This does not mean that Crates is attempting to record audio.

On macOS, many applications that initialize the system audio stack can trigger this permission prompt, even if they only intend to play audio. This behavior is common in many well-known applications, including web browsers, video conferencing software, media players, streaming/recording software, digital audio workstations (DAWs), and some games.

Microphone access is not required to use Crates. You can safely click Don’t Allow, and all playback features will continue to work normally.

If you ever want to change your choice, go to: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone

In case this happens more than once, there may be an issue with a previously failed update download due to network or other issues. To resolve this, please follow the following steps:

Windows: Menu (Crates Icon top left) > ‘Exit App & Server’, go to folder C:\Users\[yourusername]\AppData\Local and delete the crates-updater folder. Launch Crates and try installing the update again.

macOS: Crates Menu > ‘Quit App & Server’, using the Finder go to folder ~/Library/Caches and delete the crates-updater folder. Launch Crates and try installing the update again.

Short answer: No — Crates will not touch your files – unless you ask it to. 

Crates will not take initiative to alter, rename, or move your music files without your permission.
If something seems to have changed, here are the most common explanations and fixes:

1. Crates, by default, does not write to your audio files.
   The only case where Crates writes anything is if you enable the setting “Write ID3 tags to file” (found under Settings > General).
   When enabled, Crates simply updates the metadata (artist, title, tags, etc.) inside the file — just like any other tag editor. This doesn’t alter the audio data or moves the file.
2. If another app (like Apple Music) can’t find your tracks, it’s probably because the file paths have changed somehow.
   For this to happen through Crates, you would need to perform an explicit action that moves or renames the files — for example, using “Rename”, “Move” or “Move to Collection” combo action 
   In that case, you can easily fix it by relinking or reimporting the files in your other app.

If you’d like to try a new build of Crates or just experiment without affecting your main installation, you can create a fresh data set while keeping your existing one safe.

Where Crates stores your data:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Crates
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Crates

Steps

1. Quit Crates completely. From the File menu, choose Quit App and Server. Make sure Crates is not running in the background.
2. Locate the data folder. On macOS, open Finder and go to ~/Library/Application Support/. On Windows, open File Explorer and go to %APPDATA%.
3. Rename your current Crates folder. Change the folder name from Crates to something else (e.g., Crates-Prod, Crates-2).
4. Start Crates again. The app will behave like a brand-new installation. You’ll be asked to activate and set it up from scratch. Here you can experiment as much as you want, all progress will be stored on the new folder.
5. Switch back to your old installation (optional). Quit Crates and the server again, delete or rename the current Crates folder (holding the existing data). Then rename your old folder back to Crates, then relaunch the app to resume your previous setup.

Answer

In short: YouTube’s search API costs quota units, so it’s limited to Crates Supporters and also has a daily limit.

In detail:

• Premium vs API quota: YouTube Premium removes ads in your personal account; it does not cover third-party API usage for apps like Crates.
• Why Supporter-only? YouTube’s search endpoint is one of the most expensive API calls. To keep Crates sustainable, we make it Supporter-only and apply daily limits.
• Daily limit message: If you see “You’ve reached your daily YouTube search limit—please try again tomorrow!”, you’ve hit your personal cap for the day. It resets every 24 hours.

What you can do without Supporter:

• Import by pasting a YouTube URL directly (no search needed).
• Use other audio sources in Crates that don’t require paid search quota.

How to enable YouTube search:

• Upgrade to a Supporter plan in Settings → Account → Become a Supporter, then try again.

Daily Limit:

• If you’re already a Supporter but still see this message, you’ve likely reached today’s cap. Please try again tomorrow after it resets.

But even if you’re not part of the beta program, feel free to use the instructions below to report any issues you encounter.

Here’s how you can submit an effective bug report, depending on your device:

💻 Desktop (macOS / Windows)

1. Once you’ve spotted the issue, try to reproduce it.

2. If possible, try to record a screen recording video with the bug in action, preferably using the built-in Screen Recorder (Help → Record App Window).
   Alternatively take screenshots – you can use the built-in “Take Screenshot” option under the Help menu.

3. Send us a User Feedback Report (using the paper plane icon on the top-right corner).

4. Describe the steps to reproduce it, what you expected, and any other info you think might help us spot the problem.

5. Attach the video or screenshots taken.

6. App log files will also be attached to help us diagnose the problem.

7. That’s it — a ticket will be created directly in our issue tracking system. We’ll get back to you via email if we have any questions or once the fix is published.

How to manually send logs

If the Crates server is not available, the in-app report function may not work. In that case, you can send the logs manually.

• macOS: In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and paste:
  ~/Library/Application Support/Crates/Logs/
• Windows: In File Explorer, paste this into the address bar:
  %APPDATA%\Crates\Logs\

Please zip the whole Logs folder and send it to us by email (support at crates.app), along with a short description of what happened and what you were doing just before the problem appeared.

📱 iOS (via TestFlight)

If the app crashes, you will get a pop-up to submit a description of what happened before the crash to help us find the issue.

If you see any other issue that is not a crash:

1. Try to reproduce the issue and take a screenshot or record a screen capture video.

2. Immediately after, open the TestFlight app and tap on Crates → Send Beta Feedback.

3. Choose “Include Screenshot” and attach.

4. Add a detailed description including steps you took to reproduce, what happened, what should have happened, and any other tips.

