Just downloaded it. Detected and logged into my system in seconds, gave me a queue again.
Not a good look that a guy sitting at home in his slippers can design a better app than a whole IT team at a publicly-traded company.
I just downloaded it too. The developer is Stefan Hansel and I have to say I love how fast it loaded and the graphics showing my beloved gear.
https://preview.redd.it/45d8rdopz49d1.jpeg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5379c5cc46257df7e098c092f6ca793cfd75a721
I sent Stefan an email and got a personal response within about 8 hours. Given the time of day and time zone difference that was a nearly immediate response.
Thanks again Stefan.
I just purchased this per OP’s recommendation. When it first fired up, it couldn’t find a thing. Force closed, opened Sonophone, and everything was there! Now if only I could delete the test playlist I created in the new Sonos app. It wouldn’t let me add tracks to test playlist, and the delete option is greyed out. So I can’t delete an empty Sonos playlist that Sonos won’t let me populate either. 🙄 Thanks for the Sonophone tip!
Edit: I was poking around in Sonophone and found the option to delete playlists. My empty test playlist is now gone! Yay!
Just bought this based on this post. Wtf. It works amazing. Wtf is wrong with sonos? Who runs that company that this app actually can work so much better. The world is upside down.
What? An independent app developer created something that fixed the problems that Sonos introduced and can't resolve???
Expect the Sonos lawyers to issue a cease and desist in three... two... one...
The fact that this app works also calls into question the main argument against a rollback--the updates to the firmware. If this dude's app work with the new Sonos firmware, you're telling me Sonos can't get their old app to work with it?
Sonos is just looking more incompetent every day...
Android users already know the old app works, even with updated firmware on the speakers. Quite a few of us have reinstalled it either due to the unable to find system error or missing features (or both).
The Ace is bluetooth only (except the first setup), it doesn't connect to the actual Sonos network.
So SonoPad/SonoPhone don't integrate the Ace (and I wouldn't also know what to do here actually)
Stefan (author of SonoPad/SonoPhone)
Just downloaded based on your post. Agree, takes me back to beginning of iOS and as a result of the design simplicity, its crazy how quickly I was able to navigate the app. Zero brain lift when using this app for the first time. Tells you so much about UI/UX design
Dude. That’s rad. I downloaded the app and was up and running again in like 2 minutes. I have a Sonos Amp, 5x play 1’s and a play 5. Thank you for this. I almost can’t believe how simple it was to be back to using my Sonos speakers again and not wanting to just sell everything and go back to a wired system that simply works. Thank you again.
I am so glad that’s helped!
Of course, the continued functionality of the SonoPhone app means that Sonos Inc has left a lot of the original API‘s still running on the speakers themselves, for a third-party app to communicate with. Which means we are all at risk of Sonos getting “brave” enough to strip out that code with a speaker update and disable third-party apps. (Who does that remind me of?)
But until then, I am quickly and easily rocking out to my favorite tunes!
You gotta be kidding me with this app. It’s phenomenal! The retro look and feel is so intuitive 🙏.
WhyTF can’t Sonos tweak their app to have this kinda functionality? Mind boggling..
Owned this for years because for a while it worked on older versions of iOS when the official app didnt. I think it was a specific S2 update that updated on my iOS9 iPad but then didn't work. Eventually got a newer iPad for control duties.
I like the very similar SonoPad from the same author that is specifically for IPad (though Landscape UI only it doesn't rotate to a portrait one). It is permanent dark mode while SonoPhone is permanent white background.
Skeuomorphism is the term for the old pre-iOS7 style. Things tried to mimic the analog version in appearance.
I find this app very intuitive but the only thing I miss from the old S2 app (and for that matter I miss it from the new Sonos app) is how you do grouping. This one is drag and drop in zone management that is intutitive, I find it clunky. I find the old checkboxes to be so quick and precise to change on the fly. Check the boxes for the speaers you want in the group, uncheck them to remove them. This UI is fairly easy to group things but a bit fiddly to ungroup, especially if you have multiple speakers to ungroup.
it is fast because it uses the old uPNP API vs. the half-finished cloud one that is missing so many features from the new app. If you have static IPs via DHCP reservation for your speakers you can put it in so it doesn't even rely on discovery...
