Weird. Since upgrading to ios11 and watch os4 it seems that the iPhone and watch can control my sonos system without the sonos app.
I have a playbar/sub/speakers setup in the living room, and some classical playlists that I usually set off in the morning on shuffle, with the sonos app. Once they’ve started, if I raise my watch the controls are there, showing as “iPhone” top left. I can pause and skip tracks from there, but not change the volume.
On the iPhone, the control centre shows the same, and allows the same (and again the volume control doesn’t work). Clicking on the name of the song from the control centre brings up the sonos app.
If I choose a different room (from the sonos app), the control centre and watch both change immediately to the playlist running in that room. So although I can’t change rooms from the watch, I can always control the latest room playlist.
I was a little worried that the advent of HomePod and airplay2 would signal a separation between Apple and sonos. Rather, it seems that the integration is better than ever, although still imperfect.
Now it’s so much better I would love it to control the volume too, which seems such a small step from where it is.
[doublepost=1505942693][/doublepost]The more I play with this, the more weird it gets. The enlarged control centre display shows both the iphone and the Apple TV as destinations (among others). ‘Iphone’ is actually the sonos. If I choose the Apple TV instead, the expected happens (the tv display comes on, the music can be controlled through there). When I do that, the watch display loses the track listing, greys out all the buttons except play, and tapping the play icon brings up “To play music, pair your Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones”, and a cancel and connect button.
Switching back to “iPhone” on the control centre brings back up the sonos controls on the watch.
Now, the volume on the iPhone does nothing (except change its own level but it isn’t playing anything), and the watch volume control works for the sonos!
But not always. And only if the iTunes app on the iPhone isn’t running at all. As soon as I bring up music on the iPhone the watch controls that instead.
Sonos don’t appear at all interested in the Apple Watch officially, and so this looks like bits of the Apple software controlling music that happens to be running on the iPhone (in the absence of an Apple app doing it). It would be great if this were to be made a bit less buggy. It can do it all, but it looks like no-one has actually thought it through.
I have a playbar/sub/speakers setup in the living room, and some classical playlists that I usually set off in the morning on shuffle, with the sonos app. Once they’ve started, if I raise my watch the controls are there, showing as “iPhone” top left. I can pause and skip tracks from there, but not change the volume.
On the iPhone, the control centre shows the same, and allows the same (and again the volume control doesn’t work). Clicking on the name of the song from the control centre brings up the sonos app.
If I choose a different room (from the sonos app), the control centre and watch both change immediately to the playlist running in that room. So although I can’t change rooms from the watch, I can always control the latest room playlist.
I was a little worried that the advent of HomePod and airplay2 would signal a separation between Apple and sonos. Rather, it seems that the integration is better than ever, although still imperfect.
Now it’s so much better I would love it to control the volume too, which seems such a small step from where it is.
[doublepost=1505942693][/doublepost]The more I play with this, the more weird it gets. The enlarged control centre display shows both the iphone and the Apple TV as destinations (among others). ‘Iphone’ is actually the sonos. If I choose the Apple TV instead, the expected happens (the tv display comes on, the music can be controlled through there). When I do that, the watch display loses the track listing, greys out all the buttons except play, and tapping the play icon brings up “To play music, pair your Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones”, and a cancel and connect button.
Switching back to “iPhone” on the control centre brings back up the sonos controls on the watch.
Now, the volume on the iPhone does nothing (except change its own level but it isn’t playing anything), and the watch volume control works for the sonos!
But not always. And only if the iTunes app on the iPhone isn’t running at all. As soon as I bring up music on the iPhone the watch controls that instead.
Sonos don’t appear at all interested in the Apple Watch officially, and so this looks like bits of the Apple software controlling music that happens to be running on the iPhone (in the absence of an Apple app doing it). It would be great if this were to be made a bit less buggy. It can do it all, but it looks like no-one has actually thought it through.
