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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charliec_1

Contributor I

Have you read details of the FREE options? What access to the Sonos software do you have, to state that “This absolutely could of been fixed with a software update”?

I appreciate you find it frustrating, as do many of us, but your statements are, in my opinion, very misleading.

This is a 10 page thread. I have not read every post. Can you link the free options post? I find it impossible to believe that this could not of been resolved by tweaking the software.

Airgetlam

The first post in this thread outlines the options.

Bruce

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charliec_1

Contributor I

The first post in this thread outlines the options.

I am aware that Sonos’ workaround is to have you upload your music to a streaming service or keep your computer on at all times to access your library. I’m not doing either. Too complicated and I’m not paying for Apple Music just so I can listen to the music that I already paid for.

jgatie

The first post in this thread outlines the options.

I am aware that Sonos’ workaround is to have you upload your music to a streaming service or keep your computer on at all times to access your library. I’m not doing either. Too complicated and I’m not paying for Apple Music just so I can listen to the music that I already paid for.

Then you are out of luck. Time for Ebay.

C

charliec_1

Contributor I

The first post in this thread outlines the options.

I am aware that Sonos’ workaround is to have you upload your music to a streaming service or keep your computer on at all times to access your library. I’m not doing either. Too complicated and I’m not paying for Apple Music just so I can listen to the music that I already paid for.

Then you are out of luck. Time for Ebay.

Time for Bose

jgatie

Time for Bose

Bose, the company that discontinued their entire line of multi-room speakers after 4 years because they couldn't make them work with Alexa? Good luck with that.

And by the way, the Google Play Music option is free.

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charliec_1

Contributor I

Time for Bose

Bose, the company that discontinued their entire line of multi-room speakers after 4 years because they couldn't make them work with Alexa? Good luck with that.

I could care less about Alexa. I have a Bose Lifestyle 35 home theatre system that I purchased in 2003. It’s still going strong and I can play music from my phone! IMO, Bose has unbeatable sound. Adopted Sonos for my bedroom in 2014. Use the Play 1’s has surround speakers. Also have the sound bar, a play 3 and a play 5. In hindsight it was a mistake. Was sold by the Sonos rep on future proofing my purchase.

melvimbe

Time for Bose

Bose, the company that discontinued their entire line of multi-room speakers after 4 years because they couldn't make them work with Alexa? Good luck with that.

I could care less about Alexa. I have a Bose Lifestyle 35 home theatre system that I purchased in 2003. It’s still going strong and I can play music from my phone! IMO, Bose has unbeatable sound. Adopted Sonos for my bedroom in 2014. Use the Play 1’s has surround speakers. Also have the sound bar, a play 3 and a play 5. In hindsight it was a mistake. Was sold by the Sonos rep on future proofing my purchase.

I don’t think Alexa features was the point. Bose discontinued their line, meaning support will drop fairly soon, something that’s important for a multiroom system that accesses the internet for security reasons. If none of that matters to you then sure, go with Bose. I don’t mean that to sound sarcastic at all, it is a good choice if you only care about playing audio off your phone. Heck, if multiroom isn’t important then just get something with bluetooth compatibly.

Danny

jgatie

I could care less about Alexa. I have a Bose Lifestyle 35 home theatre system that I purchased in 2003. It’s still going strong and I can play music from my phone! IMO, Bose has unbeatable sound. Adopted Sonos for my bedroom in 2014. Use the Play 1’s has surround speakers. Also have the sound bar, a play 3 and a play 5. In hindsight it was a mistake. Was sold by the Sonos rep on future proofing my purchase.

Nothing to do with Alexa. I meant abandoning a company that discontinues a single feature due to Apple’s changes in iOS to purchase from a company that discontinues entire product lines is kind of silly.

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googull

Enthusiast I

It isn’t just yanking a feature - it’s SONOS remaking their product, product I already purchased, under a new concept that favors them. They want data on you, your usage and listening habits, etc. Even though you bought their system without such, they are forcing it on you now via software updates. e.g. I used to be able to add a new or flopped Sonos player back to my LAN - not any more without a registration and online access! For 10+ years I’ve been able to use my Sonos devices off the grid - cabin, boat, etc. Now they’ve changed the entire system forcing you to register each device online before you can add back to your network primarily so they can not track your usage habits (big data). Sure, you can use the system to stream your own music without an internet connection, you just can’t assemble or fix your system should that become necessary without the internet. Changing basic functionality like this years after purchase was never what I signed up for as well as holding new updates to the SW hostage to accepting radical new terms that essentially let SONOS into your home is what drives folks to rebel.

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