AirPods finally work well with Android, thanks to LibrePods.
Image: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
AirPods do not officially support AirPods. You can technically pair the earbuds with Android phones, but you won’t be able to control most of their features.
A new open-source app aims to fix that by making the AirPods experience on Android nearly as good as on an iPhone.
Enjoy all AirPods features on Android
Like other wireless earbuds, AirPods connect to the iPhone over Bluetooth. You can also pair and use them with an Android phone. But outside of Apple’s walled garden, you miss out on most AirPods features, such as head gestures, noise control and Conversational Awareness.
There are Android apps that enable bits and pieces of AirPods functionality. However, they’ve always felt like workarounds rather than proper solutions. A new open-source app, LibrePods, aims to deliver the seamless AirPods experience that Android has been missing.
You can use the app to enjoy all AirPods features on your Android device, including noise control, ear detection and head gestures. You can even use the AirPods as hearing aids.
Photo: Kavish Devar/Github
As the OpenSource Projects highlights, the app achieves this by tricking “your computer into thinking it’s an Apple device. By spoofing Apple’s Bluetooth advertisement packets, it convinces your AirPods to hand over the high-quality audio streams and device status information that are usually reserved for macOS and iOS.”
The one big limitation
There’s a major catch with LibePods, though. LibrePods only works on rooted Android phones with the Xposed framework installed. OnePlus and Oppo devices support basic functionality, but for the full experience, root is a must.
LibrePods works with AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3, though heart rate monitoring doesn’t work on the latter. On other AirPods models, only basic features, such as battery status and ear detection, work.
Download: LibrePods
Rajesh has been closely following and writing about the latest happenings in the world of mobile for nearly a decade now. While he prefers Android, he does not deny the superiority of Apple’s products and ecosystem.
