Netflix update improves sound from your Android phone’s crappy speakers

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Netflix has detailed an upgrade to its Android app that should reduce buffering and make audio sound better and easier to hear over background noise. This was made possible by the adoption of the xHE-AAC codec, which, according to a Netflix blog post, is expected to “improve intelligibility in noisy environments, accommodate varying cellular connections, and upgrade to studio quality.” . Netflix’s use of the codec was announced earlier this month and is available on devices running Android 9 and above.

xHE-AAC uses metadata to solve a few audio issues that people encounter when watching shows on mobile devices. Netflix explains that this is often a problem with loud background noise making content difficult to hear, combined with weak, thin phone speakers that sound bad when you try to turn up the volume. Inconsistent dialogue levels also mean you have to constantly turn the volume up and down between shows.

Netflix claims that xHE-AAC offers better dynamic range control, a technology that reduces the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of a show. Quiet content is made louder so you can hear it over background noise, and the volume of loud content is reduced to avoid clipping, all in theory without sacrificing audio quality. Netflix also says the volume of dialogue is kept consistent between shows.

Before: The volume of the dialogue levels (the black bars) are inconsistent and a wide dynamic range means content becomes silent and potentially hard to hear.
Image: Netflix

After: the dynamic range is reduced, so the sound cannot become too weak or too strong and the dialogue volume normalized
Image: Netflix

Finally, the codec also supports “transparent bit rate switching”, which means it should perform best in environments with inconsistent internet speeds. Netflix added similar adaptive bitrate functionality to its TV apps in 2019.

Netflix says user tests have shown the benefits of the codec. The volume changes between content are “significantly reduced” and viewers abandon the use of their phone’s built-in speakers 7% less often with the new codec. Netflix hopes to bring the codec to other platforms that support it. For those following, iPhones have supported xHE-AAC since the release of iOS 13 in 2019.

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