Add Chromecast built-in Integration

  • 26 December 2021
  • 95 replies
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95 replies

chicks

As a former owner of Logitech Squeezebox devices (a Duet and a Radio) I can state Sonos invented working multiroom audio. 😉

Synch works perfectly fine with LMS in a proper network.  Sonos had an advantage once with its mesh network, but mesh wifi is a commodity now.  I’ve never really used multi-room, but here’s my LMS setup, with one copy of squeezelite driving the spectrum display in perfect synch with another driving my DAC’s coax digital input.  Too complex for technophobes, obviously, but a lot of fun for those of us who know how, and far more flexible than Sonos (though Sonos speakers work fine as LMS endpoints).  Much better UI, too, with the Material Skin (and the touchscreen, at left). 

 

Oh, and Chromecast integrates perfectly, too - optical in to the DAC from a Chromecast Audio, primarily controlled via the Material Skin, but from any other Chromecast-capable app, as well.  The DAC auto-switches between USB, Optical and Coax inputs with signal.

 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

We're getting somwhat off topic here, but I'm sure LMS wasn't the problem, the hardware was (probably in combination with my network at the time of course - we're speaking 2010/2011 here). Duet that would lose contact with it's base, no sync with the Radio in the kitchen. Sonos/Sonosnet (which I'm into since 2018) works way better in my home.

A

Hi,

I am using 2 sonos amps (the recent models) with a bunch of sonos architectural speakers.

The hardware is great, the sound is excellent... but. I can confirm after extensive testing that android streaming and sonos is not a very good idea.

Ok, it works…. for a while… and I can make a work again. But at home we have a mix of iphone’s and android devices. Airplay works in 100% in the cases ok, always. The problem are the android phones, after a while, of after using Airpay… it doesn’t work well any  more. 

Yes, the solution of re-authenticating spotify works, or rebooting the amps. That works, but, it remains extremely annoying. I am 100% sure this is not a network problem. It is a problem of not being 100% compatible with android. And certainly the mix of Apple & Android devices to control the amps. 

Sadly, I already extensively discussed this with Sonos support … but they always put the blame somewhere else. And if you can make it work again… there seems not to be any problem. No, not thru, the problem comes back, over and over again. No solution for the moment.

 

O
Badge

I find the claim that 'everything is easier if you have an iPad/iPhonr’ rather bizarre. The Sonos apps for iOS and Android are virtually identical in design and functionality. No Trueplay on Android, no On This Mobile Device on iOS.

Playing from native apps like Spotify is OS-independent.

For those of us who don't need Chromecast and wouldn't use Airplay there is virtually nothing that is easier on an iPhone than on am Android phone. 

When I said everything was easier, I meant that using the speaker-related apps is easier, (you don't have to sign up for any service or use the sonos app), not that all Sonos features are easier with iOS(they’re almost the same, not to mention TRUEPLAY).
I generally prefer the original apps: Spotify, Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal; than going into sonos and playing the music from the corresponding service. And this is easier with airplay2 (it would be with Chromecast too).

A

I would be happy to buy a reasonably priced mic device to trueplay tuning if it were available.  Also would like to see an autotrueplay option for the non-portable speakers.  I get that it may not be as good as trueplay tuning through an iphone, but it would be an improvement.

Same here…

R

Chromecast could be useful for allowing some PC sound on sonos. Currently I can watch a video (eg youtube or netflix) on my iPhone and have the sound airplay to a sonos speaker, but there doesnt appear to be a way to do it on a windows PC which is a bit unfortunate.

S

Hi. An understandable request, and well expressed, but the request has been made many times on here and Sonos haven't done this yet.

What do you want to do that you currently cannot do without Chromecast?

I’m going to buy a portable speaker for my wife’s birthday next month. No matter what I get for her, she ends up just playing music off YouTube. She won’t subscribe to YouTube premium. As I understand it, she would be unable to simply cast to her speaker. I would like to get her a speaker that I could integrate with a larger system. It would have ended up being a perfect gateway to get me to spend a stupid amount of money on Sonos gear. But it would have been a very inconsiderate gift, knowing she won’t be able to use it how she likes to.

