android · free · open source
~ Tilde for Android
Write your own tags. Your phone is one, too.
Tilde puts your business card on your phone. Hold your phone to someone else’s and they get your contact card, your website or your WhatsApp. Or they scan the code on your screen. Their phone doesn’t need an app. Tilde also writes NFC stickers, so a card or a tag on your keys can share for you.
version 1.2.0 · 2.0 MB · October 7, 2026 · android 8 or newer
Free, with no ads. Support Tilde →
3 steps to install. Android’s Play Protect may warn: choose Install anyway. The steps ↓
the concept
- Tap or scan. A tap works on iPhones and Android phones with NFC. Any phone’s camera reads the code.
- One card or several. A card for work, one for an event, one with just your socials. Swipe to switch.
- Free and open source, with no account, no sign-up and no ads. Tilde has no internet permission, so it can’t send anything anywhere: your details stay on your phone until you share them.
- Android only for now; your iPhone reads every tag.
in the app
Choose what a tap shares
The Cards tab
Write a sticker
Met
- Share: what the other person sees. Swipe the option card to change what a tap shares.
- Cards: your cards, as people see them. Edit each one, and write it to a sticker.
- Met: every phone you tapped, with the time and the card. Add a note so you remember who it was.
- Receive: read someone else’s NFC business card, sticker or phone.
make your first card
It takes about a minute, on three short screens.
- Download Tilde on an Android phone (Android 8.0 or newer), with the steps under “How to get it”, open it and tap Get started.
- Make your card: your name, and your job title if you like. The preview shows what people see.
- How people reach you: your email, your numbers and your link (your website, portfolio or LinkedIn), all optional. Your email and numbers go on your contact card, which you share only when you choose to. The link is what a tap or a scan opens; leave it empty and a tap shares your contact card instead.
- Create my card. Your card is ready: hold your phone to a friend’s, or write it to a sticker.
First run, screen 1
Make your card
How people reach you
Your card is ready
Templates are coming in the next app update: Family, Work, Socials, Lost & found and Guest Wi-Fi, each a card for one use, with a short note on what to fill in.
write your own fob
Tilde writes any card or tag. Put your link, your contact card, your WhatsApp, your guest Wi-Fi or your number on an NFC sticker, inside a Tilde Card or a fob, and it shares even when your phone stays in your pocket.
- On the Cards tab, tap Write a sticker for the card shown.
- Choose what the sticker opens.
- Hold the sticker to the back of your phone until it buzzes.
Which stickers: round NFC stickers, 25 mm: an NTAG216 holds a full contact card; an NTAG215 is fine for a link. Search “NTAG216 25mm round NFC sticker”.
- Write a sticker
Written and protected
your phone is a fob
Your phone works like the tags on this page. With Tilde open, hold your Android phone to someone else’s: theirs reads yours the way it reads an NFC sticker or a contactless business card. It shares with phones; it doesn’t open doors or pay.
- Android: with NFC on, a tap offers to save your contact card, or opens your link.
- iPhone (XS or newer, unlocked): a tap opens your link. To save your contact card, an iPhone scans your code.
- Only when you mean it. Tilde answers taps only while it’s on screen, so nothing shares from your pocket. You can switch on sharing with Tilde closed (phone unlocked) in Settings → Sharing.
- Met keeps count. Each tap is listed under Met with the time, the card and what you shared. It never records who tapped: you add that in a note.
Sent
what people use it for
- At an event: a card with the event’s name, so the visits to your website show where they came from.
- Friends over: share your guest Wi-Fi with a tap on Android. iPhones scan the Wi-Fi code on your Share screen.
- Your number, ready to call: on Android, share your number for a call or a new text, without saving a contact.
- A tag for every job: call my family, lost item, book a meeting and more, on the Use cases page.
add-ons, if you like
Tilde works on its own. If you have a 3D printer and want something to hand out too:
- The Tilde Card: a business card you print yourself, with a code on the front and a sticker inside. See Cards.
- Fobs: coins and tags for your keys, each with an icon. See Fobs.
- Home & desk: a Wi-Fi coaster, stands, and notes for the fridge. See Home & desk.
how to get it
- Android: download Tilde for Android, the APK from GitHub releases (
taptilde.com/app), and install it in about a minute: no developer mode; Android asks twice to confirm. - iPhone: Android only for now; your iPhone reads every tag.
install in a minute
- 01
Tap download for android on your Android phone. If your browser warns about the file, tap Download anyway.
- 02
Open the file. Android asks to let your browser install apps: tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source, and go back.
- 03
Tap Install. If Google Play Protect (Android’s built-in app check) doesn’t recognize the developer, choose Install anyway: Tilde isn’t in the Play Store yet.
