All the functions of AirPods on Android are now possible with this free app

Apple has the unfortunate tendency and strategy of locking its iPhone users into its ecosystem. This is mainly found in the incompatibility of the Apple Watch with Android smartphones, but also theinability to access certain functions AirPods. For this second point: an application is now available for free to unlock things… provided you tinker.

On Android, AirPods are moving up with LibrePods

Developer Kavish Devar has just made AirPods a real everyday companion on Android smartphones, by offering management of functionalities previously limited to iPhone.

A simple free appcalled LibrePods, brings its share of good news, including the management of noise reduction – a key function of AirPods Pro, AirPods Max or even AirPods 4 ANC.

We also find conversation detection functions, automatic playback and pause when inserting or removing headphones, taking calls via head movements, monitoring the battery level, customizing pressure gestures or even connecting to two devices at the same time.

At the time of writing, only AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 (except heart rate measurement) and AirPods Max are fully supported. This is not surprisingly limited to the pairs of headphones with which the developer was able to test his application.

For information, all this is possible thanks to a small manipulation allowed by LibrePods: the fact of simulating that the Android smartphone is an Apple device – like an iPhone, an iPad or even a Mac. The bad news in the story is that only rooted models with the Xposed framework are compatible.

A prerequisite that should scare more than one person, even if it means waiting a few months while Europe forces Apple’s hand to open its headphones to devices outside its ecosystem.