Chromecast functionality


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Why is Sonos lacking the Chromecast functionality, which basically every 100€ WiFi speaker has. It makes it impossible to use YouTube music ( you have to open the Sonos controller and control it from there instead of just pressing the cast button) and it makes using the Google Assistant unnecessarily cumbersome. You have to specify the speaker after a voice command instead of being able to simply set Sonos as a default speaker. That not enough, it also makes it impossible to cast all audio to Sonos. Sonos always talks about being open and support all platforms, yet after waiting a year longer than Airplay 2 users (which got supported as soon as the service got released), we get a shitty, half-assed service lacking basic functionality. Sonos basically incentivizes people to switch to Google Home Max et al, to use get the full capability from the services.

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Well I don’t know why they would enable AirPlay and not Chromecast. Is it coming, yes / no ? They make all their communication on enabling Google Assistant which leads clients to think there is obviously Chromecast too. And well they are 2 different things I know, and now I feel dumb for falling into the trap.

Obviously they are not gonna list every protocols that they don’t support, but damn I feel dumb, and following this thread, it seems I’m not the only one. 

At that price you should feel safe on what you’re buying. 

And for other companies explaining why they won’t support this or that, there are at least Google and Apple doing it regularly via different medias. 

May be I’m too naive, may be they are working on it, but really that specific lack of feature makes me very disappointed in what I bought ...

Well I don’t know why they would enable AirPlay and not Chromecast. Is it coming, yes / no ?

 

 

I don’t really see AirPlay and Chromecast as being parallel services.  I understand that they do a lot of the same things, but there are surely different licensing feels, contracts, protocols, etc to work out...if either company thought it was in their best interest to do it.  As far as Sonos forecasting their future enhancements, they rarely do that.  Plans change, delays happen, etc, and it’s typical not the best approach.  

 

They make all their communication on enabling Google Assistant which leads clients to think there is obviously Chromecast too. And well they are 2 different things I know, and now I feel dumb for falling into the trap.

 

I don’t see it as a trap.  I get why people make assumptions, but I don’t think Sonos or other companies are responsible for making sure customers don’t make incorrect assumptions.  As an example, should Google make sure everyone knows the limitations of their multiroom audio, in comparison to Sonos, or all the streaming services they do not support?  Should Google make sure that customers know that you can’t play a Sonos One and Google mini together, even though they both support Google Assistant.  is that a trap?

Obviously they are not gonna list every protocols that they don’t support, but damn I feel dumb, and following this thread, it seems I’m not the only one. 

At that price you should feel safe on what you’re buying. 

 

 

I have the reverse attitude.  For cheaper products, I do less research as I don’t lose much if it doesn’t do exactly what I expect it to do.  For more  expensive products, I assume nothing and make sure it will do what I need.  I get that people may not even realize what assumptions they’re making sometimes, and that doesn’t make them dumb, but it’s not the product sellers job to make sure you don’t have incorrect assumptions.

 

And for other companies explaining why they won’t support this or that, there are at least Google and Apple doing it regularly via different medias. 

 

 

I’m not aware of anything specifically.  Then again I don’t follow those two companies very closely.  I will say though that Amazon does add a “We want you to know” section to a lot of there Amazon product listings.  Here’s an example.  I don’t think this is 100% necessary, but I certainly think it adds value and would not mind Sonos doing something similar.   They do in a way, as you can often see misconceptions cleared in the FAQ section, like BLE is not bluetooth and can’t be used for audio.

 

May be I’m too naive, may be they are working on it, but really that specific lack of feature makes me very disappointed in what I bought ...

I would not count on chromecast, so if it matters to you, and you can’t use other casting features, then returning is the right call for you.  

I was upset after I setup Sonos One and found out it did not work with chromecast, or be part of speaker groups. I don’t buy this license fee or restriction non sense. My 3rd party Lenovo smart display and Onyko smart speaker from two years ago support chromecast with no issues. I can cast to them, they can be speaker groups with other google speakers.

And I can use free youtube music on all above mentioned speakers but not Sonos one. I am pretty tech savvy and I still fell for this trap. If I can return this Sonos One I will but it’s not. Until Sonos decides to fix this I have one expensive bluetooth speaker collecting dust on my desk.

Or with the new Nest Audio at half the price, I could sell my Sonos One on craigslist and upgrade to the new Nest Audio.

Why is Sonos lacking the Chromecast functionality, which basically every 100€ WiFi speaker has. It makes it impossible to use YouTube music ( you have to open the Sonos controller and control it from there instead of just pressing the cast button) and it makes using the Google Assistant unnecessarily cumbersome. You have to specify the speaker after a voice command instead of being able to simply set Sonos as a default speaker. That not enough, it also makes it impossible to cast all audio to Sonos. Sonos always talks about being open and support all platforms, yet after waiting a year longer than Airplay 2 users (which got supported as soon as the service got released), we get a shitty, half-assed service lacking basic functionality. Sonos basically incentivizes people to switch to Google Home Max et al, to use get the full capability from the services.

