Feature Requests

Hi! I have some ideas for this app I'd like to share!

• Music Video Clips, MP4 file support.
• Metadata editing inside the app.
• Play pause next buttons on main screen instead of only in karaoke view.
• Custom sizing and spacing of the tile view mode in search library.

Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas!

Great news — all of these features have already been implemented and will be included in the next version of MusicCovered, which is coming very soon to the App Store, around late August or early September.

• Music Video Clips / MP4 support — Implemented.
• Metadata editing directly inside MusicCovered — Implemented.
• Play, Pause and Next buttons on the main screen — Implemented, so they won’t be limited to the Karaoke view anymore.
• Custom sizing and spacing for tiles in the Search/Library view — Implemented as well.

So you were definitely thinking along the same lines as I was! 😊

The next update will be a pretty significant one, with these features and several other improvements and additions.

Thanks again for the suggestions and for supporting MusicCovered. Stay tuned — the new version is coming very soon!

Amazing! Thank you for responding so quickly, and nice to hear that it was actually already intended to be included! When I get more ideas I will definitely drop it here on the forum!

Keep doing the good work! :D

Hi There! I'm back at it with a new list of idea's and possible fixes!

• In cover view while spinning a disc, when you have the wave-shaped play-bar enabled, this will become a straight line when you flip the cover art to the playlist mode.
• The animations are not as clean as they could be in my opinion, things just float and fade and have random animations when moving from cover to artist, and every other form of layout/ui change. You can see this happen very much on the buttons: Cover, Record, Artist, UV, the release year and the play bar with current and duration time + random knobs like airplay button (Mostly the Airplay Button).
• I (think) that I miss an option to get everything inside one canvas, like the swap from library to play etc being all different screens. It's very nice, but the option to get it all in one frame is a nice addition in my opinion.
• Maybe an option for moving cover arts as what Apple Music is offering with gif-support would be truly amazing as an extra upload besides the cover image, not for spinning mode, but for library view!
• I would like an option to manually change the vinyl and cd speed, cause I love the speed of the vinyl but the cd is too fast for me. When I set everything to the same spinning speed, the vinyl is too fast and the cd is fine.
• When pressing the hide library toolbar button, there is no button or hotkey to enable that bar again, I had to found it out myself that I could enable this in the apple's option bar at the top. Maybe some that button somewhere always would be amazing! Also, the search bar stays active for some reason mostly often. Even if you're not willing to search.
• In my screenshots you can see the album view of MusicCovered and Apple Music. I like the empty spacings on the side in Apple Music, maybe an option to customize the spacing for yourself like the other spacing options (That are truly marvellous!). Also I think that a play bar like the one in Apple Music is more compact and would be having less double knobs that are in the tool bar on the right of every viewing mode already! Less is more in case of double knobs with the same outcome! :) (Example: Settings twice)
• When switching from video to audio will play the first album in the library without hesitation, this feels random.
• When clicking a video, the complete library will be refreshed and the scroller in video will be at top again and I will be in albums instead of videos when going back to library.
• Most of the time, when playing an album, the first song will be playing, and endlessly repeating itself until I skip to the 2nd song and then the problem is solved. This has to be done very often, not always tho.
• This is a little one: Maybe the option to get slightly rounder corners! This is just chique :)
• Give playlists icons/symbols/emojis/images.
• Options to give a custom #Tag to albums to get more creative with smart playlists. For example: I love soundtracks, orchestral & new age music, but it's so different from every thing else I have in my library. All those albums have a lot of different genres, so it makes it hard to create smart playlists for me. This would be an easy fix as I can add #Epic to every album I want and it just automatically adds it to the smart playlist. (Only when this makes sense, if it feels too double, just ignore this one, this is just a wild idea.) But with more tags added to one album, this could work and you can create a nice musical sorting-system for yourself.
• I wanted to share a few screenshots of Roon too (in a loose post cause I have too many images uploaded in this post), which may give you some inspiration. For audiophiles it's nice to read some information about their artists and albums they're listening too. Roon has the perfect inspiration to make the Artists page super useful! Also to add some information to each album, perhaps instead of a fold-out view when clicking albums in grid view, a seperate page like apple music does, but again, this is purely my view on this app. It's still yours and I'm just here to give you ideas, my perspective and some tips/possible fixes.

