Sonos App for Apple TV 4

  • 31 October 2015
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63 replies

Well, tvOS is based on iOS, and porting apps is quite easy. Sonos should realize that music enjoyment is often a communal experience, sharing with others the artists and albums we appreciate. And that album artwork is something to be enjoyed too. Putting that content on the bigscreen while Sonos handles the music playback is another way to embrace the entirety of the experience.

I, for one, would enjoy that, rather than passing around a smartphone. And I know very many others, with Sonos equipment and AppleTV 4's, who would feel the same.

Who knows what the future holds? Feature requests from customers who use and love these products should be encouraged.


I agree wholeheartedly. A beautiful display of the currently SONOS album art, the upcoming queue, the ability to control the zone, and ability to switch into other zones to manage -- this would be fantastic. Perhaps even more simplistic than the iOS UI.

And indeed, a lot of code can be reused. I'm an iOS/tvOS/watchOS developer, and Apple has done a fantastic job of providing similar APIs for code reuse.

Being able to discuss feature requests is a great thing. It allows us as a community to identify good ideas, and further encourage SONOS to work on it.
Indeed who knows. Yeah, maybe porting is easy, it is however a totally different UI (must be optimized for a remote). Yeah, an ATV4 app could be nice (I have one myself).

One more thing to consider though: the installed base of ATV4s is still very very small, compared to iOS and Android phones. Heck, even there might be even more Windows phones. Sonos seems to strictly follow market share.


True, but it's one of the stronger television platforms out there. It's more thought out, it's more dynamic, and it offers a compelling experience. Wouldn't SONOS want to be a part of that? After all, SONOS is a piece of the home theater equation (especially with the playbar and sub), so why would it not integrate to the television?
There is no reason not to do this other than internal politics (i.e. They don't want to risk loosing Play Bar sales by allowing the speakers connected to the AppleTv to be a output destination)

That's not "internal politics", it is simple economics. Unless Sonos management has some sort of internal struggle between the "make money" and "go out of business" factions?


I disagree here. While initially they might see a lot of increased Apple TV output usage, long term it will simply grow their consumer base. Those of us with the whole home speaker setup realize that their strengths are the independent functioning hardware itself, the speakers! Not the software controller. The software controller UI leaves a lot to be desired, and simplifies the interface from the many audio inputs.

What I mean here is, it would not cannibalize their profits... free users will convert to paid hardware customers as they realize that the ecosystem is fantastic, and add audio to additional rooms, surrounds, etc.

I think it is important for SONOS to maintain an open garden and allow us to have the most flexibility and compatibility. Locking customers out of using the Apple TV as an output is simply shortsighted.
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Indeed who knows. Yeah, maybe porting is easy, it is however a totally different UI (must be optimized for a remote). Yeah, an ATV4 app could be nice (I have one myself).

One more thing to consider though: the installed base of ATV4s is still very very small, compared to iOS and Android phones. Heck, even there might be even more Windows phones. Sonos seems to strictly follow market share.
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Well, tvOS is based on iOS, and porting apps is quite easy. Sonos should realize that music enjoyment is often a communal experience, sharing with others the artists and albums we appreciate. And that album artwork is something to be enjoyed too. Putting that content on the bigscreen while Sonos handles the music playback is another way to embrace the entirety of the experience.

I, for one, would enjoy that, rather than passing around a smartphone. And I know very many others, with Sonos equipment and AppleTV 4's, who would feel the same.

Who knows what the future holds? Feature requests from customers who use and love these products should be encouraged.
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And sometimes people need to stay realistic. Whatever, Sonos probably won't do it anyway, so much ado about nothing.
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Huh? With the Siri Remote, the party host could control the music playback too. Just like the existing iOS app. Only on the bigscreen TV.

Sometimes you've gotta think outside the box.
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Hm, so you just want a display app for parties. Sorry. That certainly is a way too narrow use case for any app creator to consider.
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Two words: for parties.


4 words: give them a tablet.

Two words: terrible idea.

I don't want to give them a tablet, nor do I want them controlling the music. They're my party guests, not a crowd of DJ's. I want a big display (on the TV) that's showing what's playing. So for now I AirPlay the iOS display to an AppleTV. It seems like a natural extension to desire an AppleTV app that could handle this natively and independently.
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Two words: for parties.


4 words: give them a tablet.
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And how is that ANY better than controlling Sonos with fingers on a touch screen while something else is running on the AppleTV

Two words: for parties.
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I don't get this thread!? A Sonos App for Apple TV 4 imho is not really smart and not at all a "no brainer"!

This thread is really proposing an app for the AppleTV, so that a user can control Sonos equipment by controlling the AppleTV with the new Apple Remote? And how is that ANY better than controlling Sonos with fingers on a touch screen while something else is running on the AppleTV (there is no multitasking, you would need to jump out of an app to control Sonos and back again).

Sonos speakers do make sense when attached to the Apple TV (or an optical switch, or the TV) and when Sonos "Autoplay" is set, the system should switch to the optical input and play the ATV sound (for a tv series / film). You should be able to control the volume of the ATV (or TV) sound with the Apple TV remote while doing something in an app. I don't see any need for something else really.
I'd also love to have a controller app on the Apple TV 4. I get that there could be concern about such an app having a "cannibalizing" effect, discouraging people from buying additional Sonos equipment, but I think there are ways around this. The iOS app, for example, searches the local network for Sonos devices before you can even begin to select your music. The Apple TV app could do the same. If you don't have any Sonos devices on the network, the app won't let you select music to stream.
I would love an Sonos Controller Apple TV app !
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+1 for a controller on Apple TV

+1
+1 for a controller on Apple TV
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+1 for apple TV app controller
+1 for apple TV app controller
Yes to a Sonos controller app for Apple TV!
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A native Apple tv4 Sonos controller is a no brainier, and as mentioned above surely the legwork is done with iPhone and iPad apps?
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Hmmm....wonder whether Sonos would have to allow higher resolution artwork though to display on 50-70" screens? Wouldn't that be awesome for a party!
I don't think so... iOS tablets with their retina screens run at a higher resolution (2048x1536, higher for iPad Pro) than a Full HD TV (1920x1080)... so no, they shouldn't need higher resolution artwork. On a 4K TV (which Apple TV 4 doesn't support), then higher res artwork would probably be needed.
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Agreed. Just the controller would be awesome to have on the AppleTV with the actual audio running through your Sonos kit. Hmmm....wonder whether Sonos would have to allow higher resolution artwork though to display on 50-70" screens? Wouldn't that be awesome for a party! Sonos.....the possibilities are endless.
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A controller/remote on the new Apple TV I can see. I'd love a way to show what's playing through my Living Room system on my TV..

I don't think Sonos will ever allow a device other than a Sonos speaker or component to output audio. And I'm cool with it... because hardware is their business.
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It has a remote or you can use your iPhone or iPad to control it or any of the Harmony remotes if properly programmed.
Yes, sure bit it's a small white box that plugs into a TV. How do you control it?