# CAPod: AirPods battery levels, ear detection and case popups on Android

> CAPod is a GPL-3.0 Android app that adds the AirPods information the platform does not expose, including battery level per pod and case, charging status, ear detection, a popup when the case opens and home screen widgets. It is ad-free, available from six channels, and it also lists the counterfeit AirPods that people actually own.

**d4rken-org/capod** — A companion app for AirPods on Android.

- Repository: https://github.com/d4rken-org/capod
- Website: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.darken.capod
- Stars: 1,196 · Forks: 244
- Language: Kotlin
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-10-19 · Updated: 2026-10-19 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/d4rken-org-capod

## Android exposes the connection, not the charge

CAPod exists because the Android Bluetooth stack tells you that AirPods are connected and little else. The app's feature list is the list of things a phone user has to guess at.

There is a battery level for the pods and for the case, a charging status for both, and additional information about the connection, the microphone and the case. The app can also receive and show all nearby devices, so you can see the AirPods before you open the case. Ear detection with automatic play and pause is there, so removing an earbud pauses what you are listening to. It can automatically connect the phone and the AirPods, and it can show a popup when the case is opened, which is a small thing that is annoying to be without.

There are widgets as well, which is how the battery readings stay visible without opening the app.

The project states plainly that CAPod is ad-free, and that some additional features require an in-app purchase. The paid tier is called CAPod Pro and is sold through Google Play, which is also how the project asks for support alongside GitHub Sponsors. The source is licensed under GPL-3.0, and the repository ships a PRIVACY_POLICY.md next to the code, which is the document to read for what the app does with the data it sees.

## The model list includes the counterfeit AirPods

The supported model list is long, and it is organised by generation rather than by product line. It covers AirPods from the first generation through the fifth, including the fifth generation with a wireless charging case, the fourth generation with active noise cancellation, AirPods Pro in the first, second and third generations plus the USB-C variant of the second, and AirPods Max in the original, USB-C and second generation forms.

Then it moves to the Beats line: Power Beats Pro in the first and second generation, Power Beats 3 and 4, Beats Solo 3, Solo Pro, Solo 4 and Solo Buds, Beats Studio 3, Studio Buds, Studio Buds+ and Studio Pro, Beats 360, Beats X, Beats Flex and Beats Fit Pro.

And at the end there are entries for fake AirPods, listed for the first, second and third generation and for the first and second generation of the Pro, each marked with a mask symbol in the list.

That last group is not a joke, and it is worth understanding why it is there. Plenty of people buy clone AirPods, and the clone hardware reports a different Bluetooth identity than an Apple device, so an app that only knew Apple identifiers would not recognise them. Listing the fakes means the app has a profile for them, and the screenshots in the repository include a device profiles screen and an add profile screen, which suggests that the app matches behaviour to a profile rather than assuming one code path for all hardware.

If you own a clone, the list is the place to check before you install, because it is the most likely reason a model would not work.

## Six channels, and they do not carry the same build

CAPod is distributed through more channels than most apps of its size, and the differences between them are the interesting part.

The download table lists Google Play, Google Play Beta, the GitHub release, the GitHub pre-release, F-Droid and F-Droid through IzzyOnDroid. The GitHub releases page carries both a stable release and a pre-release, and the Play listing has its own beta track.

The recent tag history explains why there are two GitHub channels. The three most recent tags are all release candidates: v5.5.0-rc0 on 2026-10-07, v5.4.0-rc0 on 2026-09-24 and v5.3.0-rc0 on 2026-09-21. A project that tags candidates ahead of a stable release needs a place to put them, and that is what the pre-release channel and the Play beta track are for.

The one asymmetry worth checking is the paid tier. The funding route the project names is the CAPod Pro in-app purchase on Google Play, so a build obtained from a channel that has no Play billing cannot offer that purchase, and the in-app purchase route named in the README does not exist there.

For anyone who wants a reproducible build rather than a store download, the F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid listings are the ones to compare.

## A Kotlin and Gradle project with a translation pipeline attached

The repository is an ordinary modern Android project, and the layout describes the workflow.

The application code is in app/, with app-e2e/ holding end to end tests, and the Gradle build is Kotlin DSL based, with build.gradle.kts, settings.gradle and a checked in wrapper in gradlew and gradlew.bat. There is a buildSrc/ directory for build logic, a tools/ directory, and a gradle/ directory for the wrapper itself. Version numbers live in a VERSION file and a version.properties file alongside gradle.properties, and there is a CHANGELOG.md at the root.

Two directories are specific to this project rather than to Android in general. The fastlane/ directory holds the store metadata, which is where the screenshot images referenced in the README live, under metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots. And the translation setup is visible too, with a crowdin.yaml, a crowdin.sh script and a crowdin-cli.jar at the root, plus a Crowdin badge in the README and the request for help translating on Crowdin in the support section.

