Frequently Asked Questions

This is a standard macOS security message for apps downloaded outside the App Store. Right-click (or Control-click) RadioDesk in your Applications folder and choose Open. Click Open in the dialog. You only need to do this once.

This usually means a download issue. Delete the copy in your Applications folder, re-download RadioDesk, and try again. If the issue persists, open Terminal and run:xattr -cr /Applications/RadioDesk.app

No. RadioDesk is a self-contained application. Everything it needs is bundled inside the app. Just drag it to Applications and open it.

Click Apple menu → About This Mac. If you see Apple M1, M2, M3, or M4 under Chip, download the Apple Silicon version. If you see Intel under Processor, download the Intel version.

Yes. Your purchase covers personal use on your own Macs. Please don't share your download link with others — it helps keep RadioDesk updated and supported.

Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. Make sure RadioDesk is in the list and toggled on. If it's not in the list at all, open RadioDesk, click Record VT, and macOS should prompt you. If it still doesn't appear, open Terminal and run:tccutil reset Microphone com.radiodesk.appThen relaunch RadioDesk and click Record VT. You'll be prompted to grant access again.

Make sure your interface is connected and powered on before opening RadioDesk. If you connected it after launching, close the Record VT panel, reconnect the interface, and reopen the panel — the dropdown refreshes when the panel opens.

Check your input gain on your audio interface — it may be set too high. In RadioDesk, watch the VU meter while recording. Aim to keep peaks in the green/amber zone and avoid the red zone. If you're using the built-in MacBook mic, try moving closer to reduce ambient noise.

Direct monitoring (hearing yourself in your headphones in real time) is handled by your audio interface, not by RadioDesk. Check your interface's manual for how to enable direct monitoring.

Check that your Mac's output volume isn't muted. Also verify the audio file is a supported format (MP3, WAV, or FLAC). If the file plays in another app but not RadioDesk, the file may be corrupted.

Open the Segue Editor by clicking ~ Segue between any two songs. Use the Duck Depth slider to control how far the outgoing track fades — -14dB is the standard starting point. The overlap time controls how long the two tracks play simultaneously. Click Preview Segue to hear the result before your show.

This can happen with large audio files on slower machines. Try closing other apps to free up memory. WAV files generally play more smoothly than MP3s because they don't require real-time decoding.

RadioDesk supports MP3, WAV, and FLAC. These cover the vast majority of broadcast audio. AAC and other formats are not currently supported.

RadioDesk saves shows as .radiodesk files wherever you choose when you click Save. Autosave files are stored in your home folder as .radiodesk_autosave.radiodesk.

Yes. Click Export Show in the menu bar. Choose WAV for lossless quality or MP3 for a smaller file. The export includes all tracks with crossfades applied. You'll need ffmpeg installed for MP3 export:brew install ffmpeg

The Cue Sheet exports a CSV file with a timestamped log of every element in your show — songs, voice tracks, and their metadata. It follows broadcast standard format with columns for offset, media type, title, artist, album, and year. Most broadcast logging systems can import this format directly.

The Music Library is a panel that lets you browse and manage all the songs in a folder you point it to. Click Library in the menu bar to open it. From there you can search by title or artist, sort by name or duration, filter by category, and double-click any song to add it directly to your playlist.

Song Categories are labels you assign to tracks in your library to organize them the way a real radio station does. RadioDesk supports seven categories:

Fresh Finds — brand new music you're breaking
Currents — current hits in regular rotation
Heavy Currents — your most-played currents
Recent Favorites — tracks that have aged out of currents but still sound fresh
Found Gold — older deep catalog songs
Deep Cuts — b-sides, rarities, and album tracks
Local — music by artists in your area

In the Music Library, click the ✎ (pencil) button on any song row to open the Edit Track popup. You'll see a Category dropdown with all seven categories. Select one and click Save. Categories are stored in RadioDesk's metadata system and persist across sessions — they don't modify the audio file itself.

Auto-Categorize analyzes when each song was added to your computer and assigns a category automatically based on its age. Click Auto-Categorize… in the library header to open the dialog. Use the sliders to set your thresholds — for example, songs under 30 days old → Fresh Finds, under 90 days → Currents, under a year → Recent Favorites, and everything older → Found Gold. A live preview shows how many songs will land in each category before you apply. Heavy Currents, Deep Cuts, and Local are never auto-assigned — those always require a manual decision.

Category Aging automatically moves songs between categories as they get older. A track auto-categorized as Fresh Finds will graduate to Currents, then Recent Favorites, then Found Gold over time — without you doing anything. This happens silently each time you launch RadioDesk, using the same thresholds you set in Auto-Categorize. Songs you've categorized manually are never touched by aging, only auto-categorized ones.

A Liner Rotator is a special playlist slot that picks a random liner (station ID, promo, bumper) from a folder you designate. Click + Liner in the toolbar to add one. The first time you add a Liner Rotator, RadioDesk will ask you to choose your liners folder — it remembers that folder going forward. The rotator immediately resolves to an actual file, so you can adjust its segue before exporting. Use the ↻ re-roll button on any rotator row to swap in a different liner. Liner Rotators do not appear on the Cue Sheet — they log like standard promos in broadcast terms.

A Category Slot is a playlist slot that picks a random song from one of your categories. To add one, open the Library, click a category filter button (e.g. Currents), and click the + Add Slot button that appears. RadioDesk immediately picks a song from that category and adds it to your playlist as a real, playable track — with a purple ↻ CURRENTS badge so you know where it came from. Use the ↻ re-roll button to swap it for a different song from the same category before exporting.

Open the library, click ✎ on the song, and choose Local from the Category dropdown. Local songs also appear when you filter by the Local category and are eligible for Local category slots. Removing the Local category from a song removes it from the Local pool as well.

Please email [email protected] with a description of what you were doing when it happened, your macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac), and whether you're on Intel or Apple Silicon.

Quit and relaunch RadioDesk — this resolves most one-off issues. If the problem persists, contact [email protected] with a description of the steps to reproduce it.

Download RadioDesk again on your new Mac using the same download link from your purchase. Your saved show files (.radiodesk files) can be copied over normally.