Color OS could soon allow you to place multiple sound sources within 3D spatial audio – and this includes other operating systems that use Color OS as a base.
This feature, potentially called Holo Audio, was spotted within Oxygen OS. Holo Audio would allow users to place multiple audio sources simultaneously in spatial audio, adjusting their positioning with the 3D listening space.
It’s worth noting that Oxygen OS uses Color OS as its base, meaning Holo Audio could soon make its way to Oppo, Realme, and OnePlus smartphones. Oppo uses Color OS to power its smartphones, while Realme and OnePlus smartphones have operating systems that use Color OS as their base, such as Oxygen OS.
A reliable tipster and code specialist spotted strings related to the new feature. An APK teardown (APK being an Android file format) is useful for predicting features that may be delivered in a future release, based on in-progress code. However, it’s worth noting that potential future features found in teardowns don’t always make it to release.
According to the strings of code, Holo Audio lets users play two audio sources from different spatial locations, allowing them to choose where to place the audio sources in the 3D audio space. It looks like it could also feature an Auto-mode, ideal for those who don’t want the hassle of having to decide the manual selection of locations.
The strings also mention that Holo Audio does not support game audio; however, there are strings that suggest you could be able to choose apps for audiobooks, VolP calls, music, navigation, and video playback.
Holo Audio also looks likely to only apply to audio playing through headphones, not the phone’s speaker.
Spatial audio playback is already a possibility with a range of different products from different brands, including Apple’s AirPods and Airpod Max headphones when paired with an iPhone. Sony also features spatial audio capabilities in their range of Xperia mobile phones, notably the 10 V, 1V, and PRO-I models.
We found that in practice, spatial audio is immersive and effective, although we noted that it performed better for general entertainment, such as films and gaming, than it did for music.
We’ve reached out to Oppo for comment so we will add more information as and when it arrives.
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I love Spatial Audio but I'm not spending $3500 to get it on the Apple Vision Pro