Release Notes

• Crash on certain audio files — Selecting an audio file that couldn't be read correctly could quit ShadowTag while its waveform loaded. That file now just shows no waveform.

• Multi-word searches narrow the results — Typing more words now narrows the results instead of widening them. "airport runway" finds files that match both words, not either one. The whole phrase still matches as typed, so a typo that runs across two words is still found. Separate words with commas to match any one of them. This applies to the search field and the table filter, and multi-word searches are also faster.
• Relink accepts more matches — AAC and MP3 copies of the same file whose lengths differ by a fraction of a frame are no longer turned down as "Duration differs." When a found file still fails the check, its New Location menu lists the files that were turned down, so you can pick one yourself.
• Editor updates after a relink — The editor and info panels used to keep showing a relinked file as missing until you selected another row. They now update right away.
• Converted M4A files keep their exact length — Converting to M4A with tags copied over removed the encoder's gapless info, so the result played slightly longer than the original. This affected Convert Files, Save and Export, and soundpack export. Converted files now keep their exact length.

Before you update

• ShadowTag 1 libraries — ShadowTag 2.4 no longer converts a library from ShadowTag 1. If yours hasn't been opened in ShadowTag 2 yet, open it in ShadowTag 2.3.1 first. 2.4 tells you so at launch and leaves the library untouched.

New features

• Advanced Search — Find › Advanced Search (⌃⌥⌘F), or the top row of the search field's menu, opens a rule builder under the search field. Rules can use any field the file list shows, including custom tags, BEXT, iXML, video properties, Edited, Locked, Color Label and Custom Color, and can be nested in All, Any and None groups. A Playlist rule finds files by the playlists that hold them. The builder searches as you edit, shows how many files it found, and saves searches as presets. The applied rules appear as a token in the search field, and text typed after it narrows the results further. It works entirely from the keyboard.
• Field searches as you type — The search field now understands comparisons such as `bpm > 120`, `duration < 5s`, `size > 10MB` and `date < 2019-04`. It also understands ranges, `is empty`, `in last 30d` and `in this year`, joined with AND, OR, NOT, a leading minus and parentheses. `field:value` still means "contains", so existing searches keep working. Search by Field in the magnifier menu lists every field.
• Choose where to search — A scope button beside the search field replaces the All / Selected switch. Pick All Playlists, This Playlist, or any mix of playlists and groups. The same choices are in Find › Search All Playlists (⌃⌘1), Search This Playlist (⌃⌘2) and Choose Playlists. This Playlist filters the table as you type. Other scopes fill Search Results, titled with where the search looked. Presets and recent searches remember their scope.
• See several playlists together — Select two or more playlists, or a group, to see their files in one table. Tag edits made there are saved to every playlist that holds the file, and undo restores them everywhere. Files can't be added, removed or reordered in this view, and a line above the table says so. To load only the first selected playlist instead, turn off Settings › General › Combine Selected Playlists.

Improvements

• Much faster saves on large files — WAV files whose BEXT, iXML or tags come before the audio, as field recorders write them, no longer have their audio rewritten on the first save. A 1 GB recording now saves in milliseconds instead of seconds. AIFF and Matroska tag saves and AIFF marker saves no longer rewrite the whole file either. MP3, FLAC, Ogg, MP4 and AIFF files are written once per save instead of once for each part.
• Safer saves — When a save has to move the audio, ShadowTag writes a complete new copy and then swaps it in. A crash, power loss or unplugged drive mid-save can no longer leave a broken file. Tags, markers or artwork that couldn't be read are never saved over as empty, even after a relaunch. If only part of a save succeeds, the notice says what was left out ("saved, except its markers"), and only those edits stay unsaved.
• More of other apps' metadata is kept — Saving now keeps cue notes, lyrics, links, credits and second comments in WAV files, comments in other languages in MP3 and AIFF files, multiple artists and other multi-value tags you didn't edit, an MP3's ID3 version (no ID3v1 tag is added), iTunes gapless info in MP4 so gapless playback survives a save, and iXML and BEXT exactly as other apps wrote them. An unchanged cover is written back as it was, so it's no longer recompressed with every save.
• Faster playlists and search — Playlists appear before their artwork has loaded. The Colored smart playlist opens about four times faster, and the first playlist after launch no longer waits on every stored file reference. Search is faster, switching away from a large smart playlist no longer stalls, and sorting by an iXML column is quicker.
• Relink Files shows its progress — The Relink window opens right away and shows a count and progress bar while it finds missing files, matches folders and checks what it found. After you click Relink, one progress sheet covers the whole update, and a notice says how many files were relinked. Relink Selected Files also works when several playlists are shown together.
• Library checks run in the background — The library's health check now runs after launch instead of during your first edit, so that first edit is no longer slow. A damaged library is reported right away.
• Clean Up happens on its own — Settings › Clean Up is gone. Unused waveforms, artwork, video frames and file references are now removed at every launch. This also works when you have more than one project, where leftovers used to pile up.
• Smaller things — Shift+Space plays and stops, so you can stop playback without letting go of Shift during a bar-step scrub. Drag images start on the row instead of in the corner of the screen. Settings labels are no longer cut off. The project-wide scope in Find and Replace and Relink now reads This Project.

Bug fixes

• Crashes — Switching to a smart playlist that adds a column, such as Colored, could crash. A rare crash when a watched file changed on disk is also fixed.
• Smart playlists — Leaving a smart playlist could copy its old tags over an edit made to the same file in another playlist. Switching away from one could put it back over the playlist you had just chosen. Search Results and smart playlists no longer accept reordering, and dragging rows out of them copies instead of moving.
• Playback after a scrub — Pressing Stop just after a scrub step no longer gets undone when playback restarts. The play button stays lit during that restart, and dragging the playhead or double-clicking in that moment works as expected.
• Artwork — Undoing an artwork edit after saving, then saving again, left the file with no artwork. A save no longer erases a cover that couldn't be read. Artwork shows again after a drive is remounted.
• Markers and tags — FLAC and Ogg point markers no longer turn into regions after a save. MP4 markers that start after zero no longer show an extra untitled chapter in Apple's apps. A FLAC or Ogg rating no longer shows up as an editable custom tag. Converting to AAC no longer reports markers it couldn't write. An iXML edit that only changes comments or spacing now saves. FLAC files with BEXT stored inside iXML keep that layout. MP4 ratings stored as text are kept.
• Matroska — Tags of certain exact sizes were corrupted on save. A save that added a first cover image could leave the file damaged.
• Selection — The properties panel could jump back to the previous selection after an edit. Selecting a playlist with missing files could show the System playlists instead.
• Protected videos — FairPlay-protected videos in older libraries no longer show as playable. Existing libraries are rechecked once, in the background.
• Moved files after a save — ShadowTag now keeps track of a file you move in Finder after a save that wrote it as a new copy.

New features

• Import several folders at once — File › Import › Folder (⌥⌘O) now lets you select more than one folder. Each folder becomes its own group, and the whole set gets one progress window and one summary. The preview now shows the groups and playlists it will create, drawn like the sidebar, with a file count on each. A folder with nothing to import is listed as "no files found" and isn't added.

Bug fixes

• Other players' ratings are kept — Saving tags on an MP3, WAV or AIFF deleted the ratings and play counts other music players had stored. Now only ShadowTag's own rating is rewritten.
• Replacing artwork keeps other pictures — Replacing a file's artwork also deleted its other pictures, such as a back cover. Now only the front cover is replaced. Removing artwork still clears every picture.
• MP3 chapters stay in step — After a marker save, players that read an MP3's chapter list could show the old chapters, and two markers with the same name could clash. The chapter list is now rebuilt on every save.
• Removed MP4 markers stay removed — On some MP4, M4A and M4B files, removing every marker brought old chapters back as markers. They now stay gone.
• Empty BEXT dates stay empty — Saving a WAV with no origination date or time filled those fields with zeros, which other apps treat as invalid. They are now left empty.
• No freeze with many videos — Opening a library, importing or reverting many video files at once could freeze the app. It no longer does.

New features

• More Spot to Timeline targets — Spot now sends files to REAPER at the edit cursor, Adobe After Effects at the current time, Cubase and Nuendo at the cursor, Studio Pro at the playhead, and FMOD Studio into the event selected in its Events browser. Cubase, Nuendo and Studio Pro receive files through the clipboard. With Automatic Paste allowed, ShadowTag presses ⌘V for you and puts your clipboard back afterward. Pro feature.
• Clip colors when spotting — Spotted clips take the file's color from ShadowTag, either its custom color or its Finder label, matched to the nearest color the target app offers. Turn it off with Clip Color in Spot Settings. Premiere needs version 1.1.0 of the Spongefork Spot plug-in, which Spot Settings offers as an update. Studio Pro colors clips by track, so it has no color option.
• Place over existing clips — Pro Tools, Premiere, REAPER and FMOD Studio have a new Occupied Tracks option, so a spot can land on a track that already has a clip at that spot instead of moving to a free track.
• Relink Files — Reconnects playlists to files that were moved or renamed. Open it from File › Relink Files (⌃⌘R), the playlist sidebar's menu, the file list's contextual menu, or the Relink Files button under the editor's missing-file warning. Search Folder (or dragging a folder onto the window) works out where the files went, then searches that folder by name for anything left over. Locate File points one row at a file you pick. Each match is checked against what the library recorded: format, duration and length must agree, and other differences are shown as warnings. When several files match, you choose. The In menu sets the scope: All Playlists, This Playlist or Selected Files. A relink updates every playlist that holds the file, keeps its waveforms and artwork, and also applies to your other projects that hold the same files. It can't be undone.
• Show in Playlists — The file list's contextual menu lists every playlist that holds the selected files. Choosing one opens it with that file selected.
• Search Results are kept — Search Results now behaves like a playlist. Leave it and come back, or relaunch, and the same results and selection are still there. A new search replaces them, and Clear empties the list and returns to your last playlist.
• Folder column — A new Folder column in the file list, and a Folder row in the File tab, show the folder each file is in.
• Copy and paste markers — Copy, Cut and Paste now work on markers in the markers panel and the waveform. With no markers selected, Copy takes all of them. Paste adds them to every selected file that can store markers, at their original times, as one undo step.
• Copy › VST-XML — Copies the selection for pasting into Cubase, Nuendo or Studio Pro. Each file gets its own track, starts at the cursor, and keeps its color. Pro feature.
• Detect Loudness options — Tools › Detect Loudness… now opens a dialog. It sets which files are measured, where the results are written (loudness tags, BEXT, ReplayGain), whether already-measured files are skipped, and whether pending edits are rendered first. Album Gain Across All Files measures the whole run as one album. Opus files get the R128 gain tags their format calls for, in place of ReplayGain tags.
• Organize Keywords options — Tools › Organize Keywords… now opens a dialog for letter case, alphabetical sorting and replacing underscores. Detect Keywords shares these settings, so newly detected keywords are tidied the same way.

