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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:


  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.

We own 8 Sonos Play:1 (in 2 houses). Is that compatible with AirPlay? 

We own 8 Sonos Play:1 (in 2 houses). Is that compatible with AirPlay? 


I afraid not. You will need to add a Sonos One to get your music over Airplay and linked to your Play:1 speakers.

We own 8 Sonos Play:1 (in 2 houses). Is that compatible with AirPlay? 

Your profile states you own Sonos One, that’s the information I based my post on. An Ikea bookshelf speaker is the cheapest option to bring Airplay into your system (for one user at a time).

We have been streaming from a Mac too, but that is not an option to me going forward. I just need to do it from my phone. Anyways, I see this is one of these silly situations where Sonos and their minions are going to explain why this is a good change for me. Bye Sonos, have fun retaining new customers you may get.

You could perhaps just share the MAC music library, for your iOS mobiles to use to play to any of your speakers, whilst it’s switch on… see this link:

Adding and updating your music library

Or, if you don’t want to use the MAC, just upload the library to Google Play and use the free music service in the Sonos App instead.

So plenty of simple and free options there for you to resolve the matter.

 

Please offer directions for use of personal music loaded on Apple devices. My primary use of my Sonos system has always been to listen to my personal library and I am frustrated and angry that the option was discontinued with no notice to customers. I own 8 speakers, a Beam and a Port and they are now USELESS to me. How could you do this to your customers?

Please offer directions for use of personal music loaded on Apple devices. My primary use of my Sonos system has always been to listen to my personal library and I am frustrated and angry that the option was discontinued with no notice to customers. I own 8 speakers, a Beam and a Port and they are now USELESS to me. How could you do this to your customers?

 

Sonos didn’t “do this to (their) customers”.  Apple made changes to iOS that made it impossible to support this function.  In fact, the function is still available on Android; which shows Sonos would support it on iOS if they could. 

As to options, they are covered in the first post of this very thread.  
 

 

Then Sonos needs to work with Apple to get it compatible again. This is a deal breaker. I have invested a lot into the system that worked with my library and now it is gone. I am a very unhappy customer.

Then Sonos needs to work with Apple to get it compatible again. This is a deal breaker. I have invested a lot into the system that worked with my library and now it is gone. I am a very unhappy customer.

 

What makes you think Apple is willing to work with Sonos to allow playing to older non-Airplay speakers (from which Apple gets no income), when Apple gets licensing fees from Sonos’ newer Airplay compatible speakers? 

In truth, one could question the coincidence that iOS suddenly became so unstable just as Sonos was releasing Airplay 2 on their newer devices.  

Then Sonos needs to work with Apple to get it compatible again. This is a deal breaker. I have invested a lot into the system that worked with my library and now it is gone. I am a very unhappy customer.

I think you will find Sonos did that, for over a year and part of that resulted in you getting the AirPlay v2 protocol on your Beam and other Sonos devices, to allow you to play your music from your Apple device to any/every Sonos Room when grouped with such a compatible device.

It’s quite odd however, that you only mention this now, as the ‘On this Device’ feature was taken away from iOS devices months ago?

True, it’s been a while. I keep trying to find ways to access and get frustrated and give up. And get more dispirited and sad and angry about it. I appreciate your answering so I now know it’s gone for good. What a huge loss. 

I will attempt to set up Airplay protocol. It just doesn’t seem right to put customers through all these hoops.

True, it’s been a while. I keep trying to find ways to access and get frustrated and give up. And get more dispirited and sad and angry about it. I appreciate your answering so I now know it’s gone for good. What a huge loss. 

I will attempt to set up Airplay protocol. It just doesn’t seem right to put customers through all these hoops.

See these links…

Using AirPlay with Sonos

How to AirPlay Audio

Thank you, Ken.

Has creating playlists gotten any easier in the windows controller? It always seemed difficult. I’ve had a speaker in storage so I haven’t used Sonos in a while. 

Thx to all for the insights, very helpful. Again, whilst I do understand that it was Apples decision, Sonos marketed their feature to play music from an iPhone and the speakers are not cheap at all. You cannot blame it all on the others and be surprised about all the frustration you see here. What you expect. So if it‘s all about iOS, two questions:

  1. I need ONE newer Sonos speaker which is Airplay compatible (what models pls?) and I can play/stream my local iPhone sound out of the Music App across ALL speakers, also older ones?
  2. Is there an Android App which has a „play on this Android“ feature?

 

AirPlay 2 is supported on Sonos One, Sonos Beam, Sonos Playbase, Sonos AMP, Sonos Port , and the second-generation Play:5. The two Ikea Symfonisk speakers are also Airplay 2 capable. The Symfonisk Bookshelf speaker is the cehapest option to get Airplay 2 to you Sonos system using Sonos devices.

