iPhone Audio Formats: What iOS Supports and What It Doesn't

iPhone and iPad have specific audio format support defined by Apple's iOS and Core Audio frameworks. Knowing what plays natively — and what requires conversion — saves a lot of troubleshooting.

Natively Supported on iPhone

iOS natively plays: AAC (M4A), MP3, AIFF, WAV, Apple Lossless (ALAC), CAF (Core Audio Format), and Opus (from iOS 11). These formats play in the Music app, Files app, Voice Memos, and most third-party audio players without any conversion.

Formats iPhone Does NOT Support Natively

OGG Vorbis: no native support on any version of iOS. You need a third-party app (VLC, Infuse, Vinyls) or conversion to play OGG on iPhone. WMA: never supported natively on iOS. FLAC: Apple added native FLAC support in iOS 11 — older iPhones running iOS 10 or earlier cannot play FLAC natively. On modern iPhones (iOS 11+), FLAC plays in the Files app but not in the native Music app — use a third-party player like Vox or Capo.

AAC is the iPhone's Native Compressed Format

AAC inside an M4A container is the format iPhone uses for everything: Voice Memos record in M4A, music purchased from iTunes is M4A, GarageBand exports M4A. If you want guaranteed playback in the native Music app and Files app, convert to M4A.

Converting OGG and WMA for iPhone

Convert OGG to M4A or MP3 using AudioUtils. Convert WMA to M4A or MP3 similarly. Both output formats play natively on iPhone without any additional apps.

For Audiophile Listening on iPhone

iPhone supports ALAC (Apple Lossless) natively in the Music app — this is Apple's version of FLAC and integrates fully with Apple Music and iTunes. If you have a FLAC collection and want it on iPhone with full Music app integration, convert FLAC to ALAC. AudioUtils converts to M4A (AAC) — for ALAC specifically, iTunes on a Mac can convert FLAC to ALAC via the Import Settings (change import format to Apple Lossless).