The problem is how APE tags might interact with ID3 tags. We've already removed the ID3v1/ID3v2 priority option, so the first thing we look for is an ID3v2 tag, which is located at the start of a file. APE tags are located at the end of a file, so what to do if a file has both ID3v2 and APE?
Generally software goes ID3v2 then APEv2 then ID3v1, since people with ID3v2 tags are unlikely to have APE, but the reverse is not always true.
Also, what do we do if the APE tag is appended to the file before an ID3v1 tag?
Its always appended before the ID3v1 tag. The reverse order isn't allowed.
Look for both? We're not going to add an option for tag parsing again, so some way to handle this automatically in a way that makes sense needs to be found, and I'm not convinced there is one. People should just stick to ID3 :>
I don't really see this being a problem. You check for an ID3v2 tag at the front of the file. If its there, you're done. If not, check for an APEv2 tag. If not, check for an ID3v1 tag. The problem is doing this efficiently to avoid excess reads, not deciding the order to do it in. And I'm not sure how easy it would be to do that.
Just wondering, do we support ID3v2 tags at the end of files?