I just got a Sonos One (Gen 2) after reading that Airplay was finally working well with it. I was hoping to use it as my speaker when streaming video from my MacBook Pro, but have been hounded by audio issues–even with it connected via Ethernet to my Airport. The audio cuts out if paused for more than a few seconds. The easiest fix has been to go to Volume in the Menu Bar, switch the output device to something else and then back to Sonos. It's a pain to have to do this over and over. The audio comes back without much delay.
I noticed that there is a substantial delay when I go to unpause music that's been paused for a bit as well, but not as bad as when unpausing Netflix or Youtube. The audio also cuts out in minute drops every now and then, which probably just comes from AirPlay sucking up my shitty wifi's bandwidth as I've read in other posts.
Given all the other unresolved issues I have read about and the hassle that was setting this up over the phone since the app's automated setup didn't work, I am thinking I am probably just going to return my speaker. I would rather have a cheap Bluetooth speaker that I don't need to run an additional application for or even have plugged into the wall all the time.
I feel mislead. I don't get the hype for this thing.
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Found a fix!
A third-party application for Mac called SonoAir works consistently for me. When you launch the application it will detect all Airplay compatible devices and add them to the sound menu. Your speaker will show up as “Speakername+.” Select that one and it should connect immediately (much faster than previously).
I’ve tested a number of intervals and across multiple applications (Spotify, Youtube, Chrome, local sounds) pausing or closing these apps completey. I have been unable to recreate the issue that I was having beforehand.
The only downside is there is a delay in sound output. This can range from 1-5 seconds at times. I was experiencing delays using the native configuration but I don’t believe it was this long. The app is free (I won’t link the site so please Google the name of it) but the developer accepts donations to continue improving it.
Userlevel 7
+26
Hi everyone,
When using AirPlay 2, this shouldn’t be an issue, however a lot of apps through the MacBook Pro will use AirPlay 1 which can have this behavior. I’d be happy to pass some extra information along to the team to look into this further, in case there’s something else going in. If you can get this to occur regularly, can you recreate the issue, then submit a diagnostic and let us know the confirmation number in here? Let us know what device was sending the AirPlay stream, and what software the stream was coming from. Thanks!
Same problem. It ruins the experience of using the Sonos Move, which should work like any portable speaker - you can pause and play with the hardware buttons just as you would touching the phone. Any time someone walks up to me to ask a question or something, I lose my connection and have to start again from my phone. Bluetooth speakers work perfectly - as does the Move in Bluetooth mode - but then you are disconnected from the whole concept of a complete Sonos system.
The Sonos app is garbage for finding and playing anything, and I want to use my podcast app anyway. Airplay dropping out like this makes the Sonos Move a much poorer product.
Same problem here, bit by bit.
I think I’ve had an AirPlay 2 enabled Sonos One for about two years now, and version after version, patch after patch of both Mac OS and Sonos Software this remains unsolved.
This is not a “minor glitch affecting a small subset of users”… this is AirPlay 2 and Sonos Speakers not being able to do the single thing they were fundamentally conceived and designed to do, which is play audio for long stretches of time, which may (oh, the weirdness of some users), include pause periods.
Dear Sonos, at least please have the decency of publishing a technical note stating, in very clear terms, why this can’t be made to work, se we all poor idiots can buy an UE boom in peace.
I’m pretty sure there’s a timeout in the AirPlay 2 protocol, but I’ve not done the research that you have….yet.
I am having the same issue. Thinking I will be returning my Sonos One and going with the HomePod instead.
Userlevel 7
+23
I’m pretty sure there’s a timeout in the AirPlay 2 protocol, but I’ve not done the research that you have….yet.
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.
Just to be clear, all Sonos employees are clearly marked as such, and I am just a fellow user.
Even so, I think there is zero chance that Sonos will support Airplay 1. Until Airplay 2 came along, Sonos made it pretty clear that they thought Airplay 1 was technologically flawed and unreliable, and they wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole (my choice of words).
Of course you have every right to highlight what you believe to be a gap in provision, and have certainly argued your case clearly.
I wish I would have seen this thread before buying 2 Sonos SL Ones for my Mac.
I wanted to connect my audio output (system wide) to the Sonos configured as a stereo pair.
It works until I stop the music for a short while and then I need to reconnect. Mac (Big Sur) does not even detect that it lost the connection, the sonos speakers are still connected.
