Add Chromecast built-in Integration

  • 26 December 2021
  • 95 replies
  • 23701 views
G
Userlevel 3

I live in Italy and here Android users are much more that the Android users that are in the USA…

Personally all my family have an Android device, like Google Pixels, and all the house have integration with Google Assistant and Google Home. We are a Google Family.

We bought a Sonos Move for have a portable speaker with a gorgeous sound, and I can confirm that it have, but we hear the lack of the Google Chromecast built-in integration.

In fact the Chromecast built-in feature is a great opportunity for Sonos, we think, because in this way Sonos Speakers can appear in Media controls of Google Home and so can be controlled by all the people that live in the house. Also Chromecast built-in have plenty of integration with some services that made things really easy.

So, we decide that for now Sonos for us it can be only the Sonos Move or the Sonos Roam that have also the Bluetooth, because we need it for limiting the lack of the Chromecast built-in functionality. But we appreciate that in the future these awesome speakers, that are probably the best in their category, will have the Chromecast built-in feature, so we can buy product that also came without Bluetooth.

Best regards,

Giovanni Galboni

95 replies

R
Userlevel 3
Badge

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.

 

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.

Android users matter
G
Userlevel 3

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?

Things like, smart home control. In fact with Chromecast compatible devices when a device is casting content on all Android devices connect to the home wifi appear a notification for control the media of that device and also this is possible in the Google Home app.

Another thing is cast audio from Google Chrome browser, Google TV, Android device audio ecc…

And at the end the aggregation of speakers and TV that have Chromecast built-in, for have the same media in more rooms.

Some apps, in particular local app with a small percentage of users in the world, that support Google Cast but obviously doesn't support the Sonos Ecosystem. For do an example, the Gym app support Chromecast speakers for remote training, and if you have an iPhone obviously also Airplay, but for an Android user is impossible to connect that app to a Sonos speaker without Bluetooth.

Other features are a copy of functionality that can you can also do with the Sonos app, but some of these feature also can be more easy to reach with Chromecast built-in, in particular for an Android user like me. In fact Chromecast built-in for an Android user can be easy to use like Airplay for an Apple user. Also Chromecast built-in can be use from Apple devices, instead Airplay only from Apple devices, so it can be a good things for the two ecosystem, Google and Apple.

M

I have an OLD audio Chromecast - its the only way to really have Sonos work with google. I use a Optical connection to my sound bar, or a 3.5mm to a play five. Really there are not enough inputs either.  The Sonos app does not allow the same user experience as directly using an app like YouTube music -   just being able to cast directly to a Sonos speaker would be nice - and we used to be able to do that. Then Sonos changed - I don’t trust that new products won’t become “bricks” like the old products did. Shame on you Sonos. Go with Bose - Yes - some argue that there is minor differences in sound quality but what's the point of sound quality if you can't get your services, or devices to work with the speakers you own. Anyone want to buy some old Sonos products? I didn’t think so.  

 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

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

O
Userlevel 1

Don't go with Bose or Sonos. Just get Google cast supported speakers. Until Sonos adds the ability to cast my Sonos is an annoying box that takes up shelf space while the much worse sounding Google home speaker sits literally on top of it gets used daily because it's easy to just start playing music to it half way through a song.

I have dissuaded 25+ people from buying Sonos because it does not play nice with their existing Google speakers. 

Every time I want to use Sonos it's open a different app and try to use it's different UI and that's it everything works. Today It signed me out of YouTube music and just gives me a 400 error. 

Great sound. Terrible software. Expensive POS

ratty

Let's just stop pretending like Bluetooth and Chromecast support is just around the corner…

 

Little Sonos Roam adds Bluetooth, isn´t it. Once you have one entry, you are in the Sonos environment. Move too.

Indeed. It does seem that the poster is a little out of touch. Comments to the effect that Port (2019), Amp (2019) and Five (2020) are “older products” and that successors will not offer Aux/Line-In do rather strain credibility.

melvimbe

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.

