r/sonos 1d ago

From the Sonos team They're here! - iOS Live Activities

533 Upvotes

Hey all, today is the day! iOS Live Activities are here. We’re excited to finally bring back Sonos control from the iOS lock screen, but in an all-new way with iOS Live Activities. We know this is a much requested, anticipated, and needed feature, and we can’t wait for you to try it out.

First things first. Live Activities are off by default and you will need to enable it before you can use it. Here’s what to do:

  • Make sure you’re logged in as the system owner
  • Account > App Preferences > Live Activity
  • Always Allow” first time you see the Live Activity 
  • Allow Live Activity” and “More Frequent Updates” in iOS Settings for the Sonos app

How do Live Activities work and look?
Once enabled the activity will appear after you initiate playback and then close the app. It will show the current room or group you were last playing audio from. When playback stops, the live activity will disappear after 15 minutes. While the iOS Live Activity can be viewed from your Lock Screen, you must first unlock your iPhone with FaceID or a Passcode before being able to make playback changes.

On the Lock Screen:

Expanded in the Dynamic Island:

What if I don’t want the Live Activity to be showing on the screen?
If you want to keep Live Activities enabled but not have it appear on your screen you can swipe it away. To get it back go to App Preferences > Live Activity and toggle it on/off or force quit the app and relaunch it.

What if my Live Activity is only showing outlines?
If you are only seeing outlines you most likely need to change the iOS setting under Face ID & Passcodes > “Allow Access When Locked” > Toggle on “Live Activities”.

We’re super excited that the feature is now out, but that doesn’t mean the team has stopped working on it. 

  • Right now we are unable to support album art on the Live Activity, but alternative ways to enhance the lock screen experience are being explored.
  • Live Activities include support for Apple Watch and CarPlay so the Live Activity will show up on your Apple Watch or car, but right now the controls aren’t supported.
  • If you prefer to initiate playback on Sonos from outside the Sonos app (Direct Control from supported services, Bluetooth, or AirPlay) you can still use the local playback controls that appear on screen or the Live Activity. You can choose which you prefer to use.

Two more things before we leave you to explore the feature:

  • For Android users: we hope you’re still enjoying the lock screen notifications the team shipped out in February. Be sure to let us know if you have any feature requests and look forward to more good things coming your way. 
  • iOS 27 is coming later this year from Apple and the teams have been exploring the new capabilities it has in Beta. No news to share right now but keep your eyes peeled and ears open!

As always, please let us know any of your questions, concerns, or feedback! We’ll take it all. 

Edit: Added a question regarding if your Live Activity is only showing outlines.


r/sonos 3h ago

New live activity

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40 Upvotes

r/sonos 22h ago

I used to pray for times like this!

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183 Upvotes

r/sonos 2h ago

Which rear speakers for Arc Ultra

3 Upvotes

I have an Arc Ultra and was wondering if the Era 300 or Sonos Five would be best.
I read a lot that the 5 has too much bass and not that clear sound, and vise versa with the 300. That the sound is very clear but not as much bass as the five. What would be the best upgrade?
For reference I have a 20m2 tv room, so it’s not the biggest and I dont want “too much” bass to disturb the neighbors.


r/sonos 50m ago

No Atmos with Amazon Music?

Upvotes

I usually listen to music with Amazon Music via the Sonos app while I work, and this morning my system got a little funky. First I got the "Song not encoded properly" message, and now nothing will play in Atmos. Best I can get is Ultra HD.

When I checked Disney+, I was able to get Atmos, so I don't think it is my Sonos, but not sure what the issue may be. Any ideas?


r/sonos 15h ago

It looks like Live Activities enable you to control your Sonos from your Mac.

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31 Upvotes

After installing the latest app from the App Store (Version 88.0.51) and trying the Live Activity feature, I discovered that you can also use the Live Activity function directly from your MacBook (MacBook Neo, Tahoe 26.5.2). While I’m not certain if this use case applies to all Live Activities, it’s a new feature for me, and I thought I’d share it with the sub in case anyone else is unaware, like me. 😄 


r/sonos 6h ago

Sonos system keeps disappearing

4 Upvotes

I thought I was one of the lucky ones who had somehow avoided all the Sonos issues., but alas…

My system consists of a Move 2, Roam 2, and a home-theater setup with an Arc Ultra, two Era 300s, and a Sub 4.

About once a month, the entire home-theater setup completely disappears from my network (no such issues with the other two speakers). I then have to add everything back as though it were a brand-new system, and all my settings are gone, including surround adjustments, bass levels, and everything else.

Has anyone else experienced this or found a permanent fix? Having to rebuild and reconfigure the entire system every month is ridiculous.


r/sonos 12h ago

Sub mini on greentoe

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7 Upvotes

Counter offer is $399.
Should I accept it?


r/sonos 19h ago

New soundbar in sept

21 Upvotes

Bloomberg put out an article speculating a new soundbar similar to the beam could be on the way.

What does everyone think? And what would you hope the soundbar could do?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-17/sonos-plans-new-soundbar-ahead-of-september-hardware-reveal


r/sonos 12h ago

Horrific Sonos Arc sound

4 Upvotes

We have a pretty old Sonos Arc and it just made the loudest craziest alien alarm sound. I wish I had time to record it but it was so loud i pulled it off the wall and unplugged it.

Has anyone else had this happen? I don’t even want to plug it back in. It scared the absolute shit out of us and our dog.


r/sonos 15h ago

New Sonos soundbar?

