SongHub Karaoke: The Offline Karaoke App, Explained

SongHub is the karaoke app that took over Filipino group chats: a free, offline karaoke player for Android with a song library people describe as roughly 48,000 songs. No streaming, no subscription, no internet needed once it's set up. Here's what it actually is, how it works, and where the official version lives — because there are a lot of fakes out there.

What SongHub is

SongHub is an open karaoke interface for Android phones, tablets, and Android TV, built by an independent developer (the GitHub project jpdcs/SongHub-Android). It's a "hybrid" player: it doesn't come with songs baked in and it doesn't stream them. You load your own song collection into it — or grab the community's prebuilt song pack — and it turns your device into a full videoke machine with lyrics on screen, song search, key and tempo control, and scoring.

The headline feature is offline playback. Download the song pack once, and the whole thing runs without internet. That's why it's huge in the Philippines: province trips, brownouts, beach outings — the karaoke doesn't care.

The 48,000-song library

The number everyone quotes — around 48,332 songs in the prebuilt pack — is a community-assembled collection, not something the developer sells. The app's installer guide walks you through it: install the app, grant storage permission, then use the "Download Prebuilt Songs" option in settings. The pack is big (several gigabytes), so do it on Wi-Fi and give it time.

You can also build your own library. SongHub reads MIDI and karaoke files, supports custom SoundFonts for better instrument sound, and lets you add background videos and photo slideshows behind the lyrics. It's the tinkerer's karaoke app — the defaults are fine, but the ceiling is high.

What it runs on

• Android phones and tablets — the main experience, touch-friendly song search and queueing.
• Android TV / Google TV — plug into the big screen and it's a living-room videoke setup.
• Android 6.0 and up — even older hand-me-down phones can run it.

There's also a separate SongHub Remote app for your phone: connect it to the main device over the same Wi-Fi and you get a remote control for queueing songs and adjusting key, tempo, and volume without leaving the couch.

Where to get the real SongHub

This matters more than anything else on this page. SongHub is NOT on the Google Play Store. The developer publishes it through GitHub releases — that's the only official source. Every release is listed with its version number, so you can see exactly what you're installing (the current line is in the 2.42.x / 3.x range as of late 2026).

Do not download SongHub from APK mirror sites, random Google Drive links, or YouTube description boxes. The developer warns against unofficial copies: they can be outdated, modified, or bundled with junk. If the file didn't come from the official GitHub releases page, treat it as untrusted. There's also a Windows PC edition (SongHub-Karaoke-PC) from the same developer — separate project, same honest source.

SongHub vs. the songbook apps

Don't confuse SongHub with the songbook apps like MegaPro Songbook or Songhub Songbook. Those are digital song lists — they tell you what number to type into a separate karaoke machine. SongHub is the machine. It plays the songs itself. Different job, different app.

Setting it up, step by step

The setup takes a few minutes and you only do the heavy part once. First, grab the APK from the developer's GitHub releases page and install it (your phone will ask you to allow installs from that file — that's normal for apps outside the Play Store). Open SongHub and grant storage permission; it needs that to read your song folder.

Next, the songs. The easiest path is the prebuilt pack: in settings, choose the download option and let it pull the ~48,000-song library. It's several gigabytes, so use Wi-Fi and be patient. Once it's in, everything works offline — searching, queueing, lyrics, scoring.

Going the custom route? Create a SongHub folder on your internal storage or SD card and drop in your MIDI and karaoke files. The app picks them up and indexes them. Add a SoundFont file if you want the instruments to sound richer than the default synth — the difference on a decent speaker is night and day.

Why people stick with it

Three things keep SongHub on people's phones. First, it's genuinely offline — no account, no login, no "connect to continue" screen. Second, it's light: it runs fine on old phones and cheap Android TV boxes that choke on heavier apps. Third, it's honest software — open releases, version numbers you can check, no mystery updates. In a scene full of re-uploaded APKs of unknown origin, that counts for a lot.

Quick answers

Is SongHub free? Yes. No subscription, no in-app purchases in the official build.

Does it need internet? Only to download the app and the song pack. Playback is fully offline.

How many songs? The community prebuilt pack is around 48,000 songs. Your own collection can be anything.

Is it on the Play Store? No. Official distribution is through the developer's GitHub releases page.

Can I use my phone as a remote? Yes — the separate SongHub Remote app connects over Wi-Fi for queueing and playback control.

Will it run on my old phone? If it runs Android 6 or newer, yes.

Where do the 48,000 songs come from? A community-assembled pack, downloaded through the app's settings. It's not sold or streamed by the developer.

Can I add my own songs? Yes — drop MIDI/karaoke files into the SongHub folder and the app indexes them. Custom SoundFonts improve instrument sound.

Is there an iPhone version? No. SongHub is Android (plus a Windows PC edition from the same developer). iOS users are out of luck for now.

SongHub earned its reputation the hard way: it works offline, it costs nothing, and it doesn't phone home. Just make sure you're getting it from the source.