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DamianL
Contributor I
November 13, 2016
Answered

iTunes library

  • November 13, 2016
  • 6 replies
  • 752 views
I just purchased the Play:1 to listen to music without turning my TV on. I use a Mac mini as an HTPC for all my media I was hoping this device would be able to use my iTunes library from my iPhone however I soon realized that the music needs to be stored on the iPhone. What good is this if my only choices are to cherry pick songs to store on my Phone for playback or running the risk of using all my phones space to store over 50,000 songs just to use this device. I hope I'm missing something and the community is able to help because at this point the speaker is useless. Sorry if I'm coming off vexed I'm just irritated. I was hoping after hardwiring (ethernet) the speaker I assumed I was able to play from my iTunes iOS app or at best be able to play ALL my music from iTunes without using every bit of space on my phone. The speaker is beautiful and is well made. I want to like it but maybe Bluetooth is the better option. Thank you for help in advance.
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    Best answer by John B
    Although it is possible to play music stored on your phone, it sounds like you are missing the fact that the Sonos phone app is fundamentally a controller, used to play any of your potential music sources. There is absolutely no need to use phone storage to play music on Sonos.

    https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/261/~/adding-and-updating-your-music-library

    6 replies

    The LHC
    November 13, 2016
    Presumably you have your iTunes library stored on the Mac mini? Share that location, point Sonos at it and it'll play all the tracks (probably, you may be in danger not hitting the track limit but we'll have to see).
    John BAnswer
    November 14, 2016
    Although it is possible to play music stored on your phone, it sounds like you are missing the fact that the Sonos phone app is fundamentally a controller, used to play any of your potential music sources. There is absolutely no need to use phone storage to play music on Sonos.

    https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/261/~/adding-and-updating-your-music-library
    DamianLAuthor
    Contributor I
    November 14, 2016
    Thank you both for your help. The controller is more like Plex. I was looking for a more plug n play solution. I decided to go with UE Boom 2. With Bluetooth I'm able to control the speaker with Apples music app rather than use proprietary software. Thanks again I appreciate it!
    jgatie
    jgatie
    November 14, 2016
    If all you want to do is listen to your phone from a single speaker, then you have rightly determined Sonos is not for you. Sonos is a multi-room synchronized music system that was designed primarily as a reliable replacement for the old mega-cost multi-room wired systems. Since reliability is first and foremost their goal, Sonos eschews unreliable technology like Bluetooth and Airplay, which stream through a phone and suffer problems because of it, in favor of streaming direct to the player from whatever the source. Even when Sonos streams from a native app (Google Play, Spotify), the stream is direct from source to player, the phone is not involved except as a controller.

    As an aside, if you were to subscribe to Apple Music, you could have Sonos access to your entire library in the iCloud. In addition, Google and Amazon offer cloud storage accessible via Sonos for free (Google), or free with Prime (Amazon). All three of these solutions would have gotten you what you wish from Sonos.
    DamianLAuthor
    Contributor I
    November 14, 2016
    No I wanted to do what I said in my first post. Bluetooth isn't unreliable at least with the first iteration of UE Boom. I had very little problems with latency over Bluetooth. The problem with Sonos is using multiple software to accomplish something simple. iTunes on my Mac Sonos on the phone. Or spend $9.99 a month for Apple Music to have the capabilities.I don't want to give up iTunes for Sonos software as of now the Sonos software isn't really full featured, one example is using the phones volume rocker to lower/higher the volume..unlocking the phone than going into the Sonos app to really do anything. I don't think the Sonos app has a widget for fast access. And I understand iTunes isnt perfect its a bloated mess but for my setup Bluetooth is the answer. Ill give Sonos another look maybe down the line if I decide on a new home theater system. This was for a quick way to listen to music without turning my home theater on. Sorry if i sound condescending. Not everything works for everyone.
    jgatie
    jgatie
    November 14, 2016
    Yes, the Sonos app has a widget for lock screen volume.

    But you are not being condescending; for your purpose, I would have recommended a Bluetooth speaker even before your posted your dislike of Sonos. Sonos is not a single user, single device, play from apps type system. Not even close. It's strengths lie in multi-room, multi-source, synchronized audio, and that strength is not apparent from just buying a single speaker for a quick way to listen to music on a single speaker from a single device.
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