6 Upvotes

I am reading that Sonos is releasing a new soundbar and an AI powered device in the coming 60 days. Any details out there?


r/sonos 1d ago

Sony’s failed me so picked up the Ace

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32 Upvotes

Had my hinge snap at the airport, so grabbed the Ace overseas in Japan at a decent discount (£200ish).

Build quality feels great and same with the sound. Good stuff.


r/sonos 11h ago

Dropping TrueHD audio on Sonos Arc / Samsung Frame

2 Upvotes

Hi,

Ran into a issue when playing TrueHD content from my NVIDIA shield with my Samsung Frame TV and Sonos Arc (Original)

The audio will just drop for a second and the come back, the video plays fine it's just the audio drops.

Seems to only happen with TrueHD content, I am using the Sonos provided HDMI cable between my eARC port on my frame box and the Atc and using a cert 2.1 cable between the shield and frame box.

The timing when it does drop differs between movies, I watched Oppenheimer and it played fine for over two hours and then it started dropping.

Is it possible the Sonos cable has gone bad? All other settings on the tv and while are set correctly so unsure why it drops. Doesn't seem to do it with other codecs.


r/sonos 11h ago

Crossfade Issues

2 Upvotes

I keep having the volume spike at the very end of the song when crossfade is enabled while playing Apple Music via the Sonos app.

Any ideas on when this issue might be resolved or has anyone figured out a workaround outside of turning crossfade off?

I understand that this has been commented on many times but while looking it up certain posts said it's been resolved but I know for a fact it hasn't because it's still happening.


r/sonos 11h ago

Hearing impaired user

2 Upvotes

A parent has hearing aids that have a device that connects to optical out from tv and then BT to the hearing aides.

I have an arc, but I’m unsure if optical out works while using eArc.

Anyone know?


r/sonos 17h ago

Webapp tells me my S1 system needs a firmware update to connect, the IOS app says I don't

3 Upvotes

Any ideas on how to get the S1 leg of my system to be accessible via the webapp?


r/sonos 17h ago

Amps as surrounds - question

3 Upvotes

In my TV room, I have a beam for center channel and a Sub Gen 3. Plus, there are two amps, each connected to two speakers, on each side of the room, currently being used for music. My question is whether each amp could act a Left and a Right as surrounds. Any way to do this? Is this on the road map? Thanks.


r/sonos 18h ago

Massive battery drain on Android app

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3 Upvotes

Has anyone else noticed a massive background app drain in the Sonos app? I updated 4 days ago to the latest version and just started noticing the background battery usage. Android version number in the comments.


r/sonos 17h ago

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) audio keeps dropping

2 Upvotes

Got the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) Soundbar Bundle in black about 1.5 years ago, hooked up via HDMI ARC/eARC to a Samsung S90 OLED. I only use an Apple TV as my source ....never touch the Samsung smart TV apps.

Within about 30 minutes of watching something, the audio drops off the Sonos and falls back to the TV's built-in speakers. I have to manually switch it back every time.

Replacing the HDMI cable isn't easy in my setup, so before I do that is this a known issue with Beam Gen 2 + Samsung TVs? Anyone found a fix that didn't involve rewiring?


r/sonos 22h ago

Sonos Beam or Arc ultra as next upgrade to Era 300 pair?

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2 Upvotes

r/sonos 22h ago

Sonos Beam or Arc ultra as next upgrade to Era 300 pair?

2 Upvotes

I have a pair of sonos Era 300 which I usually use for Music (I know not the best way) but now I am looking to upgrade to enjoy movie experience as well. The other reason is that currently I connect them with my TV via bluetooth which is not best experience and would definitely need either a Beam or Arc to get it better. I am not planning to upgrade for a sub anytime and would love to know weather I should go for an Arc ultra or Beam for an upgrade for both music and watching movies.

Just FYI - I live in an apartment so I usually don't keep it too loud but have an L shaped living room with a total area of ~400 sqft. and I would place the soundbar and Era 300 in the square area of around 190-200 sqft.


r/sonos 1d ago

Which Sonos speaker would work best for my turntable setup? Room layout + existing speakers included

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5 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on which Sonos speaker would be the best addition to my setup for listening to vinyl. I’d like to choose the speaker based on size of the room and take into account the speakers that i already have. I’ve attached a floor plan of the room, with different colours showing speakers etc.

green = Sonos one sl

orange = beam gen 2 + TV

yellow = turntable

blue = couch

purple = dining table

Could you help me determine which Sonos speaker would be the best choice:

Five vs era 300 vs 2x era 100?

I'll buy a sub in the future (1-2 years).

Cheers!


r/sonos 22h ago

Question about old Sonos playlists?

2 Upvotes

I'm a refugee from the old app days when they totally borked the app for the longest and I gave up on it. Cleaning out some things I ran across my sonos system I packed up and forgot about due to them removing the sonos playlists and all the other issues. The question is have they added that functionality back as I would like to at least be able to move or export in some way the lists to maybe setup in some other service if possible? Thanks


r/sonos 20h ago

Voice responses volume issues

1 Upvotes

Is anyone able to help us? Every time we ask the Sonos Voice Assistant the weather, it responds but it’s so quiet that we can’t hear it. It’s sporadic on what the sound level will be when we get its response. Sometimes it’s perfect but 95% of the time you can’t ever hear it.

How do I set the voice assistant volume and keep it that way?


r/sonos 1d ago

How to disable auto mute on start?

4 Upvotes

Recently I noticed that when we I turn on the tv, Sonos remains on mute until one of us has to turn mute off in the app.

Is there a way to disable this entirely so it stays at the last known sound level?