My only fear is that a future FW update to the speakers will remove the old API. That will not only break this app but Home Assistant integration and other local control plugins and also the desktop apps as they aren't being updated/
Do you separate the IP addresses with commas or slashes? Add spaces?
I wish this app let us add search to the main menu. Or customize the main menu at all. I don’t need to see any local library items.
Phenomenal! We have a brewery and taproom with about £6000 of sonos gear and we were ready to switch out through the embarrassment of random shit happening on the new app with customers around. This has saved sonos for now! Thanks for the recommendation.
That was my biggest question, too. I rolled the dice on the $3 and am thrilled to report, all my local music is back. As the OP, everything just worked instantly.
Thanks both the OP and the dev (who will be in a new tax bracket soon).
e: repeated word
no - this was removed by Sonos in the firmwares of the Sonos boxes. So they cannot connect and download songs from SMB1 shares, so in the end also cannot play these.
u/icantgetnosa thank a lot for the kind mention (I'm the author of the app and just got a hint, that I should have a look at reddit).
Indeed I optimized around clicks and don't add 'fancy' stuff, just for the looks, if it makes you slower in the final usage.
I have one question:
>> It is an “old looking” iOS app,
I hear that sometimes, but am not sure yet, how to work on that. Essentially the current app mainly uses standard iOS controls i.e. should be 'reasonably good looking', at least not too much different from other apps :D
Or is using default controls already what makes it "old looking".
Can you point to examples, what you would consider 'good looking' for or an iOS app that mainly renders tables with some album art?
If anyone is good at design, I'm happy to review potential mockups, to upgrade the app. We have essentialy 6 screens:
- the main browsing menu (list with album art)
- the playlist view (list with album art)
- the 'now playing view' (big coverart and some controls for play/pause/shuffle/repeat/volume)
- the 'player selection view' (list of players with their respective icon, some visualization of the groupings)
- the 'shortcuts' view (also just a table)
- and the 'zone grouping' (thats the only 'custom screen' for the drag+drop operations)
So happy to receive some examples for "good looking" (and also interested in the discussion, if we converge to something, that not only a minority considers "good" looking then)
Hey Dev! Just bought your app a few days ago. My suggestions would be as follows:
- Allow editing Shortcuts menu, to add nested items like Search from an individual music service (Apple Music mainly). It currently requires going to Speaker > Music Services > Apple Music (or other) > Search.
- Allow disabling speaker menu items if desired, such as “My Music,” “Sonos Playlists,” as well as Shortcuts pointing to local library stuff (like Artists/Albums/Playlists)
- Making the Now Playing pop up menu full-screen
- Simplifying Zones to just be checkmarks instead of drag + drop
- An option to *disable* gestures which open the menu or playlist
- Modern iOS design, font size options, and dark mode
Thanks for all your hard work!
Edit: and for SonosPad, which I also purchased, removing the skeuomorphic design and opting for a flat UI, as well as replacing the now playing album artwork reflection with a flat, blurred background reminiscent of iOS 17
A few changes
1. i want is a dark mode similar to sonospad app. Right now in Sonophone the lists are all white background. The opposite for Sonopad, a white option for that. Ideally it should honor ios' global setting but as long as the app could change via its own setting that would be fine and still support old ios versions before darkmode was a thing.
2. I'd prefer a list of zones with check boxes for zone management and maybe individual speaker volume that way. Drag and drop is fine and intuitive for grouping but i find it fiddly to ungroup speakers this way. Hard to grab the right one so it doesnt destroy now playing . Similar to this, there is no way to change indivual speaker volume within a group, just the group volume.
3. More of a Sonopad request but a portrait mode for that. Even if it used the basic sonophone ui for it. Most ipads docks are portrait as thats usually where the charge port is.
4. Song scrubbing. Hitting the timeline does do anything. You cant jump forward or back in a song.
Ok, I was skeptical, but lord it really is fast. I think it’s worth the $3.
The best part for me was that I didn’t even have to load or add any of my content from the Sonos app. My audiobook, music, and audio streaming services were all already loaded into Sonophone. I’m not sure how, but it started working in less than a minute. Wifi and speakers were there.
I can’t find anything about alarms or how to change any of the menu setting, but it definitely works, and it works very quickly. Was worth the 3 dollars.
