Skip to main content
draco512
Contributor I
March 29, 2014

New SONOS Brigde with integrated Apple AirPlay support

  • March 29, 2014
  • 29 replies
  • 8296 views
So far it is only possible to use SONOS and Apple Airplay when connecting a SONOS Connect or Play:5 with an additional Apple device supporting AirPlay (e.g. Airport Express). Therefore, the idea is to develop a SONOS Bridge which has integrated support for Apple AirPlay without additional hardware. 

Benefits would be in this case that
- no additional hardware and cabeling is necessary to use AirPlay in the SONOS system
- one could easily allow guests to quickly output their audio to the SONOS system
- all iOS devices would be supported as a sources without further software
- with an appropriate AirPlay software on PC / Mac one could even send audio from there into the Sonos audio system

The Sonos controller could then represent this "AirPlay input" as a new audio source within the complete SONOS system.
      This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

      29 replies

      Show previous replies
      GizmoStu
      Lyricist III
      June 24, 2016
      I agree. Using the Apple TV or Airport is just crazy when the Play 5 already has the all the hardware that's necessary.
      Come on Sonos you simply have to get on board or lose sales. In frustration I have already resorted to buying a JBL speaker. It hasn't got the sonic abilities of my Play 5 but it is so much more convenient. Sad but true.
      Had I realised the AirPlay was not included I would have saved myself 350 pounds.
      John B
      June 24, 2016
      Airplay is outdated and unreliable technology. Sonos will never add it and good thing too.
      jgatie
      jgatie
      June 24, 2016
      Why would Sonos adopt something which Bose just dropped because they couldn't make it work with multi-room? Airplay triples the amount of bandwidth used, relies on the phone/tablet to stream, thus sucking the battery, and it isn't that reliable in the first place (i.e. Sonos had to substantially increase the buffer size on the line-in to accommodate Airplay's stuttering). I imagine even Apple is looking for a replacement for Airplay, since rival Google has adopted the far superior "stream direct to the device" method with Chromecast.
      GizmoStu
      Lyricist III
      June 24, 2016
      Well other manufacturers make it work perfectly well. JBL for instance.
      John B
      June 24, 2016
      Sonos are perfectly capable of making it work. All the evidence is that they don't think it's worth a minute of their limited development time. They may well introduce a casting solution at some point. They won't, IMO, touch Airplay with a barge pole.
      GizmoStu
      Lyricist III
      June 24, 2016
      BUT you can't ignore that half the mobile phone users on earth are Apple customers, so a solution is needed.. whatever it's called.
      John B
      June 24, 2016
      You can be an Apple user without wanting Airplay. There is an app for iOS devices. You can play music stored on your iphone or IPad direct to Sonos. You can play the music in your iTunes library including your playlists. Apple users are not exactly excluded.
      jgatie
      jgatie
      June 24, 2016
      Well other manufacturers make it work perfectly well. JBL for instance.

      Last I checked it was to one speaker at a time only, which is the reason why Bose dropped it. You can't do multi-room with Airplay unless you do it from iTunes on a computer and even then the synch is not that great and the bandwidth used is atrocious. Airplay is simply crap compared to a true multi-room system, and Sonos isn't going to incorporate an inferior technology. That's what the line-in is for.
      GizmoStu
      Lyricist III
      June 24, 2016
      That's great news. I had no idea. I was told that I needed to use an Apple TV or Airport.
      Thanks John B
      John B
      June 24, 2016
      You would need those things to play your computer's audio output, e.g. YouTube. But Sonos it really well set up for playing music files on your phone or Mac wirelessly. Now, is there any way we can help you to get that working for you?
      Show more replies
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement