Sonos App controls no longer appear on your lock screen


After updating to 9.0 on iOS, I am getting the message "Sonos App controls no longer appear on your lock screen" on all my updated devices. The lock screen controls stopped working on all my controllers with above message.
I do not have any other music player running nor I have any sort of voice over configured. Settings for the app are correct with both hardware volume control and lock screen controls enabled on all devices.

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226 replies

Agree on the streaming but in terms of control functionality on app in iOS, should it not be the same?
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Apple's lock screen is a strange animal and hard to work with.

You may want to look at some widgits like Sonosbit.
Tell me, why does the Spotify and Apple Music apps still have working lock screen controls with the addition of Airplay 2? Is Sonos the only one that can’t get it right? Why would you take this feature away to implement a new one that so few users even have. The Sonos App is now garbage. I’m restricted to using the Spotify app so I can control from my watch.
Totally agree with you. things are two:

1) Sonos is not able to have the controller on the lock screen because his developers are not able to do it, in this case shame on sonos,please make a call to spotify team.

2) Sonos doesn't care about his app....shame on sonos.



Tell me, why does the Spotify and Apple Music apps still have working lock screen controls with the addition of Airplay 2? Is Sonos the only one that can’t get it right? Why would you take this feature away to implement a new one that so few users even have. The Sonos App is now garbage. I’m restricted to using the Spotify app so I can control from my watch.
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Totally agree... Sonos should fix this problem NOW
I worked it out !
I simply unplugged the apple TV box that I never use anyway.
Then went to sonos app
More tab - settings - advanced settings
Then “Reset Controller”
The Lock screen now works again.

Hope this helps out others.
Huge help!! Damn that was so frustrating, thank you for the fix. Ridiculous to have to unplug my Apple TV to regain my lock screen Sonos functions.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I almost got fired many years back from Apple shenanigans, learned my lesson and haven't touched one since. Made it to safely retirement so I call it a good decision. Trueplay is trying to tempt me to the Apple darkside but so far I've passed on it.
Hello all,

I appreciate I am a little late to the conversation. However I am still struggling to wrap my head around the loss of iPhone/I watch lock controls since the move to airplay. Now my primitive understanding is that the older models don’t have the chipsets to deal with the complexity of airplay 2........so if I am right we are still using airplay 1, which did have the controls?!?! So why have they gone. Furthermore even take away my potential misunderstanding. How can a third party company such as Sonobit still utilise the hardware in the devices to allow volume control and switching songs.
I am a little lost given that Sonos is a premium product? I am also partially understanding as technology improves older hardware will not be able to support new software/tech......but it is just a volume control?

Any insight into my neurosis would be gratefully recieved.

Jason
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
So much negativity for Sonos here when the real problem is Apple’s lack of flexibility in ios. As far as I understand it the actual version of events is roughly.

1. Everyone wants lockscreen and hardwear control but its only possible on android not ios because Apple
2. Sonos wizards find a workaround - not for the first time implementating a feature I never thought possible and improving my aging kit. Thanks Sonos!
3. Apple/Airplay2 breaks workaround. Sonos still does everything it can to make it avaliable for as many people as possible.
4. People blame Sonos.

It seems like Apple need to offer a solution here and I read they are actually talking to Sonos so fingers crossed...
No - the real solution is for Sonos just to make an app version for its users who don’t have airplay 2 hardware.

If Sonos removes airplay 2 from the app - all us legacy hardware users get the lock screen controls back.

Even if we could downgrade to the last version of the app before airplay 2 was released - they would work for us
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
I have no airplay 2 devices in my house and I have lockscreen controls on my iphone still. So I think there already is the functionality for those without airplay 2 hardware?
Sonos should simply release version 8.6 of the Sonos App with a new name, e.g. "Sonos Legacy App". Tell users that it doesn't support Airplay2 and that it won't be updated. Then the users can decide what they want. For my part, I want to be able to control Sonos from my Apple Watch, which is a byproduct of having the lockscreen controls.
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This is just a crappy user experience. The beauty of having Sonos was that one did not have to be fumbling to control speakers. Just bought a HomePod and seriously considering just replacing all of my Sonos speakers with Apple HomePod: make calls, control Apple TV, listen to music - all from a control screen when the phone is locked. Not everyone is an Alexa user and not everyone wants Bezos listening in.
Userlevel 3
I can’t believe Sonos hasn’t been able to figure out a way to make this work!! (On their own or in partnership with Apple). Lock screen control was one the main reasons I went with Sonos in the first place. I agree with some of the previous comments, give users the ability to disable air play 2 functionality in the app to restore the lock screen controls. Give people the option.
I'm hoping iOS13 can bring this feature back. I never knew I needed it until it was gone
Userlevel 1
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Indeed, can’t understand how deezer, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube can go over AirPlay limitation and not Sonos.

