Retired Sonos Staff

'On this iPhone or iPad' No Longer Available

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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.

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Show previous replies

J

John B

What makes you think the Connect won't work going forward? Why do you think you need to replace it?

Edit: Oh OK - to get Airplay I suppose.

melvimbe

What makes you think the Connect won't work going forward?

I assume he was talking in terms of being able to play content from his phone. The Port, having airplay functionality, would allow that, while the Connect does not. Of course, you can get any modern Sonos product, including the cheaper ikea speakers, to bring airplay to a Sonos system, so there is no need to buy a Port.

Danny

J

John B

What makes you think the Connect won't work going forward?

I assume he was talking in terms of being able to play content from his phone. The Port, having airplay functionality, would allow that, while the Connect does not. Of course, you can get any modern Sonos product, including the cheaper ikea speakers, to bring airplay to a Sonos system, so there is no need to buy a Port.

Yes realised this while you were typing your response and added an edit.

J

John B

@Iphone person . I take it you don't own a computer?

B

Billythewilly

Lyricist II

For me these Play1’s are now expensive useless peace of … internet radio low resolution speakers. I have no other computer or streaming services to play my music files from.
Definitely will not expand or continue with any Sonos product.

Thanks for betraying your customers just for Apple business model.

bockersjv

Local Superstar

For me these Play1’s are now expensive useless peace of … internet radio low resolution speakers. I have no other computer or streaming services to play my music files from.
Definitely will not expand or continue with any Sonos product.

Thanks for betraying your customers just for Apple business model.

Wow you went to the bother of registering but not of taking 2 minutes to read why this is not a change that Sonos has control over🙄.

I

Iphone person

Lyricist I

@Iphone person . I take it you don't own a computer?

Ref discussion with jmwalker04.

Hi John. Yes I have a computer, it lives in another room away from my lounge room.

Just to clarify, my intention when I purchased the Sonos system was to be able to walk into my lounge room sit down and select and play the music recorded on my iPhone, just the same as I do in my car, and the same as I do with my Bluetooth speaker when I travel. This was an essential function without which I would not have bought the Sonos system.

It is not my intention to have a computer in my lounge room.

controlav

Lead Maestro

It is not my intention to have a computer in my lounge room.

Huh? You can put your computer in the attic if you like, so long as it is on the network somewhere. You don’t need to access it physically.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

J

John B

@Iphone person . As @controlav says, it doesn’t matter where the computer is - it’s just a store for the files. You would pick up your phone and choose your music in a way that would be virtually indistinguishable from how you use it now. This is how Sonos was originally designed to be used back in 2005, before ‘On this iPhone’ was added as a free upgrade in 2012.

There are in fact significant advantages to using the Sonos Music Library rather than playing from the phone.