 

As the OP of this thread said, they want the ability for guests and family members to simply cast to the device. This is basic support of Android that is very widely supported. Every “smart” TV made for the past decade supports casting. It’s much more ubiquitous globally than airplay. I would expect the same basic utility for my own guests.

 

I’m glad I took the time to search these forums as I was all but ready to buy into Sonos. I’ve seen you opine all over this forum, yet repeatedly fail to get that lack of generic casting support is a fundamental deficit of Sonos in supporting Android, which has 1.5 billion users (to Apple’s 1 billion.) 

S

 

Sonos doesn't sell speakers..

If they did, I'd buy more of them.

 

https://www.sonos.com/en/shop/wireless-speakers

 

They have a whole line of wireless speakers. Your argument is there are cheaper speakers so they need to compete by locking out users? Makes no sense. I’m looking for the best product, not the cheapest. But I’ll probably end up getting a slightly less expensive speaker simply because it isn’t antagonistic to Android users.

J

@scotek . You are looking for a portable speaker on which your wife can play YouTube audio from her Android phone? How about the Sonos Roam?

melvimbe

This is the most glaring omission from Sonos, I have mentioned it before here that Android users are basically second class citizens for them, but many diehard fans here will always find ways to explain why it's not important.

Never felt like a second class citizen using my android.  Admittedly, that could be because I’m not a huge fan of Google.  I have their phone product, yes, and I do use youtube TV and and an Nvidia Shield, but I generally avoid Google whenever possible.  I avoid Apple as well, which is the main reason I’m using an android.

Anyway, the point being that it could very well be a matter of perspective more so than functionality.  I started off creating my whole home system with Sonos.  I didn’t buy Google (or  Amazon, Apple) speakers and then later try to integrate Sonos into those systems.  I think of the Sonos speakers more as speakers that I can control with my phone, not as casting destinations to send audio from my phone.

I’ve never needed to use chromecast (or Airplay if I had iPhone) as a means of integrating two different audio systems.  I’ve never need it for smart home control or automation.  I’ve occasionally using casting from Amazon music or Pandora to transfer what I was playing on my phone to Sonos, or just to use the native music app search functionality.  I’ve occasionally started a youtube video and casted it over to Shield (is that chromecast?)

Maybe I’m missing some amazing chromecast feature that I’m unaware of, but it’s never been something I’ve ever felt was missing.  As I said though, I can see it where it would be more useful  for someone already heavily invested in a Google ecosystem.

 

 

 

For what is worth, Bose is updating their Soundbars to support Chromecast protocol and Bose is in fact quite comparable in sound quality, so maybe it's time for us, Android users, to seriously considering switching.

Soundbars seem like they would need chromecast the least.  I mean, you can cast audio and video to the streaming box and TV, rather than just audio to the soundbar.  Is the problem that you’ll have to turn on the TV when you’re only trying to cast audio?

 

Danny
J

When will people get that they have bought into the Google ecosystem?   If they now want Sonos they either have to switch ecosystems or live with the consequences of the bad decision to buy Google speakers in the first place.

S

@scotek . You are looking for a portable speaker on which your wife can play YouTube audio from her Android phone? How about the Sonos Roam?

Yes this is the product that I am considering. It would work with Bluetooth, but so would a lot of other speakers. I would probably go with the Ultimate Ears megaboom as it has twice the battery life, if I am going to commit to a BT-only option. 

 

We recently moved to a much larger house and I have lots of outside areas and other spaces that I would gladly place Sonos speakers, but if my wife or guests can’t interact with them intuitively, I may as well just have a traditional setup with an AMP that has several zones, and have her use some BT speakers in the meantime.

 

Bottom line, not being able to cast to the thing means Android users are much more limited in how they can interact with the device. Getting her to use different apps just because Sonos chooses to treat Android users as second class citizens is a big turnoff. 

chicks

Might want to have a look at WiiM.  Their little device has created quite a stir already for its big feature set at a little price.  They don’t currently support Chromecast, but have said they will be producing a second device that does Chromecast.  Their infrastructure is similar to that of Sonos, and they offer unlimited lifetime support, something most of Sonos’ competitors don’t offer, certainly not at this price point.

https://wiimhome.com/Overview.html

 

J

If you still wish to use Sonos for podcasts maybe this link will help.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/321?language=en_US

There is also the Pocketcasts service on Sonos.

melvimbe

@scotek . You are looking for a portable speaker on which your wife can play YouTube audio from her Android phone? How about the Sonos Roam?

