When will there be support for Apple HomeKit ?

It`s clearly abnormal at this point that a company like SONOS do not support any of the major vendor for home automation like Apple Homekit, Nest/Google Home, Amazon Alexa or IFTT. For me Apple Homekit is a must. A bridge upgrade will be so simple to do.

Sure I'm repeating a common sentiment here... but I LOVE my SONOS equipment and I'm heavily invested. I'd love the additional functionality via having it a part of HomeKit, but it's truly not a deal breaker. I could jump up and down and scream about it, but it's not like it's "hard" to launch the SONOS app... voice recognition would be fun but with a huge library and access to apple music I tend to scroll more than go "hey I wanna listen to xxxx." I'm in deep with Apple, same with Sonos... I hope they continue to play nice, but neither is exclusive for me.

It`s clearly abnormal at this point that a company like SONOS do not support any of the major vendor for home automation like Apple Homekit, Nest/Google Home, Amazon Alexa or IFTT. For me Apple Homekit is a must. A bridge upgrade will be so simple to do.

First, Google Home and Alexa are not home automation, they are voice assistants that work with home automation. Second Sonos has an API so that any person or company control Sonos through the API. IFTTT does work with Sonos. Just google "IFTTT Sonos" and you'll get lots of hits. Sonos control is also available on the Lutron hub and Smartthings. Sonos is controlled through Wifi, which every smarthub, phone and just about everything is equipped to communicate. The only reason Homekit doesn't work with Sonos is because Apple is making it very difficult for that to happen.

Saying that Sonos needs to create new hardware to accommodate Apple's unnecessary rules doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Apple isn't looking out for you, they are requiring you to spend more money to work with Homekit when Homekit's competitors do not.

Regarding Sonos willingness to work with voice assistants, I can understand why people are impatient, but they have acknowledged there working on integration, and have a history or making sure it works well. For all we know, Sonos has done there part and is waiting on Amazon to finish there's. We just don't know. I don't quite get why people are annoyed with Sonos for not putting out a big software update, but are ok with Apple being so late in bringing a voice assistant product to market that looks to behind on features and price, everything but sound quality, that won't even come out till November at best.


Honestly, I think Apple is making mistakes, somewhat repeating the same mistakes they made in the personal computer market decades ago. Yes, their closed system preference can make for a better experience, but what they give up in flexibility and affordability is going to hurt them in terms of marketshare.

It`s clearly abnormal at this point that a company like SONOS do not support any of the major vendor for home automation like Apple Homekit, Nest/Google Home, Amazon Alexa or IFTT. For me Apple Homekit is a must. A bridge upgrade will be so simple to do.

First, Google Home and Alexa are not home automation, they are voice assistants that work with home automation. Second Sonos has an API so that any person or company control Sonos through the API. IFTTT does work with Sonos. Just google "IFTTT Sonos" and you'll get lots of hits. Sonos control is also available on the Lutron hub and Smartthings. Sonos is controlled through Wifi, which every smarthub, phone and just about everything is equipped to communicate. The only reason Homekit doesn't work with Sonos is because Apple is making it very difficult for that to happen.

Saying that Sonos needs to create new hardware to accommodate Apple's unnecessary rules doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Apple isn't looking out for you, they are requiring you to spend more money to work with Homekit when Homekit's competitors do not.

Regarding Sonos willingness to work with voice assistants, I can understand why people are impatient, but they have acknowledged there working on integration, and have a history or making sure it works well. For all we know, Sonos has done there part and is waiting on Amazon to finish there's. We just don't know. I don't quite get why people are annoyed with Sonos for not putting out a big software update, but are ok with Apple being so late in bringing a voice assistant product to market that looks to behind on features and price, everything but sound quality, that won't even come out till November at best.


Honestly, I think Apple is making mistakes, somewhat repeating the same mistakes they made in the personal computer market decades ago. Yes, their closed system preference can make for a better experience, but what they give up in flexibility and affordability is going to hurt them in terms of marketshare.

