Updates on the MAC OS Version

[c242]

Any timeline finally?

[PetrCBR]

No timeline ... you can check issues here.

[bloomer]

Could I ask what the likely minimum macOS version will be? (I need to decide whether to renew some VM software for running MM on macOS 10.15 Catalina.)

[Peke]

Could I ask what the likely minimum macOS version will be? (I need to decide whether to renew some VM software for running MM on macOS 10.15 Catalina.)

Well MMM will be available in two versions x64 and ARM64, so as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Catalina should support x64 apps once Beta starts we would be curious to test it on all available MacOS for testing. But please note that bugs on such old OS would be more likely doomed, unless same bugs shows on newer systems.

As for VM software renew, unfortunately I can't be of help it is an eternal question for me to and subscriptions based apps.

[bloomer]

Well MMM will be available in two versions x64 and ARM64, so as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Catalina should support x64 apps once Beta starts we would be curious to test it on all available MacOS for testing. But please note that bugs on such old OS would be more likely doomed, unless same bugs shows on newer systems.

As for VM software renew, unfortunately I can't be of help it is an eternal question for me to and subscriptions based apps.

Thanks for the amusing and helpful response! Good luck with the continuing development:)

[dzollman]

Current status
Known issues

For what it's worth, most of the things on the "What is missing in MAC version" list are things I don't need.

I'd be happy to have a version 1 without those features, and a version 2 with CD reading. Not sure how many people burn CDs these days.

COM scripts are nice, but probably not necessary for a first release as most Mac users will be new to MM. They won't know it's missing because they never experienced it on Windows.

I only use MM for music/audio, but I understand that other people may feel more strongly about video playback and codecs.

Obviously, I'm biased because I want to see a first release—but I think you have something releasable without 100% of the features.

[elxsound]

Another one here that would buy in for a less than fully featured MM for audio management only.

I would think it’d be a great to fund the future development for the Mac version.

[sterlingm]

Agreed. I just need something to manage my music collection. I don't need streaming services and all the bells and whistles that MM5 currently has. I don't watch video through MM either. (I have the Gold, btw.)

Maybe MM should do a poll of features most used by users to help focus the development of a MacOS version?

I'd gladly buy a MacOS version if one came out and it could play music, create playlists, and let me edit tags. I'd find something else to rip the cd tracks, and import later. I already had to do that for most of my software when I switched off Windows 10 (being forced to go to 11 wasn't for me).

I've been looking at JRiver and while it's robust, it's a lot. Audirvana is too expensive for the stand alone version ($150). I just learned about Swinsian this week but haven't had a chance to explore it. I don't want streaming services and all that stuff these other products are pushing. I have my own music, I don't need software to sell me other music. I'll find it on my own.

Play what I already have and play it well. How is that difficult to do on a Mac?

Losing MM was the hardest thing to accept when I moved to MacOS a couple weeks ago. (My laptop died suddenly, and the desktop is on its last legs. Windows 11 is not for me.)

-Sterling

[Scott Kellogg]

I STRONGLY agree with Sterling. I had to dump my Win 10 machine for a Mac and am suffering with no good music player (I've checked several) and running MMW in Parallels has not gone well (MMW locks up or crashes). I would pay anything reasonable to have music while I work. Here's hoping for Spring 2026.

[bloomer]

I STRONGLY agree with Sterling. I had to dump my Win 10 machine for a Mac and am suffering with no good music player (I've checked several) and running MMW in Parallels has not gone well (MMW locks up or crashes). I would pay anything reasonable to have music while I work. Here's hoping for Spring 2026.

I've been able to use MMW using Crossover by Codeweavers (paid; occasional sales; pricing varies geographically) on my M1 Mac. It is a little glitchy, but was important enough for me to have on my Mac that I have tolerated the imperfections.

[sterlingm]

I tried crossover and the install of MM5 failed. Then a whole mess of other issues popped up and I just stopped.

I'm currently using JRiver. Audirvana required my email just to test the program (immediate nope from me). And Swinsian is too new. They have limited smart playlist features to take advantage of all the tags in the mp3s.

JRiver is fine, although there is bug that prevents you from editing smart playlists beyond just creating one, but after 14 days it's shell out $100 or no more music. I also tried VLC but it doesn't import the ratings so can't make playlists.

I've even considered building a small raspberry pi media server I could just throw in a bag. Mac is a very solid product and is doing what I need for development work, but their business model when it comes to music is all about the sales, not the music.

Now I understand why everyone I've spoken to, who has a mac, says they use spotify or pandora or youtube. It's just easier.

I have 106gb of music (own every cd, 320kb mp3) and have been curating my collection since the days WinAmp was whipping llamas' asses. And while my collection is small, compared to others, I really like the flexibility and functions of MM. I even wrote a plugin a while back during Covid to help make tagging easier.

MediaMonkey is a fantastic music player. I just wish ... well, I wish it was still an option.

-Sterling

[dzollman]

After learning (from earlier in this thread) that VMWare Fusion is now free, I gave that a try over the holiday. I had no issues installing and running MM on the ARM version of Windows, other than slower performance, as you'd expect.

Getting MM to access media files stored locally on the Mac, from within the virtual machine, was a bit of a challenge. The files had to be made available through Mac file sharing, with SMB sharing turned on, then accessed from Windows as a shared network drive. Even though the MM developers recommended using the UNC path and NOT a mapped drive, I found that I couldn't reliably Add/Rescan files unless I first mapped the network folder to a drive letter—*even though* I did not use the drive letter, only the UNC path, within MM. I also gave my Mac a reserved IP address on my home router so that the UNC path will not change in the future. (There might be a better way to handle that with VMWare, but I didn't try.)

Finally, I'm not 100% sure of this, but Add/Rescan also seemed to work better if the folder I was scanning was not the root folder of the network drive (in other words, the file share needed to started at least 1 level higher, so that the path entered in Add/Rescan pointed to a subfolder of the network drive). That may or may not have been the issue since I was also playing with permissions and other settings at the time.

No matter what I tried, I could not get "Locate Moved/Missing Files" to work with the network drive. It always behaved as if the network drive was empty. In order to reuse my old database, after migrating it from MM4, I used the SQL Editor addon to bulk update the IDMEDIA and SONGPATH data fields to reflect the new drive number and path to my "Music" folder.

This is by no means a solution for the casual user. And it will never be a substitute for an actual Mac version. But it was nice to use MM again after I stopped renewing Parallels years ago.

[Peke]

This is by no means a solution for the casual user. And it will never be a substitute for an actual Mac version. But it was nice to use MM again after I stopped renewing Parallels years ago.

I totally Agree on that and can confirm MM on Mac is as fast as MMW.

[Squonky]

I I would pay anything reasonable to have music while I work. Here's hoping for Spring 2026.

Agreed!

I went as far as installing Fusion to give that a go, but baulked at the idea of having to buy a Windows license when that money would be better spent on a proper MacOS version of MediaMonkey.

I switched back over to MacOS about a year ago, and the one thing I've missed like hell is MM! I've long had all my music stored on a Synology NAS, so I've been running a Plex server on there and using Plexamp for playback. It "works" but it's not MM. Plex gives me all manner of grief when it comes to managing my library.

I keep checking back here hoping to one day see Mac listed alongside Windows and Android on the home screen.

Best Wishes,

Chris