Sonos app drops ability to play local Android music files

Sonos users have long been able to easily stream music tracks on their Android phones to Sonos speakers, but that feature is going away before the month is out.

According to a Sonos support page spotted by The Verge, Sonos will drop its “on this device” feature for Android on May 23, a little more than a week away.

That feature made it easy to play music tracks stored on an Android device directly on Sonos wireless speakers, such as the Sonos One, the Sonos Arc soundbar, and the new Sonos Era speakers.

Why the change? As 9to5Google reports, a Sonos support forum post blames “newer versions of mobile operating systems” that “can sometimes change the way information is shared between devices.”

And while some Android users may be tempted to blame the Google-Sonos legal spat for the disappearing feature, it’s worth noting that Sonos deprecated “on this device” functionality for iOS users three years ago.

So, that’s the bad news. The good news is there are still plenty of ways to play your own music files on Sonos speakers, even if Chromecast isn’t one of them.

The easiest way to stream your local Android music files to your Sonos speakers is via Bluetooth, although doing so requires a Sonos speaker that actually supports Bluetooth. The portable Sonos Move and Roam speakers are both Bluetooth-enabled, as are the new Era 100 and 300 speakers.

Another method is to upload your music tracks to a streaming music service. YouTube Music, for example, lets you upload music tracks to free accounts, while Apple’s iTunes Match service costs $25 a year. Deezer offers MP3 uploads for its paid plans, starting at $10.99 a month.

You can also set up a Plex media server, which is free to download for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and FreeBSD.

Finally, you can put your music collection on a NAS and stream your tracks to Sonos over your home network.