Running an experiment on the battery drain problem for anyone who want to play along at home …

… just a hunch that the Bluetooth radio could be the culprit.

@miataguy @Don Emilio @tg1 @digiveit 

Sorry for repeating myself, but I asked on your linked topic - what would the Sonos app use BT for?

Hi @ploppy, the app uses Bluetooth for the Ace headphones and adding new speakers.

Thanks.  So, ignoring the headphones, it’s for discovery of “new” speakers? If that’s the case, I can see why it would be “always looking” but as a user, you’d know whether new speakers need to be found and could therefore leave it disabled for pretty much all the time.  It’s a design choice, I suppose, on the part of the app developer.  Assuming BT is the culprit, of course.

BTW, I’ve just had a similar thing with Fitbit using battery in the background (even when the app is closed), so I’ve disabled BT for that app, and it’s fixed that drain - although it’s not been as much of a drain as Sonos.

Just adding a +1 here. I’m seeing significant battery drain while the Sonos app is sitting unused in the background on iOS. 

iPhone 15 Pro, 2 months old

Battery usage: Sonos 70% !!!

it’s killing my new battery. This needs a fix….

URGENTLY

I got a suggestion from the hi-fi shop where I bought my Sonos kit. Shutting down the app stops this happening. It isn’t a fix but my phone has been draining overnight thanks to the app but didn’t do it last night.  It’s a bit of a pain to remember to shut the app down but better than a dead phone

Just turn off “background app refresh” for the Sonos app.

Background app refresh makes no difference. The app manages to drain the battery with it switched off 

Makes no difference. I thought it would but I tried it for two days and same drain.

Hi @Rhonny , did you try the Bluetooth experiment?

Disable Bluetooth for the entire phone, not just the Sonos app … leave Sonos running in the background overnight. This is admittedly just a hunch, tho’ if correct it would be super to narrow down the bug.

Sadly you are correct, so I just uninstalled the app from my phone. I’ll use other apps (or my iPad or PC) instead.

I didn’t before as my Apple Watch is always connected to the phone by Bluetooth but I’ll do it tonight and report back…

I have iphone battery drain from Sonos in the background too. Bluetooth is totally off and all Sonos app permissions off except local network. I just left the Sonos app open for about an hour with no other apps open, phone screen off, and no speakers playing, and Sonos ran in the background the whole time.

Could it be anything to do with Lock Screen volume if they might be planning that? I’ve noticed when the Sonos app is open my phone media volume refuses to mute.  The old app Lock Screen controls killed the phone battery but they could be toggled off.

I’m not having any significant battery drain by the Sonos app. The usage is 4% over 10 days. Here are the particulars:

Hardware

• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iOS 17.5.1
• Sonos OS: 80.05.04
• Sonos Ver: 16.3

iPhone Settings 

• WiFi Calling _iPhone auto-switches to WiFi from Cellular upon entering my home which reduces battery drain *
• Sonos App has cellular usage turned off which reduces battery drain **

iPhone Battery Settings

• Charging Optimized

 * Highly recommend this setting as a “Pro-Tip” for iPhone 

 ** Highly recommend this setting as a “Pro-Tip” for any app that doesn’t require cellular access or restricted to only when cellular is needed. For example AppleMusic or other streaming service.

Just turned off Mobile data for the Sonos app too (uk equivalent to your cellular usage) as the app doesn’t need mobile data access, as you state… (the app isn’t capable to working when away from the home WiFi network).

Thank you for the suggestions.  I already had cellular use off for Sonos and phone charging optimized, but haven’t used Wi-Fi calling. Not sure I understand what that has to do with Sonos running in the background or altering the phone volume but can give it a try to see if it changes anything.

Hi @tidepooler, Wi-Fi calling is carrier-specific as opposed to being Apple Magic. Google “lyour carrier name here] Wi-Fi calling” and see what you find. Wi-Fi calling is wonderful if you have a weak cellular signal at your house.

Ah, I see, I’ll look into it more and learn before I just change the setting then.  Thank you for the advice.

Same here. No lore than 5 minutes use in last 24 hours, but around half my energy use. Almost as much as safari with hours of active usage. And this is despite the Lock Screen widget being gone. Unusable. 

Massive battery drain on ios as well.  Sonos customer support claimed they hadn’t had any reports and had no answers.  Advise all to call them with your reports until this gets acknowledged and fixed.

Mine’s the same. Background app refresh is off but it’s been doing something in the background for 23h 36m of the last 24!

This needs to be resolved.

One more case here iPad Pro drained 40% battery overnight due to Sonos.

Seems like they’re just creating new problems as they fix the old ones. It’s not a promising sign for the new app going forward. Time for that rollback?

@press250

On iOS, since going to Settings / Sonos / Mobile Data and turning it off, I’ve not had the battery drain. Currently at 7% from 48 mins screen time, 9 hours background… 

Don’t know if this helps your ongoing testing/theories or not. 

TBH, that was not on my bingo card, @Rhonny. It could certainly explain things, tho’ many people report high battery drain overnight … and while at home your phone is strictly connected to Wi-Fi. In any case, curiouser and curiouser!