Does iTunes Play FLAC? How to Play FLAC in iTunes Easily

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FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a widely used format in the world of music. It can offer high-quality sound without any compression loss. But what about iTunes? Does iTunes play FLAC? Unfortunately, the short answer is no. iTunes does not support FLAC files by default. This can be a real challenge for the users of Apple devices who love to listen to high-quality music. But worry not! There are simple solutions to this issue, which will help you play or convert the FLAC files so that you can add them to your iTunes library without losing sound quality. In this article, we will show you how to do that, step by step. So, let’s get started.

Does iTunes Play FLAC?

iTunes does not support FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files by default. While iTunes does support many audio file formats, such as MP3, AAC, WAV, and AIFF, it does not support FLAC files natively. This is because Apple has traditionally prioritised its own proprietary formats and does not provide native support for FLAC. As a result, if you attempt to add a FLAC file to iTunes, it will either be rejected or require conversion.

There are some workarounds, though. You can either convert FLAC to a compatible format, such as ALAC (Apple Lossless), or you can use third-party plugins and software to enable FLAC playback in iTunes. These solutions allow you to have the best of both worlds: keep the original lossless audio quality FLAC files provide and still use iTunes to catalogue and play them. These options let you keep the lossless audio quality of FLAC files and still manage and playback through the iTunes library.

How to Play FLAC in iTunes?

iTunes does not support FLAC files natively. FLAC files cannot be directly played in iTunes without conversion or using supported lossless audio formats. iTunes supports the following lossless formats that maintain full audio quality, including:

• ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec): Apple’s own lossless format, fully integrated with iTunes and iOS devices.
• WAV: A common uncompressed format that is widely supported, with no loss of quality but larger file sizes.
• AIFF: Similar to WAV, an uncompressed format used primarily in Apple ecosystems. for high-quality audio storage.

To play FLAC in iTunes, you can convert the FLAC files to AIFF, ALAC or other supported file types using a reliable converter. An easy and reliable method is to use YT Saver Audio Converter to perform the file conversion, as it is a simple and easy-to-use tool. It will do the conversion while keeping the quality of the audio and video file. The tool also has a variety of format support, high conversion speeds, and a web-based application, so you can play FLAC in iTunes easily with this tool.

Step 1 Download and install YT Saver on your computer.

Step 2 Go to the ‘Convert’ tab and click on the “Add Files” button to add the FLAC files.

Step 3 After the FLAC file is added, click on the “Convert All” button and select MP3 as the output format.

Step 4 After seconds, the FLAC will be successfully converted to MP3. Go to the ‘Converted’ tab to check all the converted files.

Step 5 When the conversion is complete, locate your MP3 files in the “Converted” folder and add them to iTunes to play.

Use iTunes Alternative to Play Lossless FLAC

Since iTunes does not natively support FLAC, using an alternative media player is often the easiest solution. VLC Media Player and Vox are two media player apps available for Mac and iOS that can play FLAC files without converting them. VLC is a free, open-source media player that can play nearly every audio and video format, and is great for listening to high-quality audio files. Vox is another media player designed for macOS and iOS, which has a clean, simple interface, and supports FLAC as well as other lossless audio formats like ALAC and WAV. Both of these apps give you the option to play your FLAC library with full audio fidelity outside of iTunes.

FAQs

Q1. Can I keep FLAC quality when converting for iTunes?

A1: By converting FLAC to ALAC or AIFF losslessly, with a tool like OneConv Video Converter, you can preserve the FLAC file’s quality and not lose fidelity when playing it in iTunes.

Q2. Why doesn’t Apple support FLAC directly?

A2: Apple tends to support its own native formats, especially ALAC, as the formats most integrated with iTunes, iPhones and iPads. FLAC is not natively supported as it is not an Apple format.

Q3. Will metadata (album art, tags, etc.) survive conversion?

A3: The best converters, such as OneConv Video Converter, preserve metadata information such as album art, track details and tags when converting. This way, your library will stay neatly organised.

Conclusion

So, does iTunes play FLAC files? Not directly, which can be quite annoying if you like to keep everything lossless. To perform this task, you can use reliable converters. YT Saver will convert FLAC files to iTunes-friendly formats such as ALAC and AIFF quickly and with zero loss. And, it’s lossless, can preserve metadata and can handle batch conversions for entire FLAC libraries. From one file to an entire FLAC music library, OneConv Video Converter will get them to play in iTunes and on any Apple device.