The latest articles on DEV Community by Kurup (@kurupdevs). https://dev.to/kurupdevs https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4147820%2F37a8b91a-cd30-4893-977a-88464ee29cd5.jpg https://dev.to/kurupdevs en Kurup Mon, 28 Sep 2026 18:09:41 +0000 https://dev.to/kurupdevs/i-built-kurubeats-a-free-open-source-android-music-player-local-youtube-music-4o5m https://dev.to/kurupdevs/i-built-kurubeats-a-free-open-source-android-music-player-local-youtube-music-4o5m <p>Every music app I tried fell into one of three camps: riddled with ads, paywalled behind a subscription, or just plain ugly. So I did what developers do — I built my own.</p> <p><strong>KuruBeats</strong> is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Android music player that handles both local playback and YouTube Music streaming, with no account, no ads, and no tracking. If you'd like to try it or read the code, it's on GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/kurupdevs/KuruBeats" rel="noopener noreferrer">kurupdevs/KuruBeats</a>, with APK downloads under Releases. There's also a small landing page at <a href="https://kurupdevs.github.io/kurubeats.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">kurupdevs.github.io/kurubeats.html</a>.</p> <h2> Why I built it </h2> <p>Most players are either streaming-first (and want your money every month) or local-only players that look like they shipped in 2012. I wanted one player that handles my downloaded collection <em>and</em> lets me stream without logging in — with a design that actually belongs on a modern Android phone. Material You dynamic theming included.</p> <h2> What it does </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Local playback</strong> — play your own files, all the formats you'd expect.</li> <li> <strong>YouTube Music streaming, no login</strong> — browse and stream YouTube Music anonymously. One honest note: this is still in beta. YouTube's bot checks can block anonymous playback on some networks (you'll see an error 2000), and I'm working through how best to handle that.</li> <li> <strong>Synced lyrics</strong> — follow along in time with the song.</li> <li> <strong>Song recognition</strong> — identify a song that's playing around you.</li> <li> <strong>Listening stats</strong> — see what you've been playing.</li> <li> <strong>Background playback</strong> — keeps playing while you do other things.</li> <li> <strong>No ads, no account, no tracking</strong> — free and open source under GPL-3.0.</li> </ul> <h2> The tech </h2> <p>KuruBeats is built in <strong>Kotlin</strong> with <strong>Jetpack Compose</strong> and Material 3, so it feels native on Android and picks up your wallpaper colours with dynamic theming. Everything is on GitHub under the GPL-3.0 licence — feel free to open issues, suggest features, or contribute.</p> <h2> Get it </h2> <ul> <li>Source code: <a href="https://github.com/kurupdevs/KuruBeats" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/kurupdevs/KuruBeats</a> </li> <li>APK downloads: <a href="https://github.com/kurupdevs/KuruBeats" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/kurupdevs/KuruBeats</a> (under Releases)</li> <li>Website: <a href="https://kurupdevs.github.io/kurubeats.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://kurupdevs.github.io/kurubeats.html</a> </li> </ul> <p>If you give it a try, I'd love your feedback. And a question for fellow developers and music lovers: <strong>what feature would make you switch music players?</strong></p> android kotlin opensource music