Improvements

• Detect Loudness on more files — Ogg Vorbis, Opus, Matroska and MXF files can now be measured, and a file with several audio tracks is measured on the selected track. Surround files are measured by their actual channel layout, so film-order 5.1 now measures correctly.
• Better multichannel conversion — Converting 5.1 audio to stereo now mixes down all channels. Before, it kept only the front left and right and lost the center dialog and surrounds. FLAC and Ogg keep up to 8 channels. Ogg Vorbis and Opus now use the bit rate you choose, and MXF audio can be converted.
• Files that can't store tags — CAF, Wave64, AU, TS and MXF files show their Tags and UCS tabs read-only, with a line saying why. Over a mixed selection, rating, the Tools, Paste Attributes, Remove Artwork and Clear All Markers skip these files and say how many they skipped. Colors and Finder tags on these files now save. Before, each save failed.
• Convert Files says what didn't come across — Convert Files now lists any files whose tags, BEXT, iXML, markers, artwork or Finder tags couldn't be copied. Cancelling a run lists the files that already finished.
• Artwork is the front cover — Artwork added in ShadowTag or brought in by ADD import is now saved as the front cover, so music players find it. When a file holds several pictures, the front cover is shown and kept. Adding artwork no longer writes the file's location into the picture.
• XMP on WAV and MP3 — Clear XMP now works on WAV and MP3. XMP edits on these files are saved alongside their other metadata and leave BEXT loudness, iXML and ID3 untouched. Undoing a saved XMP edit puts the original XMP back.
• Import tells you what it couldn't read — The import summary now counts files that couldn't be read instead of skipping them silently. When a folder has more files than a playlist can hold, the first files by name are imported.
• Missing files — Selecting a missing file now says it's missing instead of trying to open it and showing an error. When one playlist finds a moved file, every playlist that holds it is updated and its warning clears.
• Presets ask before replacing — Save As Preset now asks before overwriting a preset with the same name, in every preset menu.
• Audio Units that crash — If a plug-in's process dies, ShadowTag gives up after 15 seconds and shows the plug-in's generic controls instead of waiting forever. Plug-in checks no longer hang on a plug-in that reports a lot of errors.
• Smaller things — File sizes now match Finder. Icons are tinted correctly with Increase Contrast on. Arrow and Page keys work again in sheets, panels and Settings. The properties panel stays on your selection after a tool run.

Bug fixes

• Tools on a sorted or filtered table — With a sort or filter active, Detect Keywords, Tempo, Pitch, UCS Category, Trim Points and Segments could analyze and change other files than the ones selected. They now work on the files you selected.
• Saving tags no longer removes other data — A tag save on an MP3 deleted its chapters and XMP. On an MP4 or M4A it removed the media kind (so audiobooks stopped being audiobooks), the explicit flag and other apps' data. A WAV that carried other apps' comments lost its own comment. Line breaks and tabs in tag values, such as multi-line comments and lyrics, were flattened, and emoji sequences were split. All of these are now kept.
• Accented and non-Latin text — Accented BEXT descriptions were emptied on save. Accented text in FLAC iXML and in FLAC and Ogg chapter names got more garbled with each save. WAV marker names in Cyrillic, CJK or emoji were dropped, and accented WAV marker names could crash iZotope RX. MP3 chapter titles from other apps could read as empty. All of these are fixed.
• iXML is kept whole — Editing any iXML field no longer throws away the parts ShadowTag doesn't display, such as sync points and vendor data, or the spacing and line breaks in other fields. An iXML LOUDNESS value is kept too. If a file's iXML is damaged, inline edits, Paste Attributes and UCS edits leave it untouched instead of replacing it.
• Markers — Converting, pasting, trimming, splitting segments or saving an edit on WAV and AIFF now keeps marker colors and region lengths. Converting MP3 or FLAC to WAV or AIFF no longer moves every marker to the start, or to the wrong time when the sample rate changes. Marker edits on FLAC and Ogg files are no longer undone by a later tag save, and a marker write that fails is now reported.
• MP3 crashes — MP3s with chapter artwork or compressed chapters no longer crash on import.
• Saving audio edits — Saving a trim or fade on a FLAC file, or converting 32-bit float audio to FLAC, could produce silence. Saving an edit no longer turns a 16-bit FLAC into 24-bit or re-encodes an MP3 at 256 kbps. If an edit can't be saved without losing the file's metadata, the save now fails and the original is left as it was.
• Convert Files — 24-bit FLAC and ALAC no longer drop to 16-bit when resampled, and mono and bit-depth choices now apply to MP3, FLAC and Ogg. A same-format copy now leaves out metadata set to Ignore, and Finder tags carry over to CAF. Cancelling an M4A conversion now stops right away. A failed or incomplete conversion no longer leaves a partial file behind or reports success. Two files that would get the same output name, including names that differ only in case, are now numbered apart instead of one overwriting the other. Group by folders handle tag values that start with a dot, are "..", or are too long.
• XMP pane — Saving while a file's XMP was still loading or couldn't be read replaced it with one field. Saving text that isn't valid XMP erased the file's XMP, and on a WAV its BEXT and INFO too. An XMP edit on WAV, AIFF or MP3 could undo BEXT, iXML and tag edits made in the same save. Fields another app stored differently can now be cleared, markers on audio tracks show at the right time, and a .mov keeps its QuickTime title and copyright.
• Large playlists while loading — Editing, adding, removing or copying files in a playlist of a thousand or more files before it finished loading could lose the change or duplicate files. It could also blank those files' tags in other playlists. A playlist that failed to read once no longer loses its files when you add one.
• Library safety — The library is now checked before every write, so a damaged library isn't written over. A failed delete, reorder or sidebar move is reported instead of seeming to work until relaunch. Restoring from a backup keeps the damaged copy's latest changes, and converting a library again keeps every archived copy.
• Smart playlists — Edited, Rated and Colored showed an empty list when you switched to them from another playlist.
• Colors — Searching a color name now finds files colored in this session. Undoing a color change after saving now works, and Paste Attributes updates a row's color.
• BEXT fields — Clearing a loudness or time reference field now clears it, and copying a row keeps its UMID and loudness.
• ADD import — Importing a file whose name was already in use deleted the existing file. The new one is now numbered, including in category folders, and a failed import no longer leaves files behind.
• Artwork — A file could show another file's artwork after its artwork changed. Saving a playlist again no longer clears and rebuilds its artwork.
• Video audio tracks — For some older video files the Audio Track menu stayed disabled, and the files were read again at every launch.

