Here’s what it appears happened.  Apple came out with airplay and Sonos realized it could save lots of money if it licensed that airplay technology from Apple (which will be continuously updated by Apple) rather than have an in-house Sonos crew of programmers struggling to update that horrific Sonos app to keep it compatible with IOS on iPads and iPhones.  Someone in that meeting likely said that many of Sonos’s existing products would no longer work with iPads and iPhones, as Sonos advertised for many years, if the Sonos app did not continue to support iOS for iPhones and iPads.  Then someone else likely said “too bad, we can save a lot of money going with airplay and eliminating our programmers working on our Apple app,” likely throwing in the expected cost of a class action settlement vs. the airplay cost savings.  So, my opinion is that they went with airplay, abandoned the iPad and iPhone apps, and gave the finger to all of the early buyers of the products that allowed Sonos to succeed.  

Utter fantasy, but who can be bothered to argue any more?

So are Bluesound also in on your conspiracy theory?  They have had the exact same issue with Apple and discontinued the direct streaming?  The app it’s still comparable with iOS devices too just direct streaming from music stored in the device has been disabled by Apple. 
 

Also this facility is still available for Android users.  How does that fit your conspiracy theory or opinion. 

Great theory, except:

1. They have not “abandoned the iPhone and iPad apps”.  They still work as before, minus the “On this iDevice” functionality.
2. They tried for a year to fix this, it was not something done in haste or solely due to financial reasons.
3. If this were the case, why keep Android?  Android has the same functions as Airplay via Chromecast, yet Sonos still allows you to play from an Android device.  
4. Bluesound also eliminated playing from an iDevice.
5. “Early buyers” never had this feature.  Early buyers played from a local library or an NAS, something you can still do today.  Then came streaming services, and THEN came “On this iDevice”, 6 years after “early buyers” bought their first Sonos devices. If anybody was “abandoned” it was niche iOS buyers who do not use streaming services and store all their music on a phone.

Guys or Gals, I understand you have been hired as influencers and are doing your very best under difficult circumstances, but Sonos definitely advertised that Sonos speakers were controllable by iPhones and iPads.  I repeat:  SONOS ADVERTISED THAT ITS SPEAKERS WERE CONTROLLABLE BY IPHONES AND IPADS. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AIRPLAY.  IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT SONOS SPEAKERS ARE NO LONGER CONTROLLABLE BY AN IPAD OR AN IPHONE!  DO YOU GET THAT?  There is an enormous difference between hauling a laptop around a house and carrying an iPad or iphone.

And they are still controllable by iPhones and iPads.  I repeat:  THEY ARE STILL CONTROLLABLE BY IPHONES AND IPADS!  You have lost a single function, all other functions; local library, internet radio, streaming services, audiobooks, etc. still work fine.  Also, there is no need to carry around a laptop housing your library.  The library will be accessible from every controller, even iPhones and iPads.  You really need a better understanding of what is going on, you've not grasped it in the least.

 PS - If I'm a hired influencer (whatever that means in tin foil hat land), someone owes me a large check.

The Sonos apps for iOS still control the speakers just fine. You just can't play audio stored locally on an iPad or iPhone.

If anything, it sounds like you are the one being paid or influenced to kick up a fuss, and it also sounds like you've never even used a Sonos system in conjunction with an iPhone or iPad, otherwise you would have known the difference between controlling and serving media to a system.

And with all that, according to your profile, you've even bought one of their most recent products, a Move… Why?

All of you influencers on this pathetthread should offer some substantive help to the buyers of the original Sonos products that no longer work.  I’m stunned Sonos is spending money on influencers rather than helping make the products bought by early purchasers work.

Well, I guess I and my six Play 1’s have gotten the Sonos answer from their paid influencer.  I understand this is not a pleasant situation for you or Sonos and it reflects terribly on the judgement of management, but I will keep hoping management will find a way to make all of those Play 1’s—that allowed Sonos to survive and grow—work.  

• jgatie

• 19941 replies

• 1 hour ago

And they are still controllable by iPhones and iPads.  I repeat:  THEY ARE STILL CONTROLLABLE BY IPHONES AND IPADS!  You have lost a single function, all other functions; local library, internet radio, streaming services, audiobooks, etc. still work fine.  Also, there is no need to carry around a laptop housing your library.  The library will be accessible from every controller, even iPhones and iPads.  You really need a better understanding of what is going on, you've not grasped it in the least.

 PS - If I'm a hired influencer (whatever that means in tin foil hat land), someone owes me a large check.

Great, I’m waiting for you to solve our problems.

Look, our Sonos products don’t work anymore as advertised.  We’re not alone.  Complaints are all over the internet.  I understand the initial efforts to influence the narrative, etc., etc., but at some point Sonos needs to step up and provide a fix.  In the long run it will be much better off fixing things than trying to finesse the outcome using influencers.

And to make matters worse, we purchased a Move recently based on Sonos assurances that purchase of an Airplay compatible component would make our Play 1’s playable using Airplay.  Now we have the Move and 6 Play 1’s, with the Move working and the Play1’s working only occasionally or not working at all.  All of the Play 1’s used to work.

I again wish Sonos would dispense with the influencers and devote their attention to fixing this problem.  I’m thinking my next stop should be Facebook.

I have no use for Airplay, but as a quick test I went to Apple Music on my iPad and sent a track stored on my iPad to my pair of MOVE’s.

And, as long as those Sonos Moves are in wifi mode, that “room” can be grouped with any other “room” in your system, and the AirPlay 2 signal will play on the grouped speakers as well.

Hi XXXX, to be clear, Sonos doesn’t pay anyone on the community to be involved in discussions that isn’t clearly marked as an employee either as Sonos Staff or Community Manager. Everyone else is a user just like you, passionate about Sonos and eager to talk about it. Please remain friendly with the community while in discussions with others.

The “One This iPhone” feature was removed due to fundamental performance issues that couldn’t be resolved. There’s a big thread here on the topic, so if you haven’t had a change to take a look, this is the best one with suggestions and all the details around the issue. For the sake of keeping this discussion all in one place, we’re going to close this thread down. But if you’d like to get some help with a solution that works for your system, feel free to join the discussion in the thread linked above.

Also, if you’re having audio playback issues with AirPlay from your phone to a Move grouped with speakers, I’d suggest that you contact our support team to investigate. They can help you sort things out and see what’s causing the trouble.