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Marco.B
Retired Sonos Staff
May 4, 2023

‘On this Device’ for Android controller no longer supported

Related content:Software
‘On this Device’ for Android controller no longer supported

Starting May 23rd, 2023, the Sonos S1 and S2 controller for Android will no longer support the ‘On this Device’ feature for streaming locally saved audio files directly to Sonos devices.

As newer versions of mobile operating systems are released, it can sometimes change the way information is shared between devices, and this feature will no longer be compatible with newer versions of the Android operating system. 

While this feature will no longer be available in the app, we know local audio files are important to our listeners and we’ll continue to offer other options to enjoy downloaded tracks on Sonos, including:

  • Streaming the catalog from a music service. There are more than 100 music services available on Sonos, many with several millions of songs. 

See our article on 'Adding music services' to get started.

Some music services allow you to upload your own music files to a cloud storage service like YouTube Music for example, which allows for an upload of up to 100,000 files with a free account. Services that allow you to upload files to a cloud storage:

 

Streaming through music services or cloud storage allows you to access your music without your phone. 

You can play music files from your Android device to a supported Sonos product using Bluetooth.

See more about 'Using Bluetooth on Sonos' here.

  • Setting up a Music Library share on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive. You’d need to have the drive available in your network when you want to play music, but your library would be easy to transfer to these devices, if it isn’t already on them.

See our article on 'Using a NAS drive with Sonos' to get started.

  • If you have a Sonos Play:5, Connect, Connect:Amp, Amp, Era 100 or Era 300 (with the Line-In dongle), you have a Sonos player with a Line-In connection. Using that Line-In, you can play music directly from any device connected to it, to any player around the house.

See more about 'Using the Line-In on Sonos' here.

We'll continue to support everyone through this change, and will help you through the necessary steps to keep listening to your favorite tracks on Sonos.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

297 replies

Show previous replies
Airgetlam
Airgetlam
June 3, 2023

Agreed, someone should be going after Google for closing the ’feature’  that Sonos was using to access data on Android devices.

Unfortunately, no one was successful in going after Apple, when they closed off this feature in iOS back in August of 2019. 

Bruce
spunkyfirework
Lyricist II
June 3, 2023

All I wanted was to play the music I own on the speakers I own from the phone that I own.  Sonos should have told us what we would lose before updating.  They should make old versions of S2 available without any updates.  I will never spend money on Sonos again.

    wds0001
    Prodigy I
    June 4, 2023

    I have all of my music on my home computer and backed up on iBroadcast. IBroadcast is free, easy to back my personal library to, and is available on any device I have with a connection. It is also a free service that links directly to Sonos.  As a bonus, can use my phone for other things, doesn’t drain my battery, and the music keeps playing for my wife if I leave the house. 

      spunkyfirework
      Lyricist II
      June 4, 2023

      I think there is an assumption with this thread that everybody has a computer? 

      Silverthorn
      Prodigy II
      June 4, 2023

      I don't have a computer these days. I have always used an SSD plugged into my router. I researched Sonos quite a bit when I started buying their products and a media library always seemed the best option.

      "I saw the Stooges and the MC5"
      beynym
      World-Class Superstar
      June 4, 2023

      I think there is an assumption with this thread that everybody has a computer? 

      No. Any iThing or Android device and an Internet connection + router will do the trick.

      anyotherbizniz
      Lyricist III
      June 4, 2023

      Playing music from my phone is 90% of my use of SONOS and why we bought it in the first place. I feel robbed. 

        beynym
        World-Class Superstar
        June 4, 2023

        Playing music from my phone is 90% of my use of SONOS and why we bought it in the first place. I feel robbed. 

        You should direct your anger to Google, they changed their OS.

          anyotherbizniz
          Lyricist III
          June 4, 2023

          I will rightly continue to direct my anger at SONOS. They have unilaterally decided to discontinue a service which was its main selling point to me,  and apparently to others too. I would not have bought it without it being able to do this.

          They could, and should, make this work. But instead of solving the problem, they have just set up bots to respond to every complaint blaming Google. Sure, Google is evil, but the problem is absolutely resoluble, and would be resolved if SONOS had any concern for their customers.  

            106rallye
            106rallye
            June 4, 2023

            @beynym Not sure how you would upload music to iBroadcast without a PC. 

             

            @spunkyfirework You must have a back up of your tracks. Couldn’t you upload these to iBroadcast on someone else’s computer?

             

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