Alongside the iOS 15.1 beta, Apple has also introduced a HomePod 15.1 beta that brings Lossless and Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio support to the HomePod and the HomePod mini.
The HomePod beta software is invite only and is not provided to developers for testing purposes, but 9to5Mac was able to confirm that Lossless and Spatial Audio support are included in the beta.
Apple added Dolby Atmos with Spatial Audio and Lossless support to iOS and Mac devices in May, but promised that the feature would be coming to the HomePod and HomePod mini at a later time.
Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos can be enabled through the Home app. Open up Home Settings, tap on your profile, and then under Media, tap on Apple Music. From there, toggle on Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos. Note that these options appear in the iOS 15.1 beta, but the HomePod 15.1 beta seems to be needed to actually use the features on the HomePod.
If all goes well, these features should launch with the HomePod 15.1 software that is set to be released alongside iOS 15.1. Since the iOS 15.1 was just provided to developers today, we likely have several weeks of testing to go.
Top Rated Comments
All are superb producing music and taking Siri commands- I have zero complaints with any of them. Hat-tip to Tim Cook for developing them!
Siri has greatly improved since it was introduced. It can’t match some of the abilities of Google Assistant just due to the more privacy focused system, however voice recognition itself has been better on Apple devices for me recently. I have Google Home and Home Pods in my household.