I can not play from My Android Phone anymore- why ...?
Best answer by jgatie
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Why is it not possible to play directly from my Android phone anymore
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I can’t believe they removed this feature. I store music on my phone, and use this feature for DJ’ing at parties where Sonos systems are already installed. WTF? I see I am not the only person mad about this.
I suspect Sonos are secretly happy about this. Another reason to drop support for personal libraries altogether and just focus on an app that supports streaming services. New search not showing results for personal libraries and their new range of speakers being Bluetooth enabled spell it out loud and clear.
There are various ways to handle this. Do any of the SONOS players support Line-In? If so, there are Bluetooth to analog audio converters.
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Yawn. This again. It’s been raised and answered in so many other threads. And now another…
Deal with it..why even bother responding if it bothers you so much…yawn
If it is functionality that the user was sold on and expects, yes, we find a way to properly implement it. That has happened numerous times: we’ve had to replace older libraries, add in support for requirements like account deletion, etc. That’s our job as the developer and duty to our customer.
If local media playback is not something Sonos perceives its userbase needing or not worth the effort to properly implement then that is their perogative of course, but it kills a major point of functionality for me.
Sonos still provides ways to play a ‘local library’. Due to changes in rules from the makers of the various OS systems, Sonos is no longer able to do that from a mobile device, be it iOS or Android. Nothing has changed for PC/Mac libraries, or NAS storage, either.
It seems challenging to me to lay the responsibility for that removal of access on mobile devices that run mobile operating systems at the feet of Sonos.
Yawn. This again. It’s been raised and answered in so many other threads. And now another…
Deal with it..why even bother responding if it bothers you so much…yawn
That’s the fun of these forums: someone posts, someone responds, and so on it goes.
If it is functionality that the user was sold on and expects, yes, we find a way to properly implement it. That has happened numerous times: we’ve had to replace older libraries, add in support for requirements like account deletion, etc. That’s our job as the developer and duty to our customer.
If local media playback is not something Sonos perceives its userbase needing or not worth the effort to properly implement then that is their perogative of course, but it kills a major point of functionality for me.
So I guess that means you just live with the fact that your app is removed from the App Store or Google Play Store? Because Google and Apple have declared that accessing their devices via 3rd party external hardware is a security risk, and have closed it off. Sonos’ app is not a media player, it is a controller, and the entire design for Sonos is the smarts are in the player, not the app. So how exactly are they going to access data for which the OS has closed off access, and threatened to remove the app from their stores if Sonos tries to hack around that closed off access?
Dude, I'm not disputing the popularity of streaming services and I don't think anyone needs it spelled out. I'm just suggesting that not having to support music libraries will be a bonus for Sonos.
Sonos still provides ways to play a ‘local library’. Due to changes in rules from the makers of the various OS systems, Sonos is no longer able to do that from a mobile device, be it iOS or Android. Nothing has changed for PC/Mac libraries, or NAS storage, either.
Right, but specific to what was of great utility for me and other users was the capability of playing our library from our phone. Desktop/laptop/NAS solutions don’t cover this unfortunately.
It seems challenging to me to lay the responsibility for that removal of access on mobile devices that run mobile operating systems at the feet of Sonos.
Perhaps, but their communication/clarity on this has been awful and judging from so many more complaints on the issue I think they could have done a far better job of informing their users. I started skimming through this forum to get more info on the actual root cause and that’s not completely clear either, just some . In any case, I came here to voice my displeasure, am happy to find I am by no means alone with this frustration, and now understand Sonos’s limitations to guide my next purchases.
I personally think Sonos Staff explained things clearly, in advance, and gave their users plenty of alternative ways to play their tracks - here is the thread:
I don’t see what else Sonos could do with their software ‘remote’ controller App - it was a feature taken away by others. Clearly Sonos didn’t want this - it was something that was forced on them.
There are further alternatives that were not mentioned too (I think) such as iBroadcast service, Emby, aswell as HiFi cast player. I opted to simply use Bluetooth.
