Getting started

bae is a home for the albums you own. You build the library on your desktop, and it follows you to every device: synced through cloud storage you already have, encrypted so only your devices can read it.

The desktop apps (macOS, Windows) are the full tool: they create libraries, import music, and edit metadata. The phone apps (iOS, Android) are players: they join a library your desktop created, then browse, download, and play.

Create a library

Open bae on your desktop. With no library on the machine, the welcome screen offers three choices:

• Create a new library, if this is your first device.
• Join a library, if another device already has one and its owner will approve you. See Devices and members.
• Restore from cloud, if this is your own library and you have its recovery code. See Devices and members.

Create one. A library starts local: everything lives on this machine, nothing needs an account, and no cloud is involved until you connect one.

Import your first album

1. Switch to the Import section in the title bar.
2. Add a folder of music. You can pick it, drag it onto the window, or press ⌘I.
3. bae scans the folder and lists the releases it finds. Select one.
4. bae identifies it against MusicBrainz and Discogs and shows the match. Confirm the pressing, pick a cover, adjust any details.
5. Click Import.

Your files are not moved, copied, or rewritten. bae catalogs them where they are. The full flow, including what to do when identification needs help, is in Importing.

Play it

Back in the Library section, the album is in the grid. Click it, press play. Playback uses your original files, at their original quality. Playback covers the queue, shuffle and repeat, and the details bae preserves: CD pregaps, vinyl side breaks, gapless albums.

Take it everywhere

When you want the library on more than one device, connect a cloud home: your own Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, or any S3-compatible bucket. Everything bae puts there is encrypted before upload; the provider stores it but cannot read it.

• Sync: connect a cloud home and choose what it stores.
• Devices and members: add your phone or another desktop.
• Storage and offline: keep music on the device, or stream it from your cloud and pin what you need offline.

Where things live

Each library keeps its database and settings under ~/.bae/libraries/ on desktop. Your audio stays wherever you imported it from, unless you ask bae to manage it in your cloud. Keys and credentials live in the operating system’s keyring, not in files.