 

I think a lot of people don’t really think of Sonos as an ecosystem, just speakers.  And since of other ‘just speakers’ have chromecast, they see it as a fault of Sonos.  Along the same lines, they see Sonos having bought into the Apple ecosystem with the inclusion of Airplay.  Therefore, Sonos favors Apple over Google.

However, I think it looks a little different when you factor in that Sonos has been around before Apple or Google had their music systems.  Sonos predates the iphone actually.  You can also look at Amazon music system, and Sonos speakers don’t play in sync with Amazon speakers either (also commonly blamed on Sonos).  So it’s not that Google is the exception that Sonos doesn’t play in sync with It’s that Apple is the exception that Sonos does play in sync with.

And why would that be?  It could be that Apple needed other speaker brands to play into their system way more than Google or Amazon did, since they really didn’t have an established presence with their own speakers. That could mean cheaper licensing, or making the tech easier to development and maintain...I have no idea.  Or that Apple didn’t really mind Sonos have their own separate ecosystem, while Google and Amazon did.  I mean, Google won’t allow speakers to a have their voice assistant and someone else at the same time, but Amazon doesn’t care.

I get the sentiment though. It would be great place if all the different tech and companies worked with each other as seamlessly as possible, there were no walled gardens, and companies didn’t have to worry about things like licensing fees, market share, or making a profit.

Danny
jgatie

I have an OLD audio Chromecast - its the only way to really have Sonos work with google. I use a Optical connection to my sound bar, or a 3.5mm to a play five. Really there are not enough inputs either.  The Sonos app does not allow the same user experience as directly using an app like YouTube music -   just being able to cast directly to a Sonos speaker would be nice - and we used to be able to do that. Then Sonos changed - I don’t trust that new products won’t become “bricks” like the old products did. Shame on you Sonos. Go with Bose - Yes - some argue that there is minor differences in sound quality but what's the point of sound quality if you can't get your services, or devices to work with the speakers you own. Anyone want to buy some old Sonos products? I didn’t think so.  

 

 

Bose?  The company that discontinued their entire line of smart speakers, then brought out a new line which is completely incompatible with the previous lineup which they were selling right up to the day they discontinued it?  That's the company you wish to choose because Sonos stopped full updates to units that were over a decade old and hadn't been sold in 5 years?  Units which are not "bricks" at all, in fact they continue to work exactly as they did the day Sonos stopped full updates.

A

 

I think a lot of people don’t really think of Sonos as an ecosystem, just speakers.  And since of other ‘just speakers’ have chromecast, they see it as a fault of Sonos. 

It’s not just other speakers, though… Even my latest AV receiver comes with Chromecast and Bluetooth built in, as I’d expect any halfway decent piece of modern kit to have these days - and it cost considerably less than a Five.

Sonos are not just speakers, they’re expensive speakers and I suspect that some people feel that - for the amount of money that they cost - they should have flexible input methods built in.

jgatie

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.

R

@Giovanni Galboni I use my beam and surrounds with chromecast. Beam only has a HDMI Arc input. My hack is to use plugin chromecast to TV and cast things to that Chromecast.  Of course, this won’t work for the whole network but works for my case. I hardly turn off my TV and it stays on screensaver mode, thus this works fine. 

Note - I have noticed that in this setup, there is some delay in audio sync when I play music on the Group cast with other google homes and I need to use the Google Home app to adjust delay (usually it is under 100ms). 

Google IO announced on May 11, 2022 that it will extend casting capabilities to third party companies... so fingers crossed! 

J

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. 

J

Yes, I  never use On This Mobile Device. But my wife has an iPad so I'm sorted for Trueplay.

My main point, as you realise, is that everything else is identical. 

J

@scotek .  I can understand your point of view. and we all have our own priorities for our systems.  Neither of us is right or wrong.  

I think you are coming at this from the perspective of someone whose mindset is ‘single device sending audio to single speaker’.  Sonos is fundamentally designed to be multiroom, multi-source and multi controller, with an app that is a remote control for the system, not a music player.  It was not designed for all-audio casting.

For me, casting is a complete irrelevance.  I would never use it.  When i started with Sonos, Airplay wasn’t supported any more that Chromecast.  