I just bought a Sonos One, set it up and couldn't cast to it. I went online and found all this nonsense about not being able to do it. It's extremely frustrating and depressing. I'm going to try and return this to the shop and buy another brand tomorrow but doubt they'll take it as I've opened the box. I'll just have to put it on eBay or something and lose money on it. Will never buy Sonos again - this is not Google's fault, many many cheaper brands come with this as standard, it's Sonos trying to corner you in to their products for multi room sound, but it's not going to work with me unfortunately for them. There is misleading information out there about whether this should work. Lots of reviews say that you can do it. I would gladly give up google assistant compatibility for the ability to cast to it, I don't give a crap about making a phone call through a speaker, I just want to listen to music on a group of my speakers. 

Why is Sonos lacking the Chromecast functionality, which basically every 100€ WiFi speaker has. It makes it impossible to use YouTube music ( you have to open the Sonos controller and control it from there instead of just pressing the cast button) and it makes using the Google Assistant unnecessarily cumbersome. You have to specify the speaker after a voice command instead of being able to simply set Sonos as a default speaker. That not enough, it also makes it impossible to cast all audio to Sonos. Sonos always talks about being open and support all platforms, yet after waiting a year longer than Airplay 2 users (which got supported as soon as the service got released), we get a shitty, half-assed service lacking basic functionality. Sonos basically incentivizes people to switch to Google Home Max et al, to use get the full capability from the services.

I just bought a Sonos One, set it up and couldn't cast to it. I went online and found all this nonsense about not being able to do it. It's extremely frustrating and depressing. I'm going to try and return this to the shop and buy another brand tomorrow but doubt they'll take it as I've opened the box. I'll just have to put it on eBay or something and lose money on it. Will never buy Sonos again - this is not Google's fault, many many cheaper brands come with this as standard, it's Sonos trying to corner you in to their products for multi room sound, but it's not going to work with me unfortunately for them. There is misleading information out there about whether this should work. Lots of reviews say that you can do it. I would gladly give up google assistant compatibility for the ability to cast to it, I don't give a crap about making a phone call through a speaker, I just want to listen to music on a group of my speakers. 

An update - luckily I took the Sonos One back to the shop and they gave me a refund even though I'd opened the box and used the speaker for ten minutes. I then went to another shop and bought 2 x LG XBoom W7 speakers. I could buy two because they are less than half the price of the Sonos One. The setup was a dream and what I expected the Sonos setup to be like. I can cast to them in groups just like I had hoped I would be able to with Sonos. Highly recommended. The downsides are that the speakers are not quite as good sound quality and do not go as loud. I'm an ex professional sound engineer of 15 years and have heard a speaker or two and know that they're far from audiophile quality but for the sake of having multiroom audio they're great. 

Why is Sonos lacking the Chromecast functionality, which basically every 100€ WiFi speaker has. It makes it impossible to use YouTube music ( you have to open the Sonos controller and control it from there instead of just pressing the cast button) and it makes using the Google Assistant unnecessarily cumbersome. You have to specify the speaker after a voice command instead of being able to simply set Sonos as a default speaker. That not enough, it also makes it impossible to cast all audio to Sonos. Sonos always talks about being open and support all platforms, yet after waiting a year longer than Airplay 2 users (which got supported as soon as the service got released), we get a shitty, half-assed service lacking basic functionality. Sonos basically incentivizes people to switch to Google Home Max et al, to use get the full capability from the services.

I just bought a Sonos One, set it up and couldn't cast to it. I went online and found all this nonsense about not being able to do it. It's extremely frustrating and depressing. I'm going to try and return this to the shop and buy another brand tomorrow but doubt they'll take it as I've opened the box. I'll just have to put it on eBay or something and lose money on it. Will never buy Sonos again - this is not Google's fault, many many cheaper brands come with this as standard, it's Sonos trying to corner you in to their products for multi room sound, but it's not going to work with me unfortunately for them. There is misleading information out there about whether this should work. Lots of reviews say that you can do it. I would gladly give up google assistant compatibility for the ability to cast to it, I don't give a crap about making a phone call through a speaker, I just want to listen to music on a group of my speakers. 

An update - luckily I took the Sonos One back to the shop and they gave me a refund even though I'd opened the box and used the speaker for ten minutes. I then went to another shop and bought 2 x LG XBoom W7 speakers. I could buy two because they are less than half the price of the Sonos One. The setup was a dream and what I expected the Sonos setup to be like. I can cast to them in groups just like I had hoped I would be able to with Sonos. Highly recommended. The downsides are that the speakers are not quite as good sound quality and do not go as loud. I'm an ex professional sound engineer of 15 years and have heard a speaker or two and know that they're far from audiophile quality but for the sake of having multiroom audio they're great. 

