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Contributor II
Jan 11, 2026 5:08 PM UTC
Answered

SONOS S2 App on Mac OS Issues

Suddenly the SONOS S2 app on MAC OS Sequoia 15.7.3 when it starts it spends 5 - 6 seconds searching for the sonos network. Then announces my Firewall settings need changing. Funny as the firewall is turned off on this particular laptop. Anyway it eventually gets past this and then announces the app needs an update. Hit the search for updates button, funny as there are no updates. What the hell is going on with this piece of junk? 

Maybe unrelated but when playing across multiple devices, some devices go quiet for upto a minute then continues. No indication of issues and at least one device continues playing without issue. 

 

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Airgetlam
AirgetlamAnswer
Jan 11, 2026 11:58 PM UTC

It sure sounds like the Mac is having trouble reaching the Sonos devices. Of course, the Mac app hasn’t been ‘updated’ in years, since essentially they removed all setup features, and put it in maintenance mode. Which is why they require a mobile device and controller for setup. That being said, I’m not having delays on my Mac using the S2 controller when contacting my speakers, and playing music. 

I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. Don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, Sonos’ lawyers get sensitive about GDPR, I suspect.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Bruce

19 replies

Airgetlam
AirgetlamAnswer
Jan 11, 2026 11:58 PM UTC

It sure sounds like the Mac is having trouble reaching the Sonos devices. Of course, the Mac app hasn’t been ‘updated’ in years, since essentially they removed all setup features, and put it in maintenance mode. Which is why they require a mobile device and controller for setup. That being said, I’m not having delays on my Mac using the S2 controller when contacting my speakers, and playing music. 

I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. Don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, Sonos’ lawyers get sensitive about GDPR, I suspect.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

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Bruce
Lyricist III
Jan 20, 2026 6:20 PM UTC

struggling with this

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Airgetlam
Jan 20, 2026 7:34 PM UTC

What did Support suggest?

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Bruce
controlav
Lead Maestro
Jan 21, 2026 5:27 PM UTC

This is the “local network” permission - if it is off, turn it on, if it is on, turn it off then on again.

Giant pain from Apple, magnified by lack of decent error reporting from Sonos.

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Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.
Enthusiast II
Jan 22, 2026 7:23 PM UTC

This is the “local network” permission - if it is off, turn it on, if it is on, turn it off then on again.

Giant pain from Apple, magnified by lack of decent error reporting from Sonos.

 

Thanks! This fixed the problem for me. Local network access for Sonos was already on, so I toggled it off and back on. No idea why it just suddenly occurred, especially as there haven’t been any recent Mac OS or Sonos desktop app updates.

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controlav
Lead Maestro
Jan 23, 2026 12:27 PM UTC

This is the “local network” permission - if it is off, turn it on, if it is on, turn it off then on again.

Giant pain from Apple, magnified by lack of decent error reporting from Sonos.

 

Thanks! This fixed the problem for me. Local network access for Sonos was already on, so I toggled it off and back on. No idea why it just suddenly occurred, especially as there haven’t been any recent Mac OS or Sonos desktop app updates.

Apple just can’t get this option right, for some reason. iOS went through a similar crap-fest when the option was originally added there, though it seems ok now (it took literally years). Having ported the option to MacOS, they ported the original bugs as well, and haven’t got the brains to port the fixes subsequently made to iOS. Madness.

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Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.
j4m1eb
Contributor I
Jan 23, 2026 4:24 PM UTC

This has just started happening for me today - delete reinstall, local network toggled on/off. 

It see my network for a second then decided to report firewall error. I don't even have a firewall on.

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Airgetlam
Jan 23, 2026 4:39 PM UTC

Interesting. 

I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. Don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, Sonos’ lawyers get sensitive about GDPR, I suspect.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Translate
Bruce
Lyricist I
Mar 25, 2026 5:21 PM UTC

Happened to me after installing macos 26.4. Suddently devices where not shown anymore. iPhone and iPad app still working. Reinstall, Router restart etc. had no effect. But after toggling Local Network permission for Sonos, it worked again..

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Airgetlam
Mar 25, 2026 5:23 PM UTC

As ​@controlav has said many times, it looks like a poor implementation by Apple of this feature of their OS. 

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Bruce