Earlier this month, our colleagues at 9to5Mac reported that Apple Music would be gaining “HiFi” streaming options, possibly with iOS 14.6. Today, we find that the Apple Music app for Android is also working toward lossless audio streaming.
About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.
Lossless audio for Apple Music
As it stands, the Apple Music app offers only two quality options: one for higher quality and one for reduced data usage. These options are available as a simple toggle, generally allowing you to use less data when streaming while off Wi-Fi. As spotted in the iOS 14.6 beta, Apple Music is set to gain Hi-Fi streaming options in the near future.
With Apple Music 3.6.0 Beta, rolling out now via the Google Play Store, we’ve found similar signs of high-quality audio streaming and downloading options coming to Apple Music for Android. As you’d expect, Apple includes a prominent warning of how much data and storage high-quality audio uses.
Lossless audio files preserve every detail of the original file. Turning this on will consume significantly more data.
Lossless audio files will use significantly more space on your device. 10 GB of space could store approximately: – 3000 songs at high quality – 1000 songs with lossless – 200 songs with hi-res lossless
Lossless streaming will consume significantly more data. A 3-minute song will be approximately: – 1.5 MB with high efficiency- 6 MB with high quality at 256 kbps- 36 MB with lossless at 24-bit/48 kHz- 145 MB with hi-res lossless at 24-bit/192 kHzSupport varies and depends on song availability, network conditions, and connected speaker or headphone capability.
Notably, where our colleagues at 9to5Mac saw references to things like “Dolby Atmos” and “Dolby Audio,” the Android app only mentions lossless audio, with no signs of Dolby integration. More specifically, Apple Music for Android is set to offer two varieties of high-fidelity audio streaming/downloading, “Lossless” and “High-Res Lossless.”
The biggest difference between the two options is that High-res Lossless will offer (up to) 192kHz audio versus the 48kHz offered in standard Lossless. Both formats will use Apple’s lossless ALAC codec for music, versus the usual lossy AAC codec that Apple Music normally uses to compress music.
Lossless
ALAC up to 24-bit/48 kHz
High-Res Lossless
ALAC up to 24-bit/192 kHz
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