# Preferences - iTunes

### General Tab

By default, Yate uses explict linking methods. Link to iTunes uses metadata and Link to iTunes by PID uses retained PIDs. The Auto-Linking process and the toolbar icon are associated with the metadata method. You can configure the metadata method to use PIDs if available. If you want to automatically use PIDs, enable the Prefer PIDs when linking option. Note: PIDs are meaningless and should not be retained if you have more than one iTunes library.

With the release of iTunes v12.5.2, an incompatibility was introduced with the separate retention of Grouping and Work Name metadata in mp3 and aiff files. The Maximum iTunes Grouping-Work Name Compatibility option can be used to get around the issue. More information on this option can be found in iTunes, Classical Metadata and the Grouping Field.

Most audio players treat the default comment as the first comment in an audio file which has an empty description field. iTunes tends to add the requirement that the comment's language is eng. You can force Yate to use the iTunes definition by setting the Use strict iTunes definition of 'default' comment option.

Yate may create a temporary playlist in iTunes called Yate-Work when showing files in iTunes. If the playlist was created, checking the Auto delete Yate-Work iTunes playlist option, will automatically delete it prior to closing Yate.

If you get errors specifying a timeout has occurred when attempting to add tracks to iTunes, you can use the Add to iTunes Timeout (sec) option to solve the problem. The number zero specifies that the system default should be used. This is a timeout of two minutes and should be more than sufficient. However if you do experience errors, you can specify a longer timeout. Remember that the value is a number of seconds.

The next three settings affect how MPEG-4 files are read and written. These settings are also available in Preferences - Audio - MPEG-4.

iTunes supports a read once atom (component) in MPEG-4 files called stik. This component is only read when files are added and is used to identify the media type of the item being added. Valid types are Home Video, Music, Audiobook, Music Video, Movie, TV Show, Booklet and Ringtone. By default the stik atom is unhandled. You can elect to map the stik atom to the Media Type field on the Audio panel by means of the Map stik atom to Media Type option. When the field is mapped, Yate will display the information in the stik atom. When the field is mapped, a value will only be saved as described if it is empty or one of the iTunes Media Types (available from the Media Type field popup). Any other value will be saved as Music. Note that changing the Media Type value after the file has been added to iTunes will have no effect. Further, changing the media kind in iTunes will not rewrite the stik atom in the file. Note that a Media Type field of Podcast is always handled properly, outside the stik atom, regardless of this setting.

iTunes does not replace values in its library when refreshing a file and the associated tag is not present. For example if iTunes has an Album Artist value, when refreshing the audio file it does not find an Album Artist tag, it will retain the current value. Yate typically does not write empty tags to files. It gets around the iTunes refresh problem by programmatically telling iTunes to set the required field to empty. There are five fields read by iTunes directly from MPEG-4 files that cannot be programmatically set. If you want iTunes to detect a change to an empty state, the empty tags must be written to the files. The Write empty Content Advisory setting will fix the issue with changing a Content Advisory field of explicit or clean to empty.

The Process iTunMOVI for files with video option provides additional integration with iTunes when processing video files. iTunMOVI is a file component which contains information about the video. When the option is set, Yate will extract role and studio information from the component. When writing files, Yate will modify or synthesize the construct. The Musician Credits, Involved People and Label fields are affected. The Label field will receive the studio name. For more information on how Musician Credits and Involved People are affected click here.

### Fields of Interest

The iTunes column in the main window's file list can display the following indicators:

> ✓
>   linked with no metadata differences.
> ☆
>   track has an explicit album rating. See The iTunes Album Rating for more information on explicit album ratings. Note that album ratings are not used by the Import from iTunes functionality and can only be cleared by the Export to iTunes functionality.
> C
>   classical metadata differs
> ♥
>   loved/disliked differs
> M
>   media kind differs
> ▼
>   permanent ID differs
> #
>   play counts differ
> ★
>   ratings differ
> R
>   remember playback position differs
> ✖
>   skip when shuffling differs
> ⇤
>   start time differs
> ⇥
>   stop time differs
> ⬆
>   volume adjustment differs

With the exception of ✓, you can choose not to display any of the above indicators. Simply uncheck the corresponding item that you are not interested in. These settings are also used to determine what is imported from, or exported to iTunes by action statements or by the Action menu Import from iTunes and Export to iTunes items.

Classical metadata refers to the fields: Work Name, Movement Name, Movement Number and Movement Count. The proper understanding of what has to be done to properly synchronize classical and grouping metadata can be found in iTunes, Classical Metadata and the Grouping Field.

The iTunes Media Kind value is mapped to Yate's Media Type field. When setting the media kind, any value other than one of the following is ignored: Audiobook, Alert Tone, Booklet, Home Video, iTunesU, Movie, Music, Music Video, Podcast, Ringtone, TV Show, and Voice Memo. iTunes will refuse to process some settings. For example you cannot change the media kind of a video file to be Music.

### Auto Import

You can choose to auto import any of the above items when you link a track by dragging it in from iTunes or by manually linking. Be careful when doing this. This will overwrite existing values in tracks. Also, in versions of iTunes prior to 12.5, the classical metadata fields always import as empty or 0. Auto import settings are only useful if you always set particular types of values in iTunes. As an example you might want to import the current play counts whenever linking tracks.

If you specify auto import for PIDs, they will also automatically be imported when tracks are added to iTunes.

### Auto Export

You can choose to auto export any of the above items except the permanent ID when you save a track that is linked to iTunes. Be careful when doing this. This will overwrite existing values in iTunes. These settings are useful if you always set particular types of values in Yate. For instance, if you only set ratings in Yate this would be a useful way of ensuring that the latest ratings are always exported to iTunes.

The Always Clear Album Rating option will cause Yate to reset a track's associated album rating whenever values are exported to iTunes.