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Lampshade
Contributor I
August 5, 2019

'On This Phone' Feature Being Removed

A few months ago I lost the ability to control my Sonos system with my iPhone 4s because the software updates were no longer supporting the 4s. What a waste of equipment...! That phone became totally redundant and now sits in a draw doing nothing...

Customer services were useless with their hollow apologies

I looked to sell all my Sonos equipment - 2 x Zonebridge 100’s, 3 x Zoneplayer ZP90’s and 4 x Zoneplayer S5’s.
I used to use the Sonos CR 200 but that was crap and after five replacements under warranty I gave it up as a total waste of money, hence using the 4s.
I tried to sell all my Sonos kit and find something else that wouldn't be hindered with this update/redundancy but that wasn't easy. In the end I purchased another iPhone - the 6s, to control my Sonos...
But now - another problem... the 'On This Phone' feature is being removed!!!
So now, my few-months-old iPhone 6s will be useless for playing my music!!!

I am retired, living in Thailand.
I cannot afford to upgrade to Airplay speakers, cannot afford to get involved with subscribing to streaming services. I don't have a NAS, Mac or PC...

Is this the end of my Sonos kit altogether!? What the hell am I supposed to do???

Moderator note: Multiple edits for profanity.
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    LampshadeAuthor
    Contributor I
    August 6, 2019

    A few months ago I lost the ability to control my Sonos system with my iPhone 4s because the software updates were no longer supporting the 4s. What a waste of equipment...! That phone became totally redundant and now sits in a draw doing nothing...Did you also rant at those rotten Apple people too, when they stopped updating the opsys for the iPhone 4?

    Here's the response I got from the Apple forum about this topic!

    Thanks for participating in the Apple Support Communities.


    We’ve removed your post Sonos Are Removing The 'On This Device' Feature In IOS Because Of Apple...? because it contained either feedback or a feature request that was not constructive.
    nik9669a
    Senior Virtuoso
    August 6, 2019
    Hi Lampshade

    I’m glad you now feel some optimism for the use of your Sonos speakers going forwards. And good for you, for the apology. On a public forum, too!

    It’s interesting that Sonos do permit discussion of this nature - there are a number of threads where posts are quite anti-Sonos. Apple simply remove such posts that they consider “not constructive”!

    I hope you continue to enjoy your Sonos speakers for many more years.
    LampshadeAuthor
    Contributor I
    August 6, 2019
    Hi Airjetlam,

    Thank you for your thoughts on this...

    Hi nik9669a

    Thank You, yes, I don't want to loose my Sonos system. The recent set-backs haven't been good but in my position I don't have much choice.

    Apple have always 'spoken softly but carried big stick' and they don't like criticism.
    I am an Apple user and have been for many years since my working life in the design/photography industry. On the whole I love it's reliability but everything comes with it's caveats!

    Oh well, we soldier on...

    Have a great day!
    Vitor Madeira
    Vitor Madeira
    Trending Lyricist I
    August 7, 2019
    Here is the official Sonos statement about this issue:
    https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/upcoming-changes-to-on-this-iphone-or-ipad-playback-6826585
    (please, excuse my English, as I'm a foreign English speaker...)
      AndreaG
      Lyricist I
      August 12, 2019
      Very disappointing Sonos.

      playing music from a local device that does not require an extended wide area network connection is key. When cable or Internet goes down, we can still share Sonos network and play music from a local device, that being a mobile device or anyone in the family. The portable mobility is the magic.

      It’s very upsetting you are removing this feature. I am not going to use a centralized laptop or upload personal music from each of the families iPhones to a streaming service. That requires the WAN and some music are recordings we are authors of.

      One of the reasons we invested in a Sonos system was to not invest time and energy into an airplay 2 to system and gear.

      It feels like you are changing product features after purchase and restricting Sonos access on portable, local devices from any pocket to force us to work with your streaming partners or buy new gear.

      At least you are not cancelling the features of Connect to Amp, receiver out. Another source of audio (listening to vinyl and movies).

      Please don’t do this.
        nik9669a
        Senior Virtuoso
        August 12, 2019
        If you load your music onto a computer or a NAS I’m pretty sure this will run on just your local network without the need for a WAN. You can then reference that local storage device as the Music Library and play from it to any of your speakers, controlling it from any of your devices running the Sonos app.
        106rallye
        106rallye
        August 12, 2019
        Or buy a Symfonisk speaker to introduce Airplay into your Sonos. Maybe it’s possible to connect a USB-device to your router, or play music form a cheap Android tablet? There are possibilities that are not depending on internet access.
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