Skip to main content
Answered

Volume increments of 5 on iOS

  • 16 January 2024
  • 9 replies
  • 203 views

Hi

My setup: SONOS Amp using standing speakers.

I think an old “issue” is back. Is found this old post “Volume increments of 5 after iOS update”, and I currently experience to same thing.

Well, kinda.

I’ve been away for 4 weeks (so not sure what my iOS version was at that time), and coming back running iOS 17.2.1 on both my iPad and iPhone I see the following weird volume increments: 0, 6, 13, 19, 25, ...

Both in the Music and SONOS app.

Anybody else seeing this behaviour?

Using my wife’s iPad (still on 17.1.2), I notice the same...

In short, the increments became unusable.

Any ideas?

PS: I tested playing music on my SONOS Arc and SONOS Roam, and they have the same behaviour.

 

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

9 replies

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @selsrog 

Thanks for your post!

Could you please recreate the issue and submit a support diagnostic immediately after, replying here with the given number at your convenience? Thanks!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
selsrog
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi Corry

I just did. The diagnostic number is 1446907935.

PS: what is did was increase/decrease the volume using the SONOS app.  

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @selsrog 

Thanks for the diagnostics - I can see exactly what you described in terms of the volume jumping by steps of 6. We are unable to reproduce the issue in our own testing, however.

It puzzles me that you mention changing the volume in the Sonos app, however, as all I see is commands to change the volume coming from AirPlay - I can see TV remote commands on the Arc going up and down in steps of 2 earlier, which is expected behaviour. Are you using the volume buttons on the side of the phone? If doing so with AirPlay connected, the button presses are probably being relayed through AirPlay.

Could you please disconnect AirPlay, choose a source from the Sonos app to play, then test using the volume slider in the Sonos app? Please submit a diagnostic after testing, regardless of the results, then record the number.

Please then reboot all of your Sonos devices and your iOS controller(s) and test both without AirPlay and with, and if you continue to see the same behaviour with either source, submit new diagnostics, and record the numbers again.

It is probably not related to the issues you report, but I highly recommend that you re-enable WiFi on your Arc and disconnect Amp that serves as surrounds from ethernet - both the surrounds and the Sub Mini will be happier connecting to the 5GHz signal that the Arc would normally put out so satellite speakers can connect. I am also wondering what devices are connected to the second ethernet port of each Amp, however, but whatever they are, I recommend you disconnect them too. If previous steps did not fix the volume issue, it’s probably worth testing again after disconnecting the ethernet cables.

If things still aren’t resolved, please share here the diagnostic numbers you recorded. Thanks.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
selsrog
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi Corry

thanks for the swift reply.

For clarification: I was always referring to change the volume via the iPhone/iPad volume sliders. Never the slider within the apps (Music or Sonos).

When I mentioned adjusting the volume using the Sonos app, I meant while having the app open, using the volume sliders.

When not using Airplay, the volume sliders do not impact the volume (it changes the Ringer volume), but using the Sonos app slider I can do it by +/-1 steps.

Now, for Airplay sources, if memory serves me well, the volume adjustment using the device volume buttons used to be more granular.

Interesting remark regarding the WiFi settings. Always thought wired was better, and the SONOS manual indicates it saves power. Hence my setup.

But I adjusted it.

The initial setup was:

  • network hub – Amp (surround) port 1
  • Amp (surround) port 2 – Amp (standing speakers) port 1
  • Amp (standing speakers) port 2 – Arc

Current setup:

  • network hub – Amp (standing speakers) port 1
  • Amp (standing speakers) port 2 – Arc

After a reboot I notice the following: when using Airplay, the same volume jumps happen when using the volume buttons as specified before (0, 6, 13, ...), see report 1966726777.

When using the Sonos app the play music, volume buttons do not do anything, and volume app slider works just fine, see report 1764126940.

So my main issue remains the Airplay volume button jump steps. And the question why the volume buttons do no work when using the Sonos app without Airplay (maybe this is expected behaviour, as I never use my SONOS system in that way.

 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @selsrog 

Thanks very much for trying all those steps, and for confirming how you are changing volume. It is indeed intended behaviour that the phone’s volume buttons do not affect Sonos outside of AirPlay usage - this is a restriction imposed by Apple as the Sonos app technically does not play music (it just relays commands to the speakers).

So, it seems you only see this issue when using AirPlay, but my colleague (I don’t have an iOS device) is unable to reproduce this issue in his testing. Do you by any chance have Apple HomeKit installed and have your Sonos devices added to it? It’s the only thing I can think of that could be altering AirPlay in this way, and may explain why my colleague can’t replicate results (he even updated his iPhone so that he was on the same version of iOS as you).

If you do have HomeKit, please try removing your Roam from HomeKit, then factory reset the Roam and add it back on to your Sonos system without then adding it to HomeKit and test with AirPlay. If that fixes the behaviour for Roam, it’s very likely that it will also then fix things for your other Sonos products, though I recommend a) removing surrounds from Arc before resetting either Arc or the Amp and b) only resetting one or two devices at a time (if you reset all devices, all settings, favourites and playlists will be erased). Please also report back if this does fix it.

Also, your latest diagnostic shows the Amp and Sub Mini connecting to Arc via a direct 5GHz link as they should - performance should now be less dependant on the network conditions.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
selsrog
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi Corry

I do have my Sonos systems added to HomeKit, as that enables my to use “Hey Siri, play xxx on Sonos”, Sonos being the name I gave to the Amp + Standing Speakers.

So, I tested my issue with the Roam, and that one also increases the volume in the 0, 6, … steps when it was added to HomeKit, and that behaviour remained after removing it from HomeKit.

Here diagnostics (466482215) when the Roam was removed from HomeKit, and adjusting the volume.

Then I did the factory reset, same volume behaviour (1844646598).

So, to be clear, when your colleague is using Airplay and the volume buttons to adjust the volume, what in- decrease is he seeing in the Sonos App?

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @selsrog 

Thanks again for trying those steps, and for the diagnostics - they will be of use.

I just asked my colleague what steps he saw when adjusting volume, and he was now able to reproduce the issue as you describe it - I don’t think he was using the hardware buttons on the iPhone last time.

It seems therefore, this is either for Apple or us to resolve, and it’s not just an issue with your system in particular. We will investigate - thanks again for reporting, and for all the steps you've taken so far in trying to find a fix/workaround - even though we were not able to do so, it was all very helpful.

I’ll update here once a resolution is found/implemented.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
selsrog
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi Corry

thanks for the feedback, and luckily you could reproduce. I hope you can fix this a soon as possible, increments of 5 are a bit to strong for Airplay. I think 2 (or as a user preference setting) would be better.

Cheers!

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @selsrog 

As your report of “4 weeks ago” coincides with a couple of Apple iOS updates (v17.2 and v17.2.1), we also recommend that you get in touch with Apple to report this issue - complaints from paying customers always have more impact than those from third parties (Sonos) without financial ties to Apple, and AirPlay specifically does seem to be the source of this issue.

In the meantime, please use the volume slider in the Sonos app if you need finer control over the volume (or a volume slider in iOS, seeing as my colleague was at first unable to replicate when not using hardware buttons).

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Terms & ConditionsCookie settings