Theoretically, you are correct. However, Apple has the market share among wealthy people (people that would be more likely to pay for Sonos) they have the capital, and they have all the leverage. It's up to Sonos to play Apple's silly game, or lose out on potential customers. You can see this by money spent on apps on the various operating systems. Android users are less likely to spend money than are Apple users. It's all about what metric Sonos is using to inform its business decisions. If I'm fully invested in Apple's platform, it is more simple for me to ditch Sonos and buy a product that is more convenient for me to use with the Apple products I have.

Theoretically, you are correct. However, Apple has the market share among wealthy people (people that would be more likely to pay for Sonos) they have the capital, and they have all the leverage. It's up to Sonos to play Apple's silly game, or lose out on potential customers. You can see this by money spent on apps on the various operating systems. Android users are less likely to spend money than are Apple users. It's all about what metric Sonos is using to inform its business decisions. If I'm fully invested in Apple's platform, it is more simple for me to ditch Sonos and buy a product that is more convenient for me to use with the Apple products I have.

I would not assume the wealthy are going to chose Apple over Sonos. Particularly if the have a large home with a home theatre setup. A customer walks into Best Buy with the idea of upgrading their tv and sound system. Are they going to walk out with a tv and some homepods, or a tv and sonos 5.1 system? Customer gets geeksquad to come out and hang the tv and PLAYBAR, setup the rest of the speakers, and program harmony to boot.

That's another thing. The wealthy are going to often use home installers for this stuff. What are the professionals going to recommend? Will Apple even work with professional installers?

I have no doubt that Apple will make money on this, and there will be plenty of happy customers that swear by it. I think it actually may be the better choice for a lot of customers, depending on the situation. I also think the competition is good for Sonos in the long run.

I have an update:
Apple no longer requires MFI licensing or the authentication hardware (chip) for HomeKit.

It is now almost certain SONOS will have their products working with HomeKit via a firmware update.

I have an update:
Apple no longer requires MFI licensing or the authentication hardware (chip) for HomeKit.

It is now almost certain SONOS will have their products working with HomeKit via a firmware update.

Yes, I posted similar earlier... also in iOS 11 beta FLAC files are supported 🙂

Why does this mean it's almost certain? They said alexa in the spring at one point and I believe they've been silent on that front. I believe they've also been silent since this major announcement (which also included Apple's speaker) so would have seemed prudent to confirm they're going to accommodate rather than directly compete. I don't think homekit support is coming anytime soon and hope I'm wrong. Building a new house and wrestling with whether to expand the current SONOS' I have or go elsewhere. Everything else will be on homekit and am hoping that I can make scenes the new norm.

Why does this mean it's almost certain? They said alexa in the spring at one point and I believe they've been silent on that front. I believe they've also been silent since this major announcement (which also included Apple's speaker) so would have seemed prudent to confirm they're going to accommodate rather than directly compete. I don't think homekit support is coming anytime soon and hope I'm wrong. Building a new house and wrestling with whether to expand the current SONOS' I have or go elsewhere. Everything else will be on homekit and am hoping that I can make scenes the new norm.

Aiexa is coming, Sonos never gave any timescale apart from 2017 and confirmed by Ryan (Sonos employee) on this forum. Aparantly its being tested in a private beta but no one will be able to talk about that.

Understand your dilemma and having been with Sonos since 2005 I personally cannot see it becoming Homekit compliant... but I may be wrong as Apple have dropped the hardware "chip" requirement.

The reality is that apart from Bluesound there is nothing else like Sonos on the market and waiting for a feature or function is going to drive you mad so you have to go with what's available now and working.

The reality is that apart from Bluesound there is nothing else like Sonos on the market and waiting for a feature or function is going to drive you mad so you have to go with what's available now and working.
Even Bluesound does not have what Sonos offers via Sonosnet; a way around Home WiFi bandwidth congestion due to all the demands on it these days. The first requirement of any wireless system is robust music streaming; there is nothing as effective as drop outs and music stuttering to destroy the experience.
No idea about how Airplay 2 does on this count; in 2011, Airplay wasn't good enough in my home to do grouped play in a reliably stable way.