How to control multiple controllers

Think of the controller as a remote control. It tells the speaker where to go and get the music device. Once it's playing, there's no reason for any controller to be "on". In fact, you could start music playing on your phone's controller, and then leave home, and as long as the music wasn't stored on your phone it would keep playing as you drove away.

And conversely, since each controller is a remote, any of them can control the system, so you can start a stream from one device, and stop if from another.

Huh? The Sonos app is just a remote control. It doesn't play music on your phone. Every copy of the Sonos app can control the music playing on your Sonos speakers.

As you can see I’m a novice. I don’t understand your answer. I am sitting at my Mac now. I selected the music on my MAC and hit the play button on my mac and the music is playing, but if I hit the off button on my iPhone, the music turns off.

To clarify when I say I hit the off button on my iPhone I mean the off button on the Sonos app. And I am playing the music through the Sonos, not my iPhone or Mac.

Yes, it's working as designed. The Sonos app is just a remote control.

Thank you, I think I get it now.

Sonos speakers pull directly from the source, just like your TV does. The stream doesn't go through your phone (unless you're playing local files). The app works just like the remote for your TV, and won't use battery power when not in the foreground. Will use far less power than a music app that pulls directly to your phone, too.

Thank you again.