For now this is it! If you have questions, please let me know, I'm happy to answer them for you. Also a big applause for what you did with MusicCovered as we know it today. It's my favourite music app already!

Thank you and keep up the good work! :D

Here are those Roon inspiration screenshots! Maybe some sort of dashboard for tracking your listening experience! :)

Also a few to add that got my attention:

• An option to center the album name and artist in grid view to the left, right or center
• An option to set all songs to the same loudness, as streaming services are doing. YES it's against audiophile's principles, but see it more like a party mode where you just don't want some songs to be super low and some ones agressively high when the music is loud (like on a party) you know! :)
• Auto recognition of existing album names, artists etc in metadata editor! :)

Thank you again!

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to share such detailed feedback! I really appreciate it.

I’m particularly happy because most of your suggestions were already on my development roadmap, and many of them have actually been implemented for the next version of MusicCovered!

Let me go through your points one by one.

⸻

1. Waveform Progress Bar

Your feedback:

In cover view while spinning a disc, when you have the wave-shaped play-bar enabled, this will become a straight line when you flip the cover art to the playlist mode.

My response:

This is a known bug, and it’s already been fixed for the next release!

⸻

2. Interface Animations

Your feedback:

The animations are not as clean as they could be in my opinion, things just float and fade and have random animations when moving from cover to artist, and every other form of layout/ui change. You can see this happen very much on the buttons: Cover, Record, Artist, UV, the release year and the play bar with current and duration time + random knobs like airplay button (Mostly the Airplay Button).

My response:

Another known issue that has already been resolved!

This behavior was caused by changes introduced in the new macOS 27. I’ve identified the problem and corrected the animations for the upcoming version.

⸻

3. Unified Interface / Single Window

Your feedback:

I (think) that I miss an option to get everything inside one canvas, like the swap from library to play etc being all different screens. It’s very nice, but the option to get it all in one frame is a nice addition in my opinion.

My response:

Already implemented for the next version!

This is actually something I’ve been working on for quite some time. I’m happy to say that it’s now fully functional and working beautifully!

You’ll finally have the option to enjoy a more unified experience within a single window.

⸻

4. Animated Album Artwork

Your feedback:

Maybe an option for moving cover arts as what Apple Music is offering with gif-support would be truly amazing as an extra upload besides the cover image, not for spinning mode, but for library view!

My response:

I understand the appeal of animated album artwork, but I’m not particularly convinced this would be a worthwhile addition to MusicCovered.

The biggest question is: where would users actually get these animated covers?

Unlike regular album artwork, animated covers aren’t widely available, and users would probably need to create or source them manually.

For someone with a very large music library, only a tiny percentage of albums would realistically have animated artwork. It would essentially be a drop in the ocean.

Considering the development effort and the relatively limited practical benefit, I don’t currently see this as a priority.

⸻

5. Independent CD and Vinyl Rotation Speeds

Your feedback:

I would like an option to manually change the vinyl and cd speed, cause I love the speed of the vinyl but the cd is too fast for me. When I set everything to the same spinning speed, the vinyl is too fast and the cd is fine.

My response:

Implemented for the next version!

You’ll be able to customize CD and vinyl rotation speeds independently.

The available options will include 33, 45, and 78 RPM, along with a Real Speed setting that reproduces the actual rotation speed of the selected physical medium.

This gives you much greater control over how your discs behave visually.

⸻

6. Hidden Library Toolbar

Your feedback:

When pressing the hide library toolbar button, there is no button or hotkey to enable that bar again, I had to found it out myself that I could enable this in the apple’s option bar at the top. Maybe some that button somewhere always would be amazing! Also, the search bar stays active for some reason mostly often. Even if you’re not willing to search.

My response:

Implemented!

Actually, the functionality was already there, but the button wasn’t immediately visible.

I’ve now made it permanently accessible in the upper-left corner, so restoring the toolbar is much easier and more intuitive.

⸻

7. Album Grid Spacing and Playback Controls

Your feedback:

In my screenshots you can see the album view of MusicCovered and Apple Music. I like the empty spacings on the side in Apple Music, maybe an option to customize the spacing for yourself like the other spacing options (That are truly marvellous!). Also I think that a play bar like the one in Apple Music is more compact and would be having less double knobs that are in the tool bar on the right of every viewing mode already! Less is more in case of double knobs with the same outcome! :) (Example: Settings twice)

My response:

Implemented for the next version!

