Why does my iPhone stop streaming when the screen locks?

Moderator Note: Please see this thread for an update on this issue.

Hi there -- I'm one of what it seems like many Sonos users who are still experiencing a pretty crippling issue: when playing audio from an iPhone, if the iPhone locks or sleeps, the audio will cut out.

To date, it appears that the recommended solutions from Sonos for users who want to continue using their iPhones have been: (1) don't lock your phone or let it go to sleep; or (2) since it appears to relate to AirPlay, disconnect every possible device in your house that may have AirPlay connectivity.

While I understand the team is simply trying to be helpful in recommending the two solutions above, they are quite impractical for a variety of reasons already detailed in other threads. What would be most helpful would be to fix this longstanding issue that fundamentally disrupts one of the primary uses for Sonos: playing music from your phone.

Is there any estimate for when this will be resolved? Is the team even working on it? If not a Sonos issue, can Sonos say whether Apple is working on it?

Simply put -- this sucks. It's been an issue for far, far too long now. I couldn't possibly recommend Sonos to anyone while the issue persists, and in fact would tell others to avoid.

I experienced this same problem (prior to Sonos getting AirPlay), and it was baffling. I finally just connected my iPhone into charge, and turned off auto lock. This was also during a time when Sonos was more dependent on having computer integration. Unfortunately, I am not able to provide a suggestion, since it resolved without me finding a cause or solution. I have assume it went away with one of the updates. Currently, I use AirPlay frequently, along with Sonos radio, and everything works as expected.

Thanks Contrite. There are a bunch of different historical threads in this forum describing the issue -- you and me certainly weren't the only ones to get it. You're absolutely right that turning off auto-lock is likely a fix; unfortunately, turning off auto-lock isn't an option for me (corporate policy, but I also generally wouldn't ever want to have to leave my phone unlocked in order just to get the darn Sonos to work). Hopefully Sonos has been working on a fix... they've certainly had the time!

Any update here folks? If Sonos has just accepted this as a limitation, that's fine -- but would appreciate some feedback to determine whether it's time to move on to something else, or whether the team is trying to resolve this.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this was fixed in yesterday's Sonos 10.0 release (on iOS 12.3). I'm four tracks into an album played from my iPhone (which has auto-locked), without any skips so far.

Was hoping the same thing, pwt, but did the update this morning and still had the issue after the update. Shoot.

Was hoping the same thing, pwt, but did the update this morning and still had the issue after the update. Shoot.
That's odd ... still happily playing through the album for me, with no errors. I've possibly just been lucky so far, so I'll continue to test.

Hey pwt - did the issue reappear for you? If not, did you do anything differently post-update? Sadly, problem remains totally persistent (consistent too!) on my system and a couple of colleagues. No resolution at all unfortunately... any suggestions?

Sonos team, feel free to weigh in as well - hopefully its not just your community members working on this incredibly limiting problem, but the company as well!

Hey pwt - did the issue reappear for you? If not, did you do anything differently post-update? Sadly, problem remains totally persistent (consistent too!) on my system and a couple of colleagues. No resolution at all unfortunately... any suggestions?
I'm still testing, with mixed results. There are definitely instances where it works perfectly, while at other times the issue reappears. I'm testing with an iPhone 8 Plus and a recent iPad, both on iOS 12.1.3.

My current very tentative hypothesis is that it depends on which of the three WiFi access points in the house the phone is currently attached to. That's the only possible pattern I've spotted, but I can't explain why it should make a difference.

Im new to Sonos ownership, so perhaps Im misunderstanding the issue here. If the iPhone or other device is sending a music source to the Sonos speaker, and then the source goes to sleep, should it not be an Apple fix thats needed? The speaker can only play a signal its sent. If the signal stops, theres nothing for the speaker to play. Surely Apple need an option to maintain airplay output when device sleeps ? But Sonos cant implement that fix: it has to come from Apple.

I'd certainly agree with your analysis.

My guess is that Sonos has been communicating with Apple about the issue. Also, having dealt with Apple myself, I suspect that Apple doesn't really care all that much. It's unfortunate that Apple doesn't maintain a forum for users to complain in like Sonos does.

I have the same issue with my iphone 10, that is the music stops when the phone goes to sleep. But, my ipad works perfectly, even when it goes to sleep - and all my settings are identical between the phone and the ipad. And, when I just play music on my iphone from my library, it plays just fine even after the screen goes to sleep. So it sure seems like something between the iphone and Sonos. So ....anyone got any resolution on this issue?

OK, adding this comment here as well:

As of the latest update (10.2.1) I'm experiencing this issue also. Looking back, It's been years. It's so convenient to just stream music from my phone (my most up to date library) but this issue ruins the experience. Turning off other devices gets old fast! Come on Sonos, fix this please!

I think I've found a solution that works - at least it's working for me now. Make sure that the "Background App Refresh" is turned on for the Sonos app. To do this, go to Settings, scroll down to Sonos and enable Background App Refresh. Or you can go to the Sonos app itself, go to Settings, then select App Settings - that will take you to the same screen.