What just happened? Surround-sound audio systems might be one of the best ways to enjoy your favorite TV shows, music, or video games, but if you're strapped for cash, you can still enjoy immersive audio in other ways – through Netflix's newly-added support for Apple's Spatial Audio feature, for example.
In case you haven't heard of this tech before, Spatial Audio is a feature available to iPad and iPhone users running iOS 14. Using an AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, a user can experience what Apple calls a "movie theater" listening experience; with 3D audio coming from "virtually anywhere" in real space.
Even if you move around, you're still covered. Spatial Audio can track the movement of your head as well as that of your device and use the data to "remap the sound field" on the fly. With Spatial Audio, the sound could appear to be coming from behind you, above you, or just about anywhere else.
With that little recap out of the way, Netflix officially confirmed this news to 9to5Mac yesterday following a few posts by Reddit users who spotted the feature's activation. It hasn't gotten a ton of attention yet, so it's hard to say how well everything is working at the moment, but if you try it out, let us know how it goes.
If you have all of the necessary gear to take advantage of Netflix's Spatial Audio support, just open up the app, select a show or movie that you'd like to experience it with, and head to your device's Control Center. Then, long-press the volume controller and enable the Spatial Audio setting.
Spatial Audio support will not necessarily be available for all iOS-based Netflix users right away. The rollout has only just begun, so be sure to check back periodically over the next few days if you don't have access yet.