Trying to amplify the music on your phone with plastic cups often isn’t the best way to get a party started.
But instead of investing in an expensive sound system, a new app could help create a giant speaker for free.
The app works by synchronising streaming music across smartphones and tablets to create “3D sound”.
Named AmpMe, it also allows iOS and Android devices to play the same music together across both platforms.
The app was created by Montreal start-up AmpMe, whose founder felt frustrated by existing solutions to playing music on cellphones.
“Music was never meant to be enjoyed by a bunch of friends crowding around a single, maxed out phone speaker, but we’ve all done it,” said AmpMe founder Martin-Luc Archambault.
“It’s a terrible experience, but sometimes it’s all you have when the party starts.
“After experiencing the ‘phone huddle’ one too many times, I realised that, collectively, my friends and I actually had an amazing sound system right in our pockets.
“We just needed to build the technology to let our phones sync perfectly and enjoy the music we love much louder,” added Archambault, who stars on the French-Canadian version of Shark Tank.
How does it work?
AmpMe works by allowing a host to sync streaming music with friends’ devices. The host controls the playlist, and is able to search for favourite songs, artists and albums by connecting to the SoundCloud music service.
Rather than rely on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technology to connect devices, AmpMe uses a server-centric audio fingerprinting technology.
Once the host hits “play”, friends join by entering a four-digit party code. Syncing then starts automatically.
Android users can also use AmpMe with Bluetooth speakers that include a microphone. An Apple Watch app also allows party hosts to control AmpMe playback.
It doesn’t create full surround sound, because there is no channel separation between each device. Archambault describes it more as “3D sound”.
Tested with various devices, there were some problems with poor connectivity.
“Of course it’s not yet perfect; to be honest, I am not sure anything can ever be,” Archambault wrote in a recent blog.
“So it’s possible that you’ll randomly get ‘off sync’ when you try it, but it should work most of the time.” – Daily Mail