Note:  This functionality was available until the disastrous May 2024 update.

They will not come back until Google changes its policies. Both Google and APPLE feel this capability exposes security risks and have threatened to remove any App that attempts to control an external device, such as SONOS Players, from the App Store.

Players that execute on the phone/pad can use the Lock Screen controls because they don’t control an external device. SONOS controllers don’t actually play music. The controllers simply send commands to the SONOS players. If you like, you could shut down or uninstall the controller after the SONOS Players start executing their tasks.

Why did SONOS previously offer Lock Screen controls? SONOS developed a hack. It’s the hack that Google and Apple dislike.

And yet… Spotify, and two other media players, both for streaming and local music, have controls that work on the lock screen, so that argument doesn’t fly with me, sorry.  

This quote below is exactly what Sonos Support’s KB pages say about it…

But Sonos isn’t a media player. It’s a remote control that sends data to the media player that runs on the speakers. 

Wow, that some… ininteresting circular logic there.

Spotify does the same thing friend.

Sorry, what circular logic? A Media player runs on your phone, and plays the ‘data’ on your phone’s OS. It can grab data from remote, or local files, as it resides directly on your phone (or tablet)

The Sonos, being a remote control, reaches out to the application running on your Sonos device, and tells the media player there what it should reach out to and play.

You can confirm this fairly easily. Start playback using a media player on your phone/tablet. Use a stream (it’s easier than using local files) such as Amazon, or Spotify…but any internet stream will work. Then turn off your phone. Because the media player has turned off, any music playing will stop. Whether or not you’re playing it on your phone, or via Bluetooth or AirPlay 2 (not using Sonos) and ‘casting it’ to your Sonos speakers. 

Power everything back on. Use your Sonos system to start playback of the same source. Once that’s done, power off your phone. Your Sonos will continue to play, because the actual media player is on the Sonos device, and not in the controller app on your phone. You’ve told the Sonos system, via the remote controller/app on your phone where to get, and play, the music stream.

Hi ​@ChrisUniqueM 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Thank you - I've marked this thread as a feature request and it will be seen by the relevant teams for consideration. Keep the ideas coming!

As you’ve pointed out, it does appear to be a planned return, but I will flag this as a feature request to register your interest.

Could you also add the thousands of other Android users who’ve raised this issue repeatedly in other threads on this forum, on Reddit and against the App reviews in Google Play… there’s a lot of angst out there to leverage this change!

Hi ​@Stripey71 

I understand why you want it emphasised, but no - that is not a thing I can do. I can forward a link to a thread to a team to evaluate the request. I do not send multiple links to the same request, especially when I have already stated that it looks like the feature is already planned to return.

Though, the “thousands of Android users” - your words, not mine - are certainly welcome to add their own voice here.

​@Corry P - thank you for the information, but per ​@Stripey71 ‘s comment there are a LOT of threads about this already, and more than a year later, the feature is still missing.

I’m sure you can appreciate how frustrating this is for customers of a company who prides itself on the saying “It Just Works.”

I’m not trying to snark or be bitchy here, we just want things fixed.  

Hi ​@ChrisUniqueM 

I do appreciate it, yes. I'm just saying that there is nothing more that I personally can do here.

Can you please sort this out already. Is this a secret deal with Spotify so people wont switch to another music service? Currently i feel locked in with Spotify since the Sonos integration to the app is outstanding. I can control the playback without hassle using the Spotify app. But i want to switch service and that will leaves me with the Sonos app since other music services dont have a similar "Spotify connect" integration. And wlthout notification center/lock screen/the new "dynamic Island" Control on Android in the Sonos app it is a no go to switch service. Sonos app is currently totally useless for Controlling your playback. Please sort it already 

Hi ​@mmr 

You can find a list of services from whom you can stream to Sonos directly from their own app on our Stream audio to Sonos from another app help page.

In what specific way, please? I am able to use the Sonos app to play from multiple services without issue.

I hope this helps.

Sit on the couch. Want to change track or adjust the volume? Pick up phone. Unlock phone. Start Sonos app if not in foreground. Adjust volume. Instead of just picking up the phone and change track/adjust volume from the lock screen. Or even from the volume button on the phone while locked. So yeah. Useless is what it is. Now I am not even getting into other issue with the app such as browsing your music from your desired music service. I could live with a lot of the other issues I have with the app if only playback controls where fixed properly

Hi ​@mmr 

I don’t want to dismiss your feedback, but no part of what you described is actually about controlling what music is playing, and where.

You - quite rightly - have an issue with being unable to control the volume from the lock screen. If it were up to us, you’d still be able to do so. However, both Apple and Google have decided that as the Sonos app does not itself play music on the device, it should not have volume controls on the lock-screen. I’d ask that you feed this back to them - we’d love to be able to do that again!

