Settings Overview
The Settings tab holds everything that isn’t playback: your Plex connection, one recorder timing control, microphone and camera permissions, and the analytics and AI privacy switches.
[SCREENSHOT: Settings tab — full screen scrolled to top]
Settings has four sections, in this order:
- Plex Streaming Settings
- Recorder
- Privacy & Permissions
- Analytics & Privacy
1. Plex Streaming Settings
This section connects Homecrate to a Plex Media Server so you can stream or download your Plex library. The whole section requires Pro — without it the section is dimmed and inert, with a 🔒 Buy Pro to Unlock badge above it. Tapping the badge opens the purchase sheet.
[SCREENSHOT: Plex Streaming Settings section with the Buy Pro to Unlock badge]
With Pro, you have two ways in:
Sign in with Plex — the recommended route. Opens Plex’s sign-in flow and discovers servers on your network automatically, so you never have to find an address or copy a token.
Or enter manually — two fields for people who already know their server details:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Address | https://your-plex-server:32400 |
| Token | Your Plex auth token (masked as you type) |
Both fields save as you type, into the system keychain rather than plain app storage. If credentials already exist when you open Settings, the fields are populated from the keychain.
Disconnect from Plex appears only once a token is stored. It signs out on this device and deletes the stored address and token. Your account at plex.tv is untouched — this button does not delete a Plex account.
Full walkthrough: Importing via Plex.
2. Recorder
One control lives here: Plugin Latency Compensation (ms).
This is extra delay added to every plugin-bearing track during playback, on top of the latency each plugin reports for itself. You only need it if recordings still drift slightly behind MIDI or the metronome after normal plugin delay compensation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Range | 0 – 100 ms |
| Default | 0 |
| Suggested first try | 5 ms |
The value is committed when you leave the field (tap elsewhere, or press Done on the keypad) — not on every keystroke — and is clamped into range at that point. It’s saved locally and pushed to the recorder’s audio engine, then reapplied on every app launch.
Tune it by ear. If you don’t hear drift, leave it at 0.
3. Privacy & Permissions
[SCREENSHOT: Privacy & Permissions section — Microphone and Camera rows with status badges]
Homecrate needs the microphone for recording, the tuner, plugin monitoring, and voice commands, and the camera for video capture alongside audio. This section shows the live status of both and gives you a route to change either one.
Each row shows a status badge:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Allowed | Access granted |
| Denied | You declined, or turned it off in system settings |
| Restricted | Blocked by device policy or Screen Time |
| Not asked | The system prompt hasn’t been shown yet |
| Unavailable | No such hardware or capability on this device |
The button on the right changes to match what tapping it will actually do:
| Current status | Button | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Not asked | Request Access | Shows the system permission prompt |
| Allowed | Reset in Settings | Opens system settings, where you can toggle it off — no app can revoke its own permission |
| Denied / Restricted / other | Open Settings | Opens system settings, the only place access can be re-granted |
Statuses refresh automatically when you return to the app, so a change made in system settings is reflected as soon as you come back.
On Mac Catalyst, every reinstall produces a fresh app signature and may reset these permissions. If recording or the tuner stops working after an update, check here first.
Bluetooth MIDI
A Bluetooth MIDI row with a Pair Device button appears when the feature is available on your device. It opens the system’s standard Bluetooth MIDI pairing sheet for wireless controllers. The system asks for Bluetooth permission the first time you use it.
Pairing is available to everyone here. Routing MIDI from a paired controller into recorder tracks is a Pro feature.
4. Analytics & Privacy
[SCREENSHOT: Analytics & Privacy section — tier rows and Disable AI panel]
Everything in this section is on-device. None of it is uploaded.
Two shortcuts
| Button | Opens |
|---|---|
| View On-device Analytics | Listening Analytics Dashboard — charts, stats, and achievements |
| Edit Your Music Algo | Algorithm Tuner — how recommendations are weighted |
Three analytics tiers
Essential Analytics — Always On. Play counts, skip events, and listening history. This is what powers the dashboard and your play counts. It cannot be turned off, and it never leaves your device.
Enhanced Analytics (toggle). Adds weather and location context to your listening history, and unlocks the Weather Mood game via the weather pill. Turning it on shows an explanation sheet first — city-level location (not GPS coordinates), current conditions, and time-of-day context — and iOS then asks for location permission. Turning it off stops recording weather and location on new listening events; existing data is kept.
Intelligence & Recommendations (toggle). Enables Shazam import identification, skip learning, and AI playlist generation. It’s independent of Enhanced Analytics — you can run Intelligence without ever granting location. Configure the weightings in the Algorithm Tuner.
See Analytics Settings & Privacy for what each tier records in detail.
Disable AI
Three switches turn off AI-powered features in specific parts of the app:
| Switch | Hides AI in |
|---|---|
| Player | Library and Now Playing AI tools |
| Recorder | The studio recorder |
| Tuner | The tuner’s AI suggestions |
The Recorder switch overrides Tuner — disabling AI in the recorder also hides AI in the tuner embedded inside it.
If your device doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, this panel says so and the AI features aren’t available in the first place.
Footer links
homecrate.app · Privacy · Support — each opens in your browser.
Delete Preferences
Clears saved app preferences, including your Shazam import opt-in decision. You may see first-time prompts again afterwards. It asks for confirmation first.
This does not delete your music, your library database, or your analytics history. It only resets preference flags.
What Isn’t in Settings
A few things you might expect here live elsewhere:
| Looking for | Where it is |
|---|---|
| Equalizer | Now Playing → ⊟ Sliders. See Equalizer |
| Buying or restoring Pro | Any Pro gate opens the purchase sheet, which includes Restore previous purchase. See Pro Features |
| Import / library management | Library tab → ＋. See Importing Music |
| Recommendation weightings | Edit Your Music Algo above → Algorithm Tuner |
| Output quality / crossfade | Not implemented. Homecrate plays your files at their native quality with no crossfade |