Yes this is the product that I am considering. It would work with Bluetooth, but so would a lot of other speakers. I would probably go with the Ultimate Ears megaboom as it has twice the battery life, if I am going to commit to a BT-only option. 

 

We recently moved to a much larger house and I have lots of outside areas and other spaces that I would gladly place Sonos speakers, but if my wife or guests can’t interact with them intuitively, I may as well just have a traditional setup with an AMP that has several zones, and have her use some BT speakers in the meantime.

 

Bottom line, not being able to cast to the thing means Android users are much more limited in how they can interact with the device. Getting her to use different apps just because Sonos chooses to treat Android users as second class citizens is a big turnoff. 

 

Youtube music is supported on Sonos.  Google and Sonos obviously don’t have the best of relationships.  Google wasn’t very interested in allowing their voice assistant, Sonos is suing Google for stealing patents, and Google won’t allow their voice assistant on a device with other voice assistants installed.  Assuming that Google is fully on board with chromecast on Sonos speakers, it’s only Sonos that’s holding it back, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Not sure if it’s true anymore, but there was a time when Google did not allow casting of Youtube (video service) to any device that didn’t have display.  So you could cast to a TV, but not directly to a speaker.  Indeed, if you have TVs that have comcast (or devices connect via HDMI to the TV) than you could do that cast and have a Sonos Arc, Beam, Ray, or Amp connected to the TV to play that audio.  I rarely look at youtube on my phone, and rarer still want to cast that...but when I do, I’ve had no problem casting to the TV and hearing the audio over my Sonos speakers.

 

Danny
T
Badge

Might want to have a look at WiiM.  Their little device has created quite a stir already for its big feature set at a little price.  They don’t currently support Chromecast, but have said they will be producing a second device that does Chromecast.  Their infrastructure is similar to that of Sonos, and they offer unlimited lifetime support, something most of Sonos’ competitors don’t offer, certainly not at this price point.

https://wiimhome.com/Overview.html

 

Stuff like this is always appreciated.

Unfortunately, it's exactly why Sonos have removed every audio input possible without eliminating their use for television. Close that garden and profit while you can.

To be fair, it's also why Google discontinued its original Chromecast audio. Nobody will pay for a license when a dongle is so affordable.

Speakers are nothing more than ecosystem bait nowadays, and I don't think you need a business degree to know which players will eventually be left standing..

M

There are two options the way I see it.

1. You can back-feed the TV (with the Chromecast as the source) audio to a "Playbar" "Beam" or "Arc". Then control your audio like normal with the Chromecast. Group your Chromecast/Sonos devices and have group audio.

 

2. You can cast Spotify or another music service that offers "remote group listening" this allows for multiple users to listen to the same music session. Have another member of the session cast to the Sonos. You will have group audio controlled by the session leader, and voulme individually controlled by each user per zone.

chicks

Actually, Sonos speakers can be used with any DLNA/UPnP infrastructure.  I no longer use the Sonos app, greatly prefer LMS with the Material Skin, which offers many advantages.  My Sonos Play:1s and Ones integrate just fine into the LMS system - minus the perfect multiroom sync, which I’ve never really cared about.

M

I agree with you that Sonos would be better with Chromecast than without it. I am not trying to claim any of these alternatives are perfect for you.

I just believe that Sonos are not stupid. Either Google won't let Sonos add Chromecast, or Sonos have made the judgement that adding it is not the most profitable use of scarce development resource. And that is because it would add too little value for too few users.

What would not be logical for Sonos to do would be to add Chromecast because this is 2022.

This is from the Google Home App

C
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

LMS can also be used to integrate other speakers such as chromecast and airplay.  My system has a mix of Sonos, Airplay, Chromecast and squeezebox radios.  It's even possible with some effort to include Echo devices. 

