Hey, what do you need?

Simple to use. Fun to play.

Getting started

Frekulio is an Android app that isn't in the Play Store, so you install it from an APK file. You get the link from whoever shared Frekulio with you.

Open the link on your phone and download the APK.
Open the downloaded file. If Android asks, allow your browser to install unknown apps.
Tap Install and open Frekulio.
Tap Allow access, so Frekulio can find the music, videos and pictures on your phone.

That's it. Frekulio has four tabs at the bottom: Home, Library, Playlists and Search. At the top of each one you'll find the car (car mode) and the gear (Settings).

There's no account. Your playlists, favourites and history stay on your phone, and nothing from your phone is uploaded.

Updates and what's new

Frekulio updates itself. It checks for a new version every time it starts, and you can check yourself under Settings → About → Check for updates. If you allow notifications, you also get a message when a new version is ready.

When there's a new version you'll see what changed. Tap Update, or Later if now isn't a good moment. Frekulio downloads the update, checks that it arrived intact and opens Android's installer.

The first time, Android asks you to allow Frekulio to install apps. Turn that on, come back and tap Update again.

After every update, Frekulio shows What's new. All earlier changes are under Settings → About → Release notes.

Your library

The Library tab shows everything Frekulio found, sorted into Songs, Albums, Artists, Videos, Pictures and Folders. Songs and videos from Google Drive and your NAS are listed there too.

New files show up by themselves when you come back to the app. Can't wait? Pull down on the list to refresh.

Music: Frekulio finds the music Android knows about. The Music folder on your phone is a good spot for new songs.
Videos: they play full screen, and turning your phone turns the video. Frekulio brings its own video player, so files your phone can't normally play (such as MKV or HEVC) usually work too.
Pictures: tap one to view it, swipe for the next and pinch to zoom.

Does Frekulio say it can't see everything yet? Tap Allow and give it access to all your files. If you turned access off earlier, Open settings takes you to the right place.

Playing and Now Playing

Tap a song and it plays. The music keeps going when you leave the app or lock your phone, and you can control it from the notification, the lock screen or your headset.

A small player sits above the tabs. Tap it to open Now Playing, where you can:

Swipe the artwork to skip to the next or previous song.
Tap the heart to add the song to your favourites.
Turn on Shuffle or Repeat (off, all, or this one).
Open Up next to see and change what's coming.
Tap Lyrics to read along. This button only appears when the song file has lyrics in it, and synced lyrics follow the song.

Frekulio remembers where you were. Pick up where you left off on Home takes you straight back.

Playlists, favourites and the queue

The ⋮ button next to a song gives you the options: Play next, Add to queue, Add to playlist, Add to favourites, and a way to see where the file is.

The Playlists tab has Favourites, Recently played and your own lists.

Tap New playlist and give it a name.
Drag songs to change the order. Swipe a song away to remove it, and tap Undo if you didn't mean to.
You can rename or delete a playlist from its menu. Deleting one leaves the songs themselves alone.

A song counts as played after 30 seconds of listening.

Search and Surprise me

The Search tab searches while you type. Capitals and accents don't matter, and every word you type has to match. Use Music, Videos, Pictures or Playlists to narrow it down.

Don't know what you feel like? Try these, also on the Search tab:

Surprise me plays a random mix that leans towards songs you've played less. It's on Home too.
Recently added: what's new on your phone.
Rediscover: songs you haven't played for a month, and songs you never got to.
Most played: your all-time favourites, by the numbers.

Google Drive

Play the music and videos in your Google Drive. Frekulio only reads them: nothing is changed or uploaded.

Go to Settings → Google Drive → Connect Google Drive and choose your account.
Allow Frekulio to read your Drive.
Tap Add a folder and pick one from My Drive or Shared with me. Subfolders come along.

The songs join your library. Drive only knows file names, so Frekulio reads the title, artist, album and cover from the songs in the background. You can watch it count up in Settings. Everything streams, so you need an internet connection to play it.

Added something new to Drive? Tap Rescan.

Google Drive only works for accounts that were added as test users of Frekulio. Google also ends the permission after 7 days: when a scan fails with a message in Settings, tap Reconnect.

Synology NAS

Play the music, videos and photos on your Synology, at home and away. It works through File Station, which every Synology has, so you don't need Audio Station or Synology Photos.

Go to Settings → Synology NAS.
Enter your QuickConnect ID or address (the same ID as in DS File, or an address such as nas.example.com:5001).
Enter your Username and Password and tap Connect.

Your login is kept in your phone's encrypted storage and only goes to your NAS.

The account needs permission to use File Station. Two-step verification isn't supported yet, so use an account without it. A separate read-only account is the best choice.

