Sonos and Apple Music—or other streaming service?
After recently increasing my investment in Sonos equipment, I'm struggling to justify staying with Apple Music. Ignoring all the complaints about "skipping" or "drops while playing lossless" — without some way to connect directly to Sonos from the Apple Music app, I can't manage and manipulate Apple Music playlists from the Sonos app. I can't control the Sonos outputs from the Apple Music app. I want to be able to select music from the music streaming app, and choose where I want to hear it. With this requirement, is there any reason to stay with Apple Music?
I've been following (and searching) this community and Apple Music (and Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Amazon Music, Yahoo Music), and it appears that Spotify and Tidal offer a "Direct Connect" option. I've used this in Spotify, and it provides the functionality. The Reddit communities (and Apple and Sonos) all indicate it's up to Apple to implement using Sonos-provided APIs.
- What are others doing with Apple Music on Sonos? How are you managing, maintaining, and enhancing playlists while listening?
- Besides switching to Spotify or Tidal, are there any other options for streaming lossless and Dolby Atmos quality music to Sonos speaker systems?
My Configuration: Sonos Arc Ultra, 2 Era 100s as surrounds, and 2 Play:1's in another room. I use the Sonos app and Apple Music on my Android phone, Android tablet, and Windows 11 laptop (still use iTunes). I have a Hisense TV running Google TV. I am a former Apple Music user who left for Spotify about 5-6 years ago. However, as a Spotify user, I just got fed up with Spotify and reverted back to Apple Music 2 months ago. I play music on the Sonos system at home, but extensive use of ear buds and portable Bluetooth speakers. I like the Apple Music app for the most part, and remain frustrated with Spotify "bloat" and lack of control over the UI.