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Joshua198
Contributor I
October 6, 2022
Answered

Sonos system dropping to iphone since iOS 16 update

Hello all,

Ever since updating to the latest stable iOS 16, I have been having a problem where my Sonos/Airplay system keeps dropping to my iPhone when all speakers are connected. I use an iOS Shortcut to automatically connect all my speakers from my iPhone. I have tried: resetting my router, resetting all speakers, removing/adding each speaker to see if one particular speaker was the culprit. I have also changed phones, and the problem persists. The speakers do not drop when some are connected and not others. This problem persists when I do not use the shortcut and manually add the speakers - system still drops.

My system consists of: Sonos Arc connected to 2 Sonos Ones and a Sub, 2 IKEA Symfonisk bookshelves, 1 IKEA Symfonisk Picture Frame Speaker, 1 Sonos Roam, and 5 HomePod Minis (2 in stereo pair, another 2 in stereo pair connected via Apple TV). All connect via Airplay. The system was previously working fine.

Any idea on a fix? Has anyone been experiencing anything similar? May this be related to an iOS 16 bug?

Thanks,

Josh

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Ken_Griffiths
Ken_GriffithsAnswer
October 6, 2022

Its difficult to answer your post Josh, as the issue could be iOS 16 related, or perhaps Network related  as networks can change too and be affected by many external factors.

With Airplay-v1 there used to be a ‘recommendation’ by many users, and software Apps, to not group more than 6 Airplay devices for playback, but I’ve never seen anything relating to Airplay-v2. However personally I tend to stick to that unwritten rule and often only ever Airplay to one Sonos device and then do all ‘grouping’ in the Sonos App, as that always seemed far more reliable in my own use-case. Very rare do I exceed 6 Sonos rooms when grouping.

I don’t have HomePods to test these things myself, but it might be worth seeing if separating your speakers into smaller groups by ‘manufacturer/brand’ only might make a difference. If you still get dropouts with various smaller/different groups, that might go some of the way to suggest it’s possibly an iOS 16 issue and if the smaller groups play fine, then I would perhaps look at it possibly being network latency and an interference issue, for which there are many posts here in the community that provide suggestions to resolving those type of issues.. here are couple of common suggestions to look at if it does start to look like it might be local network latency:

Wireless Interference Document:

WiFi Interference

Wireless Interference Video:

Wireless Interference and Sonos

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23 replies

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Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 16, 2022

I think all the settings are correct. Lmk if something looks wrong

looks okay to me - if not tried already try switching off ‘Private WiFi’ Address’ (MAC Spoofing) in your network connection settings - I would also switch off WiFi calling and see if those things sort it.

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
December 16, 2022

@Bwwilll,
As Airplay2 protocol is an Apple matter I checked their forum too and compiled a further list of things you can use to troubleshoot the issue - see below:

Here are some suggestions from Apple sources to fix problems with Airplay connections:

  • Restart all devices and try to AirPlay again
  • Toggle off Bluetooth on the sending device, or if already off, try turning it on
  • Turn off Cellular Data
  • Disconnect from any other Bluetooth devices (i.e. speakers)
  • Connect to the same WiFi network access point
  • Reset your network settings on your iDevice in Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
  • Disable ‘Private Address’ MAC Spoofing in the iOS Network connection (mentioned earlier)
  • Disable WiFi calling. (mentioned earlier)
  • Update iOS, and speaker firmware/software
  • Move your devices away from other electronics and closer to the main router
  • Renew your devices DHCP lease via the router configuration pages or better still, reboot the router.
  • Switch off any Security/VPN software installed on the sending (mobile) device

Hope you get things working with your iDevice.👍

    Corry P
    Corry P
    Sonos Staff
    December 23, 2022

    Hi @Joshua198 et al

    This may go some way to explain:

    https://9to5mac.com/2022/12/21/apple-pulls-new-home-app-architecture-in-ios-16-2-as-users-complain-about-homekit-issues/

    Although we rarely recommend factory resetting Sonos devices, in this case we have received reports from users that it will help - as long as you don’t then add the unit to (new) HomeKit afterwards.

    I hope this helps.

    "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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