Contributor I

Question

Chromecast in S2 / Honest timeline for Chromecast

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 11, 2020
34 replies
10586 views

Hello,

Agenda: Chromecast support on Sonos.

I’ve been reading through this forum about this topic, and basically can’t find any clear answer - apart from ‘we’ll pass this request to developers’.

As an iPhone user I know I can use Airplay however I don’t find it a very good solution; I get a phone call, music stops, walk out the house, music stops, not to mention my battery constantly draining.

Additionally as good (in its own way) the Sonos app is, many services don’t give their respective platforms enough attention, rather spending it on their native apps - many of which support Chromecast.
e.g. I often find myself on Soundcloud native iOS app, find a set I want to listen, but then have to go into Sonos’s app and search it again. Similar use case with YouTube music, and Youtube in general, need to use Airplay.

So I’d like to ask:

Are there are Sonos developers here who could comment on the challenges of implementing Chromecast and what the potential timeline of release (if its realistically possible) looks like.

Otherwise, would be very keen to hear from other users what the technical/business limitations for not implementing it.

Would the S2 operating system surprise us all with it?

Cheers,

FP.

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M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

Sonos has already written the API for this, as you noted that others have implemented it. It’s down to the folks at Google to implement what’s already been written. Feel free to be angry with Sonos, but they’ve done their part of the code base.

They've built a non standard API adding more work for every integration. Many services don't support it because it's not a standard Chromecast implementation. Google seems to have no interest in supporting non standard integrations anymore. Google Play Music is official dying this year and the replacement, YouTube Music, which has been out for a while, has no Sonos Casting support. Most of the Sonos "casting" implementations I've used are flakey at best too vs a real Chromecast implementation.

So far as I can tell, Google is keeping Chromecast hardware-based. That is, there is no software-only implementation that I am aware of at this point. All of the devices that tout “Chromecast built-in” have some form of hardware that probably Google provides or controls.

I don’t think SONOS will have Chromecast capabilities. If you definitely want such, you can go these routes:

1- Get a Chromecast Audio dongle (discountinued but can be found on Ebay) and connect it to a Port, Amp or Connect (2nd gen for S2) via it’s analog audio output

2- Same as above but connect it via toslink (optical digital) to a Playbar or (via the optical-HDMI adaptor) to an Amp, Arc, etc via HDMI

3- A Chromecast built-in TV (with either built-in or via a Google Chromecast dongle) then to an Amp, Arc, etc via HDMI

I think realistically these are your only options.

M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

So far as I can tell, Google is keeping Chromecast hardware-based. That is, there is no software-only implementation that I am aware of at this point. All of the devices that tout “Chromecast built-in” have some form of hardware that probably Google provides or controls.

BTW, I think the “Chromecast method” of having authentication and routing similar to Spotify Connect but working for a host of apps is absolutely brilliant. And I don’t think anyone else but Google can truly pull this off, as all of these apps have had to implement the token exchange. So I truly understand why you really want this.

melvimbe

Sonos has already written the API for this, as you noted that others have implemented it. It’s down to the folks at Google to implement what’s already been written. Feel free to be angry with Sonos, but they’ve done their part of the code base.

They've built a non standard API adding more work for every integration. Many services don't support it because it's not a standard Chromecast implementation.

Sounds like you’re saying that Google defines the standard API? Kinda odd way of looking at it. Also not sure what ‘many services’ you’re referring to. And yes, Sonos has their own APIs, but they shown willingness to use others, like airplay 2, when it makes sense to. That makes me think lack of chromecast with Sonos isn’t due to disagreements on what API to use.

Google seems to have no interest in supporting non standard integrations anymore. Google Play Music is official dying this year and the replacement, YouTube Music, which has been out for a while, has no Sonos Casting support. Most of the Sonos "casting" implementations I've used are flakey at best too vs a real Chromecast implementation.

So if Google defines the standards and won’t work with non-standard, i.e. not their own, integrations, you’re saying they won’t do integrations unless it’s done their way. And not sure what casting implementations you’re referring to. Most of casting done to Sonos is an actual transfer of playback from a device to Sonos, so that the original device is no longer needed for playback. I’ve done with Amazon, Pandora, SXM, and never run into issues.

Danny

Acquire

Lyricist II

Sonos has already written the API for this, as you noted that others have implemented it. It’s down to the folks at Google to implement what’s already been written. Feel free to be angry with Sonos, but they’ve done their part of the code base.