 

Userlevel 1
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Anyone hear anything new on this?

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Indeed, can’t understand how deezer, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube can go over AirPlay limitation and not Sonos.

 

Because those apps actually PLAY MUSIC. The Sonos app doesn’t play any music, its just a remote control.

If there is a technical limitation, ie because the app it’s not actually playing music, just fess up. 
 

I fail to see how this can an impossible problem to solve. It’s piss poor though. 

I thinks it’s been clear all along that the Sonos app is merely a remote control, for the actual player that runs on the Sonos devices. The Sonos controller app has never been a music player, despite all appearances. It is a presentation layer on your device (computer, mobile device) for the actual system running on the Sonos players. 

Thing is, this is no different to the Spotify App when using Spotify Connect. There’s no music actually playing on your device in this scenario and yet the lock screen controls work. Clearly there’s a technical workaround to this problem, even if SONOS can’t figure it out/don’t want to use it for some reason.

What’s super frustrating about the situation is that SONOS’ “solution” is to unplug all your non-SONOS Airplay kit, rather than just provide a toggleable option to disable Airplay functionality on THEIR kit, which for most would be a workable compromise as lock screen controls generally add more value than Airplay.

suggesting that customers should be happy to remove functionality of unrelated equipment to accommodate their platform is simply arrogance.

Userlevel 5
Badge +9

The Sonos volume control just appeared on my iPhone X lock screen out of the blue. (Have 3 Sonos ones on S2).   It shortly thereafter went away.   How do I get it back?  Looks like it is fighting with Apple Music for control, but I have nothing playing via Apple Music on my phone. I see no way to change this in iOS.  My settings are correct on the Sonos app. 
 

 

 

 

 

Userlevel 5
Badge +9

The Sonos volume control just appeared on my iPhone X lock screen out of the blue. (Have 3 Sonos ones on S2).   It shortly thereafter went away.   How do I get it back?  Looks like it is fighting with Apple Music for control, but I have nothing playing via Apple Music on my phone. I see no way to change this in iOS.  My settings are correct on the Sonos app. 
 

 

 

 

 

In case I’m not the only idiot, I will provide advice - as I figured this out.  To have Sonos controls appear on iOS phone lock screen (I have an iPhone X) you must:

  1. In settings/music on the iPhone turn off “Show Apple Music” (this does not effect using Apple Music via Sonos or the connection with Apple Music via Sonos). 
  2. Open Sonos App (can use app switcher and be on home screen or use other apps though - just cannot completely shut down Sonos app)
  3. viola -- Sonos volume controls (and what’s playing information) appear on lock screen.  By touching the top portion of the Sonos display on the lock screen, it takes you to Sonos App, so you can switch to another room/speaker to have the display now control the volume on that other speaker.

As far as I can tell - turning off “show apple music” simply stops it trying to connect via airplay to airplay devices (shrug) and overriding/forcing out Sonos on the lock screen.  And don’t play Apple Music locally, or it will override Sonos controls again.   Of course, if you have other active airplay devices, this might not work.

After being plagued with this issue for TWO years, here is the definitive fix:

  1. Go to your Apple TV:
    • Settings > AirPlay & HomeKit > Turn AirPlay Off
  2. Go to your Sonos app:
    • Settings > App Preferences > “Lock Screen Controls” toggled on
    • On the same screen, scroll down to the bottom and click “Reset App”
  3. Close the Sonos app. 
  4. Reopen the Sonos app and play music.
  5. Lock your iPhone and VOILA! Lock screen controls are back! 

 

A few additional things to note:

  • When you hit “Reset App,” a scary looking pop-up says that you are going to disconnect the app from your system. Don’t be afraid. Reconnecting it is literally just a matter of closing and re-opening the app. Super easy. 
  • If you have an Apple Watch, that does not interfere with the whole “no other Airplay devices” thing. Seems to just be Apple TV.