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Question

AirPlay issues with iOS 26

  • January 15, 2026
  • 6 replies
  • 133 views
L

Hi, I have been having issues with AirPlay since iOS 26 was released. During beta testing iOS I have submitted multiple bug reports to Apple asking them why my Apple Music audio will not play when the next song plays to my Sonos speakers. I have to manually skip the song in order to get sound working again. Music does continue in the iOS device, but no sounds plays to my Sonos speakers. Sometimes AirPlay will just not even connect to any of my speakers and I have to either turn WiFi on and off on my iPhone for it to work. 

 

I have been beta testing newest iOS release and Apple sent me an email saying they fixed the issue, but they did not and I continue to have disconnects and audio issue. My UniFi wifi is setup as recommended by Ubiquity for Sonos and AirPlay. (Issue was happening since 9:50PM-11:00PM on 01/04/2026) Thank you.

6 replies

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • January 15, 2026

You may be troubled to find that Sonos tends not to support betas, as they tend to change quickly, and require a lot from the Sonos folks to stay ‘current’. 

That being said, Sonos doesn’t have a ton to do with AirPlay 2. Either the signal is received, or it isn’t. And, I suspect Sonos doesn’t bother to keep track of whether a particular Apple beta has been ‘fixed’ or not. I also think in this case, your only option is further discussions with Apple, I doubt any of Sonos Customer Support folks have any knowledge or training on Apple’s betas. 

Bruce
Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • January 15, 2026

For what it’s worth, I’m using AirPlay 2 right now, from a current iPad, sending to a current Arc. It’s working fine.

I wonder if there’s been a change to your Ubiquity network that is causing the issue. I don’t use one myself, but this link might be helpful: https://github.com/IngmarStein/unifi-sonos-doc

Or not. Dunno. 

Bruce
L
  • Luigi408
  • Author
  • Contributor II
  • January 15, 2026

Yeah, I already follow UniFi best practice. Multiple people seem to have reported the issue and even Apple replied to my bug report saying they “fixed it” but really didn’t (beta testing 26.3). Do you download your music to your iPhone or steam it? I download my music to my iPhone at High Res Lossless since I also play it through my dac/amp headphones.

S

I have had these same issues since upgrading to iOS 26, but I have noticed some factors that change behavior: when the phone screen is unlocked, the next song will play without issue, even when using an app other than Apple Music. If the phone screen is locked and Always On Display is enabled, the music will stop when the song changes. However, disabling Always On Display eliminated this issue when the phone is locked. I’ve submitted this feedback to Apple so I’m hopeful that they can finally fix the bug causing this. 

    Airgetlam
    • Airgetlam
    • January 15, 2026

    I play music stored on my iPad. Using Apple’ Music app. It was a single, long track (20 plus minutes or so), so I didn’t get to test changing tracks. But if changing tracks is an issue, that sure sounds like an Apple concern, and not a Sonos one. 

    Bruce
    AjTrek1
    • AjTrek1
    • January 15, 2026

    Music downloaded to all my iOS devices. Test using Apple music. Stored Playlist of 100 songs. Running iOS 26.2. Airplay to Sonos Amp with 3rd party speakers and Sonos Sub 3. No issues whether iPhone Pro Max 17 is locked or unlocked. In fact music is playing while typing this response.

    Your issues are either due to iOS beta or network interference.

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