Stop, pause and resume
The transport — and why Stop asks you to hold it.
Downstage 0.9.0 · updated 13 Oct 2026The four buttons along the bottom are always there and always the same size: Previous song, Stop, Play, Next song.
Play
Press Play and Live starts from where the playhead is. While Live is playing the button is solid green and reads Playing.
Stop
While Live is playing, Stop has to be held for a little over half a second. A line fills along the bottom of the button while you hold, and the label under it says Hold. Let go early and nothing happens.
Stopping a show by accident is the worst thing this app could do, and Stop sits under your thumb for two hours. So a tap is never enough mid-song.
While Live is stopped there is nothing to protect, and a tap is all it takes.
Stop always works — when the screen is locked, and even when a trial has run out. You are never left unable to stop your own playback.
Resume
When you stop part-way through a song, Play changes to Resume. Press it and Live carries on from the bar where you stopped.
Choosing anything in between cancels that. If you stop, tap a different song or section, and then press Play, the button reads Play and Live starts from what you chose — not from where it was.
| You… | The button says | Pressing it… |
|---|---|---|
| Stopped mid-song, touched nothing | Resume | Carries on from where you stopped. |
| Stopped, then tapped a song or section | Play | Starts from what you tapped. |
| Reached the end of a song set to stop | Play | Starts from where the playhead is. |
Previous and Next
These step through the setlist one song at a time. While Live is playing they arm a jump for the bar line; while stopped they move the playhead at once. More in Jumping to songs.
From the laptop's keyboard
With the Downstage window in front on the Mac, Space plays, and while playing holding Space stops — the same hold as the button. The arrow keys step through the setlist. See Keyboard shortcuts.