Although the walls surrounding Apple’s prized, exclusive (metaphorical) garden may be far from being razed completely, several recent developments have at least opened a few cracks. While the biggest blow comes courtesy of Google, thanks to the EU’s mandate, opening up AirDrop for select Android devices. Meanwhile, certain developers have also been challenging Apple’s monopoly over its hardware, such as the AirPods. Although the AirPods work over Bluetooth, a widely used open communications standard, their key features have been limited to iOS or macOS users. A developer has been attempting to plow through the difficulties and recently started distributing an app that overcomes challenges with using AirPods with Android.
LibrePods, which lets users enjoy a feature-rich experience with Apple’s AirPods on their Android devices, has been available for users to try since last year. However, if you were to install the app on your device, there were two hiccups. First, LibrePods had to be downloaded from GitHub and then sideloaded, which could have raised security concerns. Second, the app required root, which would have automatically deterred a lot of users.
