Android and Trueplay


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I have read the thread on no Android integration for Trueplay, but I would hope spending 1500 on a system there would be a better solution than "borrow an iOS device from a friend"!  Especially after3+ years!!!  First thought, if it is a microphone issue, then standardize your system with 1 mic to calibrate your system with.  Yamaha, Marantz, Denon, Pioneer etc ALL provide a setup mic with their systems.  Microphones among iOS devices also differ, they are different from year to year and model to model.  So that verbage doesn't add up or holdmuch water.   Second, before the android bashing begins, I bet the cost of my system if the table was turned and it only worked on android and not iOS devices, there would be a loud outcry of Apple users, especially if told to go "borrow" an android from a friend.  Not that this will change anything but I got to express my opinion.  I'm the proud owner of a top-of-the-line Sonos system that is"Meh" at best.

Xander P 3 years ago

Hi @ihavoc, thanks for reaching out to the Sonos Community.

While it may not be specified on the Arc page that an iOS device is required for Trueplay, you can find here a list of Trueplay compatible devices, and it’s also stated on the main TruePlay page that an iOS device is required - that being said I’ll be happy to pass on your feedback to make it a little more obvious.

Regarding the different models of each iPhone line having different microphones - while this is true, the number of different models of phone running Android operating systems is on a different scale (a quick Google search showed 24,000 different models in 2015), with potentially thousands of different models of microphone installed, and different combinations of microphone, OS, and other hardware components. While we would love to bring Trueplay support to all Sonos systems, accounting for that level of variability in a process which requires precise measurements like Trueplay is unfortunately not feasible.

I do agree though that bringing Trueplay to non-iOS households (like my own) would be a great improvement, and hopefully it’s something that will be possible in the future.

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My goal is to enjoy my Sonos as much as possible with minimal aggravation, not to get Sonos to do stuff.


I don’t think these should be mutually exclusive. Not everyone is capable of self sufficiency and expecting such as the default approach without addressing the root cause is a slippery slope to letting Sonos off the hook. On that basis we should not ask for any new features and start writing the code ourselves!!! 

I couldn’t agree more… We see far too much of an apologist approach in these forums, which effectively means that Sonos never has to engage with their customers in any meaningful way - they just come out with the bland line of passing the message on to the appropriate department - and nothing ever…. ever….. changes….. How long have we been waiting for an android Trueplay solution now? IIRC. since 5.x or 6.x was released. It really isn’t good enough.

There are people here who jump in on any criticism as if they are the voice of Sonos, and it constantly downgrades the need for Sonos to engage constructively - or at all. They have enthusiasts doing their damage limitation for them, to the detriment of those making perfectly valid complaints.

Userlevel 4
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I do agree that android trueplay needs to come. The difference to how the Arc sounds with and without it is absolutely massive. Can’t expect everyone to have Apple products and Sonos shouldn’t be selling a product that requires something else to make it sound better anyway. Fair enough if it was minimal difference, but for me it makes it sound a good 70% better have trueplay. Hopefully with the new roam technology using the inbuilt mic to tune, maybe it will come to the other speakers soon with inbuilt mics.

I do agree that android trueplay needs to come. The difference to how the Arc sounds with and without it is absolutely massive. Can’t expect everyone to have Apple products and Sonos shouldn’t be selling a product that requires something else to make it sound better anyway. Fair enough if it was minimal difference, but for me it makes it sound a good 70% better have trueplay. Hopefully with the new roam technology using the inbuilt mic to tune, maybe it will come to the other speakers soon with inbuilt mics.

Some report little difference in the sound, but I found it made a huge difference to my Play 5 probably due to it’s siting which is not ideal acoustically. 

Unfortunately the person whose phone I borrowed to do set up Trueplay lives in France, so is unlikely to visit soon, and I lost the Trueplay setting when I had the unit repaired.

I suspect that Sonos will now rely on the built in mics in more modern kit, and will hope that the issue simply goes away.

Userlevel 7
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There is a difference in an apologist and one who is simply acknowledging the way things are.

It is not being an apologist by explaining (to the best we can know) why things are as they are.

Sonos is the way Sonos is, nothing a small number of customers complaining do is going to change that. Again, not apologist, just acknowledging reality after years of experience.

Nothing wrong with complaining, I do my share (did a lot more when I was in the beta program too) but I have learned not to expect too much in the way of results or changes.

With that attitude I am much happier and less frustrated.