That last point is a real part of the project's operation rather than a footnote. An app with this many device models needs descriptions of device specific behaviour, and a translation platform with a command line client in the repository is how a maintainer keeps that text in sync across languages without editing files by hand.

## What the app can see, and what it chooses to show

It is worth being clear about the mechanism behind the numbers, because several features read the same radio.

The nearby devices list and the automatic connection feature both come from Bluetooth. The battery readings for the pods and the case come from the AirPods themselves, which expose that information over Bluetooth as part of their pairing, and which the phone then interprets. Ear detection and the case opening popup are events the earbuds and the case report, so the app is reacting to a signal that already exists rather than inferring anything from a microphone or a sensor.

The consequence for a user is that the information is as good as the model's own reporting, and a clone device may report differently from an Apple one. That is a plausible reason for the fake AirPods entries to have their own profiles.

The consequence for the reader is about the privacy question, and the honest answer is that the repository does not answer it. The README says the app is ad-free and does not describe what it transmits, and the PRIVACY_POLICY.md file is there in the repository for that reason. If the question matters to you, that file is the document to read, and it is worth reading before you install an app whose whole purpose is listening to a Bluetooth conversation.

The project also states that some features are paid, so the free tier is a subset, and the free subset is the part the README describes in most detail.

## Funding, translations and the gap between a release candidate and a release

Three things keep the project running, and all three are named in the README.

The CAPod Pro in-app purchase on Google Play is the direct one. The second is GitHub Sponsors, where the project asks for sponsorship of development. The third is Crowdin, where help translating CAPod is requested, which is a contribution that costs the contributor nothing but reaches every user in their own language.

Support runs through GitHub issues and a Discord server, and the issues route is where a device that is not behaving belongs, since the supported model list is long enough that an unsupported model is a plausible first question.

The version cadence is the one place where the picture is less tidy. All three recent tags are release candidates rather than stable releases, and the repository was last pushed to on 2026-10-15, eight days after the v5.5.0-rc0 tag. So the code is moving faster than the stable channel, which is a normal arrangement for a mobile app with a Play Store review process, and it means the GitHub pre-release is where the newest behaviour appears first.

If you want a quiet install, take the stable channel and accept that a model support fix may arrive a few weeks after it was tagged.

## Conclusion

CAPod fits an Android user with AirPods or Beats who wants the battery percentage for each pod, the charging state of the case, and automatic play and pause when the earbuds are removed, without giving up an ad-free app. It does not fit an iPhone user, since the equivalent data is exposed by the platform itself, and it does not fit anyone who wants every feature free, because some of them sit behind the CAPod Pro in-app purchase. Verify three things before you install it: that your exact model is in the supported list, since the app keys its behaviour to device profiles, that you are installing the build you intended, because the Play Store, the Play Beta track, the GitHub release, the GitHub pre-release, F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid all carry different versions, and that the paid features you expect are present in the build you get, since the purchase route named by the project is the Google Play one.

## FAQ

### Which AirPods and Beats models does CAPod support?

AirPods from the first to the fifth generation including the fourth with ANC and the fifth with a wireless charging case, AirPods Pro in the first, second and third generations plus the USB-C Pro, AirPods Max in the original, USB-C and second generation forms, and a long list of Beats models from Power Beats Pro to Beats Fit Pro. The list also includes entries for counterfeit AirPods, since clone hardware reports a different Bluetooth identity.

### Is CAPod free and does it show ads?

The project states that CAPod is ad-free, and that some additional features require an in-app purchase. The paid tier is called CAPod Pro and is sold through Google Play, which is also one of the ways the project asks for support.

### Where can I download CAPod?

Six channels are listed: Google Play, Google Play Beta, the GitHub release, the GitHub pre-release, F-Droid and F-Droid through IzzyOnDroid. The GitHub and Play pre-release channels carry the release candidates, and the three most recent tags, v5.5.0-rc0, v5.4.0-rc0 and v5.3.0-rc0, are all candidates rather than stable releases.

### What does CAPod add that Android does not show by default?

Battery level for the pods and the case, charging status for both, information about the connection, the microphone and the case, a list of nearby devices, ear detection with automatic play and pause, automatic connection of the phone and the AirPods, a popup when the case is opened, and home screen widgets.

### What licence is CAPod released under?

GPL-3.0, with the licence file at the root of the repository and a PRIVACY_POLICY.md alongside it. The project is written in Kotlin and built with Gradle, and it is localised through Crowdin rather than by editing translation files in the repository.

## Sources

- [d4rken-org/capod on GitHub](https://github.com/d4rken-org/capod)
- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/d4rken-org/capod/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.darken.capod)
- [README](https://github.com/d4rken-org/capod/blob/main/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/d4rken-org/capod/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/d4rken-org-capod