System

Settings → System has four sub-tabs: Backup, License, Updates and Diagnostics. This page also covers the About window and what LTCast does to keep a show machine running.

Backup sub-tab

Backups are independent snapshots of your show, kept separate from the show file you save yourself; the tab says so at the top. See Auto-save & backups.

• Auto Backup — on by default. While it is on, LTCast saves a snapshot of the open show at a regular interval.
• Interval — how often, from 1 to 60 minutes; the default is 5.
• Keep last — how many snapshots to keep for each show, from 1 to 50; the default is 10. Older ones are deleted automatically.
• Open backups folder — opens the folder in Explorer or Finder.

Snapshots go into Documents/LTCast/Backups/<show name>/ as .ltcast files named with the date and time, and LTCast takes one more when you quit. A show that has never been saved is backed up too, once it has at least one song, into a folder called Unsaved show. There is no restore dialog any more: to go back to a snapshot, choose File → Open and pick one of those files.

License sub-tab

The Current status badge reads Pro, Expired, Trial — N days left or Not activated. For a licence with an end date it also shows the expiry date and the days left.

• License key — paste a key into the field and click Activate to unlock Pro. Once a licence is active, the key is shown shortened with a Deactivate button instead.
• Deactivate — releases this computer's place on the licence (a licence can be active on 3 devices) so you can use it elsewhere. If LTCast cannot confirm the release, a Manage devices on this license link opens your account page to free it by hand.
• Promo code — enter a code and your email address and click Redeem to unlock a time-limited Pro licence.
• While you do not have an active licence the tab shows the two plans, an Annual plan and a 7-day pass (see Pricing for current prices), and a Buy LTCast Pro link. Checkout is handled by Lemon Squeezy.

A session that was Pro when it started stays Pro until you quit LTCast, even if the licence check later fails, so a licence problem in the middle of a show does not cut your outputs.

Updates sub-tab

This tab has one setting, Don't show update prompts during a show, which is on by default. A prompt about an update is a message box that takes focus and blocks the window until someone answers it, which is the last thing you want in the middle of a song. While a song is playing or Chase is following timecode, LTCast holds back the messages it would open on its own: that an update is available, that a downloaded update is ready to install, and notices that a download or an install failed. They wait until the song or the timecode has been stopped for about half a minute (so the pause between two songs does not count), then appear one at a time. Chase switched on with no timecode coming in does not hold them, so a computer that keeps Chase on is still offered updates.

• A check you start yourself — the Check for updates button in the About window, or a click on the version number — is answered at once, whatever is playing.
• Switch the setting off if you would rather be asked immediately.
• The setting belongs to this computer. It is not stored in the show file.

Diagnostics sub-tab

Share anonymous crash reports — on by default in the installed app (it is never sent from a development build). A crash report contains the crash itself, the LTCast version, the operating system and a random installation ID — never your show, audio, file paths, user name or licence key; local paths and similar details are scrubbed before sending. Untick it to stop sending; the change takes effect after you restart LTCast.

The About window and the version number

The version number at the right end of the status bar (for example v0.7.32) is a button: click it to check for updates. File → About LTCast opens the About window, which shows the version, the publisher, links to the terms of use and the privacy policy, the NDI trademark notice, and a Check for updates button. Prompts that LTCast opens on its own during a show are held back — see the Updates sub-tab above.

On a show machine

While a song is playing or Chase is switched on, LTCast keeps the computer and its display from going to sleep, and lets them sleep again as soon as playback has stopped and chase is off. You do not need to change the operating system's power settings for that.