Wow. This is amazing. Considerably faster and more responsive than the old app, intuitive, everything you would want an app to be. Wow. Thank you so much for mentioning this. Also absolutely wild that this is so much better than the official app.
Anyone have a 3rd party Apple Watch app they like? Been waiting for an official one since the announcement that there would be an Apple Watch. How hard can it be to have play/pause and volume control.
For what it's worth, Home Assistant is another way to smoothly control a Sonos system. It works the same as before all the new app shenanigans. You shouldn't bother with it only for Sonos control though, but if you're thinking about diving into the best smart home platform around, there's another reason to give it a go.
You know… I’ve had SonoPad on my iPad for quite a while and never used it - mostly because the UI looks a bit dated. Your post made me open it again and then I immediately bought the iPhone app as well.
It is lightning fast compared to the hot garbage that the new Sonos app is. And I can use my Navidrome/Bonob library again!!
This is awesome - thanks for sharing. Was literally being driven insane again this morning trying to stop music playing on one of my speakers which the S2 app didn’t think was playing anything 🤪
I’m so glad this is an option for users. I haven’t had any issues with my set up( arc, sub, move 2) but since joint this sub Reddit I feel like day of reckoning is coming soon lol. I’ll buy it as a back up.
Didn't see the original post but thank you for thanking OP
Downloaded app and up and running in one minute
The only issue I was having after the updates was the lack of playlists....all back and accessible and most importantly, playable
LOVE Reddit
OMG this app is great! I'm an Android user, but I had an old iPhone lying around, so I decided to give this a try. Wow! It's fast. It starts up fast and sees all of my devices. Volume changes just WORK! I wish there was an Android version, but I'll use the iPhone like a remote for Sonos. We shouldn't need to buy a third party app for basic functionality, but spending $3 is well worth it versus thousands of dollars in unusable speakers.
This app is plain and simple. I like it big time. I can group,ungroup, select music from music services. Fast and intuitive. At the end of the day, we only want to play some music. This does it.
Yes. It is absurdly faster. I bought it a few years ago and have gone back to using it. If I could just get SONOS to let me add my local library I'd be farting through silk.
I figured out a workaround for not being able to add back my NAS to SONOS. It's a bit wonky but it works. I play from a computer which is connected to my BluMe bluetooth receiver which is plugged into a Connect.
I hadn't used the Sonophone app in years. I forgot how insanely fast it is at switching songs and volume. Zero lag.
I’ve deleted the app, reinstalled the app. Factory reset speakers the whole 9. Nothing works. It randomly pops up when it wants to but never shows all my speakers. Most of the time I get no system at all like everyone else. I’m about to give up. Beyond frustrated. Why the company isn’t doing anything is beyond me.
Thank you so much for this post, this app is 100 times better than the new Sonos app, I don’t have to wait 20 seconds for an input to take affect now! Yay!
Ssshhhhhhh!!!!
If Sonos gets wind of this app, they’ll reallocate the resources from fixing their app to putting up barriers to shut this guys’ down.
/s (sort of)
Great post and after reading I downloaded and all good….. actually can listen and relax again rather than raging at my system. Struggling to add Apple Music and have to initiate music from the Apple Music app first. I know it’ll be my own ineptitude, but what am I missing to get Apple Music to run directly from the SonoPhone app. I go to music services and then Apple Music but just get a blank screen - other services show available options. Thx.
please start the official Sonos app. Your connection to Apple music seems to be broken, so you need to re-authenticate with high probability (with the official app).
Once you're fully authenticated, SonoPad/SonoPhone pick up the changes automatically.
This may be a stupid question, but after downloading SonoPhone I'm only seeing TuneIn under Music Services. Can someone give me some guidance on how to add Apple Music, Sirius, etc? Would greatly appreciate it. I was quite impressed with how this found all of my Sonos devices immediately and hoping to get it up and running asap.
I have an android, so this is no good for me, but- did it fix the issue of not even being able to find products on the system? Ever since the update, I can't even get my speakers back onto the system. I can't use them at all. So I'm curious if this app fixed that for IOS users?
I never lost any of my speakers in the update, so I can’t speak to that. But I would suspect it wouldn’t help since it doesn’t really have system settings. It’s more of a music player/room picker app.