I’ve made several improvements to the library interface, including the ability to restore the upper toolbar more easily.

More importantly, I’ve introduced an entirely new bottom playback bar, designed to provide a cleaner and more compact listening experience.

This new bar doesn’t replace the existing Mini Player. It’s an additional option, giving users even more flexibility in how they want to interact with MusicCovered.

⸻

8. Switching Between Video and Audio

Your feedback:

When switching from video to audio will play the first album in the library without hesitation, this feels random.

My response:

This is actually intentional behavior rather than a bug.

When you press the playlist playback button, MusicCovered starts playing a track or video according to the selected playback mode and whether Shuffle is enabled.

So while the behavior might initially seem unexpected, it’s part of the current playback logic.

⸻

9. Video Library Refresh

Your feedback:

When clicking a video, the complete library will be refreshed and the scroller in video will be at top again and I will be in albums instead of videos when going back to library.

My response:

Fixed! This issue has been resolved for the upcoming release.

⸻

10. Rounder Interface Corners

Your feedback:

This is a little one: Maybe the option to get slightly rounder corners! This is just chique :)

My response:

MusicCovered’s interface currently follows the design language and visual guidelines introduced with macOS 27.

My goal is to keep the application visually consistent with the operating system while maintaining its own distinctive personality.

For this reason, I’m not currently planning to introduce additional corner-radius customization.

⸻

11. Custom Playlist Icons and Images

Your feedback:

Give playlists icons/symbols/emojis/images.

My response:

I understand the idea, but I don’t currently see a strong need for this feature.

MusicCovered organizes playlists primarily within the left sidebar, where each playlist is represented by a small icon.

Unlike Apple Music, MusicCovered doesn’t use large dedicated playlist artwork panels, so custom images would have very limited visibility.

Considering the current interface structure, I don’t think this would provide a particularly meaningful improvement.

⸻

12. Custom Tags for Smart Playlists

Your feedback:

Options to give a custom #Tag to albums to get more creative with smart playlists. For example: I love soundtracks, orchestral & new age music, but it’s so different from every thing else I have in my library. All those albums have a lot of different genres, so it makes it hard to create smart playlists for me. This would be an easy fix as I can add #Epic to every album I want and it just automatically adds it to the smart playlist. (Only when this makes sense, if it feels too double, just ignore this one, this is just a wild idea.) But with more tags added to one album, this could work and you can create a nice musical sorting-system for yourself.

My response:

Already implemented for the next version, and I think you’re going to love this one!

I’ve completely redesigned MusicCovered’s metadata reading and writing system, introducing support for a much wider range of metadata fields, including fully customizable fields that are stored directly inside your audio files.

But here’s the best part: all custom metadata fields automatically become available as criteria in Smart Playlists!

This means you can create your own tags, categories, or classifications and use them to build highly personalized Smart Playlists.

For example, you could create a custom field called “Mood” and assign values such as “Epic”, “Relaxing”, or “Cinematic” to your albums. You could then create a Smart Playlist that automatically includes all tracks matching your chosen criteria.

There’s no need for a separate tagging system because everything is integrated directly into MusicCovered’s metadata engine.

Essentially, you can now organize your music library according to your own rules, going far beyond traditional genres and predefined categories.

This is one of the improvements I’m particularly excited about in the upcoming release!

⸻

13. Artist and Album Information – Roon Inspiration

Your feedback:

I wanted to share a few screenshots of Roon too (in a loose post cause I have too many images uploaded in this post), which may give you some inspiration. For audiophiles it’s nice to read some information about their artists and albums they’re listening too. Roon has the perfect inspiration to make the Artists page super useful! Also to add some information to each album, perhaps instead of a fold-out view when clicking albums in grid view, a seperate page like apple music does, but again, this is purely my view on this app. It’s still yours and I’m just here to give you ideas, my perspective and some tips/possible fixes.

My response:

Partially implemented for the next version!

I’ve actually received similar requests from several users, and I’ve decided to introduce a dedicated artist information feature.

However, I want to explain something important.

I’m personally a little hesitant about integrating too much information from external online services. While these features are certainly attractive, they introduce a complicated subject: copyright, licensing, API restrictions, and commercial-use permissions.