 

I just sold my sonos one on craigslist this morning. I am thinking about the new Nest Audio by Google. I have read good reviews on it’s audio quality. I’ll check out this LG speaker too!

I have multiple Sonos speakers and have been using the ecosystem for many years but the lack of being able to cast is driving me to sell them and use other speakers. the Sonos app just cannot match the individual apps like you tube music and being able to cast from any all is a massive win.

 

Everytime friends come over or you have audio on a random app you want to listen it's another point of frustration that drives me ever closer to ditching Sonos. 

 

The new nest speakers aren't as good as the Sonos one but with more companies adding assistant and cast enabled speakers it's only a matter of time before Sonos becomes irrelevant. Google is already enabling easier streaming to multiple speakers and creating groups on the fly which irradiates the Sonos advantage imo.

 

I am at a point now for the first time in probably 7 years were I am not recommending Sonos to friends and family. 

Just wanted to note here that some of us (fortunately) read this thread in time, _before_ buying a Sonos device, and decided not to buy it because the lack of Chromecast support. You just don't know about us, because most of us doesn't invest the time to register an account here just to leave one comment and never come back. 

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I'll join the cries of others here lamenting the fact that Sonos speakers do not have a basic functionality like Chromecast support.  I wished i new before i bought them. They are Wifi speakers after all,  so i guess that like others i assumed Chromecast support would come standard. How hard can it be to implement such a functionality? 

I've just started to get into Chrome cast but it's just another thing that makes me sad I invested >$2,000 in Sonos for my new home.  

All reviews pointed to good sound quality and functionality but pretty sure they weren't talking about expanded systems which are a nightmare for disconnects well within the requirements and ranges. Customer service are pleasant to talk to but it's always the same troubleshooting (remove, repair problem speakers then recommend I hardwire speaker in group. 

 

Like most of you,  I don't recommend the speakers and have since left reviews about my experience online. I continuously get spammed by Sonos to leave a review,  but it never posts due to their website saying my Adblocker prevents it. I've gone to some effort to disable but no success. 

 

You can find the trail of Chromecast support requests to Sonos but nothing..

 

Leave reviews to save other people from being disappointed by paying premium prices for poor products. 

I’d like to add my voice to this request.

 

It really is sad that Airplay is supported but not chromecast.   It mean that android users are unable cast things from our phones :(   Please add this!

 

Please!

 

 

I just purchased the Sonos 1 (Gen 2) assuming it’s compatible with Chromecast. 

I have a projector that has the new Chromecast TV plugged into it. The projector has a horrible sound so I used to have a Bose speaker connected to the projector via Chromecast TV. 

Chromecast TV has bluetooth integrated in it. Is there a way to connect the Sonos speaker to it and use it as an output for the sound?

Hi. Better not to ask the same question on two different threads. Please see response to this question on the other thread. 

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Why is Sonos lacking the Chromecast functionality

 

I have Android and iOS devices. I prefer Android, so I use it. Not because I don’t have a surplus of discretionary income, but because I am a technologist and Android is more flexible.

The fact that Sonos won’t address this question directly with a status or rationale tells me that it’s their choice to have not implemented it yet. A simple “we’re working with Google to add this functionality to S2 as soon as possible” would suffice… however, silence is the biggest indicator that the company doesn’t care and likely will never deploy it.

I spent 3.5k recently on Sonos gear to power my whole-home audio and for the most part have been happy with it. The biggest struggle I’ve found is the limited functionality of the S2 app in browsing my music collections across Google Music (now YouTube Music), Tidal, Spotify, and XM. Specifically, in using things like “radio stations” or “discover mixes” based on themes, artists, albums or playlists. For these, I’d like to go into the native apps on my Android phone start my music, and then transfer the audio over to Sonos to continue playing it.

I purchased Sonos knowing of this limitation, thinking I could work around it with a Chromecast dongle attached to a port, Beam, or Amp (I have all of them). But this solution is clunky and I expect more out of my premium audio vendor. The lack of Chromecast support is a far bigger inconvenience than I could have expected.

Sonos, it’s time to get off your high horse and communicate with your customers on this issue. 

I just got sonos move and google chromecast as presents. I have been using chromecast to play music on Spotify with Sonos. Is it possible to do the same with Netflix? 

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I just got sonos move and google chromecast as presents. I have been using chromecast to play music on Spotify with Sonos. Is it possible to do the same with Netflix? 

Spotify doesn't use Chromecast to push music to other smart devices. It's a proprietary protocol. 