• Spot into the Pro Tools session — Spot Settings now shows the open Pro Tools session. Write Files To can put spotted files straight into the session's Audio Files folder, including files sent as they are. If the session can't be read, files go to the Transfers folder and the notification says why. Spotting with no session open now tells you so.
• Convert while spotting — Each spot target now has a Mode. Source Format sends files as they are, converting only to a sample rate the target requires. Convert turns them into a format you choose, using the same format options as Export Soundpack, and sends files already in that format unchanged. This replaces the old Ask Each Time sample rate choice, and Final Cut Pro's sample rate setting moves here.
• Handles for spotted selections — A new Handles setting controls how much of the file goes with an editor selection. Entire File or Trim Points sends the whole file, or its trim, with the selection marked inside it. On renders just the selection plus a set number of seconds either side, keeping any normalize and adding a short fade at each cut edge.

New features

• Spot to Timeline — Send the selected files, or a selection in the editor, straight onto the timeline of Pro Tools, Logic Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere, at its playhead or edit cursor. Files can be stacked on separate tracks or placed end to end. A selection keeps the rest of the file as handles. Pending edits, video files and sample rates the target can't take are rendered or converted first. Pick the target in Tools > Spot Settings (⌘⌥⌃T), or spot from the new Spot button on the transport. Pro feature. See the Spot to Timeline help for each app's setup.
• Export and copy FCPXML — File › Export › FCPXML writes the selection or the whole playlist as a project that Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and DaVinci Resolve can import. Each file gets its own lane, either on the project's timeline or inside one compound clip. You choose the FCPXML version, a sample rate, what happens to pending edits, and whether files stay where they are or are copied next to the project. For a quick paste instead, Copy › FCPXML in the file list's contextual menu puts the selection on the clipboard, ready for ⌥V in Final Cut Pro. Broadcast Wave files keep their recorded start time here and when spotted to Final Cut Pro. Pro feature.

Improvements

• File › Export menu — Convert Files, Export CSV, Export Artwork and Export Soundpack moved from Tools to a new File › Export submenu, with the same shortcuts. Remove Artwork stays in Tools. Every contextual menu that offers Tools also offers Export. Add Files now sits right under New.
• Right-click opens a button's menu — On the playlist mode, metronome and Audio Units buttons, right-clicking the icon now opens the menu or popover instead of toggling the button.
• Turn Audio Units off — A new switch in Settings takes every plug-in out of the signal path, hides the Audio Units button and stops checking the system's plug-ins, so no validation notices appear. Your chain is kept and comes back when you turn them on again.
• Settings panel — Settings now reopens where you last left it. Its buttons are consistent, with Audio Units and XMP Editor (formerly Show XMP) shown as Enabled/Disabled toggles. Playback stops when Settings opens, since applying it can restart audio. Spot Settings opened from here now appears after your other changes are applied.

