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Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
August 20, 2019

'On this iPhone or iPad' No Longer Available

Related content:Software
Starting today, the ‘On this iPhone or iPad’ feature will no longer be available in the Sonos app. There are still many ways to play your locally saved music library to Sonos and control it from your iOS device, including some good free options.

We first launched ‘On this iPhone or iPad’ in 2012 as an option to play locally saved content from your iOS device before Apple AirPlay was available on Sonos. The way this feature was originally designed has become unreliable with newer versions of iOS and Sonos.

The best way to play the music stored on your phone to Sonos is now by using Apple AirPlay 2 on compatible Sonos speakers (Sonos One, Amp, Beam, Play:5 (Gen 2), Playbase, and SYMFONISK WiFi Speakers). Using AirPlay 2, you can send the audio to one of these products and use the Sonos app to group it with any other Sonos rooms to have them all playing in sync. You can find more information about using AirPlay 2 with Sonos here.

For people who don’t have AirPlay 2 capable Sonos products, additional options to play tracks that are stored on your phone to Sonos include:
  1. Uploading your tracks to a music service with a storage feature, such as Apple Music or Google Play Music. These services will store your library and allow you to stream it anywhere. This is a great option if you have songs that aren’t available on a subscription based streaming service. Also, Google Play Music has a free account option that allows you to upload 50,000 tracks and play them which works with Sonos.
  2. Setting up a Music Library share on a Computer or Network Attached Storage drive. You’d need to have the computer or local drive available when you want to play music, but your library would be easy to transfer to these devices, if it isn’t already on them.
  3. Streaming the catalog from a music service. There are more than 100 music services available on Sonos, many with several millions of songs.
  4. Android mobile devices will continue to have access to the ‘On this device’ feature. If you have an Android phone or tablet, ‘Playing music stored on your Android device’ to Sonos is a great option.
  5. If you have a Sonos Play:5, Connect, Connect:Amp, or Amp, you'll 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. You could even look into connecting a Bluetooth or AirPlay receiving device to that line in to use your mobile device without needing to wire it in to the line-in. See more about 'Using the Line-In on Sonos' here.
With the first three options, your phone doesn’t need to be turned on to listen to your music, and the music will keep on playing even if your phone is off or leaves the house. There are also alarm and Sonos playlist features that are available for most music sources that aren't available from 'On this iPhone'.

More about how to ‘Play music stored on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch’ is on our support pages.

We'll continue to support everyone through this change, and will help them set up the necessary workarounds to keep listening to their favorite tracks on Sonos.
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    353 replies

    Trending Lyricist I
    October 31, 2019

    So the “play from phone” functionality will still work on Android devices, just not Apple devices. If this makes people upset they might want to think about who to be upset with. Why would Sonos remove the functionality from one type of device and not the other might be the question to ask to yourself to decide who to direct anger towards.

    The real problem here is the Sonos’ lack of fortitude in dealing with Apple. Always takes two to tango.

    FYI Sonos. I’m tired of coming back to my Sonos system having to do updates nearly every time and then finding some thing no longer works. I’m over it, so regrettably I will flog off my entire system at my first opportunity and move to a more stable platform.  Oh did i mention I have been a dealer for Sonos since 2004.

    Lyricist I
    November 3, 2019

    So you removed the functionality that is the primary use of your product? You couldn’t possibly foresee the need for backwards compatibility with your devices that don’t have AirPlay and figure out a solution for it? Are you working on a solution or are you just going to hang us out to dry? -___- 

    106rallye
    November 3, 2019

    I can understand you miss this function, but, as has been said in this thread before, it was only the primary use of the product for a small part of Sonos users. Free fall back options are available though. 

    Contributor I
    November 3, 2019

    I’m done with this company’s products.   I really disliked this decision and how it was handled.

    Lyricist I
    November 4, 2019

    what a disappointment that Sonos ditched the feature whereby I used to be able to play my music from my iPhone to my Sonos system. This was the main selling point when I bought the system four years ago. This sucks, what’s your problem Sonos? this is ridiculous!!!

    Ken_Griffiths
    November 4, 2019

    what a disappointment that Sonos ditched the feature whereby I used to be able to play my music from my iPhone to my Sonos system.

    You still can, your profile says you have a Sonos One so you can use Apple AirPlay to play your iPhone music to ALL your Sonos devices. 

    Lyricist I
    November 4, 2019

    Nope, I have a playbar, a sub and two play 1s and according to the app none of them are on AirPlay 

     

    Ken_Griffiths
    November 4, 2019

    djouret,
     

    Then you need to correct your community public profile as shown below…

     

    Lyricist I
    November 4, 2019

    Ok it’s updated, now what?...

    Ken_Griffiths
    November 4, 2019

    Ok it’s updated, now what?...

    Buy a Sonos One, perhaps? 😀

    ...or you could implement one of the other alternative options mentioned in this thread, such as uploading your tracks to the ‘free’ Google Play service and install that same music service in the Sonos App and play them from there. It’s also handy in that it creates a backup of your tracks in case you misplace your phone.

    So that’s something to consider, or you may wish to consider one of the other options mentioned.