KIDS SWIPE A CARD AND MUSIC PLAYS — A SCREEN-FREE RASPBERRY PI JUKEBOX
A three-year-old places a card on a wooden box and an album plays — no screen, no Spotify algorithm, no Wi-Fi required.
AudioHome
- difficulty
- ●●●○○
- time
- a weekend-plus
- license
- MIT
- repo
- repo ACTIVE1,761 stars
●●●○○ · a weekend-plus · MIT · 1,761 stars · repo ACTIVE
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Electronic parts — full list with part numbers in the repo BOM
- Dev board / microcontroller — runs the project firmware
Partner
COMPAREE VERDICT
Phoniebox is software that turns a Raspberry Pi into an RFID-controlled music player. A child places a card on the reader and an album, playlist or audiobook starts. No touchscreen, no app store, no recommendation engine — the parent assigns content to each card through a web interface, and after that the box works offline. The software is mature, well-documented, and the community is active. The catch is that you are building the hardware yourself: there is no case design, no wiring diagram that matches every combination of speaker and button and reader. You pick a USB or SPI RFID reader, a USB speaker or a HAT with an amp, arcade buttons or GPIO, and then you make it fit in a box. That flexibility is exactly why people build it, but it also means the first one takes longer than a weekend. The software install is scripted and reliable. The hardware troubleshooting — a button that does not register, a reader that needs a kernel module, a speaker that buzzes on a weak power supply — is where the time goes. If you have soldered GPIO pins and assembled a Pi project before, this is a good next step. If this is your first, budget an extra evening for the wiring.
IN THE REPO
NOT IN THE REPO
- —MIT licence, permits commercial use.
- —Full Python software stack with web interface for card assignment and volume control.
- —Installation scripts for Raspberry Pi OS included, active community support.
- —Bill of materials lists reader, speaker, buttons, power supply — no pre-made case design.
- —Documentation covers software setup thoroughly, hardware assembly is builder's choice.
- —No PCB, no 3D print files — this is a software project that you wire to off-the-shelf modules.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
Partner · KickstarterBluHub reads and burns Blu-ray/DVD/CD, adds USB-C, USB-A, SD/TF and 10 Gbps data — plug and play, grand-piano finish.
Videos
Community build walkthrough, hardware choices and wiring shown.
Gallery
Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the installation docs (Start with the README, then the docs folder — hardware compatibility list is there.)
- 2.Pick your RFID reader(RC522 is cheapest and most common, PN532 is more reliable with NFC tags — both are supported, wiring differs.)
- 3.Decide on audio output(USB speaker is simplest, audio HAT with amp sounds better and avoids Pi's noisy onboard audio.)
- 4.Run the one-line installer(SSH to the Pi, run the installer script, answer the prompts — it handles dependencies and config.)
Resources
Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.
Partner · KickstarterBluHub reads and burns Blu-ray/DVD/CD, adds USB-C, USB-A, SD/TF and 10 Gbps data — plug and play, grand-piano finish.
KNOWN ISSUES
- The Pi 4 needs a good power supply — 3A USB-C official adapter or equivalent, otherwise audio stutters or the reader drops out under load.
- Not all RFID readers ship with the antenna soldered — if you order a bare module you will need to solder the coil yourself before it reads anything.
- The web interface is not exposed to the internet by default — you access it from a device on the same network, plan for that or read the docs on reverse proxies.
- GPIO buttons need pull-up or pull-down resistors if the script does not enable the internal ones — a floating pin registers phantom presses.
- If using a USB sound card or speaker, the Pi may enumerate it as card 1 instead of card 0 — the config file needs the correct ALSA device or nothing plays.
- The wooden case in most build photos is custom — there is no universal plan, you are making that part up or adapting someone else's design to your hardware.
Can I use NFC tags instead of RFID cards?
Yes if you use a PN532 reader — RC522 is 13.56 MHz RFID only, PN532 does both RFID and NFC.
Does it work with Spotify or streaming services?
No — it plays local files or internet radio streams you configure, Spotify integration is not part of the project.
How do I assign albums to cards?
Through the web interface — you upload audio files or point to a folder, then swipe a card and assign it. The card UID is stored in a database.
Will a Raspberry Pi Zero work?
The docs say Pi 3 or 4 — Zero is slower and the audio processing can stutter, plus you need a USB hub for reader and speaker. Not recommended.
Community builds
No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.
Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
1,700 stars and the software is solid — the variable is the case and the hardware you pick. What speaker and reader combination did you settle on, and did it work first try?
MiczFlor and contributors
MiczFlor started Phoniebox to give his children a music player they could operate independently, without a screen. The project grew into a community-maintained platform with hardware flexibility and active forum support.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM21d ago
Practical notes from our verification: the repository is actively maintained with the last push in August 2026, the official site at phoniebox.de hosts extended docs and a forum, and the community build videos show a wide range of hardware — USB vs HAT audio, different RFID readers, GPIO vs arcade buttons. The biggest variable is the case: there is no standard design, every builder makes their own or adapts someone else's, and that is where most of the extra time goes. The software installer is well-tested and the forum is responsive. One surprise: the project has been running since 2016 and the install process is simpler now than in the early writeups from 2018-2019.