All the phones at the party become one sound system with AmpMe

The party is on, but there’s a problem: There’s no stereo or Bluetooth speaker for the music.

But a startup out of Montreal has developed an app that allows partygoers to create a DIY sound system. AmpMe is an app that syncs streaming music across the many smartphones at that party to create one powerful sound system. That means iPhones and Android phones can join forces to save the day.

“Music was never meant to be enjoyed by a bunch of friends crowding around a single, maxed-out speaker, but we’ve all done it,” said AmpMe founder Martin-Luc Archambault. “It’s a terrible experience, but sometimes it’s all you have when the party starts.”

AmpMe uses a proprietary audio fingerprinting technology to synchronize the music across the devices and amplify the sound.

Technology companies are trying to make digital music a more shared experience by adding some sort of social component. One company, Geekin Radio, launched in August, with a similar synchronization technology, that allows users around the world to listen to the same music as friends on real time and chat back and forth as the music plays.

AmpMe works by allowing a host to sync streaming music with friends’ device. The host controls the playlist, but for now, that playlist can only come from the SoundCloud music service (other streaming services will eventually come to the app, according to the company).

Once the host hits play on either a phone or tablet, friends are invited to join with a four-digit party code. Syncing begins once a user puts their microphone close to the host’s speaker. If the host happens to be wearing an Apple Watch, they can use it to control the AmpMe playback.

For iOS users, click here for the AmpMe app in iTunes.