Evertag 4.2: New Cloud Connections, Tag Editor Settings Explained
TL;DR: Evertag 4.2 is a major update for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac audio tag editor. We squashed key tag editing bugs and added 6+ new cloud and server connections — Internxt, Proton Drive, QNAP, Nextcloud, Amazon S3, plus FTP, SFTP and NFS protocols. Wi-Fi Drive got a refreshed UI, multi-select mode, smarter upload queue, and faster transfers. The whole app is tuned for Liquid Glass design. This post also goes deep into Evertag’s tag editor settings — explaining ID3v2.4 vs ID3v2.3, album cover scaling, duplicate tags, cloud upload modes, delete downloaded file, and exactly which options to pick if you’re preparing audio for Spotify, Apple Music, Plex, Jellyfin, or any other streaming service.
Hey everyone!
A big Evertag update is here. We’ve squashed key tag editing bugs and added 6+ new cloud and server connections to make managing your audio metadata easier than ever — whether your library lives on a privacy-first cloud, a self-hosted NAS, or a generic FTP/SFTP/NFS server.
Download Evertag 4.2 from the App Store or update from your existing version.
Expanded Cloud and Server Support
Evertag now connects natively to a wider range of cloud and self-hosted storage options. You can edit ID3, MP4, FLAC, OGG, and APE tags on files that live anywhere.
Privacy-First Cloud Storage: Internxt and Proton Drive
If you care about end-to-end encryption and zero-knowledge storage, two of the most respected privacy-first clouds are now native in Evertag:
- Internxt — open-source, post-quantum encrypted, GDPR-compliant Spanish cloud. Free tier available.
- Proton Drive — end-to-end encrypted storage from the makers of Proton Mail and Proton VPN, based in Switzerland. Free tier available with paid plans for larger libraries.
You can now edit metadata on audio files stored in either service directly — the file stays encrypted in transit, and only the new tags get written back.
Self-Hosted Solutions: QNAP, Nextcloud, Amazon S3
For users running their own infrastructure:
- QNAP — native API connection to QNAP NAS devices. Edit tags on files stored on your QNAP via local Wi-Fi or remote access.
- Nextcloud — connect to any self-hosted or managed Nextcloud instance.
- Amazon S3 — point Evertag at any S3 bucket (or S3-compatible storage like Backblaze B2, Wasabi, MinIO, Cloudflare R2) and edit metadata in place.
New Network Protocols: FTP, SFTP, NFS
Evertag 4.2 adds three classic protocols for users with custom servers, home labs, or generic NAS boxes:
- SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) — the right answer for secure remote tag editing on your own server. SFTP rides on top of SSH, so the entire transfer (authentication and audio data) is encrypted. If you have a VPS, dedicated server, or a Linux box at home with SSH access, you can edit tags on remote files without exposing anything else. Supports password and key-based authentication.
- FTP — the long-standing standard for file transfer. Useful for older home NAS devices that expose FTP but don’t have a native API.
- NFS (Network File System) — the de-facto sharing protocol on Linux and most NAS devices. Lower overhead than SMB on the same hardware.
Tip: SFTP is the protocol you want for remote editing over the open internet. FTP and NFS are best inside your local network — keep them off the public internet unless you wrap them in a VPN.
Wi-Fi Drive Upgrades
Wi-Fi Drive is Evertag’s built-in feature for transferring audio files wirelessly between your computer and your iPhone or iPad — no iTunes, no cables, no cloud account required. Both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
In Evertag 4.2, Wi-Fi Drive gets:
- Refreshed, modern interface — cleaner, easier to read at a glance, and updated for Liquid Glass.
- Multi-select mode — pick multiple files or folders and act on them in bulk.
- Smarter file upload queue — better progress feedback and resilience to network hiccups.
- Improved speed and overall reliability — faster transfers for large libraries.
This is the fastest way to move a batch of audio files from your computer onto your phone, edit their tags, and move them back — all without any third-party service.
Tag Editor Settings: A Deep Dive
This is the part most users never read — and the part that decides whether your tags work everywhere or only in some apps. Open Evertag, then go to the audio tags editor settings section. Here’s what each option actually does, and which option to pick depending on what you’re trying to achieve.
Album Cover Scaling
When you save album artwork into an audio file, Evertag can scale the image down before embedding it. The available options are:
- Small — smallest file size impact, lower image quality.
