Enabling Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio in Android Mobile media apps

Jul 29, 2025
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Enabling-Dolby-Atmos-in-Android-Mobile-media-apps

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MCW, 8/13/2025 10:56 PM

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MCW, 8/13/2025 11:03 PM

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Introduction

This information is intended for developers who want to enable a media player application to play back Dolby Audio or Dolby Atmos content, or play back Dolby Audio or Dolby Atmos content via web browsers that work on an Android mobile device.

To enabling Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos support in a media player application, the application can leverage decoding libraries built into the device (if the device is licensed) or use the Dolby Audio for Applications (DAA) library.

For Android-based mobile devices and applications, Dolby Audio playback can be enabled using the Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby AC-4 formats, and Dolby Atmos playback can be enabled using the Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos or Dolby AC-4 formats. A product that integrates Dolby Audio for Android X3 (DAX3) technology supports decoding and post-processing of Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos content.

On a Dolby licensed device that integrates DAX3 technology, the Implementation of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos and Dolby AC-4 decoders are approved by Dolby. The Implementation of the DAX3 technology includes APIs for media player applications to detect and use the device-integrated decoders. The application can use these decoders via:

Media3 ExoPlayer media player framework
Android MediaPlayer API
Android MediaCodec API

It also enables the device-installed web browsers to play back Dolby Atmos content by leveraging the device decoding capabilities directly.

We recommend using the Media3 ExoPlayer media player framework to support Dolby Atmos in the media player application on a Dolby-enabled Android mobile device. If you use a media framework other than Media3 ExoPlayer, you can refer to ExoPlayer library example code for a list of modifications to enable a custom media framework to support Dolby Atmos playback.

An application that integrates the Dolby Audio for Applications SDK can play back Dolby content using the Dolby technologies integrated on a Dolby-enabled device, or use the Dolby Audio for Applications decoder on a device without integrated Dolby technologies. Any application should detect and use Dolby decoders integrated on a Dolby-enabled device when available.

Implementation

To enable a media player application to play back Dolby Atmos content on a Dolby-enabled Android mobile device, the media player application can leverage the integrated Dolby decoder by either integrating a media framework such as Media3 ExoPlayer, or by using Android MediaPlayer or MediaCodec APIs.

For standard playback applications, follow the standard Android media application guidelines. Refer to the media app architecture overview at https://developer.android.com.

Determining the Dolby decoding capabilities of the device

An application must implement code to determine that the device can support Dolby technologies and leverage the decoders integrated on the device before decoding Dolby content. The decoding capability of a device can be checked by the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types:

If the MIME type audio/eac3 is supported on the device, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus decoding is supported, including the ability to decode Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos content (DD+ JOC).
If the MIME type audio/ac4 is supported on the device, Dolby AC-4 decoding is supported.

The technique for checking the MIME type on Android uses the MediaInfoClass, which is available only in Android 4.1 or later.

Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos decoder capability detection

Use the following example code to check whether the device supports a decoder for Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos (DD+ JOC) content.import android.media.MediaCodec; import android.media.MediaCodecList; import android.media.MediaCodecInfo; ... // Check whether there is an in-device Dolby Digital Plus decoder. { for (int i=0; i<MediaCodecList.getCodecCount(); i++){ MediaCodecInfo info = MediaCodecList.getCodecInfoAt(i); if (info.isEncoder()) { continue; } for (String type: info.getSupportedTypes()) { if(type.equals("audio/eac3")) { // There is an in-device Dolby Digital Plus decoder. // The Dolby Digital Plus decoder is installed, // which has the decoding capabilities for Dolby Digital Plus // and Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos (DD+ JOC) content. ... } } } }

Dolby AC-4 decoder capability detection

Use the following example code to check whether the device supports a decoder for Dolby AC-4 content.

import android.media.MediaCodec; import android.media.MediaCodecList; import android.media.MediaCodecInfo; ... // Check whether there is an on-device Dolby AC-4 decoder. { for (int i=0; i<MediaCodecList.getCodecCount(); i++) { MediaCodecInfo info = MediaCodecList.getCodecInfoAt(i); if (info.isEncoder()) { continue; } for (String type: info.getSupportedTypes()) { if(type.equals("audio/ac4")) { // There is an on-device Dolby AC-4 decoder which supports Dolby AC-4 decoding // (levels 0-3), including AC-4 IMS content. ... // Check whether the on-device Dolby AC-4 decoder supports Dolby AC-4 decoding // up to level 4. MediaCodecInfo.CodecCapabilities capabilities = info.getCapabilitiesForType(type); MediaCodecInfo.CodecProfileLevel[] profileLevels = capabilities.profileLevels; if(profileLevels.length > 0) { for (MediaCodecInfo.CodecProfileLevel profileLevel : profileLevels) { if(profileLevel.profile == MediaCodecInfo.CodecProfileLevel.AC4Profile21 && profileLevel.level >= MediaCodecInfo.CodecProfileLevel.AC4Level4) { // The on-device Dolby AC-4 decoder supports decoding of Dolby AC-4 (levels 0-4) ... } } else { MediaCodecInfo.AudioCapabilities audioCapabilities = capabilities.getAudioCapabilities(); if (audioCapabilities.getMaxInputChannelCount() == 21) { // The on-device Dolby AC-4 decoder supports decoding of Dolby AC-4 (levels 0-4) ... } } } } } }

Note: When either of the Dolby decoding capabilities are detected, the application uses the on-device decoder for decoding corresponding Dolby content. Otherwise, the application can use the Dolby Audio for Applications library for decoding Dolby content.

