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Managing Playlists

September 10 2026 - 10:28 am

UPDATED: Merge-Delete Playlists v7.6

This applet will allow you to merge the track contents of two or more playlists to a new or existing playlist or delete any number of playlists at once, including Smart, Genius, and Playlist Folder playlists. The merge feature will prevent the same tracks that may appear in different source playlists from being duplicated and has an option to delete original playlists. The delete feature only deletes playlists; tracks, of course, remain in the library.

Merge-Delete Playlists in action

Latest version:

  • UI and layout updates for macOS 26 and later
  • Maintenance
  • Icon and docs update

More information for Merge-Delete Playlists v7.6 and download link is here.

September 3 2026 - 2:39 pm

NEW: Playlist Countdown v1.0

Back when we had record albums and cassette tapes every day of our lives, you could throw a glance at the player and get a pretty good idea of how much time was left on the side. Also, as a former radio DJ, I have a lingering professional anxiety about how long some sound thing is going to take to finish.

But when I play a playlist in the Music app I’m afraid my math skills are not speedy enough to calculate anything beyond “looks like it might be about half over I dunno”.

After years of having minor Quakes of Angst, I finally got around to making Playlist Countdown. It will countdown the time remaining in a playing playlist. If you need to know that. Like I know I frequently do.

Playlist Countdown in action

Latest version:

  • Initial release

More information for Playlist Countdown v1.0 and download link is here.

August 14 2026 - 11:24 am

UPDATED: Assimilate View Options v6.4

This applet re-creates each selected playlist so its Songs View column settings (visible columns) are the same as the main “Songs” library.

Works with user-created regular playlists only.

Assimilate View Options in action

Latest version:

  • Fixes issue with empty description tag returning missing value
  • Minor maintenance

More information for Assimilate View Options v6.4 and download link is here.

July 28 2026 - 3:54 pm

UPDATED: Compare Two Playlists v5.3

Quickly compares the contents of any two playlists and displays the tracks that are common to both or the tracks in one playlist not contained by the other. Has tools to copy or move tracks from one playlist to another or delete common tracks from one or the other playlist.

Compare Two Playlists in action

Latest version:

  • Fixed a modern problem indexing playlists
  • Minor UI update

More information for Compare Two Playlists v5.3 and download link is here.

July 20 2026 - 12:29 pm

UPDATED: Playlist XML Librarian v2.1

The original AppleScript version of Playlist XML Librarian had a search function but I didn’t like it much. So I decided not to include it in the v2.0 rebuild until I figured out a better way to do it. Well, I went ahead and did that for v2.1.

Playlist XML Librarian in action

Playlist XML Librarian v2.1 will list the exported Playlist XML files collected in a specified folder with options to view, edit and send (import) them to the Music app. Makes it easy to maintain an organized stockpile of exported Playlist XMLs to reduce the number of onboard Music playlists.

Also see Playlist XML Viewer which can display and play a single selected local Playlist XML file drag-and-dropped or chosen. For handling exported library XML files, see Library XML Track Viewer

Latest version:

  • Adds search feature; searches XML collection for playlist XMLs with track entries whose Title, Artist, Album or Composer tag matches entered search text.
  • v2.0 (jun 3 2026):
  • Outgrew AppleScript, is now a full-fledged Xcode app
  • Overall speed boost
  • Checks each XML file for appearance in the Music app as status
  • Sort playlist XML list by name, date, track count, playlist kind and status
  • Additional Settings to configure status indexing and display
  • Description overspill appears in popover
  • Toggle playlist info visible

More information for Playlist XML Librarian v2.1 and download link is here.

June 3 2026 - 1:02 pm

UPDATED: Playlist XML Librarian v2.0

I’ve suspected for years that there would come a time when I’d want one of my AppleScript dinguses to grow up into an Xcode app. You can only do so much with a single thread. I’ve been using Playlist XML Librarian pretty regularly and the AppleScript incarnation just wasn’t able to gimme what I need.

