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While I have the Sonos app installed on my Mac (OS 13.6.3), I still prefer using Apple Music to play through my Sonos speakers. In order to do that, I go to Settings > Sound > Output & Input and select my "Office" speakers (Era 300 stereo pair). In Apple Music, I go to the AirPlay icon in the upper right and select my "Office" speakers there also. Lastly, I go to my Mac's mennu bar and select my Sonos speakers from the Sound Output pull-down menu. However, if it works at all, playing to the Sonos speakers using Apple Music only works for awhile. If I'm away from my desk for awhile, if I stop playing music for awhile, or I change artists or playlists, it usually stops playing through Apple Music altogether. Instead, if I hear anything at all, it's through my Mac's built in speakers. 9 times out of 10, I resort to playing through the Sonos app, which works, probably 80% of the time.

I don't dislike the Sonos app. It's just in terms of playlists and artists, Apple Music is superior. Plus I'm able to use "Boom 3D" with Apple Music*.

* I have a third-party app called "Boom 3D" which is excellent for setting eq and adding spacious sound. However, that app does not work with the Sonos app, only with Apple Music, which is a primary reason for wanting to use Apple Music.

Other things I've tried:

• Quitting and re-lauching each app.
• Going back to Settings > Sound, deselecting the speakers then re-selecting them.
• Restarting my Mac.

Help with this will be greatly appreciated.

Hi @pkazmercyk 

Thanks for your post!

Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having. While somewhat annoying, this is basically expected behaviour - AirPlay will “time-out” after a while of inactivity. You can improve things a little by ensuring that you initiate the connection via the Apple Music application rather than from a macOS system menu (which would involve unsupported, but working, AirPlay v1).

Instead, however, I recommend that you test things using Bluetooth rather than AirPlay - you may find the behaviour more agreeable:

Pair Sonos Era 300 with Bluetooth

Note that although Bluetooth on Era 300 does have a Auto-Disconnect on Idle feature, it is disabled by default. Although you are connecting to only one speaker, both speakers in the stereo pair will play as long as the speakers are still on your network.

I believe your Boom 3D app will still affect Bluetooth sound (no promises, however - I am unfamiliar with it).

I hope this helps.

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