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JMBare
Contributor I
September 18, 2020
Answered

Lock screen controls for one day

  • September 18, 2020
  • 18 replies
  • 2754 views

So….…

 

Last Saturday(09/12/20), all of a sudden, I was able to control Sonos from the Lock Screen on my iPhone.  It worked on mine and my wife’s phone.  When we woke up Sunday morning, it was gone. Sonos. Make it work, we are tired of waiting. 

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the community guidelines.*

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    Best answer by Rowena B.

    Hi @MikeDave 

    Thank you for reaching us and welcome to the Sonos Community and letting us know about your concern. Let me help you out with this.

    We appreciate you for sharing your feedback on this. iOS does not natively provide a way to control devices on your home network from the lock screen in iOS, the controls are only available for audio being played on the device itself. The Sonos implementation of lock screen controls was built in a way that's no longer viable and with the launch of AirPlay 2 on Sonos, we made the decision to remove the functionality in households that use AirPlay. Disable the AirPlay feature on all non-Sonos AirPlay endpoints to allow lock screen controls is a limitation.

    Use AirPlay on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to stream your favorite music, movies, podcasts, and other audio directly to your Sonos products. Sonos is only compatible with AirPlay 2. Check if your Apple devices can play AirPlay 2 audio in Apple’s AirPlay article.

    Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, we'll be glad to assist you.

     

    18 replies

    Show previous replies
    Belly M
    Belly M
    February 3, 2021

    I actually have a working lockscreen widget that works without disabling Airplay on other devices… but it’s for my Bluesound players :joy:

     

    So the question begs why can’t Sonos make their work?

      matthoberg
      Contributor I
      February 3, 2021

      I think I fixed it.  Had to turn Airplay off on my roku… modern problems

        Ayoriver
        Avid Contributor I
        May 2, 2021

        I turned Airplay off for my Apple TV (my only other AirPlay endpoint in the home), then reset the app, and now it’s working for me.

        Jamrich2
        Lyricist I
        June 15, 2021

        Hi All

        Longtime lurker, first time poster. 

        i have to say that, for me, this is the single most frustrating issue with Sonos. It has worked on and off for months. Initially it never worked so I followed the various “fixes”, including disabling WiFi on every device I have, which was SO many lol. That didn’t help. So I reenabled the ones I use and just gave up. Then it started working a couple weeks later. Worked for a few days then gone. So I figured there was an update and maybe NOW I should disable air play again, so I did that and it didn’t come back. I waited a week then reenabled airplay. 
         

        then for the last couple weeks it has been on and off every few days. 
         

        the information in these threads seems very contradictory at times so at this point I’m so confused. Lol. 

        anyone have an update?

        cheers

        Jamie

         

          Mvw
          Lyricist I
          July 16, 2021

          Came here because for about an hour I had lock controls and it was glorious. Now it is gone. 
           

          I’m sorry but there is zero chance I am going through all of my billion devices to shut off airplay. This whole “workaround” from Sonos is ridiculous. 
           

          just create a widget and push it out. This is a basic BASIC feature in 2021 and if Sonos is a serious company interested in staying a serious company it will get this fixed asap. Because I’ve now seen people complaining about this for MONTHS with nothing being done about it at all. I mean there are widgets for the dumbest apps and yet a company like Sonos can’t bootstrap one together to allow users to use the ONLY DEVICE THAT CONTROLS THEIR SYSTEM in an accessible way.  
           

          it is beyond frustrating. 

            VossF
            Lyricist I
            September 6, 2021

            Very annoying. I also own Bose smart speakers and they’ve offered a simple widget for years that is reliable enough and offers playback and volume controls, plus album artworks and quick access to your favorite presets.

            Since iOS 14 and its Home Screen widgets appeared, older widgets have been forced to the bottom of the Lock Screen control center, but it is still way better than having to unlock the iPhone, switch apps, and wait for the Sonos app to become responsive. 
             

            Please fix this. 

              CrowCat
              Lyricist I
              November 10, 2021

              I was reading about this in another topic but that’s closed for comments, so I’ll share my workaround here. 
               

              If you have trouble using Lock Screen controls for your Sonos system, simply stop using the Sonos  app. I’m using Spotify and set the music to play over my Sonos speakers. Because Spotify does offer Lock Screen controls, I can now change songs and volume on my Sonos  system while my phone is locked. 
               

              Hope this helps. 

                runaway_hedgehog
                Contributor I
                March 7, 2023

                The other problem with this is if you have a HomePod mini, and don’t use it for music (just Siri), there is no way to get Lock Screen Controls to work (because there is no way to disable AirPlay on a HomePod).

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