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Qualcomm's aptX and aptX HD encoders are finally free to use on Android
These encoders are now open source for device makers to use
Bluetooth audio quality has improved significantly over the last decade or so, somewhat offsetting the mobile industry's frustrating decision to get rid of the headphone jack. High-clarity codecs like Qualcomm’s aptX HD have led the charge on this front, but in order to use the feature, your phone must be able to encode audio in the format in addition to your wireless headphones or earbuds being able to decode it. Thankfully, a recent move by Qualcomm could make aptX codecs more widely accessible.
Snapdragon Sound's new lossless audio won't just sound better, it might stop your Bluetooth buds from cutting out all the time
Qualcomm's certification and the new aptX Lossless hide a pretty good perk
Bluetooth audio is hardly cutting-edge. Bargain bin buds can be had these days for $15 on sale, and folks buy them in droves. But they're not all created equal — different models and different phones support different standards with different qualities. Qualcomm, with its fingers in basically every part of the smartphone pie, decided earlier this year to roll out a new Snapdragon Sound certification: a single badge you could look for that means "this thing does the good audio stuff." And today, the company has announced that Snapdragon Sound will support lossless CD-quality audio, which is all the rage these days now that Apple Music has it. But, even if you don't care about better audio quality, there's actually a tiny, hidden benefit to this change that I'm actually even more excited for.