AudioTag

Turn any NFC tag into a spoken audio note

  • App
  • In testing
  1. 1. Join the testers group Sign in first, with the account your phone uses. Signed out, it says you lack permission. That only means signed out.
  2. 2. Opt in and install This says you are not a tester until step 1 is done.

Free, and your install counts toward the twelve testers needed before it can be released publicly.

Source code on GitHub Releases (APK)

Where it has got to

Closed testing

0 of 12 testers who have installed it and kept it, 12 to go.

Once there are 12, they need to stay for 14 consecutive days. If the number drops below 12, the 14 days start again.

  1. done Build a release and upload it

    v0.1.5-beta, July 2025. Then it sat untouched for a year. Life got in the way, which is the whole explanation. Picked it back up in August 2026.

  2. done Internal testing

    Up to 100 testers by invitation. Useful for checking the build installs, but it does not count toward a public release.

  3. done Complete the store listing

    Screenshots, icon, feature graphic, descriptions, content rating and the data safety form. Most of the questions are answered; the screenshots are the gap, and taking them means installing the app first. The privacy policy it asks for already exists.

  4. current Closed testing

    Open now. Twelve people need to install the app and keep it for 14 consecutive days before Google will allow a public release. The count is people who installed it, not people invited, and the fourteen days start again if it drops below twelve.

  5. todo Apply for production access

    A three-part application, reviewed by Google in about a week.

  6. todo Open testing or production

    The point of all this. A link anyone can use, without being invited one at a time.

Last checked .

It started with a simple problem: two things that look identical, and no quick way to tell them apart without sight. Braille labels need learning and a labeller. Sticky notes need reading.

An NFC tag costs pennies, sticks to anything, and needs no battery. AudioTag lets you record a voice message, or type something and have it spoken, then attach it to a tag. Tap your phone against it and you hear it back.

What it does

  • Record voice messages and link them to NFC tags
  • Text to speech if you would rather type than talk
  • Recognises unknown tags and offers to set them up
  • Works completely offline. The app has no network access at all
  • Built for TalkBack, with labelled controls and audio feedback throughout
  • Light, dark and high contrast themes
  • Backup and restore, so your labels survive a new phone

What it’s for

Labelling tins and jars in a cupboard. Marking which of two identical cables goes where. Putting a spoken note on a medicine box. Leaving a recorded message on a card. Audio labels around a room for someone learning it.

These are what it was built for rather than reports from users. See below.

Where it has got to

Honestly: it is written, it works, and it is not available yet.

I built it for myself and used it, but it is not on my current phone, and nobody else has run it at all. The TalkBack support in particular has never been checked by someone who uses a screen reader every day. That is the test that would actually say whether it is any good.

It is in closed testing on Google Play, which is the last gate before a public release. Google requires a solo developer to run a new app past twelve testers, who install it and keep it for fourteen consecutive days, before allowing it into the store proper.

That is the whole remaining blocker, and it is people rather than code.

Joining takes a couple of minutes, and it is two steps because that is how Google has arranged it:

  1. Join the testers group, signed in with the Google account your phone uses. No approval needed. The group is not listed anywhere, so nobody stumbles into it, which also means that if you are signed out it will say you do not have permission. That is not a refusal, it just cannot tell who you are yet.
  2. Opt in to the test, then install from Google Play as normal.

Step 2 will say you are not a tester until step 1 is done, which is confusing and not your fault.

If either step will not play ball, email me and I will add you by hand.

You do not have to actively test anything: installing it and leaving it alone is genuinely what is needed. If you do try it and something breaks, so much the better, and please tell me.

There is no obligation to keep it. If it turns out to be no use, remove it. Twelve people who want it is the point, not twelve reluctant favours.

If you want to work on it

It is Kotlin, a single Android app, GPL-3.0, and small enough to read in an evening. The whole thing is one repository with no build tricks.

Two things would help more than testing:

An iOS version. I do not own an iPhone and I am not going to buy one, so this half of the world is simply not served. NFC reading works on iOS and has done for years. Someone who already builds iOS apps could probably get a usable version out of a couple of weekends, and it would double who this can reach. It does not have to live in my repository or carry my name.

A read of the Kotlin. Nobody except me has looked at this code. I would particularly like someone to check the TalkBack annotations and the tag handling, which are the two places I was guessing.

Open an issue, or email me if you would rather not use GitHub. The terms are on the contact page: Apache 2.0, and a reply within a week.

If you would rather not use Google Play

There is an APK on the releases page. It installs directly, with no account and no invitation. It does not count toward the twelve, but it does get you the app.

Fair warning: this is the awkward route. Android will warn you about installing from outside the Play Store and you will have to grant permission to do it. If that sentence sounds like a nuisance, it is. Wait for the Play release instead. If it sounds routine, the app is there and I would be glad to hear what breaks.

Privacy

AudioTag stores everything on your device and has no network permission at all. There is no account, no cloud, and nothing to opt out of. The source is on GitHub if you would rather check that than take my word for it.

Platforms
Android
Licence
GPL-3.0
Started
July 2025