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Why is Sonos discontinuing support for iOS devices?

M
Userlevel 1
Disappointed when I received this message when starting the app to play from my iPad. Not interested in having to pay for a service to stream from my music collection. What’s driving this decision? Note - creating an incentive for me to search for another music solution in my home. Can’t begin to describe how unhappy I am. Have been so happy with Sonos and bragged about the system to friends. That sounds like I’ll have to do a 180. Any one else feeling the same?
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Best answer by melvimbe 17 June 2019, 19:18

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63 replies

melvimbe

a garbage $50 cd deck for a car can stream from an iphone but a premium audio company can’t figure it out? LOL Sonos are sellouts and are getting cut backs from the people that cave in and pay for a premium service.

 

Is the garbage CD deck your refering to using bluetooth, aux connection, airplay, or some proprietary WiFI connection?

Danny
jgatie

Cut backs?  :thinking:

M

This is bull.... it's like telling me that the expensive DVD player I bought has now decided it won’t play my dvds, and I have to start streaming all my movies. I have literally several thousands of hours of music on iPhone and iPad. Much of which is not available on streaming services even if I wanted to pay to subscribe to music I already own, and I don’t have an IMac. You sold me a very expensive set of speakers for my music collection, and then decide I can’t use them.

 


Nobody is forcing you to purchase a streaming service. You can easily play your library from a PC/Mac, Plex, an NAS, or a free Google Play Music account. And if Sonos were really trying to force you to pay for a streaming service instead of being on the bad side of an Apple iOS update, it would be highly ironic because A. They don't make any income from services, and B. They kept the ability to play tracks on Android devices.

 

a garbage $50 cd deck for a car can stream from an iphone but a premium audio company can’t figure it out? LOL Sonos are sellouts and are getting cut backs from the people that cave in and pay for a premium service.

M
Thanks everyone for your prompt assistance. It is much appreciated.

I'll see if Apple music is accepted by the spouse over Amazon Music. If not, I'll either swap Sonos for Amazon Echo, pay for two services (unlikely), or swap our phones to Android.

I've been testing an S10 as my work phone and find it really does seem to outperform my iphone in almost every way. So maybe that's the fix. Or maybe Sonos builds an Airplay 2 repeater and legacy customers don't have to make big choices to retain the most basic feature they trusted Sonos with in the first place.

Sorry, got a bit bitter there. : )
J
It isn't really anything to do with the mesh network. The same principle applies irrespective of whether the SonosNet mesh is active. The Airplay compatible speaker has to be in the group.
M
Maybe it's better if I ask my question as a scenario.

If I have a Sonos in my kitchen with Airplay 2... and one in my office that does not have airplay... can I stream music, through airplay, in the office, but not in the kitchen? Or do the two speakers need to be grouped for Airplay to work?

I know my Sonos speakers form a sort of mesh network. But I'm not sure how Airplay figures in that network. Can I "route" music to a given speaker (Airplay giving me access to the mesh network) or does the airplay capable speaker have to be in the group?
melvimbe

If I purchase one Airplay 2 capable Sonos will it act like a hub and stream that music to any other speaker? Or do I have to group all eleven speakers in my home and play them all at once? The latter obviously not being a solution. Just grasping at convenient straws... Maybe Sonos should consider offering an Airplay hub for legacy customers!

Calling it a hub is't accurate, as your airplay 2 capable Sonos will act like any other speaker in your setup. You'll airplay to your new speaker and then group (or group first, doesn't matter) to the speakers you want it to play in sync with. That could be all 11 speakers or 1 speaker, doesn't matter. You would obviously only be able use airplay for 1 stream though. So if you and your wife both wanted to play different music through airplay, you're going to need two airplay speakers.
Danny
M
I'm trying Apple Music free for 90 days in hopes I'll just replace Amazon Music with that (similarly priced) service. I mean the "unlimited" version of each, Amazon Prime has limited access to music at no charge. Gonna try and be constructive before I take Amazon up on the super-cheap offer to replace my Sonos hardware with theirs, because the spouse does not like IT changes! : )

That said, I have the obligatory "stupid question" as well.

If I purchase one Airplay 2 capable Sonos will it act like a hub and stream that music to any other speaker? Or do I have to group all eleven speakers in my home and play them all at once? The latter obviously not being a solution. Just grasping at convenient straws... Maybe Sonos should consider offering an Airplay hub for legacy customers!
melvimbe

I have read all the threads. But the fact that there are all sorts of baroque workarounds, such as uploading to the cloud my entire music collection, which consists of literally a couple of thousand CDs that I ripped to iTunes and then donated (many of which are no longer available, including my father's huge jazz collection), as well as hundreds of hours of unreleased material from my music career, or relying on streaming services that dont have most of what I own, or buying a desktop Mac and then being only able to play music from my office, or buying an Android device or a NAS device, or anything else, doesn't change the fact that I bought several sets of pricey speakers to play the music on my iPad and iPhone, and now those speakers have announced they won't do the one thing I bought them for.You are absolutely right.

