Apple’s spatial audio has arrived on Netflix’s app for compatible iPhones and iPads: it already works with iOS and iPadOS 14, here’s what it’s all about.
At the close of post from the arrival of spatial audio on Apple Music, Apple’s music streaming platform, Netflix has confirmed the start of work to implement the recent Apple-branded novelty on iPhones and iPads with iOS 14 and later versions.
Spatial audio is a new feature that came with iOS and iPadOS 14, which found its first application last June on Apple Music, so being quite recent it’s possible that someone missed the transition and is not clear what it consists of. But it’s good to say right away that it requires a specific hardware, but the list is quite extensive and includes, among others, iPhone 7 and following, iPad from the sixth generation, Mini from the fifth, and so on. Il bacino dei dispositivi Apple capaci di riprodurre contenuti con audio spaziale quindi è abbastanza ampio, ma quelli attraverso i quali ascoltarli è ridotta ad AirPods Pro ed AirPods Max, cioè le cuffie più costose del listino Apple.
L’audio spaziale sull’app di Netflix
La notizia dell’implementazione sull’app di Netflix dell’audio spaziale di Apple è circolata rapidamente, spinta da alcuni colleghi e dalle segnalazioni degli utenti su Reddit, che segnalano in un buon numero la disponibilità su iPhone e collegati ad AirPods Pro e Max. Giungono pure segnalazioni dell’arrivo su Apple TV 4K, ma una volta avviato il rollout da parte di Netflix è solamente questione di tempo affinché arrivi su tutte le piattaforme supportate.
L’arrivo della versione stabile di iOS e iPadOS 15 – attualmente in beta – porterà pure un pulsante virtuale nel Centro di Controllo dei dispositivi con la Mela che permetterà di simulare l’audio spaziale anche su quei contenuti che non lo prevedono in modo nativo. Updating the Netflix app to the version released about two days ago, movies that don’t support spatial audio played back with compatible headphones and an iPhone running iOS 14 show no difference, while those who are already experiencing iOS 15 in beta can have not only spatial audio on Netflix thanks to the aforementioned conversion.
Apple Spatial Audio, what it is about
Apple’s spatial audio is a technology very similar to other better known ones like Sony 360 Reality Audio and especially Dolby Atmos. In other words, it’s an evolution of surround sound, the kind you can enjoy with a 5.1 or 7.1 home theater system. Apple’s spatial audio simulates a system of this type while having, in fact, two speakers, i.e. those of the headphones, and does so through directional audio filters.
The real difference of Apple’s spatial audio compared to existing and even more popular technologies such as Dolby Atmos is that it takes into account other factors such as position, tilt and rotation of the listener’s head to make it even more realistic. To do so, it uses sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes that are integrated into the headphones, and that’s why the devices with which to reproduce content with spatial audio – at least currently – are not many, but limited to two.