But, as the music service apps do (usually) play music to the device they are running on, volume control from the lock-screen is permitted - my assumption is that this is the case for all listed apps that can play to Sonos.

Have you considered using a Voice Assistant - if you install one, you don’t even need to go as far as finding your phone to adjust the volume! If you are concerned about privacy, Sonos Voice Control does not upload your voice command to the cloud - the speaker itself determines what you said, and only shares what it needs to share to execute the command (what track is wanted, for example).

You  mentioned a couch - if you are using a Home Theatre product, you can use a TV remote to control the volume (though, if the TV is off, you will need to program the sound bar to accept the IR codes from the remote - see Control Sonos home theater with your TV remote).

This is clearly hyperbolic, but I do get your point.

We can only address issues if they are well explained - I’d ask to please list what issues you are having, so I can at least begin to assist you.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for the feedback. I am just taking some short examples. Couch and volume was one specific. Sure I can use voice control but it has its limitations and drawbacks as well. Integrating with remotes and IR is not feasible in my opinion. I typically carry my phone with me around the house. I do everything on the phone. And Spotify is my main music and podcast app. So naturally, on the go using earphones, or at home using Sonos, Spotify is my main app from where I select my music and control playback. To me playback control is volume control and play/pause/skip. Using Spotify on Android this is flawless from all parts of my device, I can even control the volume on the Sonos device currently playing using the volume buttons on device, even if the phone is locked.

Now switching to the Sonos App nothing of this is available. Nada. Each time I want to even do the minimal thing, like change volume, I need to unlock the phone and open the app. Sure I can shout throughout my house to one of my voice enabled devices (I have two) and hopefully the result is as expected, this is not always the case. The future is still not here when it comes to voice control.

A while back you had a major issue, which was never explained on why it occured but for some users (me included) Spotify Connect totally stopped working, it was eventually resolved only by uninstalling my entire Sonos system and reinstalling each device after factory resets. This was several weeks of only using the Sonos app and it literally drove me insane. This is why I still feel more or less forced to use Spotify since no one else offers the same integrations. But maybe this will be lost from the Spotify app as well, Lets see. I (and I know many others) still are very reluctant to accepts the Sonos app as the main controller for my Sonos speakers. 

What still baffles me is WHY Spotify is allowed to control the music playback on the Sonos device from the lock screen/notification bar etc. IT IS THE EXACT SAME THING. It is even a little bit less secure/integrated since Spotify does not “own” the hardware, Sonos does. So I know you guys over and over again blame Google, but me and everyone else complaining about this never ever get a reply on why you say it is not allowed, still other apps do it. You tube music is the exact same thing, but for Nest devices. Sure it is a Google eco system but still. 

Hi ​@mmr 

Thank you for expanding on your points.

I do understand. As the Spotify app can play to the device, it is allowed to have lock-screen controls, even when playing on Sonos. 

Our app for a time actually pretended to play audio (it played silence) to get around this, but we were told to change the behaviour or have our app removed from the app store - obviously, we opted to change it.

Going back to your original question, however, all the other apps that support playing to Sonos should be the same - it’s really a question of which service and which app you prefer.

One option (available on Samsung, but I do not know about other manufacturers) might be to have smart-unlock enabled. When your phone is in a certain location (your home), it will not lock - this will make the process of opening and using the Sonos app slightly quicker. Also, increasing the time taken for the phone to turn off it’s screen may help (assuming you ever go back into the app immediately after leaving).

I am not familiar with this issue and I am sorry to hear that you had to go to such extent to fix it. I can assure you that these types of issues (and fixes) are very rare - generally, things can be solved without factory resets.

The Spotify app can play to the device it runs on, whereas the Sonos app does not. That’s it - that is the sole distinction that both Apple and Google have decided to use when classifying an app as a media player. Our app does not fit the bill, despite the fact that many people would find it far more useful for the feature to just be permitted, and literally no-one would complain. Please believe that if we could think of a workaround, we’d implement it tomorrow.

For a fuller explanation of why our app cannot be classified as a media playing app as a exception, you would have to ask Google and Apple - I am not aware of one.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for the detailed reply. The reason for this being such a pita is that I have used Spotify and Sonos for so many years now and the way I am using it in my daily life is just fundamental. So now when investigating options to be able to leave Spotify it is very hard due to the way I am used to manage this.

If Youtube music or Deezer would have had an implementation like Spotify Connect I would have made the switch already. Thank you for the conversation. I will not continue the topic (but will still keep hoping for this to change in the future)