Question

Sonos and Chrome OS (specifically the pixel slate)

  • 23 November 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 472 views

Hi Folks,

I’m considering buying a pixel slate, which runs Chrome OS and has the ability to run Android apps. Reading through older post about running on Chromebooks (which also use Chrome OS) it seems like the controller may or may not run on chrome OS.

Can anyone give me the latest on if the Sonos controller andrioid app runs on Chrome OS? I’m particuallry interested to hear from you if you actually own a pixel slate and know if it works, tho if you have other insight from using Chrome OS on other devices I’d love to hear from you too!

Many thanks in advance!


~Drew


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5 replies

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/126

Sonos app is not supported on Chromebooks

 

The controller may work, after a fashion, for a while. Then it will stop receiving updates from the players. It appears that the ChromeOS networking model, presumably designed with security in mind, is unable to be more permissive in terms of inbound local traffic. Since the controller’s operation depends on an ability to open ports, it flounders. I struggled with running the controller on ChromeOS for some years before giving up in frustration.

@ratty thanks for the reply! do you have any further info on the root cause for the failure of the app i.e. the networking model you speak of?

Further to that this post from 8 months ago seems to show a positive experience using the ChromeOS https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/chrome-book-sonos-now-working-appears-so-fingers-crossed-6821381

Thanks again for your reply :)

As I understood it the joining of the Android world to ChromeOS threw up some problems on the networking front. Android apps wanting to open firewall ports to unsolicited inbound traffic had issues.

That said, there were a few reports here from users having success (at least some) with Pixelbooks, such as the thread you referenced.

All I can say is that it’s rather hit-and-miss on an ASUS C302. The controller can sometimes not find the players, or take an age to do so. Sometimes when another controller makes a change it can take a while for that to be reflected on the Chromebook, if at all. 

YMMV obviously, but as it’s not supported on ChromeOS you’d get no assistance from Sonos if it misbehaves.

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A cleaner and more predictable experience on the Pixelbook but just when you think it’s all smooth seas...boom!

 

I managed 4 days nice running before a lock up. It’s simple to reset but frustrating.

There are many of us patiently waiting for Sonos to address it.

 

They have not committed to do but I suspect they might. Sonos are slow to address, not so sharp on communication and expectations but in fairness when they delivery they do so. A little as they did with the Audible development.

 

 

Yes I’ve needed to Force Stop the Sonos process more times than I care to recall. Simply closing it is not enough to resolve problems.

If getting the Sonos Android controller to work on ChromeOS was ‘low hanging fruit’ I’m sure they’d have done it before now. As I intimated above it seems there could be something fundamental in the way the Android/ChromeOS networking is architected which gets in the way.