Bug fixes

• Menus on macOS 27 — Button menus and the Audio Unit insert menu could close as soon as they opened. Missing menu icons are back: Play/Pause in the Editor menu and Finder tag color dots.
• Audio Units button over the transport — In a narrow window the button now hides instead of overlapping the transport, and the level meter no longer disappears.
• Help window alert — Some help pages set off a "no application set to open the URL" alert. They don't anymore.
• Translation fixes — The Convert Files progress text was missing from the app's strings table, so it could show its raw placeholder text. It's fixed now. German menu and progress text now puts a no-break space before its trailing "…".

New

• Convert Files presets — Convert Audio Files now has a presets menu. A preset stores the format, sample rate, bit depth or bit rate, channels, metadata copy, overwrite choice, pending edits and Group by. The Selection/All choice and destination folder are still picked each run.
• Type a slider's value — Double-clicking a slider in the Audio Unit parameter window or the Segment Detector opens its value for typing, the same as the faders and knobs. Slider rows also no longer overlap when the window is narrow.

Bug fixes

• Converting a file over itself could replace or delete the original — Converting into the file's own folder and format with Overwrite could delete the source before it was read. With pending edits set to render, it could also replace the original with the edited copy. Convert Files and Export Soundpack now refuse any output that would overwrite its own source.
• Trims and fades could be applied twice — A saved audio edit could come back and get cut into the file again. This happened after a cancelled or interrupted save, after undoing a move, removal, trash or playlist delete, after a crash before the next playlist switch, or when Convert Files ran Save and Export. Each edit is now written once. A cancelled save also no longer reports the files it stopped as failures.
• Cancelling the save now cancels the export — In Convert Files, Export CSV and Export Soundpack, cancelling the Audio Edits Will Be Written question now stops the export. Before, it exported without the unsaved edits. The prompt also says "unsaved edits" now, since it counts audio edits as well as metadata.
• Locked files with pending audio edits — Saving now offers to unlock a locked file whose trim or fade is waiting to be written.
• Convert Files stops cleanly — Cancelling while the last pending edit renders now stops the conversion. An output folder that can't be created stops the run with an error, where each file used to fail silently. A render error no longer leaves its progress sheet open, and a failed file is listed by its real name instead of a temporary one.
• Group by menu fixes — Choosing the first tag in the list now checks it and removes it from the second menu. A remembered Group by tag that none of the current files carry is shown by name instead of reading as None.

New

• Find and Replace — Find > Find and Replace (⌘⌥⇧F) opens a floating window that searches text across your whole project, the current playlist, or the selection, in every metadata field or just the ones you pick. Results list every file and field that would change, with the old and new values side by side, before anything is written. Replace All applies the lot, or select rows and use Replace Selected. Match Case, Whole Word, Regular Expression and Ignore Accents refine the search, a swap button flips the two fields, recent searches are remembered, and the whole thing undoes in one step.
• MXF and Pro Video Formats — ShadowTag now loads Apple's Pro Video Formats package when it's installed. That adds MXF files, read-only: import them, play their audio, see waveforms and technical details, and read the container's own metadata (vendor, application, operational pattern, spoken language, creation date and more). The same package supplies Apple's decoders for professional codecs (ProRes RAW, Avid DNxHD / DNxHR, AVC-Intra, XAVC, XDCAM, DVCPRO HD and others), so files in those formats should open too. It's a free download from Apple; without it, MXF files are skipped on import with a note explaining what to install.
• Better support for Apple's legacy DRM files: m4b, m4v — Files with DRM (Apple Music downloads, purchased video) now show as "(Protected)" and say they can't be played, instead of a generic playback error.
• File tab preview has a draggable divider — The media preview now sits above the properties list on a divider you can drag, and its height is remembered with the workspace.

