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Micup for Android

Micup

Micup

A live microphone with voice effects, a studio effects rack and a backing track that stays in sync with your voice.

Version 1.0 · 5.2 MB · Android 8.0 or newer · free

Micup in use. Tap to play.

Micup is not in the Google Play Store. You install it straight from this page, so Android warns you once and asks you to confirm. At that moment you choose Install anyway. The steps below show exactly where that happens and why.

What Micup does

Micup turns your phone into a microphone with effects. You hear yourself live through the speaker or your headphones while you talk or sing, and you can record exactly what you hear.

15 voice effects

Chipmunk, Helium, Deep, Monster, Robot, Alien, Echo, Cave, Megaphone, Telephone, Drunk, Ghost, Chorus, Choir, or your own clean voice. Tap a card and you hear it straight away.

RetLabel Studios MixFX

A studio rack on top of the effect: boost, noise gate, compressor, warmth, presence, saturation, doubler, delay and reverb. Every one has its own slider from 0 to 100.

Sing along to a track

Pick any song on your phone and sing over it. Micup lines your voice up with the track, so the recording comes out in time instead of a fraction late.

Recording library

Everything you record lands in the Library tab with the effect it was made with. Play it back, rename it, share it to WhatsApp, or delete it.

How to install it

Because Micup does not come from the Play Store, Android asks for permission twice: once to allow installing from this source, and once to confirm you really want it. Both are normal.

  1. 1

    Tap the download button

    Do this on the phone itself, in Chrome or whichever browser you use. The file micup.apk lands in your Downloads.

  2. 2

    Open the downloaded file

    Tap it in the download notification, or find micup.apk in the Files or Downloads app and tap it there.

  3. 3

    Allow installing from this source

    Android says something like “For your security, your phone is not allowed to install unknown apps from this source”. Tap Settings, switch “Allow from this source” on, and press back. You only need to do this once per browser.

  4. 4

    Choose Install anyway

    Play Protect says it does not recognise the developer, with a message like “Unsafe app blocked” or “App scan recommended”. This is simply because Micup is not in the Play Store, so Google has never scanned it. Choose Install anyway, or More details and then Install anyway.

  5. 5

    Open Micup and allow the microphone

    On the first launch Micup asks for the microphone; without it the app cannot do anything. Allow notifications too, so you can see and stop the live microphone from your notification shade.

Use headphones if you can. Playing your own microphone out of the phone speaker is a feedback loop, so it can start to howl, especially with the reverb effects or with Boost turned up. On headphones none of that happens. Otherwise keep the monitor volume slider low.

What it needs from your phone

Micup asks for the microphone, because that is the whole app, and for notifications, so it can show that the microphone is live while you are in another app. It keeps running in the background so recording does not stop when your screen turns off.

Recordings are saved on the phone itself, in Micup’s own folder, and are removed if you uninstall the app. Micup has no advertising. It only uses the internet when you link it to your RetLabel account (with a 6-digit code from the vocal booth): then you can pick a beat from the RetLabel beat shop and send a take to the vocal booth. Nothing you record leaves your phone unless you send or share it yourself, and you can unlink any time.

Requirements

Android 8.0 (Oreo) or newer, on any phone with a microphone. The download is 5.2 MB and the app takes a little more once installed. Recordings are saved as WAV, roughly 5 MB per minute.

Download Micup for Android