iOS 14.6 Beta Code Hints At Apple Music HiFi

Back in February, Spotify announced that it will have a HiFi subscription tier later in the year. Apple may have its own HiFi tier for its own music subscription service as a response, according to code found in iOS 14.6 beta.

9to5Mac reports that the Apple Music app in the first beta of iOS 14.6 contains code that mentions Dolby Atmos, Dolby Audio and Lossless. Though this seems to be found only on the first beta of the mobile operating system. The outlet says that the codes were not found in the internal files of iOS 14.5 or iOS 014.6 beta 2.

The Apple Music app doesn’t currently have support for Dolby Atmos or Dolby Audio. And as far as lossless support goes, it only applies to the company’s own ALAC lossless format. Music streaming from the app only comes in 256kbps AAC. This may change with Apple Music HiFi, which is reportedly slated for an announcement in the coming weeks.

The announcement being one thing, but it remains to be seen if Apple can roll out Music HiFi before Spotify. Prior reports say that the iPhone maker may also not be charging extra for the higher music fidelity. If that is true, then the company will have really beaten Spotify to the punch.

Spotify iOS Code Reveals Car Thing Hardware

Hardware may be the last thing that you’d associate with Spotify. But it looks like the company has something planned, called simply the Car Thing. And it’s quite difficult to describe what it actually is.

MacRumors reports that images of the Car Thing were found in the code of Spotify on iOS. On one hand, it looks similar to what was previously found in the US FCC. But on the other, it looks quite different to what the company showed back in 2019.

All things considered, it’s not quite known what it actually does. And all we have to go by is its description in the FCC filing. And it reads “voice controlled accessory for phone/Spotify App with supporting display and buttons”. The filing also points out that the Car Thing is Bluetooth-enabled, can communicate with in-car units, and is powered by a 12V outlet, which likely refers to the cigarette lighter socket.

The iOS code also indicates that the Spotify Car Thing has a number of different mounts. These possibly reflect the common in-car phone mounts that let you attach your phone to either the top of the dashboard or an air conditioner vent.

It remains to be seen if Spotify will release this funky piece of hardware. If it does, it will probably need a different name. Or it can just throw a curve ball and go with the Car Thing.