reTONE: A Free App That Turns an Unused Android Smartphone into a Dedicated Music Player

What happened

Iida Piano announced reTONE, a free app that lets you use an unused Android phone only for music. The company published an info page before the release. The app can send high-quality FLAC music files to a USB DAC (a small device that turns digital music into sound) without changing their quality. The app will launch soon, and the date will be shared on the info page and on the company's X account.

Key facts

• Works on Android 4.0 and newer, with ARM chips (32-bit and 64-bit).
• Plays FLAC files at 192kHz/24bit without changing the sound quality.
• Can also play DSD files, which standard Android playback cannot handle.
• Sending a song to a second phone over Bluetooth lets you control playback from your main phone.
• Network features are off by default. The app shows no ads and does not collect user information.

Background

Many people have old phones in a drawer. Android phones usually play music through the normal Android sound system, which can limit quality. reTONE skips that system and talks to the USB DAC directly. The app says it is a tool to give an old phone a second life as a music player, not a replacement for newer dedicated players or phones.

Why it matters

This app could give music fans a cheap way to use an old phone as a high-quality music player. It also lets people with older Android phones play high-resolution audio that they could not play before. The app was shown at a Tokyo-area...

What to watch

• The official release date, shared on the info page and on X (@IidapianoM).
• Public demo at the Autumn Headphone Festival 2026 on November 7, where a working device will be shown.
• Whether the app works well on many different old Android phones.