You wouldn’t, I guess. But are you that perturbed by me suggesting something which may help alleviate the problem?  Even if you personally won’t be helped, it could help someone else.  This is a public forum, after all.

Thanks for the tips, I downloaded it and as I thought, to upload your own music you need to pay for the premium service

So you do have an actual storage device which houses all your tracks?  Is it sharable?  If so:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/add-your-music-library-to-sonos

Per the original post…

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. 

So I’m not sure why anyone would think that the current version of android would not allow file access. Clearly Sonos is taking pre-emptive action when removing the feature.  When this issue came up with iOS, Sonos did not remove the feature, and it simply stopped working when people upgraded their iOS. It resulted in a lot of confusion, and Sonos attempted to get it to work through some alternative means, likely really bad coding principles as well.  In other words, it just made the situation worse.

Apologies, it's not you. It's spending thousands and now trying to decide what to do with that equipment which will not function for what I purchased it for. I don't have funds to start from scratch so readily and take the loss.

Its two SSD cards with 2T each, so doesn't fit the bill. I wish...

Of course it doesn’t.  Because anyone who would spend $$$ on 2 TB SSD cars would never spend the few bucks it takes to make those cards actually useful on their network.

SSD don't fail like the 4 dead drives I have in dresser drawers because there are no moving parts to fail. I learned my lesson previously.

Is it me or is it weird a company would provide less functionality of their product over time rather than more function? Just when I had been eyeing the new Era 300 for my wife's birthday.

@Deedee02 I do not use YTM ,but according to this you do not need premium to listen to your uploaded music: https://9to5google.com/2022/07/11/how-to-upload-your-own-music-to-youtube-music/

As I said iBroadcast is certainly free, with possibly a bit of a penalty in quality: https://www.ibroadcast.com/premium/

@3z13 Again, it is not Sonos that’s doing this. It’s Google.

My statement wasn’t about using SSD, my statement was about spending the money for SSD and then not making them available on your network, especially when most routers can easily share a USB drive as an NAS. 

You are correct, it is weird.  I could say it actually may be powers beyond their control which forced them to do it, but that’s the romantic in me.  But I’m sure it’s the general maliciousness and disdain Sonos holds towards their customers which is actually at work here.  That makes far more sense. 

It’s not just you that has this perception, but is it an  accurate reflection of what’s happening?  Sonos is removing the feature, but as stated, it’s because android is changing in future versions that won’t support this anymore.  And Sonos has added feature to existing products before.  Things like voice control, airplay, hi res audio, DTS. Heck, control via the android and iOS apps, including playback from android files,  was a feature that was added to existing products. 

Perhaps it’s a matter of “what have you done for me lately?”, or prioritizing certain features over others for some customers.

And FYI, the value of Era 300s is in atmos audio, which could not be played from local files.  If playing local files is your primary use of Sonos, I wouldn’t recommend the Era 300s. Then again, maybe the wife is fine with streaming sources?

What’s done is done. I bought a $700.00 Android Hifi music player, and a $160.00 microsd card to play my music from my Android HiFi music device on my Sonos speakers. Had I known Sonos was going to do this I would not have bought those items. However, I obviously need a new solution. I don’t want to use my computer as my music source, and my router does not have a usb port (which I wouldn’t want to use anyway). I am unfamiliar with NAS. From what I am reading on this thread, I need to buy a NAS, add my music, connect the NAS to my Wifi, then add the NAS to Sonos through the Sonos app. I would like a NAS with an SSD (if such a thing exists). Can anyone please suggest a NAS (not over $500.00 please). I do want it to be futureproof as possible. I also want a NAS with the SSD already built into the NAS (if such a thing exists). If I am misunderstanding the NAS option, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Just run-of-the-mill garden-variety tone-deaf arrogance that afflicts so many great minds. Only that could explain not announcing the change in the app, not explaining the technical reasons, and not offering refunds.

Andy Grove of Intel fame grandly proclaimed “The PC is it” and we know how that went. Now Sonos grandly proclaims “NAS is it”. 

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Why then doesn’t Sonos explain in clear terms that we can understand? In the absence of an explanation, we can only speculate that “yes of course, there must be a good reason why the wonderful wizard disabled functionality that some (previously) loyal customers relied upon.”

Here’s the decent and upright thing that Sonos could have done. It knows full well which customers stream directly from their phones over Wi-Fi. It could have given them notice in the app itself and offered them refunds for their (soon-to-be) bricks and paperweights. But, no.

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in the United States has a section related to implied warranties, which could potentially apply. According to the UCC:

There is an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used (UCC § 2-314).

Where the seller at the time of contracting has reason to know any particular purpose for which the goods are required and that the buyer is relying on the seller's skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods, there is an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose (UCC § 2-315).

Under the European Union's Consumer Rights Directive, consumers are entitled to certain protections that could potentially apply in this situation. Specifically:

The goods must correspond with the advertised description (Article 5.1(c)).

If the goods do not conform to the contract (which could be the case if they no longer have an advertised feature), the consumer is entitled to have the goods brought into conformity free of charge by repair or replacement, or to receive an appropriate reduction in the price or have the contract rescinded (Article 3).

Some routers will accept a USB memory stick that can be used as a NAS drive. In this case, very little extra power is needed.

You’re moving goalposts.  The question of why more effort wasn’t put into announcing is not the same as whether Sonos removes more features then they add.   I actually think they should have put a notice in the app, but I suspect they did not because it does not impact a large portion of their customers.  If possible, perhaps a more targeted notice to just android users who have used the feature would be best.

What part of the explanation did you find confusing?  Are you suggesting that Sonos should have gone into a technical explanation of how the Sonos app, android OS, WiFi, and your Sonos speaker interact?  I believe very few customers would be interested in that, and I doubt it would actually change anyone’s feelings about the feature.

Can you provide an example where such a plan has ever worked successfully, to the extent to which you are proposing? Sonos tried something like this with the S1/S2 switch. You get a 30% discount on legacy products (that had not been sold in around 5 years) in exchange for recycling your old speakers.  This only made people more upset.  They changed up the program to allow people to keep their old speakers and people were only slightly less upset.  Sonos would be stupid to attempt the same failed scheme again.

Sonos does provide discounts when hardware fails after warranty period is up.  They provide discounts for owners of speakers they no longer sell (without having to give up your speaker).  These are not contingent on what features you use. And of course, you have the right to resell your speakers as you please.

I have not looked at NAS in a while, but they are usually wired directly to the router rather than using WiFi.  They don’t need to be mobile and don’t need to be seen.  You can get them with hard drives included and/or you can add your own, so SSD is an option if that’s what you want. Many also include USB ports, so you can add additional storage or microsd card if you want.

They removed the only functionality I personally used it for in the first place. Don’t usually Karen about things online but this is an exception, the last straw for me with this company. No way am I ever buying a sonos product again after this

@TarHeel Does your music player have an analogue out? If so it can be connected to a (used?) Five, Play 5, Port or via the adaptor that will ship from July to a Era 100 or 300. If it has bluetooth it could connect to a Roam.

Thanks for the suggestions melvimbe and 106rallye. It does have 2.5/3.5/4.4 line out jacks. I do have Play Fives and Fives. I will connect it to line in. I am able to play music that is on my microsd card that is inserted into my Android HiFi music player on ALL of my Sonos speakers (including my home theater setup with the Arc). Thanks again. 

Really? When I loaddled YouTube music it kept prompting me to pay?