Latest Apple Music Beta for Android Adds Spatial and Lossless Audio

When Apple last week launched Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio for Apple Music, it said that the new features would be "coming soon" to Android. Now, the company has released a new ‌Apple Music‌ beta for the rival mobile platform that brings support for both features.

apple music album cover art
As per the changelog for the release, spotted by 9to5Google:

In this update, Apple Music adds spatial listening on compatible devices, with thousands of tracks in Dolby Atmos available at launch.

Other updates include Lossless Audio, a new way to experience un-compromised sound, with bit-for-bit accuracy.

In the app's Settings menu, there is a new "Audio Quality" sub-menu to enable Lossless Audio, and users can choose between the different tiers where applicable.

The beta release for ‌Apple Music‌ 3.6 for Android also includes automatic crossfade and enhancements to the library in-line search function.

Note that lossless audio files preserve every detail of the original file, and enabling the feature will consume significantly more data. For example, 10GB of space should store around 3,000 songs at high quality, but 1,000 songs with lossless, and just 200 songs with hi-res lossless.

Getting access to this version requires users signing up for the beta channel in the Play Store, but the fact that they are included suggests the wider ‌Apple Music‌ user base on Android won't have to wait much longer to get these features, too.

Apple has not specified which Android devices might be compatible with Spatial Audio, but a wide range of Apple devices can access the feature including the ‌iPhone‌ 7 and later, all iPad Pro models, the 6th-generation ‌iPad‌ or later, the iPad Air 3 and later, the fifth-generation iPad mini and later, the 2018 or later MacBook Pro/MacBook Air, and the 2020 or later iMac.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...

Top Rated Comments

Marco Klobas Avatar
57 months ago

hehe the DAC of this Adapter is garbage compared to a decently build-in headphone jack.
It's so bad that not even Apple dares to write down detailed specs on their site.

Also have fun charging and listening at the same time, and if you own the Airpods Max the situation becomes even worse.

Apple Lossless will be a miserable experience on Apples own platform, except if you own a supported older iPhone with headphone jack (<=iPhone7), and a decent third party headphone. A bummer for a company glorifying their own ecosystem.
I was merely replying to someone who asked how to listen on Apple portable devices not carrying a headphone jack, confirming that with that accessory is possible.

Whether the adapter's DAC is good or bad, I'll leave that to the end user. I don't think the built in DAC in iPhones/iPads with regular audio jack is "Hi-Fi-grade" in comparison. Maybe a little bit better. I don't know because I can't make a comparison – I never used that adapter.

Apple lossless is definitely enjoyable even in hi-res with a proper setup (via USB DAC). You just have to know how to do it.

Admittedly, the whole Apple Music lossless launch was confusing, even for those who are into this kind of stuff, let alone for the regular users.

AirPlay is messy right now. Hope Apple will fix it.

It's so confusing that I thought to prepare a cheat sheet:

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wildkraut Avatar
57 months ago
That's a laughing stock, Android devices with headphone jack will fully support Apple HiFi, while Apples own devices won't. ?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marco Klobas Avatar
57 months ago

Yeah? How without a headphone jack?
Over this crooked lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter?
Yes, through the Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter ('https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35-mm-headphone-jack-adapter') it's possible to get lossless audio (up to 48 kHz).
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
57 months ago

hehe the DAC of this Adapter is garbage compared to a decently build-in headphone jack.
It's so bad that not even Apple dares to write down detailed specs on their site.


Also have fun charging and listening at the same time, and if you own the Airpods Max the situation becomes even worse.

Apple Lossless will be a miserable experience on Apples own platform, except if you own a supported older iPhone with headphone jack (<=iPhone7), and a decent third party headphone. A bummer for a company glorifying their own ecosystem.
This is just not correct. Like, empirically not correct.




And you are assuming that the main listening of Apple Lossless will be done of mobile devices with headphones. I doubt it. In fact, you have to manually enable lossless in settings, and I don´t think the vast majority of people will care that much about audio.


Those who do, I think they will listening to Apple Music lossless on a dedicated hi-fi stereo system connected to an Apple TV 4K, or in a setup like this:


Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seanmills1020 Avatar
57 months ago
Excellent. Apple should continue to offer apps on Android.

Many Android users will never convert to the iPhone or iPad, so why pass up an opportunity to collect revenue?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
57 months ago

That's a laughing stock, Android devices with headphone jack will fully support Apple HiFi, while Apples own devices won't. ?
Huh?. Apple devices do support it. Apple bluetooth headphones won´t, because it´s just not possible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)