Improvements

• Large playlists open fast — Rows show up right away with their number and filename, and the rest of each row fills in behind them, so there's no delay before a big one appears. Selecting a large playlist is faster too, since every file's bookmark is no longer re-read on each selection, and the launch check for files changed on disk no longer stalls on big libraries.
• Faster saves to large MP4 and M4A files — Writing tags to a big video or M4A is now very fast.
• Video properties only show what's there — Technical rows with no value are hidden instead of sitting empty.
• Icons on older macOS — Some toolbar and menu icons were blank older macOS versions because they used symbols that only exist on newer systems. They now fall back to the nearest available.
• Waveforms on partly unreadable files — Better handling of files with unreadable data in them.
• A failed save tells you why — When one file can't be saved, the notification now shows the actual reason instead of a count.
• Video trim names formats that would work — Better error handling if it's a video format that is unsupported for trim.
• UCS rename shows the whole playlist — The Rename to UCS Convention dialog now lists every file with its status, counts what will be renamed, what's already named and what has no category, and can expand or collapse the list.
• Conflict window shows more — Files changed on disk now list with a thumbnail, the playlists they belong to and their path, and can be expanded and collapsed or dragged straight out to Finder.
• Show in Finder from any list — The Find and Replace results, the conflict window and the UCS rename preview all have Show in Finder in their contextual menu.

Bug fixes

• File tab glitches — Better handling of locking and unlocking files.
• Memory Leaks — Not a major issue, but still fixed all leaks.

Improvements

• Rename has a shortcut — ⌘R renames the selected file.
• Import straight into a new project — Copy to Project and Move to Project now have a New Project option, which creates the project, moves the selection into it and switches to it, opening on what just arrived.
• Import Folder and Apple Music import are both more responsive on initialization — Reading a large library happens in the background rather than locking the app up before any window appears.
• Export Soundpack — Was missing the option to transfer Metadata during file conversion. The choice is now remembered between opens, in both the soundpack and conversion dialogs.

Bug fixes

• Exports wrote the tags on disk, not your edits — Export Soundpack and file conversion read each file from disk, so unsaved metadata edits were left out of the output with nothing to warn you. Both now offer the same Save / Export Without Saving / Cancel choice that CSV export had.
• Soundpack export ignored the chosen audio track — On a multi-track file a soundpack conversion converted the default track instead of the one you picked, and in file conversion a pending audio edit went unrendered. Both happened once the dialog's use-all toggle widened the run past the selection.
• Marker edits were being lost if made from the sidebar editor — Renaming, recoloring or moving a marker was treated as no change at all, so the edit never reached the file or the library and was gone after a relaunch. Only adding or removing a marker got through.
• Detected segments weren't saved — Markers found by segment detection were never written to the file, and the marker timeline didn't refresh after a run.
• Waveform sometimes didn't show on first launch — The waveform's first frame was drawn at the previous file's zoom, or a default one at launch, before settling. Marker lines also now run to the bottom of the waveform instead of stopping short.
• Improved UI handling of various dialogs — There were some glitches with various Open and Save Panels.
• Wrong artwork on some files — The check for duplicate artwork only looked at the first few pixels, so two covers sharing a plain band across the top could be treated as the same image and one album's art shown for another's.
• Double-click with several rows selected — Double-clicking a row loaded that file in the transport but left the editor and properties panels showing the previous selection.

Projects

• Projects — Create sets of playlists and switch between them. A pull-down in the title bar names the open project and is also how you change it, and the File menu gains New Project alongside the full list. Requires ShadowTag Pro — without it you stay in the default project.
• Move work between projects — Copy to Project and Move to Project in the playlist sidebar send playlists to another project, letting you pick the group they land in. You can also copy playlists in one project and paste them into another.

