Why can't iTunes play .flac files?

You'd think in this day and age a company like Apple would mature and get over its snobbery about playing generic audio formats in iTunes.
So whats the story Apple, why are your latest products still incapable of playing such a generic audio format?

logOutOfThisAppleId wrote:
You'd think in this day and age a company like Apple would mature and get over its snobbery about playing generic audio formats in iTunes.
Why do you say I would think this?
I don't.
Far more people use (and are just fine with) AAC & MP3.

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Why can't iTunes play avi. files?

I have videos that are in avi format, can iTunes convert them into something it can play?

The previous answer was very misleading. It implies that iTunes can't be made to play AVI files. That is not true. If QuickTime can be made to play AVI then so can iTunes and FrontRow. The following open source component is free, and a piece of cake to install (as shown in the hand-holding video on its site). See "perian.org".
Installing perian will immediately make QuickTime player and FrontRow be able to play AVI files. Stick your .avi files inside your "Movies" folder so you can navigate to them in FrontRow (without having to trick iTunes into importing them).
To import into iTunes, one more trick is needed since itunes doesn't recognize .avi files...they need to have a special sort of alias file created for each. Apple provides the free developer program MakeRefMovie which does that. (The program is all over the web if you don't really want to sign up for free developer status...google "download MakeRefMovie")
Quick Tutorial for this whole process here-->
http://flynnsarcade.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=36
Gory details tutorial for MakeRefMovie here-->
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/refmovies.html
Message was edited by: polyglotinc
got rid of square brackets in msg.

HT3775 why can't i play .wmv file in quicktime even after i download codec from windows? can anyone help me wit this please!!!!!

why can't i play .wmv file in quicktime even after i download codec from windows? can anyone help me wit this please!!!!!

Have you done the obvious things to try to fix it: quit Quicktime then start it back up again, log out then back in, reboot.
Edit: Just read one of your later posts. If VLC won't play it, this is unrelated to Quicktime and Flip4Mac. Are you sure these wmv files are okay?

Why can't iTunes play music from read-only external hard drive?

I have a write-protected external hard-drive which I keep all of my iTunes media on. iTunes recognizes all of the files, including the metadata on the id3 tags, and can find the files in Windows Explorer. However, it cannot play the files while the drive remains write-protected. Is there a work around for this as I would prefer to keep the hard-drive protected? Why does iTunes require write-access to play songs? Other media players have no problem playing from my read-only external hard-drive. Thanks for any help

Welcome to the Apple Community.
When you say you can't play through both devices at the same time, what happens when you try, are you able to select multiple speakers, do they deselect themselves, do you not get the option or does it just not work when you select multiple speakers.

Why won't iTunes play .m4a files?

I have some songs on a flash drive from another computer that I want to import to my iTunes. But whenever I copy them to the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder they appear in iTunes as 0:00 seconds long! I did some testing and found that I could add any other type of audio file (.mp3 .wav .wma) and it worked. But .m4a files don't. I can just conver all of my music to .mp3, but I would like to kep the .m4a quality.
Any help would be great!

This doesn't concern Windows, but maybe it's relevant anyway.
Today, I emailed myself an .m4a voice recording from a Samsung smartphone that had created it minutes earlier.
After opening that email message, I saved the .m4a file to my Mac (iMac 21.5 inch) running Yosemite.
Clicking on the saved file's icon launched iTunes (version 12.0.1.26), which then did nothing no matter what I tried.
However, selecting the file on the desktop caused a dialog box to open. That box asked which application I wanted to use for opening the sound file. The available applications shown were VLC, QuickTime Player, Flip Player, and RealPlayer. I was pleased to find that VLC, QuickTime, Flip Player, and RealPlayer each played the file straightforwardly and flawlessly.

Why can't i play avi files on my new iMac I've only had it a few days but it won't play my movies

i cant seem to play avi files in quicktime .on my new imack..ive got lion installed as its only a few days old plus im a mac newbie am i doing somethng wrong ?. help !

Niel wrote:
A few AVIs just can't be played on the Mac.
(62303)
So true. I insall Perian, Flip4Mac (because they work so well with Quicktime) and always have MPEG Streamclip on hand and anything I can't play now, well I really don't worry about. Have never tried MPlayerX but looks like it may be worth a punt.

Why can't I play midi files in firefox

When I try to play midi files in firefox, instead of playing the audio I get a pop up box asking me if I want to open the file in quicktime. My quicktime plugin is activated.

I suggest you go through this archive , it contains same as your concern
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/960709
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/981602
hope it helps you

Why can't I play .mov files on my IPAD?

The file plays ok on IMAC. Is there an app I can download?

Hey there Bencat45,
It sounds like you have a video that is not playing at all on your iPad. I was thinking the next best thing to do would be to create an iPad version then sync that video to your iPad and try again. This article will help you with that:
iTunes: Videos may be unable to sync to iPhone, iPad, or iPod
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1497
Other video sources
If you didn't purchase your videos from the iTunes Store, they may not be a format that you can play on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod. In many cases, you can convert them to the correct format using iTunes.
Depending on your device, choose one of these options:
Select a video and choose File > Create New Version > Create iPod or iPhone Version.
Select a video and choose File > Create New Version > Create iPad or Apple TV Version.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

Why can't i play .wav files its ridiculous

is it because if its .wav it means it wasnt bought off the itunes store?? I'm sick of this sh*t!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately apple computers do not play windows media such as WMV or WAV. You must convert it or get an quicktime extension called "Perian" that will allow you to play windows type of medias and additional extension via quicktime. I'm not sure if it helps for iTunes but it might solve your problem.
http://www.perian.org/

Playing FLAC files in iTunes with Windows 7 OS.....is it possible?