5. Submit 🙏🏻

You can also send the video or a detailed report via email at support+ios@crates.app

🤖 Android (via Play Store Beta Build)

1. Try to reproduce the issue and take a screenshot or a screen recording.

2. Open the app’s side menu and tap “Send Feedback” (if available).
   If not, long-press the Crates icon → tap App info → Feedback.

3. Describe what went wrong, what you expected, and include steps to reproduce.

4. Attach a screenshot.

5. Tap Send — feedback will go directly to the Play Console with device logs.

📝 If Crates crashes, a system dialog may appear — please use that to report it too.

🙏🏻 Thank you for helping us improve Crates!

Crates automatically creates backups of your database and user preferences at multiple intervals:

• Hot backups (frequent recent saves)

• Hourly

• Daily

• Weekly

These are stored in timestamped ZIP files so you can pick the version closest to a point before the issue occurred.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Quit Crates (Desktop App + Server)

Before doing anything:

• Completely close the Crates desktop app: from the top menu “Quit App & Server”

• Make sure Server is closed (check the dock/ tray)

• • macOS: Use Activity Monitor and search for “Crates”

  • Windows: Open the “Task Manager” (search for it in the Start menu), then search for “Crates” and quit any running processes.
    Important: Sometimes the server may appear as “OpenJDK Platform Binary.”

2. Navigate to the Crates Backup Folder

The backup folder is located in your system’s app data location:

• macOS:
  ~/Library/Application Support/Crates/DB Backups

• Windows:
  %APPDATA%\Crates\DB Backups
  (Paste it in Explorer or Run dialog)

Inside this folder, you’ll find ZIP files named like:

Sort by “Date Modified” to find the most relevant backup.

3. Choose and Unzip a Backup

Pick the backup you want to restore (ideally just before the problem occurred), and unzip it.

Inside, you’ll typically find:

• com.crates.db (the database file)

• user_preferences.json (your app settings)

4. Locate the Current User Data Folder

Next, go to the active Crates user folder:

• macOS:
  ~/Library/Application Support/Crates/user/

• Windows:
  %APPDATA%\Crates\user\

You should see the same two files there:

• com.crates.db

• user_preferences.json

5. Backup Your Current Data

Before replacing anything:

• Create a zip of the old files, or make a folder e.g old_user_backup/ and move the existing com.crates.db and user_preferences.json into it

That way, you can revert again if needed.

6. Replace the Files with the Backup Versions

Copy the unzipped files (com.crates.db, user_preferences.json) from the backup, and paste them into the user/ folder, replacing the current files.

7. Start Crates

Now open the Crates app again.

You should see your library and preferences as they were at the time of the backup you restored.

Notes

• This process restores both your crates database and user settings.

• No media files are affected — only database and preferences.

• Always be sure Crates is not running before making changes.

If you need more help, don’t hesitate to contact us

On macOS, media buttons are supposed to work out of the box. If this is not the case, go to macOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility and you will find Crates there. Turn on the toggle and restart Crates (Quit via menu or CMD+Q & launch again). If it’s not working again, go to Accessibility Settings, remove Crates using the – on the left bottom side of the panel and either add it manually (and flip the switch on) or restart Crates and it should be added again. For good measure, restart the Crates UI completely every time you make some change to this setting.

If you encounter the error message above in the  status bar, during the in-app update process, please follow these steps:

1. Delete Updater Cache Files:

• Navigate to ~/Library/Caches/ and delete the crates-updater folder.
• Restart Crates and try the update again.

2. Manual Update:

• If the error persists, you can manually download the latest version from our Download page.
• Make sure to fully quit both Crates and the Crates Server by selecting File Menu -> Quit App & Server before installing the update.

Please try these steps to resolve the issue:

1. If you haven’t tried already, press the “Reload” button once, and wait. This will attempt to restart the Crates Server.
   If the app does not start in 1 minute, there may be an underlying issue. Please proceed to step 2 below:

2. Make sure all Crates processes are stopped:

1. 2.1 First, try to close Crates:
   
   
   • • In macOS: Click on the “Crates” menu in the top-left corner, then select “Quit App & Server.”
     • In Windows: Click on the Crates icon in the top-left corner of the window, then select “Close App & Server.”
     • Alternatively, right-click the Crates app (in the Dock or Taskbar) and select “Quit” or “Close,” then close the Crates Server from the Menu Bar (macOS) or System Tray icon (Windows).
2. 
   2.2 Double-check that all Crates processes have stopped running:
   
   
   • In macOS: Open the “Activity Monitor” (use Spotlight by pressing Command + Space and typing “Activity Monitor”), then filter by “Crates” and quit any remaining processes.
   • In Windows: Open the “Task Manager” (search for it in the Start menu), then search for “Crates” and quit any running processes. Important: Sometimes the server may appear as “OpenJDK Platform Binary.”
     

3. Now try to open Crates again.

Please note, that in some cases, this problem occurs when upgrading from a very old installation. If you are comfortable resetting your Crates library, go to Settings -> Advanced -> “Reset Crates” to start fresh. This should definitely resolve the issue.

If the problem persists, please contact us at the Support channel in Discord or email us at support@crates.app.

Looking for logs? Crates logs are stored in the local app data folder under Crates → Logs. See How to report a problem / send logs manually for step-by-step instructions.