How to play ALAC (Apple Lossless) on Android

Lossless music from iTunes and Apple Music on Mac — .m4a files

ALAC (Apple Lossless) is Apple’s lossless music format: iTunes uses it for CD imports and many Mac music libraries are stored in it. The files look like ordinary .m4a, but not every Android phone can play them. The free XanderFiles app plays ALAC with its own decoder — with a playlist, an equalizer and background playback.

Get it on Google Play

Free · no ads · no sign-up · offline

What is this file

Apple Lossless compresses sound without loss, like FLAC: decoding gives an exact copy of the disc. iTunes and the Music app on Mac save CDs as ALAC when lossless import is chosen.

ALAC uses the same .m4a extension as ordinary AAC music, so you cannot tell them apart by the file name. Not every Android phone has an ALAC decoder; XanderFiles brings its own and plays these files on any phone.

How to open it

Install XanderFiles from Google Play. It is free, with no ads and no sign-up.
Tap the .m4a file wherever you have it: in Downloads, on a memory card or in a music folder copied from your computer.
When Android asks which app to use, choose XanderFiles. Or the other way round: open XanderFiles, tap “Open file” and pick the file in Downloads or Google Drive.
The audio player opens and the music starts, with the title, artist and cover art from the tags.

What you can do

Play 16- and 24-bit ALAC, including hi-res
Ordinary AAC music (.m4a) and .m4b audiobooks in the same player
Equalizer, volume leveling, crossfeed and headphone profiles
Background playback: controls in the notification, on the lock screen and on headphones
Bit-perfect output to an external USB DAC (Android 14 and newer, if the DAC and phone support the mode)

Good to know

DRM-protected music does not play: old iTunes Store purchases (.m4p files) and tracks downloaded in Apple Music.
The app only plays files: it cannot convert ALAC to FLAC or MP3.

Questions

What is the difference between ALAC and AAC?

Both come in .m4a files, but AAC is lossy and ALAC is lossless, so ALAC files are several times bigger. XanderFiles plays both.

Do I need an iPhone or iTunes?

No. Copy the files to your Android phone — from a computer, a USB stick or the cloud — and open them in XanderFiles.

Is it free?

Yes. No ads, no sign-up, and it works offline.

Didn’t find an answer? Write to us

Other formats

Get it on Google Play

Free · no ads · no sign-up · offline