Playlist XML Librarian v2.0 will list the exported Playlist XML files collected in a specified folder with options to view, edit and send (import) them to the Music app. Makes it easy to maintain an organized stockpile of exported Playlist XMLs to reduce the number of onboard Music playlists.

Also see Playlist XML Viewer which can display and play a single selected local Playlist XML file drag-and-dropped or chosen.

Latest version:

  • Outgrew AppleScript, is now a full-fledged Xcode app
  • Overall speed boost
  • Checks each XML file for appearance in the Music app as status
  • Sort playlist XML list by name, date, track count, playlist kind and status
  • Additional Settings to configure status indexing and display
  • Description overspill appears in popover
  • Toggle playlist info visible

More information for Playlist XML Librarian v2.0 and download link is here.

May 20 2026 - 10:51 am

UPDATED: Remove From Other Playlists v3.0

A Correspondent recently divulged to me that his Music library contains over 5K Smart playlists. I just had to tell somebody.

It reminds me of an old Punch cartoon showing a rather ragged gentleman with a face full of bandaids and a very shabby looking growth of beard sitting at a table writing a letter: “Dear Sirs: I have used the same razor blade daily for seven months. Is this some kind of record?”

Anyway. It’s good to keep yer library nice ‘n’ neat in my opinion. You can start with this:

Remove From Other Playlists will load, list and examine a selection of tracks from a selected playlist in the Music app and then display the other playlists that also contain them. The tracks can then be batch-removed from any one or more of these other playlists.

Latest version:

  • Initial re-release

More information for Remove From Other Playlists v3.0 and download link is here.

March 22 2026 - 3:19 pm

UPDATED: Playlist XML Librarian v1.3

This applet will list the exported Playlist XML files collected in a specified folder with options to view, edit, search and send (import) them to the Music app. Makes it easy to maintain an organized stockpile of exported Playlist XMLs to reduce the number of onboard Music playlists.

Latest version:

  • UI adjustments and detailing; minimal Liquid Glass added
  • Accepts Open’d and drag-and-dropped Playlist XMLs
  • Description field displays popover for longer text
  • Table displays Normalization value if present
  • Adds “Send to Music app” and “Reveal Default Folder” buttons in main window
  • Adds File and Remote Track Type counts to header display
  • Handles :00.0 length URL entries properly
  • Fixed issue with Filter

Frankly, I would rarely export a playlist as an XML file because traveling to the command to do it—buried in the Music app’s File menu—always seemed like a long arduous journey for my mouse. That all changed when I assigned the keyboard shortcut Command-E to the File -> Library -> Export Playlist… menu command. Then I couldn’t stop exporting playlists.
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December 9 2025 - 12:56 pm

Just Me Talkin Here, But

I’m really enjoying using the Playlist XML Viewer and Playlist XML Librarian apps.

December 8 2025 - 5:55 pm

UPDATED: Playlist XML Librarian v1.2

This applet will list the exported Playlist XML files collected in a specified folder with options to view, search and send (import) them to the Music app. Makes it easy to maintain an organized stockpile of exported Playlist XMLs to reduce the number of onboard Music playlists.

Also see Playlist XML Viewer which displays a single selected Playlist XML drag-and-dropped or chosen from any location.

This app is free to try in mostly full-featured Demo Mode. While in Demo Mode, only up to 3 playlists can be sent to Music per launch. If you like it you can purchase a code for $2.99 which will unlock the Demo Mode limitations. Launch the app and click “Register…” in its File menu to make an in-app purchase.

Latest version:

  • Increased efficiency of XML parser
  • Files in source list display appropriate playlist icon
  • Added command to export just the “Smart Criteria” of a Smart playlist to an XML file
  • v1.1 (dec 3 2025):
  • Adds “Delete” command
  • Added Expand/Collapse buttons for source list
  • Adds setting to expand all folders at launch
  • Better detection of loaded playlists
  • Fixed problem with progress bar traveling
  • Fixed issue with correct Total Time calculation
  • Fixed some autoresizing issues

More information for Playlist XML Librarian v1.2 and download link is here.

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