Unfortunately, I chose to update Sonos to 15.4 last night.
I can no longer play any music ‘on this mobile device’ which is what I use almost daily.
Is this a ‘feature’ where Sonos will no longer allow play from Androids, or a bug???
Best answer by Airgetlam
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+1
Classic apologist comment there - they're removing features but the business is growing spectacularly! How many shares do you own?!
I have rarely had drop outs of any kind using play from this device. It was far more stable than any Bluetooth speaker (Bose, Sony, etc.) I've used.
The "couldn't care less attitude" is the fact that they're removing features that I use. This also inludes search results. New Search - which will eventually replace Classic Search - does not include results for music libraries and suggests that the writing is on the wall for NAS users.
They are slowly stripping away the services that they were promoting when I first bought Sonos.
To which other services are you referring? Incidentally, Sonos never promoted “play from the device”.
You have to question how much longer until they judge that it's not worth supporting NAS? The fact that 'New Search' does not include results for personal music libraries does not bode well and it's only a matter of time until they drop 'Classic Search'
Moving forward, it'll be streaming services only and you'll need to invest in a Era Bluetooth speaker if you want to play your own music. Backwards technology that's nowhere near as reliable or as good as streaming over Wi-Fi.
It is not impossible that Sonos will one day abandon support for NAS drives, bit I doubt it. I suspect it would be harder to take it away than to leave it. As I explained in my previous post, network drive support has been part of Sonos since day 1. Playing from a device was an addition that never fitted well with the Sonos model.
Your comment about “streaming over WiFi” is meaningless. All sources stream over WiFi, (or SonosNet) whether the source is a streaming service, a local drive or “on this device”. The actual differentiator is the reliability of the stream to the router. Here, the most reliable is the wired network drive, but with a decent internet connection the advantage is negligible. By far the least reliable is “playing from the device”, because of the extra wireless step required to get the music to the router.
Some of the apologists are very understanding and tolerant of Sonos' couldn't care less attitude!
What is your evidence that Sonos has a “couldn’t care less attitude”? Please explain how this attitude has not resulted in business failure, rather than the spectacular growth that a=has in fact occurred?
+1
They are slowly stripping away the services that they were promoting when I first bought Sonos. You have to question how much longer until they judge that it's not worth supporting NAS? The fact that 'New Search' does not include results for personal music libraries does not bode well and it's only a matter of time until they drop 'Classic Search'. Moving forward, it'll be streaming services only and you'll need to invest in a Era Bluetooth speaker if you want to play your own music. Backwards technology that's nowhere near as reliable or as good as streaming over Wi-Fi. Some of the apologists are very understanding and tolerant of Sonos' couldn't care less attitude!
'Let us know what you think, we value your contribution '
Clearly not the case with Sonos.
You made your argument calmly and reasonably, and I can understand your anger and frustration at losing a facility you used a lot. But valuing a contribution doesn’t mean you have to do everything suggested by every user, even if that were possible.
I will never buy Sonos products again.
Sadly, you will be the loser here.
FWIW, a bit of history. Playing from the device has never fitted well with Sonos’ system design, in which the app is just a controller, not a music player. It was added as a free upgrade many years after Sonos launched its system. It has always been the least stable way to play music, although presumably you didn’t have problems.
It became impossible to sustain on iOS devices some years ago, and now Sonos has judged that it is not worth trying to continue on Android. I suspect that very few users use it now.
The world has moved on since Sonos added this feature for iOS and android. Airplay has been added to many speakers, Bluetooth is now a feature of some speakers. NAS is a better solution. And of course, streaming now dominates music listening.
So I sympathise with you for the loss of a feature you valued, but I understand why Sonos have dropped it.
'Let us know what you think, we value your contribution '
Clearly not the case with Sonos. Like most others posting under this topic, I received no notification at all that this functionality was to be removed. I do have all my music on a NAS server but do not have it on all the time (none of my electrical is on permanently), so it was convenient to play from a local device. The ability to do so was a selling point for deciding to buy various Sonos speakers.
I won't rant like some others, although I do feel like doing so. I doubt Sonos will take any notice, but like others, I will never buy Sonos products again.
+17
This won’t work on all routers, but for people having those that it does work on it is a great solution. What router do you own?
Play stored music from a £20 USB stick plugged into your router without turning your PC on or buying and configuring an expensive NAS.
This is my solution using a Windows 10 PC and the latest Sonos app on an Android mobile phone in the UK. It is not perfect, but it works for me. When I had finished, the settings automatically updated in the app on my iPad so I can control it from there as well.
I have 2 Sonos One SLs, a Sub mini and a Beam Gen 2. All are wired via ethernet cable to my router, but there is no reason why this should not work via WiFi. I have a BT Smart Hub 2 router, with fibre to the premises, that has a USB port.
I put all my stored music on a 128 GB USB 3.0 stick formatted as NTFS. I tried FAT32 and some of the music would not copy over. The music is stored in folders named for each artist, with each album in a folder named for that album.
Plug the USB stick into the router.
In the Sonos app click the settings icon and choose “System” then “Music Library”, then “Music Library Setup”, then “Add Shared Music Folder”.
In “Add New Share” type the address and name of the USB port. For me it is \\192.168.1.254\usb1 where 192.168.1.254 is the address of the router and usb1 is the name of the port. It takes a few minutes to configure itself, do not click anything until it has finished. If it doesn’t work, try again, you may have mistyped the address. I did, several times.
This is the usual address for BT routers, but the address and the name of the port may be different for other routers. Do not put sensitive information on the USB stick as it can be seen by anyone who has access to your network.
Access the music on the android app by clicking the music icon, which takes you to “Browse”, choose “Music Library”. Choose “Folders” then “\\192.168.1.254\usb1” (or the address you used). This takes you to the named artist folders, with the albums inside each. All the other options in Music Library are pants.