I’m not precisely sure how many playback alternatives there are, but there’s clearly a half-dozen, or more, to choose from.
Dude, I'm not disputing the popularity of streaming services and I don't think anyone needs it spelled out. I'm just suggesting that not having to support music libraries will be a bonus for Sonos.
Who said they aren’t supporting local music libraries?
Dude, I'm not disputing the popularity of streaming services and I don't think anyone needs it spelled out. I'm just suggesting that not having to support music libraries will be a bonus for Sonos.
Who said they aren’t supporting local music libraries?
The writing is on the wall for local music libraries. New search doesn't include local libraries and it ain't gonna be called New search forever. Expect the usual suspects to be doing the rounds putting a positive spin on it when Sonos pull the plug on it! 😀
I don’t work for Sonos but agree that it is Google who is forcing this change. Now the only option to play music from your device is to upload it to a cloud storage service that supports Sonos, such as iBroadcast, Apple Music, Deezer, Plex, and YouTube Music. From these services you can import your music to Sonos. YouTube Music and iBroadcast are free. However, YouTube Music (Google) will only import 999 songs to the Sonos Queue, making it useless to those who have a larger music library. I don’t know if iBroadcast limits imports to Sonos, but it imported my entire library (2730 songs) to Sonos and I am, once again, playing my music through Sonos.
My hope is that Sonos works with Google to fix the issue with limited imports, and that it partners with these needed services to offer free subscriptions to its users.
I wouldn’t hold my breath. I’d assume Sonos tried to work with Apple, several years ago when Apple shut off this feature that Sonos was working, to no avail. Those of us who use iOS have been without this ‘feature’ since August of 2019. It was also forced by a change to the iOS operating system, evidently nothing that Sonos could do.
Everyone is blaming SONOS because it is their fault.
SONOS could have made it work. But instead the company just puts a bot on here to automatically respond to every complaint about what SONOS has done by just blaming Google.
Ahh, inside information: you work for Sonos. Hence you know “SONOS could have made it work”. All is explained now.
There are so many ways to play a users own music library on Sonos. It will take some getting rid of. The methods that spring to mind (off the top of my head) …and some (not all) which I may use are…
- Sonos SMB Shared Library
- Sonos HTTP Shared Library
- Playback over Bluetooth
- Playback over Airplay
- Playback over Chromecast (to TV/Soundbar)
- TV Apps that access a NAS Share, VLC etc.
- Apple Music iCloud Service within Sonos App (library copy)
- Plex Service
- Emby Service (direct control)
- iBroadcast Service (library copy)
- YouTube Music (library copy)
- DLNA (Windows Media)
- Playback over Line-In (mobile streaming device)
I’m sure I may have forgot some from that list too…
However, it will really take some doing to stop folk playing their local library files on Sonos Speakers.
You’re welcome. 🙂
Does anyone know if I downloaded an old version of S2 I would regain functionality? I presume it wouldn’t work as the hardware is updated to the later version.
It’s not “Excuses, excuses…”, it’s facts. I respectfully request you attack the argument and not the person,
Dude, I'm not attacking anyone, just imparting knowledge that there is an independent app that can do what Sonos claims they cannot do anymore, that some Sonos users my find helpful. There is obviously a subset of community members who identify with the term "usual suspects". If there wasn't, my use of the term wouldn't offend anyone! ;-)
Moving on, here's a screenshot from the Hi-Fi Cast app now that I'm home and connected to my network. As well as my Sonos speakers, it can also connect with my Bose SoundTouch 20 speaker! If I want to playback on Sonos speakers in multiple rooms, I can go into the Sonos app and set it up from there, AFTER I've started casting from the Hi-Fi Cast app.
However when connected to multiple rooms, the track time counter in the Hi-Fi Cast app reverts to 0.00 seconds and stays there for each track, but I can skip backwards and forwards between tracks. Conversely, the track time counter works in the Sonos app but I cannot skip forwards, just restart the track currently playing. Basically, it's not perfect if you want multiple room playback but it is for one room playback.
