How to Put Karaoke Tracks on a Tablet (No App Store Needed)

You don't need to buy a karaoke app. You don't need to pay a monthly subscription. Your tablet already has everything it needs to run your backing tracks like a proper player — full screen, no browser bar, one tap to play. You just have to tell it to. Here's how, in plain English.

The trick nobody tells you about

Your tablet's browser can install a website as if it were an app. Not a bookmark — a real app, with its own icon on your home screen, that opens full screen with no address bar. It's called a PWA (a progressive web app), and it's been built into iPads and Android tablets for years. Yourtracks is a PWA. That means you install it once and it behaves like any other app, without ever going near an app store.

iPad — add to Home Screen (Safari)

1. Open Safari and go to yourtracks.net.
2. Tap the Share button — the square with the arrow pointing up, at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down and tap "Add to Home Screen".
4. Tap Add.

That's it. There's now a Yourtracks icon on your home screen. Tap it and the app opens full screen, no browser chrome, just like a native app.

Android — install app (Chrome)

1. Open Chrome and go to yourtracks.net.
2. Tap the three-dot menu at the top right.
3. Tap "Install app" (or "Add to Home screen" on some devices).
4. Confirm.

Same result — an icon on your home screen that opens full screen.

What's a PWA, in one paragraph

A PWA is a website that behaves like an app. It installs to your home screen, opens full screen, works offline, and doesn't need an app store. The advantage is simple: no Apple review process, no Google Play fees, no updates to manage. When the developer improves it, you get the new version automatically the next time you open it. For a backing-track player, that means new features arrive without you doing anything.

Moving your MP3 and CDG files across

If you've been running karaoke with MP3 + CDG file pairs on a laptop, moving them to a tablet is straightforward. Copy the files onto the tablet — via a USB cable, cloud drive, or email — then open Yourtracks and tap the + button to import them. If your files are CDG (the old karaoke graphics format), you'll need to convert them to MP4 first so the lyrics video plays in the browser; there's a full guide for that in the app's Help section. Once imported, every track lives on the tablet, ready to play with one tap.

Why this beats paying for app-store players

Most karaoke apps in the app stores charge a subscription, show ads, or limit how many tracks you can load. They also lock you into their library — you can only play what they sell you. A PWA like Yourtracks plays your files, the ones you already own, with no subscription and no limits. You bring the tracks; the app just plays them properly.