Media player framework

An application that integrates a media player framework, such as the Google open-source Media3 ExoPlayer, can play back Dolby Atmos content from streaming formats, such as Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH).

We recommend using Media3 ExoPlayer media player framework to play back Dolby Atmos content in an application.

Media3 ExoPlayer is an open-source multimedia framework that is distributed separately from the Android system development kit. Its standard audio and video components are built using the Android application programming interface (API). By integrating Media3 ExoPlayer, an application can support adaptive streaming playbacks, such as DASH, that are not available in MediaPlayer. Media3 ExoPlayer also enables application functionality such as demultiplexing, decoding,and audio/video synchronization.

NOTE: If your application uses ExoPlayer version 2.x, we recommend updating it to at least version 2.10 or later for playing back Dolby Audio or Dolby Atmos on the device that integrates Dolby Audio X3 technology. However, keep in mind that Media3 ExoPlayer is continuously evolving along with Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos advancements, so plan an update to the latest version of Media3 to ensure the best user experience for your app. If you’re curious about how to do it, here’s the ExoPlayer Media3 migration guide from Google.

Using ExoPlayer

We recommend using the latest version of Media3 ExoPlayer media player framework to create an application that supports Dolby Atmos with streaming,such as DASH and HLS.

Check whether the device supports MIME audio/eac3 or audio/ac4 (see above)
Add the ExoPlayer library to the application; refer to Getting Started at https://developer.android.com/media/media3/exoplayer

Using custom media player framework

If you use a different media framework for an application to support Dolby Atmos with streaming, such as DASH and HLS, the code modifications made in Media3 ExoPlayer can be used as a reference.

Check whether the device supports MIME audio/eac3 or audio/ac4 (see above)
Customize the media player framework by referring example codes listed in ExoPlayer library example code.

Android MediaPlayer and MediaCodec API

The Android MediaPlayer and MediaCodec APIs provide access to the device-integrated Dolby decoding capabilities to a media player.

The MediaPlayer class is provided to access built-in Android MediaPlayer services. It provides the basic functionality for a bare-bones player that supports the most common audio/video formats and data sources. It can create a basic media player that allows you to play, pause, fast forward, and rewind file-based or streaming media.

The MediaCodec class provides lower-level access to hardware and software platform codecs on a device. It can query the supported codecs on a device.

Using Android MediaPlayer API

Use the MediaPlayer API to create a basic media player that supports play back, pause, fast forward, and rewind for file-based and streamed Dolby Atmos content by leveraging device-integrated Dolby decoding capabilities.

Check whether the device supports MIME audio/eac3 or audio/ac4 (see above)
Use the MediaPlayer API by referring to https://developer.android.com/media/platform/mediaplayer.

Using Android MediaCodec API

Use the Android MediaCodec API to leverage the device-integrated Dolby decoding capabilities. This API adds audio playback with hardware-level decoding control in the application.

Check whether the device supports MIME audio/eac3 or audio/ac4 (see above).
Use the MediaCodec API by referring to https://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaCodec.

Important notice when targeting Android 12L (API level 32) and later.

As of Android 12L (API level 32), Spatializer APIs are available to support the sound spatialization on the device. To fully utilize what Dolby Atmos offers, including personalized rendering and head tracking, multimedia applications need to detect the Spatializer availability and its actual status, set the proper value for KEY_MAX_OUTPUT_CHANNEL_COUNT and extend the output channel width.

This functionality requires extra implementation steps for proper Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital Plus with JOC (Dolby Atmos) playback:

Check whether the spatialization feature is supported on the device and if it's currently enabled.
Configure the MediaFormat.KEY_MAX_OUTPUT_CHANNEL_COUNT to a value greater than or equal to 12 (for example, 99), so that the number of channels output by the decoder is equal to the original channel count defined in the stream.

NOTE: The application must also configure its audio output to handle 12 channels PCM output.

See the code snippet below for an example implementation.

Spatializer spatializer = AudioManager.getSpatializer(); MediaCodec codec = MediaCodec.createByCodecName(name); if(spatializer.getImmersiveAudioLevel() != SPATIALIZER_IMMERSIVE_LEVEL_NONE) { if(spatializer.isAvailable() && spatilizer.isEnabled && spatializer.canBeSpatialized(audioAttributes, audioFormat)) { //The device can output spatialized audio for given audio track ... //Configure the maximum number of channels format.setInteger(MediaFormat.KEY_MAX_OUTPUT_CHANNEL_COUNT, 99); ... } } ... codec.configure(format, ...); codec.start();

Once the status of the spatializer is determined and the maximum number of channels is configured, it's necessary to monitor if the spatializer status changes during playback. This can happen if the end user modifies the spatializer effect settings. In such cases, playback should be adjusted to reflect those changes. Your application can monitor changes to the spatializer state using Spatializer. OnSpatializerStateChangedListener().

See Spatial Audio and Delivering an immersive sound experience with Spatial Audio articles to learn more about how spatialization works on Android.