For your customers this is a really frustrating problem and it is not very customer minded to tell them to **** off and whine with Apple. Sonos should, as a trusted partner of Apple, talk to them and somehow work together on a fix, not push the work onto the customer's shoulder. Reporting an issue to Apple as a regular small customer makes practically no impact at all. Sonos states that it only supports Airplay2 and that Mac OS is sending Airplay1 … well nice to know, but that is something that the tech people of Sonos should discuss with Apple to get a fix implemented.
I am now thinking of sending back my Sonos and never look back at the company … this is really not an acceptable customer support. This problem should be put as a warning to all potential Sonos buyers because it is not something that is evident to know/understand as a non tech buyer.
*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*
Sonos will never add Airplay 1 to Sonos. It is a flawed technology that Sonos deliberately eschewed when it was the only option.
I have to admit, I’ll be extremely surprised if they resolve it. I spent hours on the phone to support, to basically be told there is nothing they can do about it.
I wasted so much time trying to get it resolved, and in the end I gave up and got some nice bluetooth speakers. Sonos One’s are in the kitchen being used as smart speakers, which they work flawlessly for.
Ultimately, the Sonos One’s should not be thought of as desktop computer speakers...
Stumbled across this thread after searching for a fix. I’m having the same issues many have described in this thread. I have an iPhone 11, a Sonos Move, and two Sonos One SL devices.
I use AirPlay 2 all the time with them, usually just to a single speaker (not a group), and I have these symptoms:
Pause on phone, but it doesn’t pause speaker
pause on phone, only pauses on speaker after 2-40 seconds (yes, two to forty)
pause on speaker, doesn’t pause
pause on speaker, again a delay on pausing
resuming from phone or speaker sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t, often has a delay
It doesn’t matter how long it’s paused. Could be 1 second or 1 minute. The resume problem frequently, almost always, occurs.
Here’s the thing though…this also happened BEFORE I had Sonos when it was just iPhone to HomePod (the big one, not the mini). It’s why I switched to Sonos, where apparently it isn’t any better.
And it happens between my series 4 Apple Watch and my iPhone 11!
Whether it’s Apple to Apple or Apple to Sonos, I always have to change it to play locally, then reconnect. And even that takes a few tries.
There are some SERIOUS problems with the Airplay 2 protocol. I don’t know how this got through QA.
I’ve tried a million things with my WiFi, even switched from UniFi APs managed by a Unifi controller to TP-Link EAP-225 managed by Omada Controller.
Then again - this happens when WiFi isn’t even part of the equation, like when I’m out walking my dog and just try to pause my audiobook from my Apple Watch (playing on iPhone and listening to on AirPod Pros).
Based on my experience, I don’t think Sonos can do anything about this. Airplay 2 just sucks. And I say this as someone who owns a device in almost every Apple product line.
However, Sonos doesn’t get a pass because I’ve also used the Sonos app to play ocean waves at night on a Sonos One SL, and the sound will randomly cut out - either pause for a moment, for many moments, or never resume - which wakes up the baby. I’ve tried the Sonos One SL on WiFi, hooked directly to Ethernet, and I’ve tried using the app to stream from Spotify and from Amazon Music. I can NEVER get reliable ocean waves all night. I’ve tried the 8+ hour tracks and I’ve tried the 2 minute tracks on a loop. I’ve tried playing through the app, and playing from a phone on Airplay. No matter how I do it, the sound will ALWAYS eventually cut out. Had to switch to a dedicated sound machine because Sonos was so unreliable.
Same problem here, bit by bit.
I think I’ve had an AirPlay 2 enabled Sonos One for about two years now, and version after version, patch after patch of both Mac OS and Sonos Software this remains unsolved.
This is not a “minor glitch affecting a small subset of users”… this is AirPlay 2 and Sonos Speakers not being able to do the single thing they were fundamentally conceived and designed to do, which is play audio for long stretches of time, which may (oh, the weirdness of some users), include pause periods.
Dear Sonos, at least please have the decency of publishing a technical note stating, in very clear terms, why this can’t be made to work, se we all poor idiots can buy an UE boom in peace.
I can understand your frustration, but there are loads of Sonos users who don’t experience this problem (my wife, for example, Airplaying to various speakers in our Sonos system). It may be some obscure combination of conditions, at least some of them local, that causes this to happen. That is no comfort to you, I realise, and you need a solution for your system, but this is not a widespread problem or there would be thousands of posts about it, not a few 10s. Your request for a technical note implies a generic problem, but there isn’t one.
