Hints in the first beta of Android 13 suggest that Google will soon be rolling out a feature to enable spatial audio on Pixel 6s.
Introduced to great fanfare last year on iPhone, Spatial Audio technology enables compatible headphones to deliver a more immersive sound experience, putting you at the center of the song you’re listening to. We now learn that Google has the firm intention of launching a similar feature on its Pixel 6. In any case, this is what we can deduce from the content of certain files discovered by Mishaal Rahman (former editor-in-chief of the specialized site XDA Developers) in the first beta of Android 13.
These clues refer for the moment to a novelty dedicated only to the Pixel 6 Pro. This novelty seems already implemented in the beta, but has not yet been activated by Google, explains GSMArena. It should nevertheless find its way into the public version of Android 13, expected later this year.
Soon the best sound on your Pixel 6?
Having not yet been activated, this audio feature remains quite mysterious for the moment. The latter will logically rely on software settings to offer a better listening experience with certain headphones and headsets (we think for example of the Pixel Buds). It is unknown at this stage if it will be deployed on the Pixel 6 “classic” in addition to the Pixel 6 Pro. Likewise, it’s hard to say whether Google will also choose to add it to the other smartphones in the Pixel family.
https://t.co/ef7OBDPx17 in /vendor/lib/soundfx pic.twitter.com/AJftGzxtWU
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) April 26, 2022
Anyway, this novelty would allow Google to return to the audio race against Apple. In recent years, the Apple brand has greatly beefed up its offer in this area, both in terms of hardware (with the AirPods Pro and Max, in particular) and in terms of software, with the arrival of the Spatial Audio functionality and Lossless audio. As a reminder, and contrary to Apple’s habits, lossless audio is available at no additional cost on Apple Music.
A novelty expected since last January
However, these innovations are not a real surprise. At the beginning of January, Google had already announced new features to come on Android regarding the management of headphones and earphones. “Spatial audio on headphones will make you feel surrounded by music by adapting the sound to your head movements and positioning the sound in the space around you”then indicated Google.
The firm then specified that the arrival of spatial audio on “compatible headphones and earphones” would arrive in the next few months. We can logically expect a more detailed announcement during the Google I/O conference which will open its doors next week.
On the occasion of CES in Las Vegas, Google announced many new features to come for the management of headphones and earphones on Android, with the Fast Pair connection on PCs and televisions, audio…
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