How Spatial Audio will roll out to Android phones
Spatial Audio uses software algorithms to simulate a multi-speaker sound system on smaller audio devices, such as earphones. This will be seemingly done by Android’s Spatializer API, which will be introduced for all users of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 series of phones this month itself. According to reports, Google had tried out the feature in its Android 13 beta update in September last year, but the same is only rolling out now.
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The obvious roadblock to the adoption of this cutting edge audio feature is, of course, the lack of enough headphones that support it. According to reports, this support will begin via a firmware update issued to the Google Pixel Buds Pro that will be rolled out soon, and bring out both Spatial Audio and Head Tracking to create a simulated multi-speaker sound experience on the headphones.
In the long run, it remains to be seen how many phones and headphones adopt Spatial Audio support, which will be introduced as a default Android feature in the long run. More details on how this feature will work across the Android ecosystem should surface over the coming months.