I only need this function because the amount of music I own exceeds the Sonos library limit and if I want all of my music to be accessible, I need to use a device in conjunction with the hard drive I have plugged into my router (which I find to be an altogether much easier option than running a NAS).
Finally (and off topic in this thread), I've noticed that Classic search now includes the results for Sonos Radio straight after the results for my local library, even though I've never used the service! I find it very arrogant that Sonos do not allow customers to remove it, like it does with all other services.
If I’m using an Android (tablet), then I sometimes use a Bluetooth connection, either to a Roam, Era or Move2 speaker and play the downloaded/locally-stored tracks to any/every Sonos speaker using Poweramp from the Google PlayStore - I’ve tried HiFi cast too, but it’s not the best player IMHO. Poweramp has a few useful EQ presets, although I mostly leave things flat nowadays and just let (auto)/Truplay do it’s thing.
Of course the Sonos App itself, is just a ‘remote’ for the Sonos speakers, rather than a music player, so I understand why it does not do these things.
I’m quite happy to use a Bluetooth connection anyway and I do like the way that Sonos have implemented that connection as an audio source for playback on any Sonos device in the same HH, via grouping.
All said and done though, there’s always services like iBroadcast, Emby, Plex, aswell as the Sonos local library (SMB) access anyway (to name but a few services) that can help provide further options with playing locally held music on Sonos devices. I even have a way to ‘cast’ to Sonos using the Nvidia Shield and a Sonos HT product linked to the TV - so playing locally held music is not really a huge issue, personally speaking and I have no issues playing music that’s held on an Android tablet.
Hi-Fi Cast is a DLNA/UPnP media app (server/renderer/control point) similar to BubbleUPnP. Like all such apps they’ll cast to Sonos players as UPnP renderers, though this is unofficial and playback support is sometimes a bit hit and miss.
Again, this is utterly different from the Sonos Controller app, which is simply a remote control, and cannot (now, thanks to Google) also function as a server to dispense local files.
I really can’t understand why it’s so difficult to understand the distinction.
This drives me nuts! Why would I ever again buy Sonos products when they remove essential features like this? I don’t subscribe to a music streaming service, and the Sonos devices I have (Arc and Sonos Ones) don’t have bluetooth. The only solutions offered are to subscribe to streaming or invest in NAS - so spend more money to replace the storage my phone does just fine. Effectively Sonos has just decided to deny me access to my music. Thanks!
It's bonkers. The usual suspects bang on about it being Google's fault but when you tell them that an independent music player app can cast music to Sonos speakers, they bang on about the Sonos app being a remote control, not a music player. Excuses, excuses…
Anyway, the app in question is Hi-Fi Cast. It's available for free, but you can pay about £6 to purchase it. It works a treat and you get none of the lagging nonsense regularly encountered in the Sonos app. I'm out of town at the moment but when I'm home and connected to my network, all of the speakers shown in the attached screenshot from the app are available to cast to.
Agree, I use iPhone, there isn’t a more comfortable app than the native Apple Music app using Airplay, the Apple Music interface in the Sonos app is horrible, pretty slow, I try to search something and appear very few results, and the Apple Music browsing tab is limited to my library and the stations.
Don’t come out that AirPlay will be deleted too because I’m gonna swoon, bought my Sonos Roam for $250 this is getting unreliable, and unreliable even more
The writing is on the wall for local music libraries. New search doesn't include local libraries and it ain't gonna be called New search forever. Expect the usual suspects to be doing the rounds putting a positive spin on it when Sonos pull the plug on it! 😀
So that would mean "nobody" said they aren't supporting local libraries. Gotcha.
Daddy chill. Why are you trolling me and claiming that I've said that someone has said that Sonos are not going to support local libraries? Please link to the relevant comment. All I've suggested is that not having to support local libraries would be a bonus for Sonos and the lack of local library results in New search hints that they could be headed in that direction.
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