This free app finally lets your AirPods Pro play nice with Android phones

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Credit: Lil Katz / Android Authority


TL;DR

• An Android app now allows you to explore AirPods features that were previously limited to iOS or macOS devices.
• These include ANC controls, auto play-pause, battery status, head gesture detection, and more.
• The app also unlocks accessibility settings, such as transparency mode customization and the ability to use your AirPods as hearing aids.
• The only caveat here is that you cannot use the features without rooting your phone.

Apple has always used a pretext of privacy to keep its devices exclusive and limited to its ecosystem. The same issue occurs with AirPods, which, despite using Bluetooth as the medium, lack basic app controls when connected to a non-Apple device, resulting in a severely limited experience. Thankfully, there’s an app that addresses the limitations when AirPods are paired to Android devices.

While apps, such as OpenPods, already let you leverage some of the features, this newer app takes it several notches higher. LibrePods, by developer Kavish Devar, is an app that enables you to utilize full AirPods functionality when connected to an Android device. Although these features are primarily limited to Apple devices, you can unlock options related to noise cancellation, automatic play-pause, battery status, and more on Android and Linux using LibrePods.




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