iTunes Fast Forward

iTunes Fast Forward is a small-sized tool that enhances iTunes controls, integrating a bunch of useful options, such as global hotkeys, Last.fm Scrobble and auto-tagging. It has standard options that can be configured by all users, even those less familiarized with this media player.

Needless to say, iTunes must be installed to be able to get this app operational. It's also requires you to download and install .NET Framework. The media player is automatically launched by iTunes Fast Forward when starting it up, unless it's already active.

The main app window has several tabs for separately tinkering with settings. Global keyboard shortcuts can be configured for playing and pausing, playing the next and previous track, increasing and decreasing the volume, muting, rewinding, and fast forwarding.

Hotkeys may also be set for toggling shuffle, showing the Toast and lyrics, obtaining artwork for selected songs, searching tags, adding the play track to a playlist with the same artist name, clearing the song rating, and rating songs 1 through 5.

Artwork can be looked up online or retrieved from the iTunes library, as well as applied to the entire album instead of just a selected song. Apart from the cover art, you can view the album name, artist and release date.

Last.fm submissions are permitted after entering account credentials for login, and the tool collects statistics with the number of songs submitted and queued, along with the last submitted song and server response.

As far as lyrics are concerned, the software utility can be instructed to download them from online sources automatically, store them into ID3v2 tags, include or exclude podcasts, as well as to save lyrics as text files in a preferred local folder. Plus, it may be allowed to attempt to download any missing lyrics while keeping in mind that this can be a lengthy process.

Concerning program settings, you can activate the auto-Toaster, change its default on-screen time, hide it on click, and make the Toaster reappear on mouse hover.

Taking into account its substantial set of customization features, iTunes Fast Forward should meet the requirements of many users looking to add extra controls to this media player.