For years, Apple’s AirPods have refused to play nice with anything outside the company’s ecosystem. Pair them with an iPhone, and you get seamless switching, noise-canceling controls, and fancy battery views. However, connect them to an Android device, and you’re left with the basics, sound, play, pause, and more. This has long felt less like a technical limitation and more like a design choice.

Now, a 15-year-old developer from Gurugram is breaking down that wall. Kavish Dewar’s new project, called LibrePods, promises to unlock Apple-only AirPods features for Android and even Linux users. It’s open-source, completely free, and, as the name suggests, all about breaking free from Apple’s wallowing.

The complete Apple experience on Android

There have been attempts before, with apps like OpenPods or MaterialPods offering some features like battery level display, but LibrePods takes things up several notches. Once installed and configured, the app gives Android users the same level of control as the iPhone.

LibrePods allows you to switch between noise cancellation, adaptive and transparency modes, see the exact battery percentage for each earbud and case, and even rename your AirPods. It also supports auto-play and pause, responding instantly when you wear or take them off.

Not only this. You can customize the long press on the stem, just like in iOS. For example, a press can toggle between ANC modes or launch your voice assistant.

But brother-in-law did not stop here. LibrePods adds features that even Apple doesn’t offer on Android. The app supports head gestures, which means you can answer calls by nodding your head, no need to hold your phone. It also includes conversation awareness, which automatically lowers the volume when it detects you’re speaking. For those who like to tinker, hidden settings let you fine-tune the level of transparency and even turn your AirPods into makeshift listening devices via accessibility-style options.

“These are the kind of features Apple typically keeps inside its own ecosystem,” it reads on the app’s GitHub page, where Dever actively updates the project.

freedom with a catch

Of course, there is a trade-off. To pull off all this Apple magic, LibrePods essentially tricks your AirPods into thinking they’re connected to an Apple device. Inside the app, there’s an option called Act as an Apple Device. Once the toggle is on, your earbuds assume they’re talking to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and unlock all the advanced features that would otherwise be hidden.

agreement? You’ll need to root your Android phone, a process that provides deeper system access but may void the warranty or pose a security risk. The developer recommends using the Xposed Framework to enable the core functions of the app. Without root access, LibrePods will still work, but most of the cool stuff, like gesture controls and advanced audio modes, won’t appear.

Some Oppo and OnePlus models may support some features without rooting, but performance will still be limited. For best results, LibrePods work with AirPods Pro (2nd and 3rd generation), although older versions can still display basic battery stats and provide partial functionality.

The project is completely open-source on GitHub, where adventurous users can find detailed instructions, download the APK, and join the growing community contributing to its development.

LibrePods isn’t just a neat hack; It’s a quiet rebellion against the tech ecosystem that keeps users under siege. For Android users who have always felt short-changed when pairing their AirPods, this tool is a breath of fresh air, provided they are brave enough to root their phone. It’s rare to see a teenager poke holes in Apple’s famously tight system. Yet, at just 15 years old, Kavish Dewar has done what many Android users have wanted for years: made AirPods feel truly wireless, while still breaking away from Apple’s grip.