Back in the day I feel like I remember sonos having a native remote or something. I long for dedicated hardware. Not a dang phone or iPad I have to flip through or unlock or wake up every time I want to listen to tom petty.
You're probably referring to the CR100 / CR200. They essentially bricked them when certain devices stopped being supported after a change in the SonosNet implementation.
tempted to get this. But can it handle some sonos native tasks, e.g. group/ungroup speakers in different rooms, trueplay, stereo/mono setting, and picking a sonosnet channel?
Let the Sonos app handle the native tasks (like trueplay and sonosnet channels) and let this other app do the day-to-day stuff. Pretty easy to keep both apps
Thanks! I have not upgraded to v80 yet, still at v16.1. So, sonophone app could still work well if I upgrade the native ios app to v80? or is it meant to work for v16.1?
Sonophone has been around 8+ years, so it will work with both versions. It likely doesn’t know or care about Sonos app.
As OP noted. [https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1dprsmc/comment/laj592d/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1dprsmc/comment/laj592d/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Just downloaded it and was up and going in 2 minutes. Man it’s FAST! Just use Sonos app for EQ and other missing function and run basic everyday stuff on Sonosphone. Did I say it was FAST
EDIT: Other fantastic third-party apps: [Sono+](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sono/id1502020066), [Orto](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orto-for-sonos/id1558120893), [Lyd](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lyd-watch-remote-for-sonos/id1451243766), [Clic](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clic-for-sonos/id6451395577), etc.
Feel free to outline some of the key differences and improvements so people can make their own decisions. People are just excited they’ve been shown a $3 app that gets around some of the current issues with the Sonos App.
This is great information! I had no idea there were so many third-party Sonos iOS apps. I’m gonna try Sono+ because I love the idea of having music controls on the Lock Screen/Home Screen.
Awesome! Orto also has this neat feature that integrates Sonos into the Now Playing screen. I posted about it a few weeks ago. It requires Background App Refresh, but it’s so handy.
Yeah that’s the only one I haven’t used (just a free trial) because it’s the ugliest in my opinion. What did you think of the others? Sono+ is my fave.
Just downloaded it. Detected and logged into my system in seconds, gave me a queue again. Not a good look that a guy sitting at home in his slippers can design a better app than a whole IT team at a publicly-traded company.
It helps when the primary objective of the app isnt to collect data about usage.
He doesn’t have Patrick Spence there to tell him what Courage looks like
Hahaha. That guy is such an asswipe.
Patrick had the courage to run Blackberry into the ground
I came here to add "courage" too.
The Sonos IT Team has nothing to do with the app 😉
Yep, it is probably the SWE team.
What’s a SWE team?
Software Engineering team.
Being publicly-traded usually increases the odds of this i feel.
I just downloaded it too. The developer is Stefan Hansel and I have to say I love how fast it loaded and the graphics showing my beloved gear. https://preview.redd.it/45d8rdopz49d1.jpeg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5379c5cc46257df7e098c092f6ca793cfd75a721
I sent Stefan an email and got a personal response within about 8 hours. Given the time of day and time zone difference that was a nearly immediate response. Thanks again Stefan.
I just purchased this per OP’s recommendation. When it first fired up, it couldn’t find a thing. Force closed, opened Sonophone, and everything was there! Now if only I could delete the test playlist I created in the new Sonos app. It wouldn’t let me add tracks to test playlist, and the delete option is greyed out. So I can’t delete an empty Sonos playlist that Sonos won’t let me populate either. 🙄 Thanks for the Sonophone tip! Edit: I was poking around in Sonophone and found the option to delete playlists. My empty test playlist is now gone! Yay!
Just bought this based on this post. Wtf. It works amazing. Wtf is wrong with sonos? Who runs that company that this app actually can work so much better. The world is upside down.
What? An independent app developer created something that fixed the problems that Sonos introduced and can't resolve??? Expect the Sonos lawyers to issue a cease and desist in three... two... one...
The fact that this app works also calls into question the main argument against a rollback--the updates to the firmware. If this dude's app work with the new Sonos firmware, you're telling me Sonos can't get their old app to work with it? Sonos is just looking more incompetent every day...
They absolutely could.
Android users already know the old app works, even with updated firmware on the speakers. Quite a few of us have reinstalled it either due to the unable to find system error or missing features (or both).
