‘On this Device’ for Android controller no longer supported

All the Sonos worshippers going on about terms and conditions and that it's Google to blame…

A third party independent app - Hi Fi Cast - can cast music from my devices to my Sonos speakers. To say it's out of Sonos' control is nonsense. Sonos just want one less thing to take care of and ultimately want people to use streaming services because it's makes their job easier. You don't need to look any further than 'New Search' to confirm this 

You can only cast though if using a ‘player’ and the Sonos App is not a player, it’s merely a ‘remote’ that directs the speaker(s) to play music direct from source. It’s why with the Sonos App you can power off the mobile device or take it away from the Home and speakers carry on playing. That’s not possible with  a mobile ‘player’ App.

Remote or player, is it really beyond the imagination and capabilities of Sonos to incorporate what a small independent app developer can do? Sonos apologists coming out with excuse after excuse in Sonos' defence... Guaranteed that they'll be doing the same when Classic search is eventually discontinued and all search results returned are for streaming services.

It should be noted that HiFi Cast makes money from ad revenue and in-app purchases.  It looks like it will also sell your data to other parties, including location.  You can’t request that your data be deleted.

I personally don’t care if Sonos decides to make their own player app as a companion to the Sonos app.  Actually, I would be in favor of it if it included Sonos radio so the service could be used away from a WiFi network.

Defence No.1 - There’s always Plex that will return search results from a users local library, (In some respects Apple Music can do it too, if mirrored in iCloud)… ha ha 😂

And Sonos bashers come up with all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories why Sonos would do something, when in fact it is Google/Apple doing it.  And round and round it goes. 

Pretty sure Plex can’t read files from an android system.  Plex needs to have a server setup, either PC/laptop/MAC/shield with access to a drive on the network.  Also, pretty sure that Sonos accesses Plex through a cloud server, not directly through the local WiFi network.  

I was referring to RJSUK’s reference to Sonos potentially removing the classic search from the App and the fact that the new Sonos search does not search the local library - Plex accesses the local library if running the Plex server software on the LAN - it uses a NAT loopback-link So the search is local. It’s just the authorisation that I requires the WAN connection - it’s one way that a user could still see search results based on the content of their local library. I also included Apple Music (tongue in cheek) as it can mirror the local library in iCloud and return the exact same search result as though the local library had been included in the search.

Sonos should have you on their payroll given your shameless defence of their removal of what were key selling points when I first bought their products. I know technology doesn't stand still, but I don't expect it to go backwards and involve having to use third party software to access what were once key features.

I bought the app. It cost £6.49 and there was no requirement to register. If you're worried about your online data being potentially harvested and sold, you should disconnect from the Internet immediately.