R

Maybe I should have done more research. I bought a sonos one because it said it had Google assistant support (which it does). Naively, it appears, I expected that to include Google cast support. I feel slightly misled. I don't need a debate about Sonos's or Google's strategy As a user I just want the new speaker to integrate seamlessly into my system. Sonos doesn't which is disappointing and will definitely stop me from buying more sonos equipment and from recommending sonos to people.

 

 

T
Badge

Half measures and work arounds.

This topic isn't brought up a dozen times a year, because people are content to find ways to simulate (poorly) a utility they've come to expect, or more importantly may prefer.

The fact a Sonos user could have all the functionality they desire if, and only if, they stay within a Sonos approved ecosystem is exactly my point.

Sonos don't sell speakers.

At least not without strings..

T
Badge

Sonos have removed every audio input possible without eliminating their use for television.

Not exactly. Line-In is available on Port, Amp, Five, and all their antecedents. The system can be used to distribute sources of any flavour, including a Chromecast Audio.

Plus of course any content can be streamed from an iDevice over AirPlay. 

Do you actually possess any Sonos gear?

I own a fair bit actually. Including more than one of the products you listed. 

These are older products, however, and I think it's fair to say their successors will not have any such feature.

And that's fine. Having line-in present on only a portion of the product line does not allow for a full solution to use Sonos speakers within another ecosystem anyway. Half measures and work arounds.

If you're comfortable in the Sonos ecosystem, they make a great product.

My only point is that if you're not, don't hold your breath. Sonos clearly sees themselves more as a competitor to multi-room ecosystems than they do audio companies.

T
Badge

Half measures and work arounds.

This topic isn't brought up a dozen times a year, because people are content to find ways to simulate (poorly) a utility they've come to expect, or more importantly may prefer.

The fact a Sonos user could have all the functionality they desire if, and only if, they stay within a Sonos approved ecosystem is exactly my point.

Sonos don't sell speakers.

At least not without strings..

 

Please don't assume to speak for me or any other "people" beside yourself.  I do not, nor have I ever expected and/or preferred Chromecast functionality, nor do I avoid the subject because I've found workarounds.

It doesn't appear you've read the entirety of my posts. If you have, you certainly missed the point.

Either way, this is a comically personal response. Suffice it to say, I am not as emotionally invested in audio companies as you.

I will, however, reiterate for your benefit: 

If you're comfortable in the Sonos ecosystem, they make great products.

Do not, however, make the mistake of thinking you are purchasing only a speaker. You are purchasing a piece of the Sonos ecosystem, and this ecosystem is where Sonos have chosen to focus their efforts as a company.

Sonos is competing more with Google Home than it is Bang & Olufsen.

No need to get bent out of shape about it. Let's just stop pretending like Bluetooth and Chromecast support is just around the corner and let people make an educated decision that makes sense for them.

On a personal note: I'm sure you'll have a blast asking the Sonos assistant to open Netflix in 2024. I sincerely hope it continues to work for you (as the main character).

T
Badge

Half measures and work arounds.

This topic isn't brought up a dozen times a year, because people are content to find ways to simulate (poorly) a utility they've come to expect, or more importantly may prefer.

The fact a Sonos user could have all the functionality they desire if, and only if, they stay within a Sonos approved ecosystem is exactly my point.

Sonos don't sell speakers.

At least not without strings..

 

Please don't assume to speak for me or any other "people" beside yourself.  I do not, nor have I ever expected and/or preferred Chromecast functionality, nor do I avoid the subject because I've found workarounds.

It doesn't appear you've read the entirety of my posts. If you have, you certainly missed the point.

Either way, this is a comically personal response. Suffice it to say, I am not as emotionally invested in audio companies as you.

I will, however, reiterate for your benefit: 

If you're comfortable in the Sonos ecosystem, they make great products.

Do not, however, make the mistake of thinking you are purchasing only a speaker. You are purchasing a piece of the Sonos ecosystem, and this ecosystem is where Sonos have chosen to focus their efforts as a company.

Sonos is competing more with Google Home than it is Bang & Olufsen.

No need to get bent out of shape about it. Let's just stop pretending like Bluetooth and Chromecast support is just around the corner and let people make an educated decision that makes sense for them.

On a personal note: I'm sure you'll have a blast asking the Sonos assistant to open Netflix in 2024. I sincerely hope it continues to work for you (as the main character).

 

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