Spotify leaks suggest lossless audio is almost ready

From The Verge: After years of waiting for Spotify to release the lossless audio tier it promised, some leaked UI elements suggest the project is alive and kicking, if not (dare I say) possibly close to release.

Spotify’s current bitrate tops out at 320kbps, but that could soon change if screenshots taken from version 1.2.36 of Spotify by Redditor OhItsTom are accurate. They show what users could expect from the lossless feature, including a device compatibility checker and lossless streaming quality of up to 1,411kbps, and it could go even higher.

Another section mentions lossless quality of up to 2,117kbps can be achieved, which could consume 15.9MB of data per minute. Listening support of up to 24-bit/44.1kHz may also be available for “limited songs” via the FLAC audio format, something that’s also previously been referenced in Spotify build code samples.

The screenshots also show a compatibility checker that tells users if their device, connection type, and bandwidth can support lossless audio. This is presented alongside some advisory blurbs that suggest downloading music in lossless quality for the best offline listening experience and warn users that most Bluetooth devices “don’t fully support lossless sound.” Instead, users are prompted to use wired devices or listen wirelessly via Spotify’s Connect feature.

View: Full Article