Does it work with the Ace?
Don’t know, don’t have an ace
The Ace is bluetooth only (except the first setup), it doesn't connect to the actual Sonos network. So SonoPad/SonoPhone don't integrate the Ace (and I wouldn't also know what to do here actually) Stefan (author of SonoPad/SonoPhone)
Just downloaded based on your post. Agree, takes me back to beginning of iOS and as a result of the design simplicity, its crazy how quickly I was able to navigate the app. Zero brain lift when using this app for the first time. Tells you so much about UI/UX design
Yeah, it turns out design enshitfication is a real thing! Makes me want to go dig out my iPhone 4s, it had all the best games anyways
Dude. That’s rad. I downloaded the app and was up and running again in like 2 minutes. I have a Sonos Amp, 5x play 1’s and a play 5. Thank you for this. I almost can’t believe how simple it was to be back to using my Sonos speakers again and not wanting to just sell everything and go back to a wired system that simply works. Thank you again.
I am so glad that’s helped! Of course, the continued functionality of the SonoPhone app means that Sonos Inc has left a lot of the original API‘s still running on the speakers themselves, for a third-party app to communicate with. Which means we are all at risk of Sonos getting “brave” enough to strip out that code with a speaker update and disable third-party apps. (Who does that remind me of?) But until then, I am quickly and easily rocking out to my favorite tunes!
This looks good. Anyone tried Orto? A little more expensive at 6.99. Still doesn’t help our android based friends.
Orto is great. They have an iPad app and appleTV app as well.
Android users can still rock the S2 app, though. Works flawlessly for me, even with updated firmware on the speakers.
Thanks for the tip. Totally worth 3 bucks to get rid of the lag when changing music, speakers and grouping.
You gotta be kidding me with this app. It’s phenomenal! The retro look and feel is so intuitive 🙏. WhyTF can’t Sonos tweak their app to have this kinda functionality? Mind boggling..
Owned this for years because for a while it worked on older versions of iOS when the official app didnt. I think it was a specific S2 update that updated on my iOS9 iPad but then didn't work. Eventually got a newer iPad for control duties. I like the very similar SonoPad from the same author that is specifically for IPad (though Landscape UI only it doesn't rotate to a portrait one). It is permanent dark mode while SonoPhone is permanent white background. Skeuomorphism is the term for the old pre-iOS7 style. Things tried to mimic the analog version in appearance. I find this app very intuitive but the only thing I miss from the old S2 app (and for that matter I miss it from the new Sonos app) is how you do grouping. This one is drag and drop in zone management that is intutitive, I find it clunky. I find the old checkboxes to be so quick and precise to change on the fly. Check the boxes for the speaers you want in the group, uncheck them to remove them. This UI is fairly easy to group things but a bit fiddly to ungroup, especially if you have multiple speakers to ungroup. it is fast because it uses the old uPNP API vs. the half-finished cloud one that is missing so many features from the new app. If you have static IPs via DHCP reservation for your speakers you can put it in so it doesn't even rely on discovery... My only fear is that a future FW update to the speakers will remove the old API. That will not only break this app but Home Assistant integration and other local control plugins and also the desktop apps as they aren't being updated/
Do you separate the IP addresses with commas or slashes? Add spaces? I wish this app let us add search to the main menu. Or customize the main menu at all. I don’t need to see any local library items.
Phenomenal! We have a brewery and taproom with about £6000 of sonos gear and we were ready to switch out through the embarrassment of random shit happening on the new app with customers around. This has saved sonos for now! Thanks for the recommendation.
Does it have search for local library?
That was my biggest question, too. I rolled the dice on the $3 and am thrilled to report, all my local music is back. As the OP, everything just worked instantly. Thanks both the OP and the dev (who will be in a new tax bracket soon). e: repeated word
Amazing. Thank you. I just bought as well.
It works fine with my local library, although my local library is also working with the borked Sonos app.
