Apple Music listeners on Android can now take advantage of the Dolby Atmos spatial audio and lossless-quality streaming features that debuted on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS over a month ago. The latest update of the app for Android adds support for both features.
Lossless should be available pretty universally on Android devices. Apple includes all the same warnings as on iOS about it consuming “significantly more data.” Like on Apple’s own platforms, Apple Music advises that external hardware like a DAC is required if you want to step up to hi-res lossless. (I’m curious whether this still applies on LG’s audiophile-friendly phones, which have an excellent built-in DAC, but haven’t had the chance to test yet.)
Spatial audio support on the Android side seems a more limited, however. Although the feature works with any headphones — just like on iPhone — Apple notes that your phone itself needs to support Dolby Atmos to enable spatial audio. On my Pixel 4A 5G, there’s no option for “Dolby Atmos” in the audio section of Apple Music’s settings. Other colleagues with more flagship-tier devices have a toggle for Atmos there. So I guess that’s the easiest way to tell whether your phone is capable of spatial audio playback.
The beta version of Apple Music for Android actually tipped off that lossless and hi-res audio were coming to the service even before Apple made an official announcement. But now both are available on the regular Apple Music app for Android.
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