AirPods libreated
Companion app in Audio
Open-source work that lets AirPods run on Android, which people admire as a hack around Apple's ecosystem. Critics say it needs root access and is unusable on most Android phones.
5 people recommended AirPods libreated in Hacker News comments and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
5 of the 5 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem”.
Summary written by Claude from 9 comments.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 3
The record
Recommended in 1 of 12 months
In 1 different thread.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 1 threadNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 5 of its 5 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 9 of the 9 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clever hack around Apple's walled garden
“it's kind of amazing that one person hacked around both Apple's walled garden and Android's jank to make this work at all”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem” “I am still blown away by how you did it.”
Comment from 18 Nov 2025 in “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem” Amazing project, impressive execution
“This is an amazing project.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unusable on most Android phones
“absolutely unusable on any actually used Android phone”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem” “That makes it useless for 99% of us”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LibrePods | 14 | 2 | 3 | 82% | 4 | — | — |
| AirPods libreatedThis page | 5 | 0 | 3 | 63% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I am still blown away by how you did it.”
“Needing root to enable it is a major deal-breaker though”
“take this awesome repo and make a hearing aid possibility”
“absolutely unusable on any actually used Android phone”
“That makes it useless for 99% of us”
“it's kind of amazing that one person hacked around both Apple's walled garden and Android's jank to make this work at all”
“This is an amazing project.”
“Cool project, not cool that it needs to exist.”
“Excellent project, don't forget to upvote the Android bluetooth bug”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.