Just registered to add that I’m having the same issue. It’s incredibly frustrating. I have two new Gen 2 One SL speakers set up as a stereo pair, connected via AirPlay to a 2021 MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.1
The pair of speakers are called ‘Office’ and Apple Music can be playing happily to Office, but then I pause, and when I start them again, the computer can’t find Office.. I try again, and it finds it immediately.
Following some comments on here, I’ve been trying the AirPlay button within the Music app and directing the sound direct to ‘Office’ from within the App, rather than to my MacBook Pro. This has worked for the last couple of hours. One drawback of this approach appears to be that the volume can no longer be controlled by the keyboard volume buttons, but they can on the Sonos speakers directly.
Since it’s an issue with Apple and AirPlay 2, it’s unlikely that Sonos can do much, they’re merely a receiver of data in this case.
Userlevel 7
+17
You’re using Apple AirPlay. Why would this only be on Sonos?
Same problem for me. If I had not bought the damn Sonos shelves and installed them on the wall, I would have replaced with a different setup, as these problems are a disgrace for a ‘premium’ product.
I have discovered on a Reddit thread that the audio will resume playing when you unpause, but it normally takes about as long as it was on pause for. A fix if you cant be bothered with the Disconnect and Reconnect procedure, as I find this flakey too - 3 out of 5 times it wont find the speakers and then they magically disappear from the Mac volume menu.
So I gather this is something that wont be fixed? Utter rubbish, Sonos. My crappy bluetooth setup before was far superior.
Userlevel 7
+17
Look like you too have connection problems. Why not work them out (with Sonos’ help) instead of just venting here.
Came here to solve a similar issue in having. No issue for me with playing music to the ones throughout my home from my iPhone even when I play pause.
but my issue is I just got an arc and using it to airplay from my Apple tv (plex currently). Every time I pause and then resume even for a few seconds the sound goes out and I need to switch outputs and back. Quite ridiculous I used to think sonos worked quite well with the Apple ecosystem but I’m having lots of issues with my Apple TV and sonos (another one related to Apple TV is every time I play a new video I need to switch my audio output to the arc )
It’s incredibly frustrating that these expensive products have such terrible compatibility with Apple products.
I have a pair of Ikea SYMFONISK, and I have faced this issue since I got them years ago.
As a user, I don’t care if this was marketed or not as a computer speaker, as someone in this thread stated. AirPlay is a protocol, and it shouldn’t matter if I’m using a phone or a laptop.
For a speaker that ONLY supports AirPlay, there’s a good chance that people will, at some point, use a macOS to stream audio.
What is worse is that even after 4 years, the issue still exists, but Sonos doesn’t admit that there’s a problem and continues to sell the same way as 4 years ago.
Sonos speakers don’t ’ONLY’ support AirPlay 2, in fact, that’s the least of their myriad of capabilities.
I use AirPlay 2 on a daily basis, from an iPad, an iPhone, and the MacOS to stream music, and audio from video that I’m playing, all without issue.
There isn’t enough information in your post to hazard a guess as to what networking issue you’re experiencing, so I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.
There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.
When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.
I wanna give an update to this because I think I found the guilty part: it’s probably spotify and Airplay 1!
i tried out Apple Music now and there’s no problem with Airplay and the Sonos then. I then read on the internet, that Spotify doesn’t support Airplay 2 yet so that would be an explanation! It’s still sad that pausing and playing with Airplay 1 is a problem on the Sonos but at least there is hope that Spotify will upgrade to Airplay 2 in the future.
Hi everyone,
I have a imperfect fix.
If you press play using the Apple remote and you hear nothing, clicking pause/play from the Sonos App (on your phone) will kick the sound back in.
It's not a perfect solution for obvious reasons, but it's brought some light relief as I would rather do this than have to connect/reconnect the speakers everytime which is what I have had to do so far….
Userlevel 7
+18
Conclusions:
AirPlay is delaying sending signal to Sonos product after a pause (Amp in my case).
Longer pause → longer delay until signal is sent.
Continuing to use the Mac during pause time impacts the test; delays are not as long.
When I use a Bluetooth connection I simply don’t get these delays.
Suggestion, allow Sonos devices to be discoverable and connect like other Bluetooth sound devices. Don’t depend on Apple to “fix” the issue with AirPlay.
Thank you very much for doing those tests - I’m passing this info along to the right folk.
Pretty weird, to be sure.
The Move and the Roam are the only devices Sonos make that can stream via Bluetooth. Unlike the Move, the Roam is able to share it’s Bluetooth-received stream with the rest of a Sonos system, so the addition of one of these to your system would allow you to use Bluetooth instead of AirPlay.
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