As long as you have one of the AirPlay 2 supported speakers, you can group the rest of your Sonos system with it and play your music throughout the entire house. One caveat: if you have only one Airplay capable speaker, only one user at a time can use that to Airplay to a group.

I'm not an Androis user, but as I understand it you can still play from an Android Phone (or tablet) like you used to do from an iPhone.

By the way: did you explore the Google Music Free option?

thx. Makes perfect sense regarding one user per Airplay stream, that‘s totally fine as long as I can group with older speakers.

I assume there are no retrofit possibilities for older speakers nor any special upgrade offers?

 

 

Sorry, no retrofit. Upgrade offers only on older Sonos stuff, see https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/30/20939850/sonos-trade-up-program-connect-play-products-discount-offer

Please pay attention: the upgrade will lead to a deactivation of the product you’ve chosen to upgrade/replace. Seeing it’s the holiday season, some better offers may be around. Ikea Symfonisk is still the cheapest option.

Why can’t SONOS just provide this ONE feature that many of us iOS users bought them to do - that is what was advertised when I decided to go all in with SONOS - I have 10 speakers and a connect amp - What is so hard to comply when they kept it for Android users - So disappointed!

Johnny A, You have a One, so can Airplay to that. And you could connect via the line in on your Play:5. Less convenient, but viable. 

Funny how all these people say “There is a solution” yet none of they say what the solutions is….  All require spending money either for a subscription or new hardware. The people that buy this expensive hardware value their time greatly. When you make them spend time researching issues, they also spend time researching other options, as I will be doing. That is how long term customer leave for good.

Sonos has failed.  Their stock came public at $20, dropped below $10 and now sits at $15…  I have a friend who works for Sonos, When Sonos was going public, I told them to stay away from the stock.  The company keeps failing on the user interface and now this issue. Sonos has failed their customers and is failing as a public company.

Jeez. If every listed company that had a share price fall at some point was a failed company. ..

$15 a share gives a market cspitalisation of $1.6 billion, created in under 20 years from zero. I wish I had a failure like that to my name.

Sorry you feel as you do. Good luck with your alternative system. 

Funny how all these people say “There is a solution” yet none of they say what the solutions is….  All require spending money either for a subscription or new hardware. The people that buy this expensive hardware value their time greatly. When you make them spend time researching issues, they also spend time researching other options, as I will be doing. That is how long term customer leave for good.

Sonos has failed.  Their stock came public at $20, dropped below $10 and now sits at $15…  I have a friend who works for Sonos, When Sonos was going public, I told them to stay away from the stock.  The company keeps failing on the user interface and now this issue. Sonos has failed their customers and is failing as a public company.

 

A free Google Play Music account costs nothing.

@User220667 The solutions are mentioned on the first page of this thread (for your convenience: https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/on-this-iphone-or-ipad-no-longer-available-6829000). One of the first things that is written on the first page of this thread mentions this option:

“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.” 

Of course, if playing from your iPhone was your preferred method of using Sonos than your experience is hampered by the end to this function. But if you'd read the first post in this thread your conclusion cannot be that all solutions “require spending money either for a subscription or new hardware". Only in very specific circumstances, for instance no or patchy internet connection (but since also complain about updates this does not seem to be a problem for you) you can't use the free google option, and an investment of 99 dollars looms over your head (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/symfonisk-wifi-bookshelf-speaker-white-80435211/). That is, if your router doesn't support cheaper solutions like an USB option or if you do not own a Play:5 or Connect/Port with an unused line in, to wich you could connect a bluetooth receiver like this: https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/bluetooth-audio-adapter

If you have the time to answer to this thread and make a new one complaining about Sonos, maybe you could also invest the time in reading just the first post of this thread.

User220667,

As jgatie rightly says, A free Google Play account costs nothing. I uploaded my library to the GPM cloud and can play my own music tracks (25000+)  on all my Sonos devices including the older Play:1’s. Hasn’t cost me a thing, just a small amount of time to install the uploader/manager, login and point it at my music library. So that’s all 'free of charge' and it works much better than playing some of the tracks from my iPhone, plus it has freed up lots of space on the phone to allow me to install other Apps. I can even switch the phone off completely and the music still carries on playing on my Sonos speakers.

Sorry, no retrofit. Upgrade offers only on older Sonos stuff, see https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/30/20939850/sonos-trade-up-program-connect-play-products-discount-offer

Please pay attention: the upgrade will lead to a deactivation of the product you’ve chosen to upgrade/replace. Seeing it’s the holiday season, some better offers may be around. Ikea Symfonisk is still the cheapest option.

Haha. Seriously? During the time of sustainability, waste and resource debates you only offer upgrades when you can destroy older, perfectly running products? How bad is Sonos actually doing?

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