Sonos just added AirPlay 2 support to its speakers, making them the first third-party offering that can take advantage of Apple’s streaming audio platform. AirPlay 2 support is available as a software update for newer Sonos speaker products.
Sonos says its AirPlay 2 compatibility update is available for the Sonos One, Beam, Playbase, and the second generation Play:5. You can use AirPlay 2 with older Sonos products if you grou them with newer speakers.
AirPlay 2 support isn’t coming as a surprise from Sonos. The company confirmed earlier this year AirPlay 2 support was in the works, and later said it would come in July.
[Sonos Confirms AirPlay 2 Coming to Playbase, Play:5, and Sonos One]
[AirPlay 2 Coming to Sonos in July]
Sonos even lets you use Amazon Alexa to control AirPlay 2, in a manner of speaking. After you start streaming music with Siri voice commands, you can use your Alexa-compatible device—like an Echo or Sonos speaker—to adjust the volume or skip to the next song.
You can install the AirPlay 2 software update through the Sonos Controller app on your iPhone.
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Options are always good, So, now apple users have more choices when it comes to wireless speakers. Sonos is the first of many third-party vendors to make their product compatible with AirPlay 2 and there will be others to follow.