- Medium — balanced choice for most users.
- Large — high quality, suitable for big-screen players and CarPlay.
- Extra Large — very high quality, noticeable file size increase.
- Original (Deactivated) — embed the artwork at its original resolution. No scaling at all.
Why this matters:
- Higher quality = larger file size. A 3,000 × 3,000 pixel cover can easily add several MB to every track. Multiply that across an album and the disk-space hit adds up fast.
- Some audio players don’t handle very large embedded images well. Older devices, certain car head units, and some legacy desktop players can choke on covers above ~1,500 px or refuse to display them.
- For most cloud and streaming workflows, Medium or Large is the sweet spot. Use Original only when you specifically need archival quality or are preparing files for a player you trust to handle it.
The Original size option is part of Evertag’s premium personalization upgrade. Standard sizes (Small/Medium/Large/Extra Large) are free.
Tag Saving Options: ID3v2.4 vs ID3v2.3
This is the single most important setting for compatibility. ID3v2 is the metadata format used inside MP3 files. There are two widely-used versions, and they differ in subtle but important ways.
ID3v2.4
- Newer, supports UTF-8 text encoding — proper handling of non-Latin scripts (Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, etc.).
- More frame types (relative volume, equalizer presets, etc.).
- Recommended for modern players that support it.
ID3v2.3
- Older but the most universally supported ID3 version.
- Doesn’t support UTF-8 directly (uses UTF-16 for Unicode text).
- Recommended when you need maximum compatibility with legacy players, car stereos, and certain desktop apps.
When to enable ID3v2.4 in Evertag
- You’re using modern audio players like Evermusic, Plex, Jellyfin, Navidrome, foobar2000, VLC, Apple Music (current versions), or modern Android players. ✅ Turn ID3v2.4 ON.
- Your library contains non-Latin characters (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew). ✅ Turn ID3v2.4 ON — UTF-8 handles these much more cleanly.
When to disable ID3v2.4 in Evertag (use ID3v2.3 instead)
- You’re preparing files for an older car stereo or in-dash unit that doesn’t read v2.4 tags.
- You see garbled text or missing tags in some apps after editing — that’s a strong signal v2.4 isn’t supported there. Switch back to v2.3.
- You’re targeting legacy desktop players or older portable players (early iPods, certain MP3 players from the 2000s–2010s).
Rule of thumb: if your tags display correctly everywhere with v2.4, leave it on. If even one important player shows wrong characters, blanks, or fails to read your tags, turn v2.4 off and re-save.
Duplicate Tags
When you enable Duplicate tags, Evertag writes common metadata fields (title, artist, album, etc.) into both ID3v1 and ID3v2 sections of the file. This improves compatibility with very old players that only read ID3v1 (the original 128-byte tag at the end of the file).
- Most users don’t need this. Modern players read ID3v2 first.
- Enable it only if you’re dealing with vintage hardware or some specific software that ignores ID3v2.
Update Online Files: How Evertag Handles Cloud Edits
When you edit tags on a file stored on a connected cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, Internxt, Proton Drive, QNAP, Nextcloud, Amazon S3, SFTP, etc.), Evertag has to upload the modified file back. You control how that happens:
- Show confirmation message (default, recommended) — Evertag asks you before uploading. Best for cautious users and shared libraries.
- Automatically update file’s metadata — uploads silently after each edit. Best for solo users with fast, reliable connections who edit a lot.
- Do not update file’s metadata — Evertag edits the local copy only. Useful when you want to preview tag changes without committing them to the cloud.
Edit Online Files: Local File Cleanup
To edit a remote file, Evertag downloads it to your device first. After editing, you choose what happens to that local copy:
- Always delete downloaded file — Evertag removes the temporary file after editing. Recommended if you’re tight on storage or working on someone else’s files.
- Do not delete downloaded file — keeps the edited file on your device. Useful if you want both an offline copy and an updated cloud copy.
Buttons on the Main Screen
Evertag’s tag editor home screen can show or hide buttons for individual operations. Toggle the ones you actually use to keep the UI focused:
- Auto-search audio tags — finds missing metadata online based on the file’s audio fingerprint.
- Manual search audio tags — search by title/artist when auto-search misses.
- Search album artwork — finds and embeds high-quality cover art.
- Save album artwork — exports the embedded cover to your photo library or files.