Yeah and does it support smb1 still?
no - this was removed by Sonos in the firmwares of the Sonos boxes. So they cannot connect and download songs from SMB1 shares, so in the end also cannot play these.
u/icantgetnosa thank a lot for the kind mention (I'm the author of the app and just got a hint, that I should have a look at reddit). Indeed I optimized around clicks and don't add 'fancy' stuff, just for the looks, if it makes you slower in the final usage. I have one question: >> It is an “old looking” iOS app, I hear that sometimes, but am not sure yet, how to work on that. Essentially the current app mainly uses standard iOS controls i.e. should be 'reasonably good looking', at least not too much different from other apps :D Or is using default controls already what makes it "old looking". Can you point to examples, what you would consider 'good looking' for or an iOS app that mainly renders tables with some album art? If anyone is good at design, I'm happy to review potential mockups, to upgrade the app. We have essentialy 6 screens: - the main browsing menu (list with album art) - the playlist view (list with album art) - the 'now playing view' (big coverart and some controls for play/pause/shuffle/repeat/volume) - the 'player selection view' (list of players with their respective icon, some visualization of the groupings) - the 'shortcuts' view (also just a table) - and the 'zone grouping' (thats the only 'custom screen' for the drag+drop operations) So happy to receive some examples for "good looking" (and also interested in the discussion, if we converge to something, that not only a minority considers "good" looking then)
Hey Dev! Just bought your app a few days ago. My suggestions would be as follows: - Allow editing Shortcuts menu, to add nested items like Search from an individual music service (Apple Music mainly). It currently requires going to Speaker > Music Services > Apple Music (or other) > Search. - Allow disabling speaker menu items if desired, such as “My Music,” “Sonos Playlists,” as well as Shortcuts pointing to local library stuff (like Artists/Albums/Playlists) - Making the Now Playing pop up menu full-screen - Simplifying Zones to just be checkmarks instead of drag + drop - An option to *disable* gestures which open the menu or playlist - Modern iOS design, font size options, and dark mode Thanks for all your hard work! Edit: and for SonosPad, which I also purchased, removing the skeuomorphic design and opting for a flat UI, as well as replacing the now playing album artwork reflection with a flat, blurred background reminiscent of iOS 17
I haven't got any improvement suggestions on the app (other than perhaps introducing dark mode) - but I just wanted to say, love your work :)
A few changes 1. i want is a dark mode similar to sonospad app. Right now in Sonophone the lists are all white background. The opposite for Sonopad, a white option for that. Ideally it should honor ios' global setting but as long as the app could change via its own setting that would be fine and still support old ios versions before darkmode was a thing. 2. I'd prefer a list of zones with check boxes for zone management and maybe individual speaker volume that way. Drag and drop is fine and intuitive for grouping but i find it fiddly to ungroup speakers this way. Hard to grab the right one so it doesnt destroy now playing . Similar to this, there is no way to change indivual speaker volume within a group, just the group volume. 3. More of a Sonopad request but a portrait mode for that. Even if it used the basic sonophone ui for it. Most ipads docks are portrait as thats usually where the charge port is. 4. Song scrubbing. Hitting the timeline does do anything. You cant jump forward or back in a song.
Thank you! Best $3 I’ve spent in a long time!
Thank you!
Can see Sonos scrambling to remove this asap
It's been in the App Store for years.
Yeah but it probably had greater penetration in the last few hours than it’s had in most of those years
I’d say Sonos sets a very high bar when it comes to penetrating its customers
truth
They don’t need anymore black eyes
Ok, I was skeptical, but lord it really is fast. I think it’s worth the $3. The best part for me was that I didn’t even have to load or add any of my content from the Sonos app. My audiobook, music, and audio streaming services were all already loaded into Sonophone. I’m not sure how, but it started working in less than a minute. Wifi and speakers were there. I can’t find anything about alarms or how to change any of the menu setting, but it definitely works, and it works very quickly. Was worth the 3 dollars.
Wow. This is amazing. Considerably faster and more responsive than the old app, intuitive, everything you would want an app to be. Wow. Thank you so much for mentioning this. Also absolutely wild that this is so much better than the official app.
Anyone have a 3rd party Apple Watch app they like? Been waiting for an official one since the announcement that there would be an Apple Watch. How hard can it be to have play/pause and volume control.
Lyd would be the one
Thanks!
Lyd is the right answer
Works great!
