deckade – Cassette Player

deckade (formerly Side A) is a '90s cassette deck for the music you play in your music app. The song becomes a tape that winds from the left reel to the right as it plays, the piano keys sink with a mechanical click, and there's a hotline to the DJ for requests the old way. It's made for foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold, outside and in.

Hold it another way, get another deck
• Cover screen, upright: a portable player, a glowing counter, a volume wheel
• Cover screen, sideways: a bedside radio, a big tape between tall speakers
• Inner screen, upright: a tape recorder, two VU meters, a volume fader
• Inner screen, sideways: a stereo radio-cassette, a dial for the song's progress

What's on this tape
• Play, pause and skip; hold REW or FF to wind
• Volume on the deck's wheel, fader or knob, or the side keys
• 14 themes, each with its own tape; EJECT swaps in another theme's tape
• Cover art on the label, or tap the tape to flip it to its case
• A sleep timer (15, 30, 60 minutes or the song's end); keep the screen on or hide the status bar
• Share the song's tape to your Instagram story
• A guide in the app, with how well each music app works

Call the DJ with a request
Tap the REQ lamp and it's as if you're calling the DJ: pick a station on the dial, one of your music apps, write the song on a note and wait, like phoning a radio show. The DJ may play it straight away, may not find it, or may put on the wrong song now and then. A display on the deck shows when it's on air.
• Apple Music, TIDAL and YouTube Music play the song you asked for
• Spotify and YouTube open a search to play it from

Which music apps?
Any app with music controls in notifications, such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and TIDAL. deckade has no music of its own: it's a cassette face for the app you already use. Not every app can wind.

deckade Plus
Everything above and all 14 themes are free. deckade Plus, one purchase on Google Play, no subscription, unlocks:
• 13 Plus themes, each its own deck on every screen
• DeckNote: a hardback notebook in 9 colours, stitched keys
• Jellybean: glossy toy plastic, a clear cassette door, 12 colours
• Unfold: for foldables, its lid a rack of tapes
• Duo: an azure deck whose cassette door opens
• Safari: sandblasted green, silver keys
• Pastel: pink and lavender, a yellow PLAY, three colour pairs
• X-Ray: clear blue or red plastic, its works showing
• Midnight: all black, hi-fi keys in wells, a trick
• G01-1979: white armour and keys that sound like servos
• GB01: handheld-console yellow, a cross pad on its side
• DigiTape: a black digital player with glowing glass keys
• MP-2006: a white player, a round pad to turn for volume
• F01-2003: black and deep silver, keypad tones
• Hits on Apple Music picked by the team: tap a song to call it in, the playlist plays on
• My tapes: songs played past halfway, favorites, mixtapes typed in or from a playlist link, on your phone
• Deck stickers, 16 sets, to move, turn, size and put on keys
• Saved decks on Mine: theme, tape and stickers back in one tap
• Three home-screen widgets, a tape screen saver, story videos
• Every theme and feature added from now on
Try any Plus theme before you buy; Plus puts deckade+ on the deck.
Part of Plus's revenue goes to the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand.

Privacy
Notification access is the only way Android lets an app see what another app is playing, so deckade asks for it. It reads only the song's title, artist, cover and position, never your messages or other notifications. No ads and no account. deckade goes online only for the hits, YT Music requests and playlist links you give it, and sends nothing personal off your phone; Google Play's billing, which sells Plus, sends Google its own technical logs.

Works on other phones with Android 12+; the deck fits the screen.

Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, TIDAL, Instagram and Galaxy Z Fold are trademarks of their respective owners. deckade is not affiliated with them.