Apple Music now works with Sonos in new beta

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited December 2015
Sonos' wireless speakers gained beta support for Apple Music on Tuesday, thanks to an updated Sonos Controller app, and new on-device software for beta participants.




Listeners can stream from the service's New, Radio, For You, and My Music tabs to a Sonos speaker, but they must first download the latest version of Controller for iOS, Windows, or Mac. Within the Advanced Settings options, people should find a button to sign up for the beta program, which will also guide them through updating compatible Sonos units.

The company cautions that an "Update Now" prompt may take as long as 15 minutes to appear, though they can select "Online Updates" in the Settings menu to speed up the process. Once the speaker update is finished, Apple Music should appear in the "Add Music Services" menu.

Apple and Sonos originally teased today's launch in late November.

Some functions may be missing in the beta, though Sonos didn't specify what these might be. Full support is slated for sometime in early 2016.

Apple Music itself is still a fledgling service, having only launched in June. It controls a much smaller share of the U.S. streaming market than rivals Pandora and Spotify, and may need integration into as many platforms as possible -- primarily Apple's own -- to gain traction.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    dv8ordv8or Posts: 26member
    Why oh why dont they just allow a direct connection to the speakers without having to go through the sonos app?
    edited December 2015 razorpit
  • Reply 2 of 7
    nineballnineball Posts: 3member
    I am extremely pleased with the beta so far. Everything works as advertised and works well. It's great for Sonos and even better for Apple Music. 
  • Reply 3 of 7
    booboobooboo Posts: 49member
    I'm very pleased this is available. I haven't wanted to sign up for Apple Music before it was available on Sonos. The Sonos welcome email did list current limitations in functionality: We’re Still Working on a Few Things There’s no need to submit feedback on the following issues. We’re already on it. Ability to enable Apple Music service on an Android running less than 5.0. Search is limited to the first 100 results. Improving search to include items from My Music. (In the current beta, you can search the entire Apple Music catalog of over 30 million songs.) Ability to listen to Beats 1 Radio shows on demand. Adding songs, playlists or albums to your library is not yet supported. Ability to edit playlists. Sorting within My Music is alphabetical and may look different than your Library on the Apple Music app. Newly added content within My Music may take up to 24 hrs to show up within the Sonos app. Access to Smart Playlists, music videos and artist posts from Connect are only available within the Apple Music app and are not supported on Sonos.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    Beta is working well for me, too. I'm looking forward the like button coming back.

    The Sonos Beta picked up a change to one of my playlists instantly, even though the track is part of my local physical iTunes library.

    Looks like its quite possible my dream of no longer needing to use the 'Update My Library' function to read the iTunes library into Sonos software is coming true. I will not miss the 20 minute Update process.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    dv8or said:
    Why oh why dont they just allow a direct connection to the speakers without having to go through the sonos app?
    Out of interest, why would you want to do that?

    I would presume if the functionality was there to run the Sonos speakers using the Music app it would use Airplay, which I've found much less reliable than whatever technology Sonos is using?

    Plus, as of now, I find the Music app a horrible design.  Not really worthy of Apple.
    edited December 2015
  • Reply 6 of 7
    nineballnineball Posts: 3member
    dv8or said:
    Why oh why dont they just allow a direct connection to the speakers without having to go through the sonos app?
    Out of interest, why would you want to do that?

    I would presume if the functionality was there to run the Sonos speakers using the Music app it would use Airplay, which I've found much less reliable than whatever technology Sonos is using?

    Plus, as of now, I find the Music app a horrible design.  Not really worthy of Apple.
    I agree, it really doesn't make sense from a technical stand point if you have more than one speaker configured. The Sonos controller is required to manage multiple rooms and speaker configurations.  I agree on the sonos network design, it is much more robust.  

    I'm not sure I would go as far as "horrible" but it does leave a lot to be desired from an intuitive aesthetic standpoint.  What I DO like about apple music is the functionality they bring to the table.  I found the algorithm to build a library of choice from a disciplined look at your existing musical library and stated preferences to be excellent but it is one of those standing principles   ......... garbage in ...garbage out. It is worth it to take the time to state your preferences at the outset to get the full benefit. The Sonos is just icing on the cake at that point.  

    edited December 2015
  • Reply 7 of 7
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    nineball said:
    dv8or said:
    Why oh why dont they just allow a direct connection to the speakers without having to go through the sonos app?
    Out of interest, why would you want to do that?

    I would presume if the functionality was there to run the Sonos speakers using the Music app it would use Airplay, which I've found much less reliable than whatever technology Sonos is using?

    Plus, as of now, I find the Music app a horrible design.  Not really worthy of Apple.
    I agree, it really doesn't make sense from a technical stand point if you have more than one speaker configured. The Sonos controller is required to manage multiple rooms and speaker configurations.  I agree on the sonos network design, it is much more robust.  

    I'm not sure I would go as far as "horrible" but it does leave a lot to be desired from an intuitive aesthetic standpoint.  What I DO like about apple music is the functionality they bring to the table.  I found the algorithm to build a library of choice from a disciplined look at your existing musical library and stated preferences to be excellent but it is one of those standing principles   ......... garbage in ...garbage out. It is worth it to take the time to state your preferences at the outset to get the full benefit. The Sonos is just icing on the cake at that point.  

    Totally agree with you about some of the functionality in the Music app.  I would very much like Genius playlists to be available on Sonos, but I just find navigation in the Music app not very intuitive.  I've got used to anything Apple design being so obvious to use, but the Music app is far from that.  I think they need a complete rethink about how it should work - I kind of get the impression that they've stuck on feature after feature without every really considering how they all should work as a whole.
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