Will Sonos support Google Cast for Audio?

I too am interested to see how Chromecast Audio works, particularly in a multi-room environment. They say that this capability will be available in the future, but I have not seen an ETA.

As it is now, I see Chromecast Audio as more direct alternative to an an AirPlay system than a Sonos system. The capabilities that the forthcoming Chromecast app supports will be the key to making it a true Sonos competitor.

That being said, people should keep in mind that Chromecast Audio is far from "wireless". To cobble together even just a stereo pair that is most similar to a Sonos pair of Play1/3/5, you would need...

Powered speakers
Chromecast Audio
Power running to Chromecast Audio device
Power running to powered speakers
And something I've not seen mentioned...speaker wire connecting the 2 speakers

If you go the route of using an amplifier, even more wiring is required. And, grabbing 1 of the speakers to move to a different room or bring outside and plug in is certainly not nearly as convenient.

Further, adding a sub to a Chromecast Audio setup would add more wiring, require outputs from the powered speakers, or require an external amp.

I am not trading in my Sonos system.

Whoa, Chris. No need to get so defensive. I meant "trick," as in something I wasn't aware of. I thought if you did that, it would only play through that one speaker.

That said, it is a kluge compared to building it into the app. I shouldn't have to buy another piece of hardware to do something that they obviously can support, given the compatibility with the Google Play Music casting. If that wasn't around, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, that despite being able to support so many other individual services, they couldn't just support one service that would give them access to all the others and greatly reduce their development efforts.

"Most content' is on Soundcloud, really? Do you have a source for that? So you're saying I could have just listened to the Nexus announcements today on Soundcloud instead of the livestream on YT? Never mind the fact that young people overwhelmingly use YT for music discovery (in Time 3 yr ago). Soundcloud's interface sucks, too. It's too hard to find actual artist's stuff in between all the covers. They don't even have big artists like Taylor Swift.

You have an iPhone. How do you control the volume on your Sonos when your screen is off? Does it not bother you that you have to turn on and unlock your phone just to adjust the volume? Or am I missing something?

I did go ahead and purchase one of the $35 Chromecast Audio devices. That way I will hook it to my Play:5 and therefore have full Chromecast ability. Chromecast functions in much the same way as Sonos pulling music so I'm anxious to see how it does. As those who have seen me post I absolutely hate Airplay, so this should be a good alternative (although I rarely have used my airplay on Sonos).

Only disadvantage of the Chromecast Audio device vs. integration is of course with integration you could chose each speaker in your system individually from the google compatible apps. With the audio device I have to go in Sonos app to chose which speakers get the chromecast stream. Not a big deal and then lets me control everything again in Sonos app. which I do prefer.

Thanks, that answered some questions I had regarding Chicks's earlier suggestion to use the aux port to get around Sonos's lack of iOS Control Center support (since all the other streaming apps that support Cast work with Control Center).

But seriously, wow, the Chomecast Audio is a game-changer. There's already an article on Engadget comparing it to Sonos ("competitor at 1/10 of the price"). That said, you have to put your own system together, which a lot of people won't want to do. So there's still a place for Sonos, but they need to get their head out of their rear and focus on the hardware, and adopt Cast as a standard before they get left in the dust. With all the other services they support, I don't see it being that difficult. No specialized hardware is required. Sonos has a great system, but they can't compete with Google's reach to get all these app devs to code compatible apps. YouTube support alone will be huge.

The aux trick could potentially be a fix for me, although it would kind of suck to have to buy a Chromecast to fix the Sonos (never mind the Sonos 5 or Connect that I'd have to buy, as I was already planning on getting one). I'd rather keep buying Sonos, but if I'm going to have to kluge stuff together, I'd at least consider selling my Sonoses and buying higher quality speakers/amps, outdoor speakers (Sonos still hasn't created a weatherproof product) and hooking them up to Chromecast, at probably 25-50% of the cost of Sonos.

We don't know where Sonos is on Google Cast. We don't know if they are able to integrate it into existing Sonos software or will require new device. Heck we don't even know if they are truly working on it has just been rumors.

The new google cast receiver may be finding a home though hooked to my current Play:5. So then for me its kinda done!

Yes very interesting developments with Google at the moment. Fingers crossed and hoping Sonos will be very much involved with them going forward

Isn't the Moto Stream just another Bluetooth receiver? Not a real contender vs casting, too many issues...
It's NFC connected and Bluetooth. Works really well, sounds good and seamless with the line in auto settings.

Thanks for the info wkel24 !

Thanks Chick - very interesting and yes that would give Google Casting as long as people have aux in device (although those with Play:1/Play:3s will still complain. But a good interim fix.

Just got an iPhone 6S Plus and was very disappointed to see that i can't control Sonos's volume from the iPhone's lock screen like I could on Android. Google Play Music works fine via the iPhone's lock screen. So I thought, "no problem, I can cast from the Google Music app." Unfortunately, I can't do that either!

I'm really bummed out. I love my Sonos (slowly accumulated a Play 3 and 2 Play 1s, had the 5 or a ConnectAmp on my Christmas list) so I don't know whether to return the iPhone for a Note 5 or hope that Sonos will support Google Cast before too long. And if they don't, have to look into selling the Sonos.

Why does it have to be so hard?

Just purchased my Sonos setup and very pleased with it. Little disappointed to learn I can only cast Google music over to it though. The LG flow system has just been heavily discounted too! Looks like a good buy although maybe a little flaky and unstable.
I'm going to buy a chromecast adapter called JoyDrone and hook it up to my aux in as a temporary measure until hopefully Google Cast arrives to Sonos (fingers crossed)

Rumors say Spotify will soon support Google Cast for Audio. So this could be a chance to directly use the Spotify App to control the Sonos without Spotify Connect. If Sonos would implement Google Cast for Audio.

Exactly Chris, that's my point , I have seen the notes of 6.0 beta, and there are only 2 things.
- New Spotify Premium improvements on Sonos:
- Improved Live streaming on MLB.com Gameday Audio and Sirius XM.

Wondering why it is marked as a major release (5.4 --> 6.0)

I am not a Spofify User, but I am sure Spotify native app can cast, so instead of Sonos trying to catch up with the new improvements/services that each music provider delivers, why Sonos can't just support Google Cast standard, and then up to the user to use Spotify native app to enjoy all benefits of Spotify,

Not sure to understand why Sonos still forces us to go through their app to run music services, but this needs a change. Keep sonos app for room setup, pairing, update.... only.

There so many services out there who are making use of cast API. 8 months since Google Cast is announced, can Sonos share their direction

Thanks,

any update from Sonos team? Still not part of the Sonos Beta 6.0 that they release 1st Sept?
Hi Nico-sg, you can join the Sonos beta programs from your Sonos account. Here's an article explaining how: https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1795