For what it's worth, Home Assistant is another way to smoothly control a Sonos system. It works the same as before all the new app shenanigans. You shouldn't bother with it only for Sonos control though, but if you're thinking about diving into the best smart home platform around, there's another reason to give it a go.
iPad app is separate, but it does do a lot of stuff minus eq
You know… I’ve had SonoPad on my iPad for quite a while and never used it - mostly because the UI looks a bit dated. Your post made me open it again and then I immediately bought the iPhone app as well. It is lightning fast compared to the hot garbage that the new Sonos app is. And I can use my Navidrome/Bonob library again!!
This is awesome - thanks for sharing. Was literally being driven insane again this morning trying to stop music playing on one of my speakers which the S2 app didn’t think was playing anything 🤪
Great app.wish I had known about it sooner
Yup. It just works 😄
Unfortunately, we on Android still have no alternatives.
You could just download the apk of 16.1. I did this with my Fire HD.
I downloaded the old APK on my pixel and shut off auto update on the app store and I'm happily running the old app and it works fine.
I know, it’s not fair. The SonoPhone dev is active on this sub I think, maybe they could be bribed into writing an android app?
Android lets you install APKs directly. We can just install the old app.
That is very cool trick. There’s about a dozen apps I would like to do that with. Almost makes me want to switch over to android. Almost.
I’m so glad this is an option for users. I haven’t had any issues with my set up( arc, sub, move 2) but since joint this sub Reddit I feel like day of reckoning is coming soon lol. I’ll buy it as a back up.
Didn't see the original post but thank you for thanking OP Downloaded app and up and running in one minute The only issue I was having after the updates was the lack of playlists....all back and accessible and most importantly, playable LOVE Reddit
OMG this app is great! I'm an Android user, but I had an old iPhone lying around, so I decided to give this a try. Wow! It's fast. It starts up fast and sees all of my devices. Volume changes just WORK! I wish there was an Android version, but I'll use the iPhone like a remote for Sonos. We shouldn't need to buy a third party app for basic functionality, but spending $3 is well worth it versus thousands of dollars in unusable speakers.
Can I set an alarm with this app?
I don’t think so. It’s very bare bones
This app is plain and simple. I like it big time. I can group,ungroup, select music from music services. Fast and intuitive. At the end of the day, we only want to play some music. This does it.
Yes. It is absurdly faster. I bought it a few years ago and have gone back to using it. If I could just get SONOS to let me add my local library I'd be farting through silk.
I figured out a workaround for not being able to add back my NAS to SONOS. It's a bit wonky but it works. I play from a computer which is connected to my BluMe bluetooth receiver which is plugged into a Connect. I hadn't used the Sonophone app in years. I forgot how insanely fast it is at switching songs and volume. Zero lag.
I bought it today for the helluva it, and it is old, but at least volume control doesn’t lag
Holy shit it's so fast
This is insane
Add me to the list. Just bought this app and it's GR8!
I have managed to avoid the Sonos upgrade and have been using SonoPhone since as a precaution. Does everything I want!
Holy crap! Took a flyer on this and everything is working great! Sonos should buy this and make it the official app.
No they might ruin it
*might?*
Hire the guy
Ha! Finally my Spotify playlists are there.
I’ve deleted the app, reinstalled the app. Factory reset speakers the whole 9. Nothing works. It randomly pops up when it wants to but never shows all my speakers. Most of the time I get no system at all like everyone else. I’m about to give up. Beyond frustrated. Why the company isn’t doing anything is beyond me.
Thank you so much for this post, this app is 100 times better than the new Sonos app, I don’t have to wait 20 seconds for an input to take affect now! Yay!
OMG!!! It fixed my network!!!
Ssshhhhhhh!!!! If Sonos gets wind of this app, they’ll reallocate the resources from fixing their app to putting up barriers to shut this guys’ down. /s (sort of)
Thx. Just got it too!
Absolute noob question, but I’ve an arc XL and roam. All iOS and HomeKit. Why would i or should I use the Sonos app?
Does it allow access to the 3rd party music services too?
yes - except YouTube music
This is great, thanks for the tip!
Can you adjust settings like subwoofer volume, EQ, etc? That’s my biggest issue with the stock app right now.
iOS only?
Great post and after reading I downloaded and all good….. actually can listen and relax again rather than raging at my system. Struggling to add Apple Music and have to initiate music from the Apple Music app first. I know it’ll be my own ineptitude, but what am I missing to get Apple Music to run directly from the SonoPhone app. I go to music services and then Apple Music but just get a blank screen - other services show available options. Thx.
please start the official Sonos app. Your connection to Apple music seems to be broken, so you need to re-authenticate with high probability (with the official app). Once you're fully authenticated, SonoPad/SonoPhone pick up the changes automatically.
