A lossless music collection can occupy hundreds of gigabytes. If those files are already arranged on a Mac or external drive, importing them into a player should not require storing the entire library twice. PhaseShift v1.2.4 adds a Use in Place option on Mac, letting the app build and play its library from the audio files in their existing location.
Copy to PhaseShift or Use in Place?
When you add a track or folder on Mac, PhaseShift now offers two storage choices. Copy to PhaseShift creates a managed copy inside the app. That is useful when you want PhaseShift to own the playback copy independently of the source. Use in Place leaves the audio where it already lives and adds a secure reference to that location instead.
Use in Place is a natural fit for a large, established collection, especially one stored on a Mac folder or an external drive. It avoids a second full-size copy and lets your existing folder structure remain the source of truth. Copy to PhaseShift still makes sense for a smaller selection, files you want the app to manage, or music that should remain available after the original folder is disconnected.
How to Add Music Without Duplicating It
On Mac, choose a track or folder through PhaseShift’s add-music workflow, or drag it into the Music Folder screen. After PhaseShift scans the selection and shows its import summary, choose Use in Place. The app adds supported audio to the library without moving or copying the originals. A referenced folder can include nested artist, album and disc folders, so you do not need to add each album separately.
Files used in place remain in their original location. By default, a referenced library is read-only: playback and edits to PhaseShift’s library do not require permission to rewrite the audio files. If you deliberately enable file writing for that source, tag edits and supported listening data can be written back to the originals.
See Copied and Referenced Music Together
Settings → Music Folder now presents managed copies and in-place references in one list. A Copied or In Place badge identifies how each item was added, and the storage filter can show everything, only copied items, or only items used in place. The library views above that storage layer—songs, albums, artists, playlists and folders—continue to work across both kinds of music.
This combined view matters when you mix strategies. You might keep a complete archive on an external drive while copying a smaller everyday collection into PhaseShift. The badges make the storage boundary visible instead of forcing you to remember which albums belong to which source.
What Happens If a Folder or Drive Moves?
A reference depends on its original file or folder remaining available. If a track moves, an external drive is disconnected or macOS can no longer resolve the saved location, PhaseShift v1.2.4 does not open an empty Now Playing screen. It explains that the file is unavailable, shows the last known location and points you to the reconnection controls.
Open the referenced library from Music Folder to use Show in Finder or Locate Library. Selecting the new location reconnects the source so its songs can resolve again. That gives a moved folder or renamed drive a repair path without asking you to delete the library and rebuild its organization from scratch.
Clearing PhaseShift Does Not Delete In-Place Originals
The new Clear Library command removes PhaseShift’s library records and managed music after a confirmation. Original audio added with Use in Place remains untouched in its selected folder. Removing an individual referenced source follows the same boundary: its songs leave PhaseShift, but the source audio does not.
That separation is the central promise of Use in Place. PhaseShift can index, browse and play a Mac music collection while the original files remain under your control. Version 1.2.4 also improves duplicate handling, folder artwork detection, free-space checks and import summaries, making the choice between a managed copy and an existing library clearer before a large import begins.