The young ‘uns might not remember the days of capturing wild tracks as they raced along the airwaves, but those with a little more mileage on them will definitely appreciate this hi-tech version of the classic music grab.

Way back in the day when Google was just a sound your body made if you had an upset tummy, a popular practice was to have a cassette recorder loaded and ready, just waiting for that song to play. As soon as it came on the radio – usually with a DJ blathering all over the first couple of minutes of it – you’d stab the ‘record’ button and have that sweet melody added to your collection for all time… or until the tape broke. AirRecord: The AirPlay Recorder works along the same lines.

Just play something in iTunes on your Mac or PC and then select “dT Recorder” from the AirPlay device list to have the streamed audio tracks saved on your Android device. It’s a real-time process so there’s no cheating. A 4-minute song will take 4 minutes to record. Also, the app will only save a track if a complete recording was made so a 3 1/2-minute recording of a 4-minute song results in nothing saved.

The basic AirPlay Recorder app is free on Google Play but there is an optional in-app premium upgrade for higher quality recordings.