I’ve always been frustrated by the complexity of most radio streaming apps on Mac. You either get bloated music applications that do everything except what you actually want, or you’re stuck opening websites in Safari tabs that eat up system resources. Last week I discovered RadioBar, and it solved exactly this problem - global radio streaming that lives quietly in your menu bar without any fuss.
The app gives you access to over 50,000 radio stations worldwide, all organized by country, language, and genre tags. I’ve been testing it on my M2 MacBook Air running macOS 15.4, and the station discovery is surprisingly intuitive. You can search for specific stations, browse by location, or just explore different genres until you find something interesting. Within minutes, I had Italian jazz stations, Australian news, and German electronic music all saved to my favorites.
What impressed me most is how RadioBar handles the listening experience. The app maintains its own volume control independent of your system audio, so you can adjust radio levels without affecting notification sounds or other applications. Current track information displays right in the menu bar when available, and the app automatically logs your last 100 played songs for easy reference later.
The favorites system supports up to 20 stations, which feels like the right balance between choice and simplicity. I’ve filled mine with a mix of news stations for morning updates, ambient music for focus work, and a few international stations for language practice. The auto-shutdown timer is particularly useful for falling asleep to radio - set it for 30 minutes and the stream stops automatically without leaving background processes running.
RadioBar requires macOS 15.2 or later, which is quite recent, but it takes full advantage of the modern system integration. The app supports 15 languages for its interface, and custom notifications keep you informed about track changes without being intrusive. At just 828KB, it’s one of the most efficient radio apps I’ve encountered.
Developer Alessio Zanfino has created something that feels distinctly Mac-like - clean, focused, and respectful of system resources. The app costs $2.99 on the App Store, which is reasonable for what you get. No subscription nonsense, no ads interrupting streams, just straightforward radio access from your menu bar.
After a week of daily use, RadioBar has become my go-to solution for background audio while working. It’s particularly valuable for anyone who wants to explore international radio content or simply prefers the curated nature of traditional radio over algorithm-driven music services. The app does exactly what it promises without trying to reinvent radio broadcasting or add unnecessary social features.