- Normalize encoding — fixes garbled non-Latin text caused by old encodings (very useful for Cyrillic, Chinese, and Japanese tracks ripped on legacy software).
- Delete audio tags — strips all tags from a file. Useful before fresh tagging.
Show Extended Tags
Toggle this to display the full set of metadata fields beyond the basic title/artist/album/year — including BPM, conductor, original artist, mood, copyright, encoder, comments, lyrics, and more. Power-user feature; most casual users don’t need it.
Edit Files Simultaneously
When enabled, Evertag lets you edit metadata across multiple selected files at once — set the same album artist, year, or genre for an entire album in a single operation. This is the fastest way to clean up a large unorganized library.
Editing Tags for Spotify, Apple Music, and Streaming Platforms
A common question we get: “I edited my tags in Evertag, uploaded the files, and the streaming service shows wrong metadata. What gives?”
The short answer: streaming services don’t always honor your local tags. Apple Music and Spotify have their own internal databases — when they recognize a track, they overwrite the displayed metadata with their own. But for uploaded files, your local files (Apple Music’s “Library” feature, Spotify Local Files), and distributor uploads to streaming platforms, your tags absolutely matter. Here’s how to set Evertag for each scenario:
Preparing files for Apple Music (Cloud Music Library / iTunes Match)
- ID3v2.4: ON — Apple Music handles UTF-8 correctly.
- Album cover: Large — Apple’s apps render large artwork well; Original is overkill.
- Duplicate tags: OFF — not needed.
- Make sure Album Artist is filled correctly — Apple Music uses it for grouping.
Preparing files for Spotify Local Files
Spotify Local Files only displays files that are well-tagged. The tags Spotify reads are limited.
- ID3v2.4: ON in most cases. If a track refuses to show up correctly in Spotify after editing, try saving with ID3v2.4 OFF (i.e., as ID3v2.3) — Spotify’s parser has been historically conservative about v2.4.
- Album cover: Medium or Large — Spotify scales artwork down anyway.
- Fill Title, Artist, Album, and Track Number at minimum.
Preparing files for distributor upload (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, etc.)
If you’re an artist uploading your own work to streaming platforms, your distributor usually reads tags but also asks for metadata in their UI. Either way:
- ID3v2.3 is often the safer default — many distributor pipelines were built years ago and prefer the older format.
- Embed Large artwork (most distributors require ≥ 1,400 × 1,400 px artwork — check their guidelines).
- Don’t rely on extended tags — distributors only read core fields.
Preparing files for Plex, Jellyfin, Navidrome, Subsonic, Emby
These self-hosted media servers are very tolerant. They read both v2.3 and v2.4 cleanly and handle UTF-8 well.
- ID3v2.4: ON is fine.
- Album cover: Large or Extra Large — these servers serve artwork to mobile clients and CarPlay screens, so quality matters.
- Album Artist is strongly recommended — that’s what Plex/Jellyfin use to group albums by artist correctly.
Preparing files for car stereos and older hardware
- ID3v2.4: OFF (use ID3v2.3) — older head units often don’t support v2.4.
- Album cover: Medium — many car displays choke on large embedded art.
- Duplicate tags: ON — older car stereos sometimes only read the ID3v1 fallback.
Other Improvements
Liquid Glass Design
Evertag 4.2’s interface is tuned for Apple’s new Liquid Glass material across the app — translucent surfaces, smoother animations, and refined controls that fit naturally into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
Updated Connection Libraries
We refreshed the underlying libraries Evertag uses to talk to WebDAV, SMB, DLNA, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and other services. The result: fewer edge-case connection failures, better support for newer server versions, and improved reliability when editing tags on remote files.
Translation and Localization Fixes
Multiple language fixes across the UI based on direct feedback from users. Better text fitting on smaller buttons in several languages.
Smaller Refinements Inspired by Your Feedback
Many smaller improvements based on App Store reviews and emails to [email protected]. We read every message.
Get Evertag 4.2
Download Evertag from the App Store or update from inside the App Store. Evertag is a free download with optional in-app upgrades for advanced features. The new cloud connections, network protocols, Wi-Fi Drive improvements, and Liquid Glass UI are part of the base update.
If you enjoy the app, please leave a rating on the App Store — it genuinely helps. Have feedback or run into an issue? Email us at [email protected]. We read every message.