Folders

Frekulio starts with the shared folders called music, video and photo, if you have them. Use Add a folder for others, and the cross next to a folder to remove it. Subfolders come along. Rescan looks for new files.

Frekulio reads song details and covers in the background, the first time it sees a song and again if the file changes.

How Frekulio reaches your NAS

Settings tells you how you're connected right now. Frekulio tries the fastest way first:

Connected over your home network: the fastest. Frekulio uses a QuickConnect name with a valid certificate. Some routers block those names (for example a Fritz!Box with DNS rebinding protection). Frekulio then goes straight to the NAS's home address on port 5000, which is not encrypted but stays inside your home network.
Connected over the internet: through port forwarding or DDNS, if you have that set up.
Connected through Synology's relay (slower): the fallback when nothing else works. It's fine for music but too slow for video.

Stuck on the relay at home? The Error log says why each faster route failed.

Radio

Tap the Radio card on Home for live stations, no setup needed. You see your own country first.

Search by station, genre or city. Tap Search all countries to look worldwide.
Tap the heart on a station to keep it. Favourites come first, in the list and in search results.
Surprise me picks a station for you, and sometimes it's one of your favourites.
Swipe, or use next and previous, to zap to the next station in the list.

If a station announces what it's playing, you'll see that live in the player.

Podcasts

Tap the Podcasts card on Home. Search for a show or browse Popular podcasts.

Follow a show to keep it under Your podcasts. New episodes lists the latest ones you haven't played.
An episode starts where you left it. It counts as played once you're within the last 30 seconds.
The menu on an episode has Mark as played and Show notes.
In Now Playing you get 10 seconds back, 30 seconds forward and the Playback speed (0.8× to 2×). Frekulio remembers the speed, and it's only used for podcasts.

Episodes stream, so you need an internet connection to listen.

A private feed, such as Patreon

On patreon.com, go to the creator's page, then your membership, and choose Get audio RSS link. Copy the link.
In Frekulio, open Podcasts and paste the link in the search field.
Tap Open this feed, then Follow.

This works for any RSS address. The private address stays on your phone. If you get a new link, paste that one: your progress is kept.

Car mode

Tap the car at the top of any tab. You get only what you can hit without looking:

Huge previous, play and next buttons. Each press gives a little buzz, so you can feel that it worked.
Swipe the artwork to skip.
Your first four favourite radio stations as big tiles.
On the radio? Back to music returns to the song you were listening to, at the same spot. If nothing was playing before, the tile starts a mix.
Nothing playing? Play a mix starts one from your library.

The screen is always dark, stays on, and turns with your phone holder. The cross at the top left closes car mode.

Want it to open by itself? Go to Settings → Car mode and choose your car from your paired Bluetooth devices. Android asks for the Nearby devices permission once. From then on car mode opens when your phone connects to the car while Frekulio is open, or as soon as you open Frekulio if the phone is already connected. Turn on Also start playing to pick up your music right away as well.

Set things up before you drive, and keep your eyes on the road.

Spotify playlists

Start your Spotify playlists from Frekulio with one tap. The music plays in the Spotify app, not in Frekulio's player, and you need Spotify Premium to start it from here.

Go to Settings → Spotify → Connect Spotify, sign in and agree.
Your playlists appear at the bottom of the Playlists tab.
Tap one to play it.

If Spotify isn't running, Frekulio opens it first and then starts the playlist. Without Premium, Spotify opens on that playlist and you tap Play there. New playlists in Spotify? Tap Refresh in Settings.

Your Spotify account has to be on Frekulio's list of allowed users. If connecting fails, ask whoever shared Frekulio with you to add it.

Settings

Tap the gear at the top of any tab.

Language: English, Nederlands, or the same as your phone.
Appearance: dark, light, or the same as your phone.
Google Drive, Spotify and Synology NAS: connect your accounts here.
About: your version, Check for updates, Help (this page), Release notes and the Error log.

When something goes wrong

Frekulio writes down what really happened under Settings → About → Error log, newest first. A red number shows when there's something in it. The log starts fresh every time the app starts, so have a look before you close the app. You can select the text and copy it, which is the most useful thing to send when you ask for help.

Quick checks

No music in the library: pull down to refresh, and check that access is allowed.
Drive stopped working: tap Reconnect under Settings → Google Drive.
"Isn't set up in this build": this version of the app was built without that service. It's not something you can fix on your phone.
Video stutters from the NAS: check in Settings whether you're on Synology's relay. It's too slow for video.
A radio station won't play: stations go offline sometimes. Try another one.
Update won't install: allow Frekulio to install apps, then tap Update again.