Skip to Content

How to Enable Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio and Apple Lossless on HomePod

by

Apple's ‌HomePod‌ (first- and second-generation) and HomePod mini feature support for Apple Music's Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio formats. This article explains how to enable them.

homepod lossless spatial audio
Apple's spatial audio feature uses Dolby Atmos to create a richer, more immersive soundstage when listening to songs in the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog that support spatial audio. With Dolby Atmos enabled, the subjective experience is that musical notes are coming from all around you. ‌Meanwhile, ‌Apple Music‌‌ Lossless provides listeners with higher quality audio in a lossless file format, which is great news for audiophiles and purists.

To enable Dolby Atmos and Apple Lossless on your ‌HomePod‌, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Home app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the ellipsis button (three dots encircled) in the top-right of the screen.

  3. Select Home Settings from the dropdown menu.
  4. Under "People," select your named owner profile.
    home

  5. Under "Media," select Apple Music.
  6. Scroll down and toggle the switches beside Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio to the green ON position.
    Home

Now that you've enabled Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio, you'll be able to enjoy a more immersive audio experience, and if you've enabled Apple Lossless, higher quality music tracks. You can check which songs support the audio effects by looking for the respective logos in the ‌Apple Music‌ app interface.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini

Top Rated Comments

57 months ago
Is it just me or has the Home Pod received more new updates and features after it has been discontinued than it did while it was still available?
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kurtfoster Avatar
57 months ago

Why isn't Dolby Atmos on by default? Is there any penalty to having it on, or other reason to leave it off?
Some of us don’t like the sound of Dolby Atmos. To me it sounds tinny and underwater and has a sound reminiscent to 1960s fake stereo sound. Honestly, it gives me a headache and I’m glad that they don’t turn it on by default.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
57 months ago
Lossless all the way, special audio is a gimmick that ruins songs and makes them sound like demo tracks
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cribsheet22 Avatar
57 months ago
The HomePod pair with 15.1 sounds way too good for Apple to have discontinued it cold. There must be something coming to fill the gaping void above the mini or Apple is bananas.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
57 months ago
They should of sold the original at a loss at about £99, got them into peoples homes and increased the price year on year with new more capable ones. They needed to have pushed the original one into peoples homes to show what people are actually missing sound quality wise regardless of Siri.

I think the HomePod mini is a bad approach because Siri is nowhere near good enough and neither is the sound….
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
57 months ago

Why isn't Dolby Atmos on by default? Is there any penalty to having it on, or other reason to leave it off?
Mine was on without me doing anything.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Multicolored Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature

Apple Accidentally Leaks 'MacBook Neo'

Tuesday March 3, 2026 7:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have prematurely revealed the name of its rumored lower-cost MacBook model, which is expected to be announced this Wednesday. A regulatory document for a "MacBook Neo" (Model A3404) has appeared on Apple's website. Unfortunately, there are no further details or images available yet. While the PDF file does not contain the "MacBook Neo" name, it briefly appeared in a link...
MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

Apple Announces $599 'MacBook Neo' With A18 Pro Chip

Wednesday March 4, 2026 6:15 am PST by
Apple today announced the "MacBook Neo," an all-new kind of low-cost Mac featuring the A18 Pro chip for $599. The MacBook Neo is the first Mac to be powered by an iPhone chip; the A18 Pro debuted in 2024's iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple says it is up to 50% faster for everyday tasks than the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5, up to 3x faster for on-device AI workloads,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Two New Products

Monday March 2, 2026 7:49 am PST by
Apple today introduced two new devices, including the iPhone 17e and an updated iPad Air. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic accessories, Apple's second-generation C1X modem for faster 5G, and a doubled 256GB of base storage. In the U.S., the iPhone 17e starts at $599, just like the ...