To open a .wav file on your mobile device, you typically use an application capable of playing audio. A .wav file is a common uncompressed audio format (Waveform Audio File Format) storing high-quality sound directly from CDs or studio recordings. Unlike compressed formats like MP3, .wav files preserve all original audio data, resulting in larger file sizes. Your phone may have a built-in media player that recognizes .wav files, or you might need to download a dedicated audio player app from your device's app store.

Most modern mobile operating systems include basic audio playback capabilities. For instance, Android users can often play .wav files directly through the 'Files' app or the Google Play Music successor, YouTube Music. iOS users might use the 'Files' app, the 'Voice Memos' app for recordings saved as .wav, or import files into dedicated music apps. Third-party apps like VLC Media Player (available on both Android and iOS), MediaMonkey, or Oto Music offer robust support for various audio formats, including .wav.

The key advantage of .wav files is their lossless, high-fidelity audio quality, crucial for professional audio editing and music production workflows on mobile. However, their large size consumes significant storage and bandwidth, making them impractical for casual music listening or sharing. Compatibility issues can occasionally arise if a specific mobile player lacks .wav codec support, though this is increasingly rare. Future developments may see wider adoption of newer lossless formats like FLAC in mobile environments.