Are there any apps or hacks that anyone is aware of that will allow me to play FLAC files in iTunes?
I do not want to convert my FLAC files to another format to use - it would be too difficult to synchronise the tags and song ratings from the mp3 files (or whatever formats itunes supports) back to my ''archived' FLAC files.
Yet I really enjoy iTunes' playlist functions - no other players compare. I am hoping to have the best of both worlds: FLAC and iTunes cataloguing features. A search through the web and these forums makes me think it is not possible.
Any links or suggestions? Or do I need to choose between FLAC and ITunes for realsies?

Firstly, playing Flac in iTunes is an altogether different animal than playing them on your iOS device and is something you never asked about. For that you'll need to Google "Fluke FLAC" if you're still running Lion or older. If you're running a newer Mac OS I haven't yet heard of a solution for playing FLAC in iTunes and you'll have to resort to a third party app like Vox.
For most FLAC playing iOS apps you'll add your music files via the "file sharing" section at the bottom of your Apps tab in iTunes when your iPod touch is plugged in.
As for Flac Player specifically the high price coupled with some reported problems I heard when looking into it had me steering clear so I can't offer first hand reports on THAT program.
Since it sounds like you've been longing to play FLAC on your iPod touch for quite some time I was simply offering a bevvy of options to do just that I know of, including some free ones.
Hopefully someone will stumble across this thread and chime in with feedback about THAT app specifically for you.

Why can't iTunes resume playback of the last track I played before closing it?

If Safari can recall the last page I had open when I closed it, and Preview can open the last documents I had open, why can't iTunes resume playback of the last track I played?
Come on guys, a search on the internet will bring up discussions from the early 2000s with the question of resuming playback. Just add the feature already.

HI THanks for this helpful post. I will try this. I have 2 iPods. One is 3rd Gen. I love the little small square, so I bought it on ebay. Then I got a little iPod nano ( again a tiny square shape)
So I tried to sync them today and update them.
This is the response I got.
I get a message that the original file cannot be found and asks if I want to try and locate file. I locate the file and it's empty?!
This freaked me out because I have all this music I love. The only thumb drive is my back up drive which is not a thumb. Will the back up drive have my music files too?
Thanks-Peace Out

HT3775 what is a flv file and why can't I play it?

what is a flv file and why can't I play it?

It's flash. Do you have a flash player installed?
Not sure, but try VLC

I have supposedly downloaded 8 i-tunes - why can't i play them?

i have supposedly downloaded 8 i-tunes. Why can't i play them????????

We are fellow users here on these forums, you're not talking to iTunes Support nor Apple, nor is it 'live chat'.
What happens when you try to play them and what have you tried to fix it ? If they've downloaded successfully then they should be listed in the Music part of your iTunes library - if you select Music on the left-hand sidebar of your computer's iTunes do they, and if they do what happens when you double-click on them ? If you have iTunes 11 and are using a Mac then option-command-S should get get the sidebar to show, control-S if you are using a PC.
If they don't play then have you tried closing and re-opening iTunes and/or re-downloading and installing it ? Have you tried adding any of your songs to your iTunes library (File > Add To Library) and do they play ? If they don't play either then you may be better off re-posting in the relevant forum, iTunes For Windows or iTunes For Mac.

HT204382 Why can't I play a .MOV movie on my apple (MacBook Pro)?

My parents have been sending me little .MOV movies via email. But I can't play them on my MacBook Pro. I am however able to play them on my iPhone.
Why can't I play it on my computer?
This is the error msg I get: The document “IMG_0259.MOV” could not be opened. The movie is not in a format that QuickTime Player understands. You may need to install additional software to open this type of file.
Many thanks,
Mascha

I have the same problem. I make a video on my iPhone and email it to my webmail, can't open it on the MacBookPro, but can on my phone from my webmail. On the MacBookPro, a screen opens that displays the "Q" from Quicktime with a question mark on it. That's all I get!
Thought I didn't have quicktime, but since the computer comes with it and my updates are all up to date, it just doesn't make any sense. This has only started recently. The two videos in question are the longest (under 15 min but over 10) ones I've ever had. When I go to email them, it says they are too long but send them anyway.
I am perplexed. I really want to be able to watch them (or I wouldn't have made them in the first place) and just can't figure out what to do!!
Peggy

Why can I not import aif files to garage band?

Once I have created an aiff file in iTunes, why can I not import those files into Garage Band? I'd like to be able to edit some of those files.

I go to garage band and click on create a new project, then browse through the finder and files I want to import are all grayed out -- aiff AND wav files.
You first need to create a new project - in the "new Project panel" select a template (Guitar, piano, ...), not "Open an existing file".
When the project window opens, drag your aiff or wav file onto an empty space in the Timeline, or open the Media Browser from the footer bar in GarageBand and import an aiff song from your iTunes Library.
Regards
Léonie

Why can't iTunes play .flac files?

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