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I have speakers in 3 rooms. When I play via AirPlay, I play it to the AirPlay-enabled speaker (not all are AirPlay compatible, but for a group all you need is one of them and the group will work).

For some reason over the last few months, when I play over AirPlay, the group does not work. It will only play out of the AirPlay-compatible speaker. If I choose the group from within the Sonos app, it works.

The AirPlay speaker is in the bedroom. A group contains the bedroom, office, and living room. So only the bedroom speaker plays and I cannot get sound to come through the other speakers in the group.

Any ideas on what to reset/reboot/try? Thank you. All iOS software and Sonos speaker software and apps are up to date as far as I can tell.

What happens if you remove the group and start with the Airplay capable speaker, then group the non Airplay speakers?

I would also do a complete reboot: router/network, Sonos and phone.

Turn off for 5 minutes, then starting with the router/network, power it on and allow it to fully boot. Then with the Airplay capable speaker, power them on, allowing them to fully boot before moving on to the next. power on your phone and connect to your system. Test Airplay.


Thanks. I rebuilt the group as you suggested. It worked, but again it doesn’t “stick.” I’ll play music from my iPad over AirPlay, then pause for a few hours, and come back and it only plays to one speaker again. 

I will try the full reboot of everything.

 


Thanks. I rebuilt the group as you suggested. It worked, but again it doesn’t “stick.” I’ll play music from my iPad over AirPlay, then pause for a few hours, and come back and it only plays to one speaker again. 

I will try the full reboot of everything.

 

Do the speakers remain grouped when you pause as you describe?

Have you tried defining the speakers as a named Group? 


Yes. The Group is saved with the name “Music.” I just checked in Settings, and that saved Group is intact. 


Ok, so I completely rebuilt my Sonos network with factory setting resets. The problem still happens but I can be more specific. 

3 speakers: the living room (actually a pair), bedroom, and office are in a Group called Music.

If I play from the Sonos app, no problem. The Group is honored. Music comes through all the speakers.

Playing from within Apple Music does not work. If I AirPlay to the Bedroom speaker, the music should come through every speaker in the Group that includes Bedroom. It does not. The sound only comes through Bedroom.

While I have a workaround (just use the Sonos app), I’d prefer to use Apple Music and SiriusXM apps over AirPlay.

It might be possible that I need to replace the older speakers with ones that are also AirPlay compatible, but I’m certain my current speaker setup has worked before.

 


 

 

 


Grouping should be done in the Sonos software, not the Apple software. Or in the SiriusXM software. 

Your groups should be honored when you send an AirPlay 2 signal to a grouped Sonos speaker, the content should be played on that Sonos ‘group’. 

You can increase the amount of bandwidth you use from your device to send multiple streams to multiple AirPlay 2 Sonos devices, if you choose, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Most devices you send from aren’t really designed for multiple streams coming from them, plus you’re then relying on that system to synchronize the output, and it isn’t designed for that. Sonos, on the other hand, is designed to take a single line in stream, and share it, synchronized, across multiple Sonos ‘rooms’. One stream from your sending device, the Sonos doing what it is designed to do. 

 

 


The grouping is done in the Sonos app. This is what I am saying. If I send an AirPlay stream to a grouped speaker, sound does not come through all the speakers in that group. It only comes through the AirPlay-compatible speaker.

I’m not sending multiple streams  I’m streaming one thing at a time.

My speakers:

Bedroom: Sonos One (AirPlay compatible)

Living room: paired Play:1s

Office: Play:1


Then that’s not the behavior I’m seeing at all. I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. Don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, they get sensitive about GDPR.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.


Problem solved. I was digging around and saw in Settings in the Sonos app, there is a section for AirPlay settings and then a toggle for grouping non-AirPlay products with AirPlay ones. I switched it on and everything works again. 


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