t start a radio stream whenever it likes.

Check the time, volume, power supply and output before use. Try the setup before relying on it in the morning. This version doesn’t offer a feature for creating a backup recording.

Private iCloud sync is off initially. Enable it on your devices to sync favorite stations and songs with their order, listening history, compatible preferences, listening statistics, recognized tracks and Radio Passport progress. Your visualizer selection is included too.

Sync needs a connection and available iCloud storage. Turning it off leaves an existing cloud copy in place. Songs contain track information, not audio files. The Mac’s color scheme and appearance remain device-specific.

The listening chart shows calendar months. Use the arrows to switch months and a mouse or touch to inspect individual days. Radio Passport shows progress, badges and unlockable color themes.

Hiding your listening world doesn’t stop collection. Clearing music history doesn’t remove listening time, favorite stations or badges. A little housekeeping doesn’t have to destroy your entire radio career.

Open the wave icon in the player. Choose from Light Dots, Light Waves, Neon Pulse, Light Trails, Particle Core and Spatial Sculpture. They respond to the playing audio and use colors from the artwork.

Your selection is saved. You can change it in settings too; it syncs when private iCloud sync is enabled. The cover stays in the same position when you switch effects, and effects may run behind the text.

Turn visualization off without pausing the station. Feel free to try them all. Nobody’s timing you.

Drag the divider to make the player narrower or wider. Use the player control in the window toolbar to hide it and bring it back.

Long station names can use two lines. Tooltips show the full name and recorded listening time. The arrow beside a station opens its website; external content can be opened in the browser.

Pin up to seven stations from Favorites for the menu-bar player. When all slots are full, further pins remain visible but disabled. Unpin one before adding another.

Seven slots. At some point, you do have to choose.

Update Skip & Stay on your iPhone through TestFlight. Connect by USB to a compatible CarPlay system, or set up wireless CarPlay if your car supports it.

Wireless CarPlay uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Bluetooth audio alone doesn’t show the CarPlay interface. Favorites, recently played stations and current playback are available through large controls.

If a TestFlight version needs an unlock, it uses Apple’s free sandbox purchase environment. Please set up and test while parked.

Skip & Stay runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 26 or later. The current Mac TestFlight version requires Apple Silicon and macOS 26. Check the requirements of the version actually offered in TestFlight.

Apple Watch with watchOS 10 or later acts as a remote for the paired iPhone. It doesn’t receive radio independently. iPhone Duo gets an adaptive interface with station browsing beside the player where space allows.

The app is localized in 33 languages. Reduce Motion and Low Power Mode can limit visual effects. Additional platforms aren’t currently planned.