Userlevel 3

At this point I am almost positive I will be returning my Sonos Arc and never looking at Sonos again, while I still have that option.

If they listed TruePlay for iOS only on their website I would have seriously reconsidered, but nowhere on the Arc page does it denote a limitation.  Every other product I have ever purchased has a notation on a feature with a footnote to call out limitations and I feel this is Sonos being deceptive.

Their excuses for not supporting Android because there is too much variation in microphones, as per the forums, is not valid.  Even within the iPhone 12 line each model has different variations.
https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-12-pro-max-audio-review-a-reliable-and-consistent-audio-performer/
https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-12-audio-review-subtle-improvements-to-sound/
https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-12-mini-audio-review-big-sound-in-a-small-package/
 

This is an intentional choice by Sonos to ignore Android which as of Jan 2021 has a 71.93% market share worldwide and a 45% market share in the US.  

If they want to choose to only support iOS call it out and prevent customers being frustrated and/or returning their purchase.

Would really like an official answer from Sonos on the forums, but I assume I will have to open a support ticket to get one. 


 


 

Userlevel 6
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Hi @ihavoc, thanks for reaching out to the Sonos Community.

While it may not be specified on the Arc page that an iOS device is required for Trueplay, you can find here a list of Trueplay compatible devices, and it’s also stated on the main TruePlay page that an iOS device is required - that being said I’ll be happy to pass on your feedback to make it a little more obvious.

Regarding the different models of each iPhone line having different microphones - while this is true, the number of different models of phone running Android operating systems is on a different scale (a quick Google search showed 24,000 different models in 2015), with potentially thousands of different models of microphone installed, and different combinations of microphone, OS, and other hardware components. While we would love to bring Trueplay support to all Sonos systems, accounting for that level of variability in a process which requires precise measurements like Trueplay is unfortunately not feasible.

I do agree though that bringing Trueplay to non-iOS households (like my own) would be a great improvement, and hopefully it’s something that will be possible in the future.

Userlevel 3

Hi @Xander P ,

I appreciate the response.   The issue with it not being noted on the Arc page is that it didn’t signal to me that I needed to look elsewhere.  If there is no exception noted I am just going to assume it works without limitation, this is standard practice on any feature listed on companies website.

I understand that with Android there are many models, however you could support the flagship models from the top companies like the Samsung Galaxy line and the Google Pixel line.  This would drastically reduce that amount of devices you would need to support. However, the better option as many have stated is an approved external mic or an external mic purchased from Sonos. A simple solution Sonos has ignored for years 

As I see this complaint has been on going for several years I cannot comfortably keep a very expensive soundbar on the hopes that maybe sometime in the future this could possibly be supported. Any confirmation that this is on the roadmap would be helpful.

I do like the Sonos feature set otherwise but to me this is a huge omission of getting the best from my investment.  As a company that prides themselves on superior sound quality I am very disappointed you have chosen a single vendor solution to optimize the sound quality of your devices. 

 

Hi everyone. Trying to skip over if it is right or not for Sonos to not have trueplay for Android. I did just get my first Sonos product which is an ARC. We have no Apple devices in our house but I am hoping to ask a neighbor to borrow theirs to do the one time trueplay tuning. That being said, what minimum iPhone should they have, and what would they need to do on their end before letting me borrow the phone? I am assuming that they need to download the Sonos App, then I just need to log into my account and find the trueplay setting in the app. Is that correct? Anything else?

Most of what you’re asking is covered in the FAQ

Yes, you’d just need to download the app on their device, log in to your Sonos account, and do the process. Once it’s there, it sticks on the speakers memory, like most everything else, and you can turn it on or off using your Android device. 

Thank you @Airgetlam seems simple enough. Not ideal but certainly not horrible since you only have to do it once.

Userlevel 3

@cpnichols be aware if you rearrange your room or move it to another room you should rerun the calibration as your acoustical environment has changed. 

Something as simple as changing the furniture in you room can effect the acoustical sound even with the Sonos in the same location.

Also another user posted he sent his Sonos in for repair and he lost the TruePlay settings when returned.

Just wanted to make you aware it may not be a one and done :grinning:

 

 

Userlevel 7
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I picked up an apple device from ebay fairly cheap. I went with the newest available used to avoid having it age out on me any earlier than necessary.

Apple iPod touch 6th Generation Space Gray (16 GB). Model A1574.

Works fine, lives in a box, gets put on the charger every-other month unless I decide to reset my TruePlay config.

Rather have bought a plug-in mike for my Android gear.
 