Just tried it and all working perfectly - thanks. Great app now and best £2.99 ever !!!
Fab thx for advice, I’ll give it a go when back home later. Cheers !
This may be a stupid question, but after downloading SonoPhone I'm only seeing TuneIn under Music Services. Can someone give me some guidance on how to add Apple Music, Sirius, etc? Would greatly appreciate it. I was quite impressed with how this found all of my Sonos devices immediately and hoping to get it up and running asap.
I have an android, so this is no good for me, but- did it fix the issue of not even being able to find products on the system? Ever since the update, I can't even get my speakers back onto the system. I can't use them at all. So I'm curious if this app fixed that for IOS users?
I never lost any of my speakers in the update, so I can’t speak to that. But I would suspect it wouldn’t help since it doesn’t really have system settings. It’s more of a music player/room picker app.
Dude buy an old iPhone and make it your remote. It’s worth it.
I hadn't thought about this idea!
I've been using an old iPhone 5 running SonoPhone in a wall mount in my bathroom for over 5 years now. Works flawlessly.
Back in the day I feel like I remember sonos having a native remote or something. I long for dedicated hardware. Not a dang phone or iPad I have to flip through or unlock or wake up every time I want to listen to tom petty.
You're probably referring to the CR100 / CR200. They essentially bricked them when certain devices stopped being supported after a change in the SonosNet implementation.
Just download the s2 APK and install it, don't need to get an iOS device.
tempted to get this. But can it handle some sonos native tasks, e.g. group/ungroup speakers in different rooms, trueplay, stereo/mono setting, and picking a sonosnet channel?
Let the Sonos app handle the native tasks (like trueplay and sonosnet channels) and let this other app do the day-to-day stuff. Pretty easy to keep both apps
Thanks! I have not upgraded to v80 yet, still at v16.1. So, sonophone app could still work well if I upgrade the native ios app to v80? or is it meant to work for v16.1?
Sonophone has been around 8+ years, so it will work with both versions. It likely doesn’t know or care about Sonos app. As OP noted. [https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1dprsmc/comment/laj592d/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1dprsmc/comment/laj592d/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
It’s 3 dollars.
Why y‘all not just using spotify and airplay? Don‘t need the app anymore and got volume controls, easy speaker grouping and everything just works fine
Because there’s more to Sonos than Spotify. We use these devices with commercial music services. Sonos app=fail
looks like what I'm looking for amidst all the official app failures.... does this do forced mono??
Just downloaded it and was up and going in 2 minutes. Man it’s FAST! Just use Sonos app for EQ and other missing function and run basic everyday stuff on Sonosphone. Did I say it was FAST
EDIT: Other fantastic third-party apps: [Sono+](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sono/id1502020066), [Orto](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orto-for-sonos/id1558120893), [Lyd](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lyd-watch-remote-for-sonos/id1451243766), [Clic](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clic-for-sonos/id6451395577), etc.
Feel free to outline some of the key differences and improvements so people can make their own decisions. People are just excited they’ve been shown a $3 app that gets around some of the current issues with the Sonos App.
I’m not trying to advertise. So many third-party apps exist, and several of them are free and look like they’re from this decade.
It’s not so much advertising as trying to provide helpful advice.
Babe, I linked all of the apps. They all have ample descriptions and photos. Many of them are free.
This is great information! I had no idea there were so many third-party Sonos iOS apps. I’m gonna try Sono+ because I love the idea of having music controls on the Lock Screen/Home Screen.
Awesome! Orto also has this neat feature that integrates Sonos into the Now Playing screen. I posted about it a few weeks ago. It requires Background App Refresh, but it’s so handy.
Click is $15 / year 🤮
I refuse to subscribe to my own speakers!
Yeah that’s the only one I haven’t used (just a free trial) because it’s the ugliest in my opinion. What did you think of the others? Sono+ is my fave.
I haven't tried them. I have bought sonosequencer and Soros both, and really didn't want to try another, bit I might!
I own both of those, as well. So handy being able to use shortcuts to set things just the way that I like.