No, it isn't. The bolded part is incorrect as has been pointed out a couple times in this thread. He also does not list that airplay functionality is another way to play audio from your iPhone. Your profile says you have a Sonos One, so you should be able to use airplay. The rest is just info about his own personal collection.
Danny
bockersjv
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From the great book of "It'll Never Happen"

But maybe the bunny will finally get it 😞
D
I have read all the threads. But the fact that there are all sorts of baroque workarounds, such as uploading to the cloud my entire music collection, which consists of literally a couple of thousand CDs that I ripped to iTunes and then donated (many of which are no longer available, including my father's huge jazz collection), as well as hundreds of hours of unreleased material from my music career, or relying on streaming services that dont have most of what I own, or buying a desktop Mac and then being only able to play music from my office, or buying an Android device or a NAS device, or anything else, doesn't change the fact that I bought several sets of pricey speakers to play the music on my iPad and iPhone, and now those speakers have announced they won't do the one thing I bought them for.
You are absolutely right. This was a bait and switch by both Apple and Sonos. I’m not sure who disgusts me more. I will sell my Sonos stuff on eBay and never recommend them again, although I will trash them on Amazon. I’m stuck with Apple for a few more years. I also gave away and sold my extensive CD collection after trusting them with Apple. I was a schmuck.
M
Thank you very much!
Airgetlam
The thread you’re looking for is here on this, which offers, and discusses many options, ranging from free to not.
Bruce
M
I know this is an old topic but... is there a post where someone has consolidated the alternatives (other than upgrading all of my hardware) to accessing my iTunes music via the Sonos mobile app? I confess, my speakers are already listed on eBay but I'll keep an open mind and see if there's a viable work around.

If I ignore the childish fanboy/hater commentary (about 90% of what's here it seems) I sometimes see references to loading iTunes on a PC and then being able to play it from my Sonos mobile app seamlessly.

I also see refernces to storing the music on a NAS, and I have a Sinology.

But, my (very respectful) opinion is that if I'm asked to use Google Music, or manage my music outside of it's origin (iTunes) then it's not worth the hassle.

I'm baffled why Sonos would let this sort of thing ride. Sure, they probably think folks will run out and buy new Sonos speakers that support airplay 2. But there are SO many equal competitors out there now, and many at much lower price-points. At least for me, because to me it's just a wireless speaker.

There is an argument here that "they need to keep releasing new features" and I get that. I own a software company, so I know the business. But you never force a legacy customer to fail. You make a concerted effort to entice them to upgrade. You don't cut their functionality. Yes, it's a compelling event. But you're also eliminating your company from consideration in the "upgrade."

All preaching aside, I'm sure it's a rub between them and Apple. But we paid a premium for this hardware and deserve premium support from the vendor. Else, we'll buy cheap hardware and throw it away every two years when we're "upgraded" to the point it stops working.
D
The only ‘darker forces’ at work that I see are Apple. There isn’t another tech company around that can match their scale. We have collectively made them so, me included. I have 10 years worth of music from them combined with my own ripped CD collection.
I’m an older guy and I too do not like ,what I consider, an unnecessary change. However, you cannot ignore Apples ambition... they will steamroll over any business in order to reach their goals. They want to dominate this space and they don’t give a damn about Sonos.

For me me this is the issue. I have decided to break from my reliance on Apple and to invest in a NAS system. I don’t need, or want, to rely on my phone so much. I have young kids and I just don’t have the time to keep up with the latest tech. I just want a great system to play my music on. Sonos works for me right now but if issues like this are recurring in the future then who knows...

What I’d really like to see is a music platform from Sonos that I could support. If we all get behind this idea we could start a movement... 🤔
jgatie
It's also worth noting that Sonos' competitor Bluesound removed their "On this device" feature around 10 months ago, shortly after Airplay 2 arrived.
melvimbe
@gary larden Sonos announced the change here.

The way this feature was originally designed has become unreliable with newer versions of iOS, and in the coming months, this feature will no longer be available in the Sonos app.

This post by another Sonos employee mentions that it was a tough decision and that they are aware of how it impacts customers.

