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swea1978
Contributor I
October 31, 2016
Question

Can I hear TV through Sonos App?

  • October 31, 2016
  • 7 replies
  • 691 views
When my wife wants me to turn down the TV volume, it would be great to plug in earphones into phone and hear TV through SONOS App.
Is this feature possible, and if so how do I do it?
If not this would be a great update to future app.

Thanks for a great product.

Magnus
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    7 replies

    The LHC
    October 31, 2016
    You can't hear anything through the controller app, it's a controller, not a player, the audio doesn't go anywhere near it, particularly not when you're listening to TV audio, how do you expect that to get from the Playbar to the controller device? Never going to happen.
      John B
      October 31, 2016
      Hi Magnus. As @TheLHC says, this is completely impossible and always will be. Also pointless. If you want to listen to the TV through headphones..... listen to the TV through headphones. A bluetooth transmitter and headphones would be the easiest way to accomplish this.
      ratty
      ratty
      October 31, 2016
      Get these, and plug in your chosen earphones.
      swea1978Author
      Contributor I
      November 1, 2016
      John B and LHC.
      Why would it be impossible. There is Wifi in the play-bar which "talks" with the SUB. Why not also with the phone.
      Yes Ratty, I know such exists, but why can the Player not communicate with a phone like it can with play 1.
      ratty
      ratty
      November 1, 2016
      As already explained, the Sonos app has no ability to process audio. It's a controller.

      Also, piping audio over a shared WiFi link -- whoever does it -- will incur a delay, large enough to ruin lip-sync for many people.
      BoredofBalham
      Prodigy II
      November 1, 2016
      You have a misunderstanding as to how Sonos works.
      The speakers FETCH only. The controller tells them what to fetch.
      jgatie
      jgatie
      November 1, 2016
      John B and LHC.
      Why would it be impossible. There is Wifi in the play-bar which "talks" with the SUB. Why not also with the phone.
      Yes Ratty, I know such exists, but why can the Player not communicate with a phone like it can with play 1.

      1) The Controller app is just a controller. No audio ever passes through the app. Even in the case where the audio originates on the phone, it is the Sonos component that fetches the track from the phone, not the app. This eliminates the internet->router->phone->router->Sonos pathway that is triple the bandwidth of internet->router->Sonos. It also allows the unreliable, spouting off alerts and announcements, multi-tasked, liable to go out of range device to be taken out of the equation, so the phone can be completely turned off or thrown out the window and the audio keeps playing.

      2) If this were possible it would be very easy for someone to recreate Sonos hardware using an old phone and a pair of $20 computer speakers. Given this, playing Sonos audio via the headphone jack on a phone or tablet would be commercial suicide.
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