I am having the same problem and it drives me crazy as I pause a lot. 

Same here.  Pausing for more than a few seconds cuts out the Airplay and it disconnects.  I use the overcast app for my podcasts and I do pause.  A lot.  Same for not finding Airplay when I walk into the room after a while.  I have to switch my iPhone to Airplane mode and back, to find the speakers again.  This is bad, Sonos, and needs an update, pronto.  Especially since the problem is quite replicable. 

Just out of sheer curiosity, as another user, who likes to use AirPlay with my Sonos devices every now and then,  I have been trying to reproduce this matter by AirPlaying an album from the Apple Music app on my old iPad Air running iOS v12.4.3 and from my iPhone XR running iOS v13.2.2 to my Sonos One (Hallway) speaker ...and I can repeatedly play/pause … wait a few moments and resume the music just fine, with no problems at all.

Anyhow, can I just very kindly ask how long people here are pausing their music for, so I can try a few more tests and report back.

So far I’ve only paused the music for 15s, 30s, & 60s  and that’s not been a problem on either of my mentioned controller/devices.

Happy to test this some more, if you can provide further details of the pause-length.

T.I.A.

I chose the Apple Music App by the way, as I currently understand that definitely uses AirPlay v2, I haven’t tried any Apps that may still be using the old AirPlay v1 that have still not been updated by their developers… just for your added info.

I’m pretty sure there’s a timeout in the AirPlay 2 protocol, but I’ve not done the research that you have….yet.

Edit:

I tried it with Apple Music, and the problem is still the same as with Overcast, i.e. I pause, screen on iPhone turns off.  Come back a few minutes later, start the music (Apple Music) or Podcast (Overcast), and it takes too long to start to start playing. 

Issue is the same on my old iPhone 7 and with the new iPhone 11. Doesn’t matter whether it is an Apple native app like Apple Music or a 3rd party iOS app like Overcast. 

Turned off WiFi on the Beam in the Sonos app, and made it hardwired, and the issue is still there.

The issue is that after I pause, the music/podcast might pick up within a second, or it might go on playing on “silent”, i.e. the progress bar keeps moving but there is no audio, for as long as a minute, before audio kicks in again.  All that audio that was on silent is not buffered and played, but is simply lost. 

Frustrating!

I have not been able to figure this problem out either. HOWEVER I do have a fix. I have been trying to figure out what the issue was and why it might happen. Sitting here watching a podcast and then it hit me. What if your computer told your Sonos something was always playing but no audio was actually playing.  Boom - play this video when you connect and minimize the tab. 

Enjoy only connecting to sonos once….now if only we can have a default to Sonos audio feature

It is officially a Sonos issue now.  I just rejigged my home theater with a Yamaha receiver.  Airplay on it works absolutely flawlessly.  Like it should.  Sonos just hasn’t implemented Airplay right and has a ways to go. 

Same issue here with a Sonos Beam+Sub. Pausing the audio stream interrupts the AirPlay 2 connection somehow and i have to deselect/reselect Sonos as AirPlay target to reestablish the connection every time. Very annoying. Streaming source doesn’t seem to matter much, but in my case it’s mostly Audible on an iPhone.

Same issue. Using Airplay to stream Netflix/Vimeo from Mac to Sonos. After resuming video there is a considerable initial delay before sound resumes. If video was paused for more than a minute, sound does not come back at all. 
 

Thank you eldiets1 for the workaround! Sonos needs to solve this one fast.

Same here, I just got myself 2 Symfonisks to use as computer speakers (and also I was curious what the Sonos hype is all about) and the implementation of AirPlay 2 is shocking. For comparison, my 5 year old AV receiver with AirPlay works like a dream. 

What is the point of having a Sonos system, if I may ask?

this dirty fix works like a charm

It is so incredibly silly, that this is required for a high-end sound tech.

It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it. I’m glad I’ve gone for the cheap option first as my original plan was to buy 2+grand worth of hardware to replace my AV setup after hearing a demo in store. Thank you Ikea!

I have the new SONOS Port and it also tells Airplay to timeout during pause for any length… This thread is 6 months old, why has SONOS admin not piped in yet?  This is a big annoyance to have to change output device away and back again to reset each time I hit pause.  Why cant pause have a timeout delay or not even disconnect?

I am having the same issue.  Thinking I will be returning my Sonos One and going with the HomePod instead.

Obviously Apple don’t document their protocol (because Apple), but the best unofficial spec I have found is at http://nto.github.io/AirPlay.html although it does not mention timeouts specifically.

The problem affects me as well. Every time I try to play music from my Macbook Pro (16”, 2019) via Airplay to the SONOS speakers (pair of 2 SONOS One’s) it will work however, as soon as I pause the music (or youtube video) and I try to resume later it would not play any sound. It really sucks. If SONOS does not fix this I definitely would not recommend the brand to anyone who wants some good airplay ready speakers. 

I have a set of ones gen 2 setup in stereo in my entertainment center playing airplay over my Apple TV. This problem is a deal breaker for me. Anytime I do much as switch apps the audio disconnects. Very very annoying to have to go back into the settings each time to re-initiate a link. Set of white 2nd gen Ones, like new, for sale if Sonos doesn’t respond to the issue soon. 

I found some temporary relief. Ill have to monitor the fix to see if its coincidental or not. 

My apple TV and Sonos speakers were on separate networks (2.4GHz and 5GHz). I moved the Apple TV over to the 2.4GHz and its been working so far.... hopefully I have actually discovered something and not called home too soon. This does not explain why it wouldn't work on a wired connection, so i am skeptical. 

I am 100% sure that does not fix the issue. My MacBook and Sonos are both in 2.4GHz. I also tried to connect the speakers via ethernet cable to may modem and the issue still persists. This is definitely some Airplay issue. If Sonos does not fix them soon I will sell them and am out of their system.

Perhaps see if anything in this link may help.,, hope you get it sorted.

https://appletoolbox.com/apple-help-tips-and-tricks-support-index/airplay-not-working-how-to-fix-your-problems/

Toms_i, you are right it was a coincidence. Does not fix the issue. 
Ken_Griffiths, thank you for the link however none of those solutions are resolving the issue. 
 

send help, Sonos. 

Since you said that your Sonos is plugged into your AirPort, it could be that the Sonos is getting its IP address from your internet router, while your WiFi devices are getting theirs from the AirPort itself.  My experience is that setup can cause very similar problems to what you’re seeing.  

I think he’s saying the airport IS his “internet router” and he means that the difference between WiFi and ethernet do not change the outcome. Which would be the same in almost everyone’s case. Airplay devices are detected by the Apple product of which are on the same LAN. Please correct my comment if there are inaccuracies.