They've built a non standard API adding more work for every integration. Many services don't support it because it's not a standard Chromecast implementation.

Sounds like you’re saying that Google defines the standard API? Kinda odd way of looking at it. Also not sure what ‘many services’ you’re referring to. And yes, Sonos has their own APIs, but they shown willingness to use others, like airplay 2, when it makes sense to. That makes me think lack of chromecast with Sonos isn’t due to disagreements on what API to use.

Google seems to have no interest in supporting non standard integrations anymore. Google Play Music is official dying this year and the replacement, YouTube Music, which has been out for a while, has no Sonos Casting support. Most of the Sonos "casting" implementations I've used are flakey at best too vs a real Chromecast implementation.

So if Google defines the standards and won’t work with non-standard, i.e. not their own, integrations, you’re saying they won’t do integrations unless it’s done their way. And not sure what casting implementations you’re referring to. Most of casting done to Sonos is an actual transfer of playback from a device to Sonos, so that the original device is no longer needed for playback. I’ve done with Amazon, Pandora, SXM, and never run into issues.

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

melvimbe

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

As I stated before, I doubt disagreement on the API is the reason there’s no chromecast/Sonos integration.

Danny

M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

As I stated before, I doubt disagreement on the API is the reason there’s no chromecast/Sonos integration.

Correct. SONOS would have to implement some Google hardware which Google would have to want to give to them. I personally don’t see this happening. the only solution I see is the one I just detailed.

Acquire

Lyricist II

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

As I stated before, I doubt disagreement on the API is the reason there’s no chromecast/Sonos integration.

Correct. SONOS would have to implement some Google hardware which Google would have to want to give to them. I personally don’t see this happening. the only solution I see is the one I just detailed.

Plenty of high quality wireless speakers, Harman Kardon and bang and olufsen for example (you can find more on Google's Chromecast built in site), have Chromecast built in. This is a Sonos only problem. Sonos hasn't said why, but for some reason they don't want to support it or maybe they can't due to their own past technical decisions. They still only support 2.4ghz WiFi and even then older versions of it.

M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

As I stated before, I doubt disagreement on the API is the reason there’s no chromecast/Sonos integration.

Correct. SONOS would have to implement some Google hardware which Google would have to want to give to them. I personally don’t see this happening. the only solution I see is the one I just detailed.

Plenty of high quality wireless speakers, Harman Kardon and bang and olufsen for example (you can find more on Google's Chromecast built in site), have Chromecast built in. This is a Sonos only problem. Sonos hasn't said why, but for some reason they don't want to support it or maybe they can't due to their own past technical decisions. They still only support 2.4ghz WiFi and even then older versions of it.

Correct. They all implement a hardware solution from Google. So SONOS would have to implement the same/similar hardware solution. What is unclear to me is whether SONOS wants to implement someone else’s hardware (and what it means for licensing agreements since SONOS is not just a speaker, it is a streamer as well), whether Google sees themselves as a SONOS replacement, and any issues in between.

Honestly, I think Chromecast native on SONOS will never materialize. There are workarounds like the one I mentioned above that frankly work pretty well.

M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

Google built the Chromecast. So yes, they define the standard. Not complying to the standard won't get you Chromecast support. This is fully on Sonos to comply to get it working.

As I stated before, I doubt disagreement on the API is the reason there’s no chromecast/Sonos integration.

Yeah. Pretty sure this has nothing to do with implementation technicalities. From what I have seen, all Chromecast built-in devices either run the Android OS or have some form of hardware built in to do Chromecasting. Like I said before, I would bet the issue has more to do with licensing and fees than anything else, but obviously I don’t know.

M

miguelito

Trending Lyricist I

Actually, I am fairly confident that Chromecast will not be part of SONOS at all. The reason is that S2 includes a casting mechanism similar to Chromecast. Call it “SONOScast” :grimacing: :grinning:

If you run the TIDAL app on an iOS device, you will now see your SONOS speakers as a possible output. This is not Airplay (which is also available) but true casting. I checked this by running TIDAL, playing to the SONOS speaker, then killing the TIDAL app: the music did not stop.

So this is good because it also allows SONOS to tailor the casting code to accomodate high res or things the Chromecast cost might not support. But it’s a bummer because all apps will have to add SONOScast support. Right now it looks like only TIDAL has it (I also use Qobuz, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and MixCloud).

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