MusicCovered is a paid application, and this means I have to be particularly careful about which external services I integrate and how their content is used.

For this reason, I’ve decided to take a more cautious approach.

The upcoming version will use Wikipedia as the sole source for artist information, rather than integrating multiple commercial music databases.

I believe this is a reasonable compromise between providing useful information and keeping the application sustainable from a licensing perspective, while respecting the applicable content licenses.

My main priority remains creating an excellent music player and library manager, rather than turning MusicCovered into a massive online music information platform.

⸻

14. Album and Artist Text Alignment

Your feedback:

An option to center the album name and artist in grid view to the left, right or center

My response:

Implemented!

The next version will allow you to customize the alignment of album and artist names in Grid View.

⸻

15. Volume Normalization

Your feedback:

An option to set all songs to the same loudness, as streaming services are doing. YES it’s against audiophile’s principles, but see it more like a party mode where you just don’t want some songs to be super low and some ones agressively high when the music is loud (like on a party) you know! :)

My response:

I completely understand what you’re suggesting, especially for situations such as parties or background listening, where consistent volume levels can be very convenient.

However, I’m afraid this isn’t something I’m planning to implement in the near future.

My current development priorities are focused on other improvements to the playback engine, library management, and overall application performance.

It’s an interesting suggestion, though, and I appreciate you bringing it up!

⸻

16. Automatic Metadata Recognition

Your feedback:

Auto recognition of existing album names, artists etc in metadata editor! :)

My response:

Unfortunately, this is a particularly complicated subject at the moment.

I’ve actually had to temporarily disable the online metadata search feature in MusicCovered due to licensing restrictions and authorization requirements.

I’m currently in contact with the relevant services and waiting to find out whether I can obtain the necessary permissions to use their databases within a paid application.

And unfortunately, there’s no guarantee those permissions will be granted.

For this reason, I can’t promise automatic online metadata recognition at this stage.

I’d certainly like to restore and improve these capabilities in the future, but I need to make sure everything is properly authorized first.

⸻

Final Thoughts

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to share all these suggestions and report these issues!

Feedback like yours is incredibly valuable to me, especially because MusicCovered is an independent project that I’m developing with a great deal of passion and dedication.

What makes me particularly happy is that most of your suggestions were already part of my development roadmap, and many of them are now fully implemented!

The next version represents a significant step forward for MusicCovered, not only in terms of new features and customization options, but also in performance, stability, and overall usability.

There’s still plenty I want to improve and develop, but I’m very happy with the direction the application is taking.

Your feedback genuinely helps me make MusicCovered better, and I hope you’ll enjoy all the improvements coming in the next release!

Thank you again for your enthusiasm, your support, and your valuable contribution to the project.

Happy listening! 🎶

Giorgio
MusicCovered Developer

Thank you for your amazing responses, and I laughed a bit because it's the 2nd time that I gave feedback and most of it is already implemented! I think I share the same vision as you have, lovely! :)

As of number 16:

Automatic Metadata Recognition
Your feedback: (My Feedback)

Auto recognition of existing album names, artists etc in metadata editor! :)

My response: (Your Response)

Unfortunately, this is a particularly complicated subject at the moment.

I’ve actually had to temporarily disable the online metadata search feature in MusicCovered due to licensing restrictions and authorization requirements.

I’m currently in contact with the relevant services and waiting to find out whether I can obtain the necessary permissions to use their databases within a paid application.

And unfortunately, there’s no guarantee those permissions will be granted.

For this reason, I can’t promise automatic online metadata recognition at this stage.

I’d certainly like to restore and improve these capabilities in the future, but I need to make sure everything is properly authorized first.

My response:

I didn't mean to have a complete online register of everything that exists on this planet, because that would've been too much. What I actually meant is a meta data recognition tool that knows what is in your own library, so for example, I do create some custom collection albums sometimes, and when adding a song, it would be great if the metadata fields would "remember" what's already been inside the lib.

If that's not possible, no problem. But it seemed you did understood this subject a bit different, so for this reason some extra explanation.

My overall reaction:

I truly am so happy that I found this app and forum. I'm happy to help wherever I can.

I can't wait for the coming update, until then, I will be happy listening, thank you!