It’s really annoying whenever Spotify is not working with Sonos speakers especially when their products are labeled as “smart speakers” with many functionality.
Here’s what I think is happening: Spotify updates their apps, on Windows and iOS. This breaks the Spotify to Sonos functionality. Then, Sonos updates its own apps to fix it.
It may work for a while, then Spotify updates their apps again, and it all breaks again. I’ve noticed that Spotify updates its apps frequently. Sonos updates are much less frequent.
This is why the “Internet of Things” will fail and fail hard. These are individual companies doing their own thing, not talking to each other, and releasing buggy code.
Anyway… Let’s deal with Spotify not working with Sonos speakers.
I’m assuming that your router has been restarted several times. Also, you’ve deleted and reinstalled both Sonos and Spotify apps. Here are other things you should do:
Disable your VPN
Are you running any VPN, virus or Trojan protection, or MS Defender, by any chance? If you are, then it could be the reason why your Spotify isn’t working with Sonos.
Sonos doesn’t support the use of VPNs – that’s not to say a Sonos system will not work with them, just that they can’t assist as they are aware there may be issues that are unresolvable.
A VPN is designed to block all outside connections between the individual device and the VPN “server” and Sonos is, by its very nature, an outside connection to your mobile device.
Many VPNs have set up special use cases for Sonos users, you may want to check with the company whose VPN you’re using. They may have an easy setup change for you to apply.
Look for an option called “split tunneling” in your VPN. This allows local network access to be direct, and internet access to go through your VPN.
If your VPN lacks this option then you will need to disable it to use Sonos.
Reconnect your Sonos devices
Log in to your Sonos profile online right here and check your country settings. The list of available music services that appear in the Sonos app is linked to this.
After updating your online profile, it can take up to 15 minutes for the change to take effect in the Sonos app, especially if it’s your first time setting up Spotify with Sonos.
If it still doesn’t work, remove Spotify from the services in the Sonos app, wait 10 minutes, and add Spotify back to the services. You could also do it the next day for good measure.
Update both Spotify and Sonos apps
Make sure to keep both Spotify and Sonos apps updated.
There was a time when Spotify suddenly stopped working with Sonos when it was working fine just a few days ago. It turned out all I needed to do was update the Sonos app.
I opened up the Sonos controller on my computer for the first time in a few days, and it prompted me to run an update. It updated all devices and Spotify got working again.
Clear the Spotify cache
When you clear the cache on Spotify, you are deleting temporary files that the app has stored on your device as well as resolving some issues with the app.
Often, clearing the Spotify cache is enough to get the app working with Sonos and create a clean connection. You can learn more about how to clear the Spotify cache right here.
Switch to mobile data
I noticed that when I block Spotify from using my mobile data in the iOS settings, Spotify Connect doesn’t work anymore for my Sonos and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) devices.
This is true even if I use the same Wi-Fi network that is connected to all the other devices. Every time I don’t allow Spotify to use my mobile data, it won’t connect to Sonos.
One workaround is to switch to mobile data. Once I allow Spotify to use mobile data or disable mobile data for the whole iOS, Spotify actually picks up all devices on my network.
It seems like there’s a bug that stops Spotify from listening to broadcasts on my Wi-Fi. It’s odd that settings that concern cellular use only affect the receival of local packages on my Wi-Fi.
This bug doesn’t exist on Android. I can block mobile data access and Spotify Connect keeps on working just fine and is able to connect with my Sonos speakers.
Right now, what you can do is allow Spotify to use mobile data or disable mobile data manually every time you enter your home or Wi-Fi network.
It’s not the most ideal solution since it’s just a simple workaround, and I hope Spotify rectifies this bug soon. I also noticed that if you don’t download offline content, the Sonos speakers stay.
Related: Spotify not working on mobile data
Trigger Sonos using another device
I can play Spotify through the Sonos app but not via Windows Desktop App or iOS App. Before, I was able to fix this by turning off the Sonos speakers and turning them on again.
This doesn’t work with the latest release of Sonos and Spotify.
If you’re using Spotify Premium on several devices, one workaround is to start Spotify on a MacOS device (like a Macbook Pro laptop). This will show the Sonos speakers under devices.
If you play music through the MacOS device to this Sonos device, Spotify on the other platforms (Windows and IOS) will start to recognize the speakers again.
Hope this helps anyone with this issue. I also hope Sonos fixes this issue properly soon. Their speakers are way too expensive for this to have been an issue for so long.
Perform a power cycle and reboot
Have you rebooted the Sonos speakers, with a power cycle? If you haven’t done it already, I suggest you reboot your Sonos devices before you contact Sonos Support.
If it doesn’t work, then I’d recommend you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, as well as call Sonos Support to discuss the issue.
When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to diagnose the issue and give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.
After chatting with Sonos, I rebooted my router again and power-cycled all of my Sonos devices. Everything seems to be reconnected and working again, and I was able to send diagnostics.
It turned out that what was needed was a power cycle and reboot in a specific sequence.
What I did was disconnect the router and all of my Sonos devices, then power up the router. After it established its Wi-Fi connection, only then I powered up the Sonos devices.
I also did a clean reinstallation of both the Sonos and Spotify apps. You can learn how to clean reinstall Spotify right here, as well as factory reset Sonos devices right here.
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