No account, no developer mode. Every release is built from the public code and signed with the same key. Full install guide →
The APK’s SHA-256 (1.2.0):58674b5b8d012e930a371eb625ee9addf1bedd92f7065af534f74c3ee096c833
The signing certificate’s SHA-256 (package com.tbutman.tilde):84:5F:25:41:BD:70:77:34:EC:97:76:23:90:BE:B1:0B:9D:0A:5C:64:AF:0D:B4:27:A6:94:99:86:73:A0:38:D9
more about the appwhat it shares, cards, how it works, privacy, questions
one tap, the right details
Swipe the option card at the bottom of the Share screen to change what the next tap shares, depending on who you’re talking to, or tap it to see every option. Codes for your contact card, WhatsApp and Wi-Fi wait until you tap Show code, so nobody nearby can scan your number unasked.
Contact card
Your name, title, company, phone numbers, email, website and social links, all at once and ready to save to their contacts. It’s the standard format every phone’s contacts app understands, and you choose which details each card’s contact card leaves off.
A link
Your website, LinkedIn, GitHub, Instagram, X, Facebook, MakerWorld or any link you like, as many as you want, each with its own display text if you like. Links to your own site can carry the name of the event you’re at, and it can clear itself at the end of the day.
WhatsApp
Opens a chat with you, with a short greeting already typed so they can say hello in one tap.
Wi-Fi
Joins your guest network or your phone’s hotspot without anyone reading out a password. Fill either one from its QR code instead of typing.
a card for every room
Keep a card for work, one for personal life and one for a side project or an event, each with its own name, photo, links, color and event. Swipe your card on the Share screen to switch before you tap, and set them all up on the Cards tab. Only you see the labels.
Put your code on your home screen with the Tilde QR code widget, for sharing by scan in a second. It shows your ~/handle and what the code shares.
how it works
- 01
Fill in your card
Name, job title, company, email, phone and links, plus a photo if you like. It all stays on your phone.
- 02
Hold the phones together
Back to back for a second or two. Their phone doesn’t need any app: it reads yours the way it reads a contactless card or sticker. Or they scan the code on your screen.
- 03
Remember who you met
Every tap lands in your Met list, day by day, with the time and the event. When someone taps their Tilde to yours, their contact card lands there too, even with Tilde closed. Add a note while it’s fresh (Tilde can ask after each tap), export the list, or have old entries delete themselves after 3, 6 or 12 months.
free, and yours
- accounts, sign-ups or subscriptions
- 0
- internet access: it can’t send your details anywhere
- 0
- open-source license: read, change and share the code
- MIT
No ads, no analytics and no cloud backup. Your cards, photos and Met list stay on your phone until you share them. Choose what each card gives away: leave your phone number off an event card, for example. Delete all data removes everything in one tap, as uninstalling would.
the tilde card (optional)
Tilde works on its own, but if you have a 3D printer there’s a free Tilde Card to go with it. A QR code on the front opens your website, and an optional NFC sticker inside lets people tap it too.
Type in your name, links and colors, choose a back (a terminal window, a plain one or none), and print it on a multi-color printer. By default it prints in two pieces with no pause, and the sticker goes between them; a one-piece build pauses halfway to put it in. Tilde can write your link or your whole contact card onto its NFC sticker, and lock it if you want it never to change.
Coming soon: customize it in your browser on MakerWorld.
questions
Does the other person need Tilde?
No. Their phone reads yours the way it reads a contactless card or sticker, and anyone can scan the QR code with their camera.
Does it work with iPhones?
Yes. iPhones read Tilde with a tap, like any NFC sticker. If you share your contact card, a tapping iPhone opens a page that shows it, with a Save contact button; that needs an internet connection. Scanning the code on your screen saves the contact without one.
Why only Android?
Android lets apps make the phone act like a contactless card; iPhones don’t allow it. They can still read Tilde, though.
Which languages is it in?
English and European Portuguese. It follows your phone’s language, or choose in Settings → Language, from the gear on the Cards tab.
Do I have to open Tilde to share?
By default, yes: Tilde only answers taps while it’s on screen, so nothing goes out from your pocket. Switch on Settings → Sharing → Answer taps when Tilde is closed (from the gear on the Cards tab) and it answers whenever your phone is unlocked, never from the lock screen. If another app on your phone also answers taps (X does), Android asks which one to use each time, then needs a second tap, so opening Tilde first is quicker.
What if I change phones?
Save a backup to a file (Settings → Backup and restore, from the gear on the Cards tab), move it to your new phone however you like, and restore it there. Tilde has no cloud and no account, so the file is yours; it isn’t encrypted, so keep it somewhere private.
Is it really free?
Yes. No price, no paid tier, no account and no ads. The code is public under the MIT license, so anyone can check what it does.
What happens to my details?
They stay on your phone. Tilde has no internet permission, no account and no analytics, and nothing leaves your phone until you share it. Read the privacy page →
How do I get help?
Email [email protected] with a question, a bug or an idea, or open an issue on GitHub.
How do I install it without the Play Store?
No developer mode needed: follow the three steps under install in a minute on this page, or the full install guide. For automatic updates, the free Obtainium app can check for new versions for you (how).
~ Tilde is free and open source.
the short address to share: taptilde.com
see more
- What a tag can do: Use cases
- Print a card: Cards
- Coins and tags for your keys: Fobs
- Privacy: how Tilde handles your data