Rather have bought a plug-in mike for my Android gear.
 

Absolutely…. 

@cpnichols be aware if you rearrange your room or move it to another room you should rerun the calibration as your acoustical environment has changed. 

Something as simple as changing the furniture in you room can effect the acoustical sound even with the Sonos in the same location.

Also another user posted he sent his Sonos in for repair and he lost the TruePlay settings when returned.

Just wanted to make you aware it may not be a one and done :grinning:

 

 

Yeah… I figured. 

Userlevel 5
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Hi everyone. Trying to skip over if it is right or not for Sonos to not have trueplay for Android. I did just get my first Sonos product which is an ARC. We have no Apple devices in our house but I am hoping to ask a neighbor to borrow theirs to do the one time trueplay tuning. That being said, what minimum iPhone should they have, and what would they need to do on their end before letting me borrow the phone? I am assuming that they need to download the Sonos App, then I just need to log into my account and find the trueplay setting in the app. Is that correct? Anything else?


also the small matter of giving them access to your wifi too. Also don’t forget to revoke their access and remove the app before giving the phine back otherwose they’ll be able to control your Sonos system! 

Userlevel 7
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They need to be on your wifi. Remember after tuning to remove your wifi credentials from their phone after doing trueplay. 
Their iPhone needs to be a 6 or later running ios 11 or later. 
Install the Sonos app and if on your wifi it should find your system, when prompted connect to existing system .  You don’t need to sign in to perform trueplay.

 

 Once done disconnect from your wifi and remove the wifi credentials.  Remove the app if you want too, it can’t reconnect to your system without your wifi credentials anyway.

 

 Good luck.  In some rooms I’ve found trueplay to make big positive difference, mainly taking the boom out of the sound .   Some rooms it makes little difference.  The biggest benefit for me is the way it tamed the Sub.

 

 

 

Userlevel 2
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It's interesting how Sonos seem to be giving a bit of a cold shoulder to 75% of the global device market. I think that might be justified from their perspective as:

  1. People buying Apple are more willing to buy a matching Sonos system.  
  2. Sonos is a more attractive partner/target for Apple this way, and last year we had some persistent rumours that an acquisition was in the cards. 
  3. People buying Android devices are less likely to accept being locked into a walled garden, and are more likely to want to bring other devices into the mix (and ask pesky questions about interoperability).  Apple users, however, are happy with this situation, they already live and die by the curated Apple app store, and are used to being locked into Apple approved accessories only.

Would be nice if they could instead have let me use a microphone in my Sonos Move or in a spare Sonos One. But maybe Sonos microphones just aren't good enough… who knows….

I think I might go and get myself an old iOS device for the purpose of tuning Trueplay capable devices and occasionally using Airplay. 

But should I really have to do that in 2021? 

 

Userlevel 7

@Thorium Prime Or you could just borrow an iOS device from a friend or relative for 10 minutes. You only need to perform Trueplay tuning once.

 

  1. People buying Apple are more willing to buy a matching Sonos system.  

 

I was one of these back in 2011, because both fell in the category of “they just work”. Now, there are a lot more than Sonos that do just that.

But funnily enough, on this forum, there are more Apple haters than the other kind; and ironically because they see Apple as a closed universe.

Just a small digression; I never used the horrendously expensive iPhones and Android serves me fine. I have an old handed down iPhone that works fine for Trueplay retuning on the rare occasions it is needed.

Userlevel 2
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@Thorium Prime Or you could just borrow an iOS device from a friend or relative for 10 minutes. You only need to perform Trueplay tuning once.

Yes, or until I rearrange something. :) Truth to be told, I have some  other audio hardware that needs an iOS device, and my borrowed (stolen from my kids) iPad 3 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Time to upgrade to a 6th generation I think…  

Please add Android support. What is the reasoning here?

Userlevel 5
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I think SONOS can just make 2 microphones for Trueplay, one with USB type-c and the other with lightning...

Userlevel 4
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Just one microphone and individuals get their own adaptor if needed?

Userlevel 2
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Just one microphone and individuals get their own adaptor if needed?

They could have just have let me used the mic in my Sonos Move or Sonos One to tune the speakers int he other rooms. It's not like this should be a problem. The Move is already using it's microphone for Trueplay.

Android users have been complaining about not being able to do Trueplay tuning for years yet they still continue to purchase Sonos products. Sonos must be doing something right.

Or we did not know.  Just did not even dream it would be an issue, my fault for not finding something that should not be an issue.

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