buy a Sonos one for 249chf? brilliant idea that way I can spend even more money because Sonos decided to drop the original feature that used to work. What’s to prevent Sonos from doing the same with the Sonos One, not a very ethical business practice! This is like Trump politics, create a problem where there isn’t one and then offer a solution and make the victim pay for it

looks like the shoe string solution with Google Play is the only viable solution. I have learned my lesson “Caveat Emptoris” to all future Sonos customers...

I think the “Buy a One” suggestion was tongue-in-cheek after you “claimed” you had one in your profile

The Google Play account and NAS devices seem to be the most popular work-around options people are going for. 

great, a shoe string workaround for a $2,000 sound system, terrific!

I stream from my music library and from internet sources to my Sonos system and have great quality and reliability. I don’t see it as a shoestring workaround, and if you mean the Google Play account it is a free, no-cost solution. (I believe you have to give credit card details when setting up the account but the next day you can opt for just the free account and cancel the card details.)
 

This is a user community. When responding to questions we are (usually) trying to help other owners. I’m sorry if you don’t like what is suggested.
 

If you find a better solution, please let us all know. 

Agree with Nik.  Using a NAS is how the original system was intended to operate and using that mode you can play Lossless WAV and Flac files, certainly not Shoestring and has the added bonus of still working if there is a problem with your internet connection, plus it free’s up storage on your mobile.

I don’t think anyone is happy with this situation, but Apple have forced this on Sonos and other companies, such as Bluesound.  At least Sonos has some alternative solutions and nearly all of their recent Speakers work with Airplay2.  

djouret,

The remark about buying a Sonos One was said 'tongue in cheek’ because of the earlier mistake in your online profile. If I upset you with that 'quip’, then I apologise to you.

It is true that the removal of this feature to allow music through the iOS 'lock-screen’ is an Apple decision and not a Sonos decision. In my view, it was done, either to improve the battery life, or security, of iOS products.

Sonos spent a year in talks with Apple to resolve the matter, without success, and the result was everyone had to switch to either Apple AirPlay or Bluetooth access to iOS streaming music. Sonos have gone to both those connection methods with their new products and some older products like PlayBase, Beam, Sonos One (Gen1) and Play:5 (Gen2), which were all updated to use AirPlay. So a lot of existing Sonos users did benefit.

The reason that some older products were not updated is because their internal components, (processor and memory) were not capable of acting as AirPlay controllers for Sonos Households… there were still some workarounds however for those units, like Sonos Connect and Play:5 (Gen 1) that have a line-in Port, as users could attach either a cheap AirPort express, or a Bluetooth receiver to continue mobile streaming.

The only devices that were really affected, in all this are perhaps the Play:1 and the Sonos Playbar, but by adding a single Sonos One SL, or a cheaper Symfonisk Speaker, to the Sonos Household, immediately provides AirPlay streaming to those devices too and every other Sonos device.

Sonos did all they could from a hardware perspective and business-sense approach to assist their existing users

For those users that didn’t wish to buy further Sonos products at the time this was announced, there were other 'cheap’ and 'free’ workarounds (detailed alongside the announcement), like the one mentioned in my post to you earlier.

As mentioned this Apple decision, did not just affect Sonos, it affected other manufacturers too, like Bluesound.

Just as a small piece of confirmation that Sonos were forced to take this route with iOS products, it is clear for all to see, that streaming from Android mobile & tablet devices is still in place for all Sonos devices today. So that fact alone, shows that Sonos did not want to remove ‘streaming a users own music from a mobile device’.

Anyhow 'it is what it is’ and we just have to get on with what we have, but I certainly would not blame Sonos for the position we now find ourselves in. This is all very much in Apple’s court. 

Fortunately for us all, there are answers to this issue and I can assure you that the one I suggested to you, is far from being a shoe-string solution.

Just to be clear,  Sonos can only support airplay 2 as long as Apple supports it. If Apple ever desides to remove the feature, or makes modifications that require more hardware that Sonos has, then airplay 2 support for some speakers would have to be dropped.  

This is the reality when you’re dealing with products from different companies that are designed to operate with one another.  Features that require interaction have to be supported by both companies in order for them to work  The possible exception might be when industry standard protocols are used for communication, such as Bluetooth, but even that can be suspect at times if companies aren’t required to support all aspects of the protocol or version upgrades can make certain devices unable to use the protocol anymore.

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 appropriate, perhaps cable your phone to either the “Connect” or “Play 5” line-in port using the appropriate audio cable and stream your music in that way

By not updating the app, I was able to keep playing my iTunes library and avoiding this issue. But now Sonos has forced me to update.

I guess I’m just one of those resentful of the fact that I now have to spend my time figuring out how to play my music on the device i paid for in January of this year. 

And Sonos’ only response is to say “it’s Apple’s fault”

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!

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.    

This sucks.  Sucks big time. 

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

All Sonos Ones have airplay, although it’s common for people to confuse their Play:1’s (black and grey) with Sonos Ones (all black or all white).  If you have a Sonos One, make sure you’re on the WiFi network.  Not sure what to tell you after that.

As for your other question, once you use airplay to stream from your phone to a Sonos speaker, you can group that stream with the other speakers in your system.

The easiest way to differentiate a Play:1 from a One is to look at the top;  Play:1 has physical buttons, One has touch controls. 

That sucks big time. And i understand it‘s not Sonos alone to blame. But still, it‘s also Sonos design & technology decisions to some degree.

In short: I can hop in my car and listen to music on my phone.

at home i need to buy & keep my synology NAS running at all times (or my PC) to achieve the same? Or pay a provider like spotify to listen to music i already own and paid??? WTF???

or if friends come over, they first need to copy their sound to my nas, i need to re-index and then it‘s finally available to play?? what a party!! Hey wait wait, awesome track i want to show you!! just wait ten minutes for it…, oh wait… re-index didn‘t work, i can‘t find it yet…. haha. Seriously????

(i know it‘s BT in my car, thank you...)

not sure how much technology was involved in that decision… or how much music service provider pressure.

Sonos, this is crap!! Bringt that back. It was my primary use case and buy decision for your products.

Welcome to the forum.

The removal of Sonos’s direct play from iPhone/iPad seems to be an Apple decision. As a result, I know many people like me are pretty unhappy with Apple. I canceled my Apple Music subscription and switched to Spotify because I found the AirPlay option didn’t provide volume consistency between songs and Apple’s music app is simply not in the same league as Sonos’s or Spotify’s. If Apple doesn’t reinstate direct play through Sonos then I plan to also switch from iPhone to Android when I renew. So, Apple has lost my $14/mo subscription and will lose about $1200 more plus other Apple purchase revenue when I renew my phone. I was about to purchase a new iPad too, but am now reconsidering that. I know my individual decisions represent a pittance, but if many other Sonos users react similarly then it will add up. The only reason they’ll change their mind if they know there is enough of a financial or reputation cost. I really like Apple products but this decision has meant that I can no-longer use them effectively in my house.