I am an old, old-school music enthusiast, not a techie, so this is all at the extreme limit of my abilities with networking and apps. What help I needed came from Google and experimenting, I do not have the knowledge to help with other configurations and I will never buy another piece of Sonos kit ever again.
+1
There is nothing inaccurate in my post. New Search does not show music stored on my NAS and I'm unable to play music stored on my Android devices. These are facts.
The "solutions" put forward are workarounds, not solutions. I have not invested money in Sonos to use workarounds for now removed features they were promoting when they sold me their speakers.
I get that you're a fanboy, but please do not accuse people who are stating facts of being inaccurate.
The only solution to this is to never buy Sonos again.
The service is deteriorating badly. First there is the New Search which searches everywhere except your NAS or device and this latest downgrade where you can't play music stored on an Android device. One of the solutions provided is to buy the latest Sonos Bluetooth enabled speakers. The reason I invested in Sonos was to ditch inferior Bluetooth playback
How long until the announcement that the function to play music on a NAS is disabled?
Obviously the usual suspects are handing out virtual high-fives and promoting this is as some sort of progression, but this is yet another backwards step and another reason why I'll never spend a penny more on this shoddy outfit.
I’d hardly say that “never buy Sonos again” is a solution. It’s a reaction, but certainly not a solution. In fact, several solutions have been put forward, some of which are free and certainly don’t involve buying more kit or resorting to “inferior Bluetooth playback”.
I get that you’re upset, but at least be accurate in your rant.
+1
The only solution to this is to never buy Sonos again.
The service is deteriorating badly. First there is the New Search which searches everywhere except your NAS or device and this latest downgrade where you can't play music stored on an Android device. One of the solutions provided is to buy the latest Sonos Bluetooth enabled speakers. The reason I invested in Sonos was to ditch inferior Bluetooth playback
How long until the announcement that the function to play music on a NAS is disabled?
Obviously the usual suspects are handing out virtual high-fives and promoting this is as some sort of progression, but this is yet another backwards step and another reason why I'll never spend a penny more on this shoddy outfit.
I’ve found a solution that suits me:
I cast the music that is on my mobile towards my tv( I use poweramp android app) ,the sound comes out my Sonos Beam2
I disable the tv screen
Hope that will help some of you
The Verge and Tom’s Guide provided only 1 week notice - if you read the articles:
If Sonos can show pop-up ads when I start the app on my phone, they certainly could have issued a pop-up warning for Android users 2 months ago to alert them.
Sonos chose not to do so.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/15/23724054/sonos-android-on-this-device-shutting-down
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/sonos-speakers-are-getting-a-surprise-downgrade-for-android-users-heres-3-ways-to-get-around-it
A friend of mine called me and said that SONOS had sent him a warning email at least a couple weeks in advance. Since I don’t use this feature I didn’t receive an email.
I checked my email and I see nothing from Sonos this year.
+20
This update is a rip off.I don’t want to buy à NAS or pay a streaming service to listen to my music on my mobile or a" free" streaming service with ads.
I’ve called Sonos (I’m in France) today, they’ve sent me an email to which I need to reply and complain.
The woman on the Phone said many people are complaining and Sonos pay attention to the comments,so I suggest you, guys should do the same if you wanna hope Sonos to do something for us
I’m very angry,and will let it know on the social networks if they don’t solve this
Hope my english is good enough
I hope that you are also complaining to Google, who actually introduced the restriction! 🤦♂️
This update is a rip off.I don’t want to buy à NAS or pay a streaming service to listen to my music on my mobile or a" free" streaming service with ads.
I’ve called Sonos (I’m in France) today, they’ve sent me an email to which I need to reply and complain.
The woman on the Phone said many people are complaining and Sonos pay attention to the comments,so I suggest you, guys should do the same if you wanna hope Sonos to do something for us
I’m very angry,and will let it know on the social networks if they don’t solve this
Hope my english is good enough
A friend of mine called me and said that SONOS had sent him a warning email at least a couple weeks in advance. Since I don’t use this feature I didn’t receive an email.
Or you could upload up to 100,000 tracks to a free YouTube account and spend nothing to play your music on Sonos.
This is a total load of crap.
I have lost the ability to play my music over my very expensive Sonos speakers.
My router will not recognize a USB device to play the content.
I will probable need to pay €300 to €500 for a NAS if that works.
The answer is forget Sonas find a different solution.
I sense sarcasm…. ;)
If this is following the same change as to what happened with iOS, you can thank Google for it. Apple shut down that method of connection a while ago.
No
Thank you jgatie
It looks like I need to buy a NAS.
Costly move to update the Sonos App.
Most routers will share a drive off a USB. Any drive. Use a cheap thumb drive, under $25 if you don't want the expense of a dedicated NAS.
If this is following the same change as to what happened with iOS, you can thank Google for it. Apple shut down that method of connection a while ago.
Thank you jgatie
It looks like I need to buy a NAS.
Costly move to update the Sonos App.
Please explain how. I am here to learn. I use my Android phone some, but mainly my Android HiFi music player.
You can add your music library to Sonos, housing it on a PC or an NAS. You can add an NAS to your system for cheap by adding an inexpensive thumb drive to the USB port on most routers. Or you can upload 100,000 tracks of your music to a free YouTube Music account, then add that account to Sonos.
I have my complete music collection on my PC and my Android phone in FLAC and MP3 formats.
Up to now I have been playing them from my phone using “play from this device” over my Sonos speaker setup.
Could someone please tell me how I can not play my music over the Sonos speakers.
For example will it work if I move my collection to a NAS or do I need media server software?
You can add your library from a PC or an NAS. No media software needed.
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