AndroidMic

Use your Android phone as a microphone for your PC

Features

• Cross-platform: Works on Linux, Windows, and macOS
• Multiple connection options: WiFi (TCP/UDP), USB Serial, and USB ADB
• Audio processing: Noise cancellation and audio wave visualization
• Customizable audio settings: Sample rate, channels, and bit depth

⚠️ Important Requirements

This app requires a virtual audio cable device to work!

AndroidMic streams audio from your phone to your PC, but your PC needs a way to recognize this audio stream as a microphone input. This is where virtual audio cables come in.

Virtual Audio Cable Setup

On Windows: - Install Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) or VB Cable (both free options available) - These tools create virtual audio devices on your system - Once installed, you'll have a virtual output device (speaker/playback) and a virtual input device (microphone) - AndroidMic plays audio to the virtual output, which is internally wired to the virtual input that your apps can use as a microphone

On Linux: - Use PulseAudio or PipeWire to create virtual audio devices - Example with PulseAudio: bash pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=virtual_mic pactl load-module module-remap-source master=virtual_mic.monitor source_name=virtual_mic_source

On macOS: - Use BlackHole or similar virtual audio driver

Setup Guide

Step 1: Install Virtual Audio Cable

Follow the instructions above for your operating system to install a virtual audio cable solution. This step is required before proceeding.

Step 2: PC Application Setup

1. Download and install - Get the latest release from the releases page - Nix / NixOS: Run nix run nixpkgs#android-mic or add pkgs.android-mic to your configuration - Install and launch the app

macOS users: You may need to run this command to allow the app to run: sh xattr -c /Applications/AndroidMic.app See this discussion for more details.

2. Select output audio device - Choose the virtual output device (e.g., "VB Cable Input" or "Virtual Audio Cable") from the dropdown - This is the playback device that's wired to your virtual microphone - Do NOT select your regular speakers or headphones - On Linux change channel count to "Mono" when you select PipeWire or PulseAudio

3. Choose connection method

• TCP/UDP (WiFi):

  • Connect your phone and PC to the same network
  • No additional setup required

• USB ADB:

  • Install Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
  • Enable USB debugging on your phone (Developer Options)
  • Connect phone via USB cable

• USB Serial:

  • Connect phone via USB cable
  • Set phone's USB mode to "Charging only"
  • Windows:
  • Close Android Studio and ensure ADB process is not running
  • Your phone must use the WinUSB driver (required for all Android phones)
  • Use Zadig to replace the current USB driver with WinUSB if needed
  • On first connection attempt, the phone will switch to accessory mode - click Connect again to establish the connection
  • Linux: Configure udev rules for USB permissions

4. Configure audio settings (Advanced) - Click to open advanced settings - Choose format supported by your virtual audio device - Common settings: 44.1kHz or 48kHz sample rate, mono channel, 16-bit or 24-bit depth

Step 3: Android Application Setup

1. Install the app - Download the APK from releases or F-Droid - Install and open the app

2. Configure settings - Open the side drawer menu - Select the same connection method chosen on PC - Configure audio settings (sample rate, channels, bit depth) - these can be adjusted independently from PC settings

3. Connect and start - Grant required permissions:

   • Microphone: To access your phone's mic
   • Notification: To show recording status in background
   • Start recording
   • Connect to PC:
   • TCP/UDP: Enter PC IP address and port (shown in PC app log)
   • USB ADB: Enter port number (shown in PC app log)
   • USB Serial: Allow accessory mode when prompted

Using AndroidMic in Other Apps

After setup, the virtual microphone will appear in your system's audio input devices. Select it in any application: - Discord, Teams, Zoom (voice chat) - OBS, Streamlabs (streaming) - Audacity, FL Studio (recording) - Any other app that accepts microphone input

Troubleshooting

Can't hear audio / No microphone detected

• Verify virtual audio cable is properly installed
• Ensure you selected the virtual output device in AndroidMic PC app
• Check that applications are using the virtual input device as microphone
• On Windows: Check that VAC/VB Cable devices are set as default in Sound Settings

Windows Defender flags the app as malware

• Usually this is a false positive due to Windows Defender's ML algorithm
• Please report to Microsoft to help get it fixed

USB connection not working

• USB ADB: Ensure USB debugging is enabled and ADB is installed
• USB Serial: May need Zadig to change USB driver to WinUSB
• USB Serial (Linux): Configure udev rules for USB permissions

Audio quality issues

• Match audio settings between PC and Android app exactly
• Try different sample rates (44.1kHz or 48kHz)
• Turn on/off noise cancellation in the app

Support & Contributing

• Questions / Feature Requests / Bug Reports: Submit an issue
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Project History

The PC app originally started as a WPF application written in C# for Windows only. Most features have been recreated in Rust (thanks to @wiiznokes) for cross-platform support. The WPF app branch is still available for reference.

Note: Bluetooth support was removed in favor of USB Serial connection, which provides better bandwidth.