I don't think you're going to get a much more detailed answer then that since doing so could be throwing Apple under the bus, etc. It's also worth noting that the unreliability began around a year ago when airplay came along. Sonos has been attempting to resolve the issue for a year.
Danny
J
Darker forces? A good principle for life: the conspiracy theory is almost always wrong, the simple cockup theory almost invariably right.

Is there any hope of a sense of perspective on this thread?
G
I don’t want to do anything else. What was wrong with the way it was. I take my music to my friends houses and play mixed playlists and vice versa. I have over 2,500 songs in my phone and about 40 different playlists. I don’t need AirPlay / Apple Music/ a NAS. I would like to know, without anyone throwing alternatives at me, as to why sonos as a company cannot rectify something that has ‘ become unreliable ‘ Reliable. Look at the people you are upsetting. This is why it makes me think there are darker forces at work. Sonos should support the people that have invested in them ( I’ve got £1,700.00s worth of the old stuff) and now I feel duped. Perhaps little Sonos is buckling under the weight of the Big Apple. So can someone from sonos give me the real answer to my question? or have I already answered it for myself🙁
jgatie


Um, those notifications already blast through my Sonos speakers. If you're talking about the stuff I hear via Pandora, Spotify, etc.

But I'm willing to admit my own ignorance. Which use-cases am I missing? Trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong. I don't like the idea of investing a lot of money in something and throwing it out. But so far, I'm a little more convinced by posters here who make the point that if the work-arounds take that much effort to explain, there must be something wrong with the system itself.

chicks is talking about text message alerts, update alerts, phone ringing, etc. that will play on a Bluetooth speaker because Bluetooth is just an extension of the phone's audio.

As to missing use cases, when you store your music on a PC/Mac/NAS, or upload to Google Play Music, there are a number of benefits:

  1. Every controller you use can access all the music.
  2. You can use the music in Sonos playlists and alarms.
  3. Your phone's battery isn't drained when playing music.
  4. Your phone can leave the area and the music keeps playing.
  5. Imports all your iTunes playlists.
In the case of the free Google Play Music solution, there are additional benefits:

  1. You can access the music from the Google Play Music app from anywhere, so you can free up space on your phone.
  2. Other household members can get a free account, and their account will appear separate from others on the Sonos app.
melvimbe
I think apple have told sonos to pull the plug on this facility to get people to sign up to apple air play etc. All I know is I now have a very expensive radio . THE OINLY REASON I purchased all of the kit in my house was the fact that I could play my own music free of charge without accessing anything but the iPhone in my hand. I feel cheated

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'accessing', but if you store your music on a computer, NAS (which could simply be a thumb drive connected to your router) , or Google's free music storage service, then you would be able to control all of that from the iphone in your hand. Of course, airplay would also be fully controllable from the iPhone as well. Perhaps 'accessing' means that you just want your music files on your iphone and nothing else will be acceptable. In that case, yea, airplay is the only current way to do that with an iPhone.
Danny
G
I think apple have told sonos to pull the plug on this facility to get people to sign up to apple air play etc. All I know is I now have a very expensive radio . THE OINLY REASON I purchased all of the kit in my house was the fact that I could play my own music free of charge without accessing anything but the iPhone in my hand. I feel cheated
J
I have an Android phone and so even if I played music from my phone I would be unaffected by the recent removal of 'on this iPhone'..

So I don't know if Airplay is seamless, just that it is Apple's method for doing what you want to do.

Unlike Bluetooth, Airplay 2 has multiroom capability. There is plenty of info on using Airplay with Sonos on the Sonos website.
J
My question would be, as you have a Sonos One, why aren't you playing YouTube, or music stored on your phone, using Airplay 2?
If Airplay 2 is as seamless to use as some of you have suggested, I'll give it one last try. But it seems more involved than most of us seem to think, and even comes with its own new set of obstacles. Please nlighten me.
J

Now most of my friends use high-end audio blue tooth speakers. At this point it's become a big duh! You can do everything with those that Sonos can do (and more) with the possible exception of separating rooms. But I almost never do that anyway.
If this is what you believe, you clearly don't understand the primary Sonos use cases AT ALL, lol. Bluetooth is probably where you should have been all along. Have fun with all those notifications blasting on your speakers!

Um, those notifications already blast through my Sonos speakers. If you're talking about the stuff I hear via Pandora, Spotify, etc.

But I'm willing to admit my own ignorance. Which use-cases am I missing? Trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong. I don't like the idea of investing a lot of money in something and throwing it out. But so far, I'm a little more convinced by posters here who make the point that if the work-arounds take that much effort to explain, there must be something wrong with the system itself.
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