I think it is rather paranoid and illogical of you to be talking of Sonos being “antagonistic to Android users’, but you are entitled to your opinion, and to your different priorities.

Edit: just as a historical note, the first native app that could be used with Sonos was Google Play Music, until Google scrapped it in favour of YTM.  But you could only use it on Android devices, not iOS.

S

I just wanted to comment that Sonos 100% needs to support Chromecast. It's ridiculous that it doesn't. These devices are expensive and frankly we shouldn't have to compromise fit a feature on much cheaper devices.

ratty

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?

Airgetlam

I think the issue is more on the Google side, than it is on the Sonos side. And I suspect that Google’s still a bit upset about the lawsuit for copyright infringement that they lost….

Bruce
J

I imagine they are being downloaded to the ‘wrong’ location for Sonos to find them - but unscrambling that is possibly more trouble than it’s worth.

As I am a Sonos fan and don’t like Bose, I think my solution would have been to buy a Roam and use Bluetooth, grouping to the Sonos One.  It would have been cheaper and avoided Bose and given me two compatible speakers, one of which is truly portable.  But each to their own.

Thanks for your time John, but I think Sonos don't take into account Android users, everything is easier if you have an iphone/ipad. I understand they had a dispute with google some time ago and they don't want to get close. But in the end this issue is suffered by Sonos customers with android. I never thought that in 2022 we would still be without support for Chromecast.... It's a pity because we are forced to leave....

I am a total Apple refusnik and have only Android devices.  I have no use for casting, or have other options where I might need them (e.g.  playing from the Amazon Music app, although I rarely do that either).  For me, lack of Chromecast is a complete irrelevance.  I accept that for some other users, like you, it’s a big deal, and that’s fair enough.  But I think you may be overestimating the potential importance of this.  If this puts off lots of people from using Sonos, then Sonos are in trouble.  I don’t think it will.  Only time will tell.

J

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.

J

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?

melvimbe

Thanks for your time John, but I think Sonos don't take into account Android users, everything is easier if you have an iphone/ipad. I understand they had a dispute with google some time ago and they don't want to get close.

 

 

 This assumes that Apple and Google have been equally willing to work with Sonos, and that feature development between android and iOS are equal, as well as licensing costs.  Highly unlikely.  Perhaps close enough that it’s not relevant, but can’t assume that.   Chromecast was around long before airplay, if that’s the comparison you’re trying to make, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple gave Sonos a really good deal as a way of getting airplay off the ground quickly.  Either way, I have a hard time believing that the current legal case is related to the lack of chromecast support, since Sonos has never had chromecast, and the legal case is only recent.

 

But in the end this issue is suffered by Sonos customers with android. I never thought that in 2022 we would still be without support for Chromecast.... It's a pity because we are forced to leave....

 

Personally, I never buy a product that doesn’t meet my current feature needs.  I don’t think I’ve ever even bought a product based on a feature that was promised to be added to a product.  I certainly wouldn’t buy a product when it’s missing a feature I need, and the business makes no promise that it would ever be implemented.   As an android user, I’ve never felt like I was suffering or that I’ve been forced to leave.    But like others, chromecast has never been a feature I’ve been that interested in.  

Danny
J

I would like to express my admiration for those with the patience and stamina to continue to debate with @Tim23 .

melvimbe

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. 

 

I would trade trueplay for ‘on this mobile device’ functionality though.

Danny
melvimbe

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).

 

I use Amazon, Pandora, Sirius XM, and Sonos Radio.  I don’t do it often, but I have casted from the Amazon or Pandora apps to Sonos speaker.  Even with airplay, I would probably use this method, as I don’t want to rely on the audio streaming through my phone to the speakers, I want the audio going directly to them.  For the most part, I use voice control, especially now that Sonos Radio is covered by Sonos voice.

 

My kids do use airplay a bit, but that is more because they have somewhat of a fear that using the Sonos app is like ‘touching Dad’s stuff’ and because they don’t want me to easily see what music they listen to.  I don’t think I’ve really encouraged these habits, but I haven’t much tried to put a stop to it either.  😁

Danny
chicks

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.

I’ve just posted a way to do it from a PC three posts above this one.

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