The new library

• The library is now a SQLite database — Each project stores its playlists in its own SQLite database rather than a folder of JSON files. Libraries open and search much faster, and stay responsive on very large collections. Launch is quicker too, since the integrity check no longer runs on the way in.
• One-time conversion — The first launch after updating converts each project's library to the new format. ShadowTag asks before starting and shows progress as it works through your playlists, and keeps the JSON tree it converted from in an Archive folder beside the new database.
• Damaged libraries can be recovered — Every project keeps a fallback copy of its database and can put it back if the live one is damaged, naming the file that went wrong instead of quietly opening empty. After a restore ShadowTag restarts into the recovered library.

New formats

• Matroska and WebM files — .mkv, .mka and .webm are now supported end to end: read and write their tags and ratings, play them, see waveforms and video filmstrips, and convert them like anything else.
• Still frames instead of an error — Video that can't be played directly now shows a still frame and a waveform rather than "Unable to play", and the transport works for those files.
• More export formats — Opus and Vorbis (.ogg) join the output formats.
• 64-bit WAV (RF64 and BW64) — RF64 and BW64 files are read and tagged like any other WAV, and long conversions are written as RF64 so they are no longer capped at 4 GB.

New features

• Import from Apple Music — Import playlists straight from your Apple Music library, with Music's folders becoming groups.
• Pick the audio track — Files with more than one audio track get an Audio Track menu. Playback, the waveform and conversion all follow the track you choose, and the choice is remembered per file.
• Detached preview — Pop the media preview out into its own floating window, or take it full screen.
• Start timecode — ShadowTag reads a file's start timecode and applies it to the ruler and transport, so positions line up with the timecode in the source. The XMP tab gains a Start Timecode field.
• Time Display — Switch the transport readout between real time and timecode. Your choice is remembered.
• Rating menu — Set a file's rating straight from a menu with key shortcuts.
• Copy submenu — The file table's contextual menu gains a Copy submenu, including copying the selection as CSV. Copying tags as CSV requires Pro.
• Rename, duplicate and trash files — The file list's contextual menu gains Rename, Duplicate and Move to Trash, acting on the files themselves rather than just their playlist entries. A duplicate lands directly below its original and carries any unsaved edits with it, and all three can be undone.
• Lock files — Lock and Unlock in the File menu set the same lock Finder shows in Get Info, so a file you're finished with can't be overwritten by accident. Locked files are marked in the status column, and saving one tells you which file is locked instead of failing quietly.
• Conflict window for files changed elsewhere — When a file changes on disk while you have unsaved edits, ShadowTag opens a window listing every affected file so you can decide what to keep. It's sortable, stays open while you work, and warns before anything is discarded.

Improvements

• Undo covers more — Undo now reaches copying, pasting, duplicating and removing groups in the sidebar, sorting a playlist, and rating changes, and the Edit menu names what it will reverse. An undo recorded in one playlist is never applied to a different one.
• Effects survive a rebuild — Your Audio Unit chain and its windows come back when the audio graph rebuilds, and playback resumes after an output device change.
• Double-click to play — Double-clicking a row starts playback if the cell isn't editable.
• Artwork fallbacks — Rows without artwork show the Finder's file type icon, and files with no embedded artwork are remembered so they aren't scanned again.
• Third-party credits — The About window gains a credits page listing the software ShadowTag ships.

Bug fixes

• Cancel long operations — Normalize, multi-file saves, imports and the analysis tools can all be cancelled correctly, and progress sheets name the operation they belong to. Only one save or tool run happens at a time.
• Playback stopping on a track change — Fixed playback stopping when the audio track changed.
• Crash reading device properties — Fixed a memory error reading audio device properties.
• Markers across a video trim — Markers are carried across a video trim, and ones trimmed away are cleared properly.
• Scrolling to the selection — Fixed scrolling to the selected row landing in the wrong place.
• Trim on read-only formats — Trim is no longer offered on containers ShadowTag can't write.
• Copy, cut and paste in the file table — Fixed paste position and an empty copy, and Cut no longer clears fields the copy never wrote.
• Missing settings saved — Smart playlist sort and selection, the playlist size limit, and the detached preview all persist across a quit, and the search filter survives a shuffle.