Retired Sonos Staff

'On this iPhone or iPad' No Longer Available

Related content:Software

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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:

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

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.

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RChandler

Lyricist I

Building a new house. Looking at Bose for all music needs. Very disappointing Sonos!

jgatie

Building a new house. Looking at Bose for all music needs. Very disappointing Sonos!

Bose? Did you know Bose recently killed it’s entire lineup of SoundTouch multi-room speakers, in order to bring out a new, completely incompatible line of multi-room speakers, all because they couldn’t make the old ones work with Alexa? So you’d choose a company that kills an entire product lineup, just because Sonos kills a single feature? Good luck!

melvimbe

I have 5 Play1’s and the no longer used white box connect thing at home and 2 Play5 and a sub at the office.

I have slow crappy internet at home so streaming is not ideal and 4g data in Australia is expensive. I don’t use any streaming services because of this.

I purchased Sonos because I could play from my phone direct to the speakers.

I don’t want to invest in more SONOS gear as I just dont trust the longevity of the brand now.

I feel like I have been dudded and have many thousands of dollars worth of boat anchor.

Not happy Jan.

If you’re not interested in using a NAS for your music library, aux input as @Ken_Griffiths suggested, or switching to an android phone or tablet, then resale is an option.

Danny

so nos

Contributor III

This sucks. Sucks big time.

C

czigmont

Lyricist II

Its been said here a million times, but what a massive, massive disappointment. We chose to walk away from traditional audio components and iPod storage and took the bait of both Apple and Sonos. No we are eventually or at least being held for ransom. I either dedicate a laptop to this or brick all the Sonos stuff. What a total. I don’t subscribe to steaming. I’ve been collecting music my whole life and choose to listen to it. Why in the should I pay an addition service to let me listen to the music I already bought!!!!!!

We were going to add TV sound and additional SONOS around the house, but no more. Sonos, I’m sure you don’t care, but you’ve lost future sales from a customer. Sonos is the best reason to go back to traditional audio.

J

John B

Its been said here a million times, but what a massive, massive screwing and disappointment. We chose to walk away from traditional audio components and iPod storage and took the bait of both Apple and Sonos. No we are eventually screwed or at least being held for ransom. I either dedicate a laptop to this or brick all the Sonos stuff. What a total screwing. I don’t subscribe to steaming. I’ve been collecting music my whole life and choose to listen to it. Why in the hell should I pay an addition service to let me listen to the music I already bought!!!!!!

Mega mega pissed. We were going to add TV sound and additional SONOS around the house, but no more. Sonos, I’m sure you don’t care, but you’ve lost future sales from a customer. Sonos is the best reason to go back to traditional audio.

In what sense do you nerd to 'dedicate a laptop' to this,? Why do you think you need to pay for a streaming service? Why are you repeating the same incorrect statements that have indeed been said many times before?

C

czigmont

Lyricist II

John - I’m only on this forum because I am a disappointed consumer. I am not a nerd or a tech geek. As consumers we’ve just found ourselves and our gear obsolesced and held hostage to buy more stuff; paid stream or new gear. when it happened we had insufficient notice and explanations. I’n not sure who you are or what you are hear to offer. if you have simple, consumer friendly advice to make my system continue to play my iTunes library with the equipment I have, I’m listening. If you're simply trolling, I’ve got no time for you.

J

John B

I have been helping people on here for seven years. If that makes me a troll so be it.

The thread already has a number of solutions that involve no cost or minimal cost.

But OK I am happy to try and help you find the best solution for you. Can we start by you telling me if you currently have iTunes on your laptop?

Ken_Griffiths

John - I’m only on this forum because I am a disappointed consumer. I am not a nerd or a tech geek. As consumers we’ve just found ourselves and our gear obsolesced and held hostage to buy more stuff; paid stream or new gear. when it happened we had insufficient notice and explanations. I’n not sure who you are or what you are hear to offer. if you have simple, consumer friendly advice to make my system continue to play my iTunes library with the equipment I have, I’m listening. If you're simply trolling, I’ve got no time for you.

If you online public forum profile is correct czigmont and you have a 'Sonos One’ Speaker, then you already have a cost-free solution, as widely mentioned in this thread and elsewhere on this forum. Just play direct from your device to your Sonos speakers and groups using Airplay which is built into Apple devices and free to use.

C

czigmont

Lyricist II

I guess my Sonos one must predate the Airplay compatibility as it doest show up on our Airplay list. Does that mean we can only listen through that one speaker?

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