Foldman: cassette player

Foldman turns a book-style foldable into a pocket cassette player. Open the phone to pick a tape from your own music. Shut it, and the cover screen becomes the deck.

THE HINGE IS THE SWITCH

How far the phone is open decides what you're holding. Like a real cassette deck, the tape only runs with the door shut.

• Open: the cassette door. Your albums stand in a rack as tapes. Drag one into the deck, hold one to read its card, write its label, or put it on the bench and wind it by hand.

• Half open: the service hatch. Pick music folders, wind speed, tape character and tape wear. Switch to bench mode to keep listening with the phone open.

• Closed: the deck. The cover screen is the player: piano keys on a silver rail, a tape counter, a volume wheel. Press STOP once to stop and again to eject.

WHAT'S ON THIS TAPE

• Every album is a tape, from all the music on your phone or only the folders you choose. Foldman reads tags and cover art.

• Write the label: set the artist and album on each cassette, in handwriting or typewriter, Thai included.

• Tapes keep their place. Pull one out halfway through side B and it's still there next time.

• Auto reverse: let side A roll into side B, or flip the tape yourself.

• Tapes wear in. Turn on tape wear and favourites yellow, pick up scratches and gather dirt you can rub off.

• Wind it by hand: put a finger in a hub and turn, or flick it and let it spin until the tape goes tight.

• Chill a stretched tape on the bench when you've played it one too many times.

• Keys that clack, each with its own mechanical sound and a bump of haptics. Turn them off in the hatch.

• Lock screen and notification controls, and a home screen widget with the loaded tape.

BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC

Foldman doesn't come with any songs. It plays music files you own and keep on the phone: MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG, Opus or WAV, like CD rips or purchased downloads.

WHY NO SPOTIFY OR YOUTUBE?

On purpose. Songs from Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, Apple Music and other streaming apps stay locked inside those apps, even when downloaded. A player sitting on top of another player can't touch the sound or the tape, and the tape is the point: swapping cassettes, winding one back with your finger, putting a stretched tape in the fridge. That's the 90s Foldman wants you to remember, so it needs the whole machine.

YOUR MUSIC STAYS ON YOUR PHONE

Foldman plays the audio files already on your phone, and your music, labels and folders never leave it. It only sends anonymous usage counts, like how often the lid is folded, and you can switch them off in the service hatch. No accounts, no ads, no tracking.

WHICH PHONES

Made for book-style foldables and tuned first for the Galaxy Z Fold 8. On a phone that doesn't fold, Foldman only shows the closed deck. For the deck to appear when you close the phone, turn on "Continue apps on cover screen" for Foldman; the app takes you there the first time.

Inspired by Duo-Man by Vidit Bhargava.