Sonos doesn't support Chromecast. 

I just got sonos move and google chromecast as presents. I have been using chromecast to play music on Spotify with Sonos. Is it possible to do the same with Netflix? 

Spotify doesn't use Chromecast to push music to other smart devices. It's a proprietary protocol. 

Sonos doesn't support Chromecast. 

Indeed it doesn’t, but that may be irrelevant here.  My guess is that @Mar_Gut_Ort is using the Spotify app on a Chromecast HDMI device to play to a TV and hence to a Sonos HT device such as a Beam (and hence to other Sonos speakers if required.  As mentioned in your earlier post.

But (if correct) that still leaves me puzzled:

(a) Why @Mar_Gut_Ort isn’t just using the Spotify app on his phone to play Spotify

(b) What he means about Netflix.  Clearly any app on a Chromecast HDMI device can be played on the TV and hence through Sonos, so I wonder if io am misunderstanding the question?

  it.

The biggest struggle I’ve found is the limited functionality of the S2 app in browsing my music collections across Google Music (now YouTube Music), Tidal, Spotify, and XM.I’d like to go into the native apps on my Android phone start my music, and then transfer the audio over to Sonos to continue playing it.

 

For Spotify and Tidal you already can.  For Google Play Music you could do so but that disappeared (possibly only temporarily) when Google replaced it by YTM.  In fact GPM was the first app from which you could cast to Sonos, although only from Android, not iOS (ironically, given your post).  Don’t know about XM.  Your profile also mentions Amazon Audiobooks and Amazon Music - both also castable to Sonos from the native apps

@Unmechanized  - your comments appear to show that you are unaware of many of the possibilities offered by Sonos.  If anyone needs to get down off their high horse, i suspect it is you.

@Unmechanized - a further thought has been prompted by your post.  Maybe one reason Sonos hasn’t added Chromecast functionality is that Sonos realises that the users clamouring for it don’t know that they can do most of what they want already by other means, but just don’t realise it?

I just got sonos move and google chromecast as presents. I have been using chromecast to play music on Spotify with Sonos. Is it possible to do the same with Netflix? 

Spotify doesn't use Chromecast to push music to other smart devices. It's a proprietary protocol. 

Sonos doesn't support Chromecast. 

Indeed it doesn’t, but that may be irrelevant here.  My guess is that @Mar_Gut_Ort is using the Spotify app on a Chromecast HDMI device to play to a TV and hence to a Sonos HT device such as a Beam (and hence to other Sonos speakers if required.  As mentioned in your earlier post.

But (if correct) that still leaves me puzzled:

(a) Why @Mar_Gut_Ort isn’t just using the Spotify app on his phone to play Spotify

(b) What he means about Netflix.  Clearly any app on a Chromecast HDMI device can be played on the TV and hence through Sonos, so I wonder if io am misunderstanding the question?

Thanks for your replies. I’m new to all this, so I’m sorry if some of my questions make little sense. 

(a) I can use the Spotify app on my phone or on the Sonos move app, I was just trying to connect Sonos to my TV and tried with Spotify.

(b) For some reason, when I play the Netflix app on my Chromecast HDMI device it doesn’t sound through Sonos move.

@Mar_Gut_Ort .  Your profile mentions only a Move.  Do you have any other Sonos device?

@Mar_Gut_Ort .  Your profile mentions only a Move.  Do you have any other Sonos device?

No, just move. 

Then as @Unmechanized said, you haven't been using Chromecast at all to play Spotify.

You aren't getting Netflix audio out of the Move because there is no connection between the Chromecast/TV and the Move.  A possibility would be to use the Move in Bluetooth mode and connect it to a mobile device on which you are playing Netflix.  Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with Chromecast.

If your TV has an option to output audio via Bluetooth then you might be able to use that. 

@Unmechanized - a further thought has been prompted by your post.  Maybe one reason Sonos hasn’t added Chromecast functionality is that Sonos realises that the users clamouring for it don’t know that they can do most of what they want already by other means, but just don’t realise it?

What are the other means? How can a Sonos 1 work with a projector to output audio? It already works with the Bose Soundlink II. 

@Unmechanized - a further thought has been prompted by your post.  Maybe one reason Sonos hasn’t added Chromecast functionality is that Sonos realises that the users clamouring for it don’t know that they can do most of what they want already by other means, but just don’t realise it?

What are the other means? How can a Sonos 1 work with a projector to output audio? It already works with the Bose Soundlink II. 

Projectors are irrelevant to this discussion.  Sonos staff have commented on numerous threads that Sonos HT systems are designed for use with TVs not projectors, and a wired connection for audio.  That applies whether you are an Android or an iOS user. 

And a Sonos One is not a Sonos AV product.  It is not designed for a projector or a TV.

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