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Can You Use Chromecast with Sonos?

As an owner of both Chromecast and Sonos, I have recently been frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t seem to get the two to work together. After a lot of research and testing, I’m here to share how I solved this problem, as well as a few other solutions I discovered along the way.

Unfortunately, there is no built-in integration between Sonos Speakers and Chromecast. This means that you can’t directly use Sonos with Chromecast. However, that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to playing music via Chromecast, as there’s a workaround that you can use until Sonos officially supports Chromecast and Google Home.

Tips
There is no direct integration between Chromecast and Sonos systems.
Legal issues between the two companies are the main reason for the lack of integration.
You can use a workaround to cast audio from Chromecast to Sonos speakers.
Using AirPlay is an option to cast audio directly from Sonos speakers.
Sonos may announce an integration between their systems and Chromecast in the future.

Can You Use Chromecast with Sonos Directly?

The quick answer to this question is no. Unfortunately, if you are using Chromecast with or without a Google Home system and you want to use it to directly cast audio content to Sonos, you may not be able to do this.

Although many Sonos systems have an HDMI port that you can use to connect Chromecast to the speakers, you won’t be able to get that combination to work. 

Also, if you try to use Sonos with Chromecast by connecting all the devices to the same WiFi network, you still won’t get any results. 

With that said, you’re not completely out of luck when it comes to streaming and casting audio on Sonos speakers, as there are several other methods that you can use to achieve that. But more about that in the following sections.

Why Chromecast Isn’t Compatible with Sonos

Although there are no clear cut reasons why Chromecast isn’t compatible with Sonos, a lot of experts believe that the main reason is that Sonos and Chromecast have been fighting in the court of law for quite some time now over accusations of copying speaker technology patents.

In fact, when it comes to technology, there isn’t a specific barrier that prevents Chromecast and Sonos from being used together. 

As previously mentioned, there are Sonos Speakers with HDMI and USB ports. Both of which are necessary for Chromecast dongles to connect to a device.

Sonos also supports other forms of casting systems, such as Apple’s AirPlay, in addition to several other apps. This means that being non-compatible with Chromecast is due to nontechnical issues.

Another proof that technical issues aren’t the reason is that the Google Play Music app was supported by Sonos before it was replaced by Youtube Music. But since the switch, casting hasn’t been made available yet by the two companies.

Read more: Does Chromecast Audio have Bluetooth?

Will Sonos Support Chromecast in the Future?

There are a lot of ongoing threads on Sonos forums and community websites that have been requesting this combination to work for quite some time now. However, all these requests and discussions didn’t come to fruition.

That doesn’t mean that Sonos will never support Chromecast, but it shows that no actions have been taken by Sonos to support Chromecast recently.

With that said, you should know that Sonos continuously updates its systems and may announce a built-in Chromecast integration at any time, just like they did with Apple’s Airplay.

Read more: Chromecast has sound but no video

Alternative Methods to Use Casting with Sonos

Although you can’t use Sonos with Chromecast directly, there are a few workarounds that you can use in order to cast audio from your phone. Let’s have a quick look at each one of these methods and how you can use them:

Chromecast TV Workaround

If you already have a Chromecast dongle and you’re connecting them to a TV, you can play music on Sonos speakers by casting your audio on TV.

To do that, you should do the following:

  1. Start by connecting the Sonos speakers to the TV using any preferred method
  2. Connect the Chromecast dongle to your TV via another HDMI port
  3. Cast the audio from your phone to TV via Chromecast as usual

Remember to adjust the TV settings so that the sound output is coming from the Sonos Speakers.

AirPlay

As previously mentioned, AirPlay is directly supported by Sonos. If you have an iPhone or Mac, simply use the AirPlay technology from the control center to cast music directly on Sonos speakers.

Direct App Connection

Lastly, you can also cast music to your Sonos speakers directly with several Android Apps, such as Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, Pandora, and Tidal.

Final Thoughts

This wraps it up for today’s guide that walks you through everything you need to know about Chromecast use with Sonos, and why there isn’t going to be an official integration between the two.

As you can see, Sonos doesn’t lack the technology to connect directly with Chromecast, and many Sonos users have been requesting this integration for quite some time now.

Yet, it seems like the situation between Sonos and Chromecast isn’t going to change anytime soon due to the legal issues between the two companies.

With that said, you can still use Chromecast with Sonos with a simple workaround, and you can simply enjoy direct audio casting with Sonos if you’re using AirPlay.

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