Sonos Adds AirPlay 2 Support to Latest Speakers, Enabling Siri Control and Multi-Room Audio

Wednesday July 11, 2018 8:54 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Sonos today announced that its One, Beam, Playbase, and second-generation Play:5 speakers now support AirPlay 2, as promised.


This marks the first time Sonos speakers have supported AirPlay in general, enabling users to easily stream audio from iTunes on Mac, and virtually any app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, including Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, Hulu, Pandora, and Netflix, to compatible Sonos speakers over Wi-Fi.

AirPlay allows for Siri control of Apple Music or Podcasts playback on compatible Sonos speakers via iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, HomePod, and Apple TV. For example, one could say "Hey Siri, play Beats 1 Radio in the bedroom," after the speaker is named and assigned to a room in Apple's Home app on iOS.

AirPlay 2 in particular enables multi-room audio playback for Sonos speakers paired with other Sonos speakers, HomePod, or Apple TVs. Sonos speakers appear in the AirPlay Picker within apps and Control Center on iOS devices.

Sonos said its older speakers do not support AirPlay 2 on their own due to processor limitations, but in the Sonos app, they can be paired with any of the aforementioned speakers to enable support for Apple's new protocol. An older Playbar paired with a Playbase, for example, works with AirPlay 2.

Sonos initially held out on adding AirPlay compatibility to its speakers in part due to minor latency issues addressed by AirPlay 2.

Apple first enabled AirPlay 2 in iOS 11.4, released in late May. Sonos is the first third-party speaker maker to support the protocol, to be followed by Beoplay, Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Libratone, Marantz, Naim, and others.

AirPlay 2 support is available through a free software update via the Sonos Controller companion app on the App Store.

Tags: Sonos, AirPlay 2
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oskarbar
20 months ago
How can a HomePod compete (only Airplay and closed to Apple Music), with this Sonos thas has compatibility for everything?

With this Sonos option in the market, makes no sense to buy the Apple...
Rating: 25 Votes
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OldSchoolMacGuy
20 months ago

How can a HomePod compete (only Airplay and closed to Apple Music), with this Sonos thas has compatibility for everything?

With this Sonos option in the market, makes no sense to buy the Apple...


Many want Siri rather than Alexa.

Many want better sound quality, which the HomePod offers.

Many will like the looks of the HomePod over Sonos.

Many will want the improved integration that the HomePod offers over Sonos.

There are many other reasons some may choose one over the other. Just because you prefer Sonos doesn't mean the same will be true for everyone else.
Rating: 21 Votes
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DaveOP
20 months ago

How can a HomePod compete (only Airplay and closed to Apple Music), with this Sonos thas has compatibility for everything?

With this Sonos option in the market, makes no sense to buy the Apple...

I have no interest in Alexa in my house, anywhere. I do have a Sonos system with a PlayBar and 2xPlay:1, but they won't support Airplay 2. I do think my Homepod sounds much better than my Play:1, and I use the Siri integration all the time. Having both, I don't have any plans to purchase newer Sonos speakers just to support Airplay2, would rather spend the money on another Homepod for stereo. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Rating: 13 Votes
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obiwan
20 months ago
Good move by Sonos. Hopefully these will outsell HomePod by a large margin, so Apple's increasingly closed ecosystem will come back to bite them in the bum.
Rating: 11 Votes
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Santabean2000
20 months ago
Love my Sonos.
Rating: 9 Votes
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TimmeyCook
20 months ago
Sonos is an excellent company.

Instead of b***** that Apple is bad, they just adopt their technologies, and go on with their lives.

They support both Apple, as well as others, like Spotify and Google.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Remy149
20 months ago

How can a HomePod compete (only Airplay and closed to Apple Music), with this Sonos thas has compatibility for everything?

With this Sonos option in the market, makes no sense to buy the Apple...

Simple a lot of people like myself only use Apple products and subscribe to Apple Music. You also can’t control Siri directly from a Sonos speaker
Rating: 8 Votes
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lw9090
20 months ago
Me Waiting on Bose 20 years from now for Airplay 2

Rating: 6 Votes
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avanpelt
20 months ago

Uh, see above.


To be fair, your original post didn't say that you were referring to the lack of voice control for Apple Music. You just said "No Apple Music" means that Sonos is of no interest to you. It sounds like the HomePod is perfect for you since it only works with Apple Music. For those of us who want to be able to use voice control with music services other than Apple Music, we can use Sonos products now. Life is good.
Rating: 5 Votes
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oskarbar
20 months ago



Many want Siri rather than Alexa.

You can have both with Sonos

Many want better sound quality, which the HomePod offers.

For the price of 1xHomepod you can buy 2xSonos One, resulting in better sound quality than the Apple option.

Many will like the looks of the HomePod over Sonos.

Ok, not arguing on that. But I would not choose one speaker over the other just for the appareance.

Many will want the improved integration that the HomePod offers over Sonos.

Improved, in which terms? Sonos is now integrated in Apple ecosystem with the Airplay2 capability.

There are many other reasons some may choose one over the other. Just because you prefer Sonos doesn't mean the same will be true for everyone else.

Of course that I dont think in absolute terms, each person and its necessities are different in each case, but if you analyze what you get for your money, the Sonos option IMO is more balanced option by far.

Rating: 5 Votes

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