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
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral), HomePod Mini (Caution)
Related Forum: HomePod, HomeKit, CarPlay, Home & Auto Technology

Top Rated Comments

Pro Apple Silicon Avatar
Pro Apple Silicon
42 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
kurtfoster
42 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
Kylo83
42 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
Cribsheet22
42 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)
aibo82 Avatar
aibo82
42 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)
chabig Avatar
chabig
42 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)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Read Full Article
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Read Full Article • 64 comments
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Read Full Article • 237 comments
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Read Full Article • 28 comments
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
Read Full Article
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
Read Full Article • 220 comments
mail categories macos

Apple's Redesigned Mail App is Expanding to the Mac — Here's When

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:02 am PST by
Apple plans to expand the iPhone's redesigned Mail app to the Mac starting with macOS 15.4, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The first macOS 15.4 beta should be made available in the coming weeks, and Apple has previously suggested that the iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 series of software updates will be released to the public in April. The revamped Mail app debuted on all...
Read Full Article • 89 comments
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Read Full Article • 57 comments