ctrlspace
// The multi-room audio we still recommend

Sonos

Multi-room audio with a local network API, excellent grouping, and a Home Assistant integration that has worked reliably for years. The 2024 app rewrite was a genuinely bad episode and the underlying system remains the best of its kind.

Why we use Sonos

  • Local network control, so grouping, volume and playback respond instantly without touching the cloud.
  • Multi-room grouping is still better than anything else, and it is the feature people actually use.
  • Announcements and text-to-speech through the speakers make notifications useful rather than another phone buzz.
  • The integration is mature and stable.

Where we do not, and why

  • Expensive, particularly to cover a whole house.
  • The 2024 app rewrite broke functionality for months and damaged a lot of goodwill.
  • Sonos has previously pushed older hardware towards obsolescence, which is a poor look for equipment at this price.
  • Streaming service accounts still involve the cloud, even though local control does not.

Pros and cons at a glance

Pros
  • Local network API with instant response
  • Best-in-class multi-room grouping
  • Text-to-speech announcements integrate well
  • Mature, stable Home Assistant integration
Cons
  • Expensive to scale across a home
  • The 2024 app rewrite was badly handled
  • History of pressuring older hardware towards retirement
  • Streaming services remain cloud-based

The technical position

Main protocol
Wi-Fi and Ethernet, local network API
Local control
Yes, for playback and grouping
Vendor hub needed
No
Home Assistant support
Excellent, native
Singapore availability
Widely available

Where it fits in a CtrlSpace build

Where a client wants multi-room audio, this is still the recommendation. In our builds it also becomes the notification channel - a doorbell announcement in the room you are in, a laundry chime in the kitchen only.

// Frequently asked

Sonos, answered plainly

Does Sonos work locally with Home Assistant?

Yes. Grouping, volume, playback and announcements all happen over your local network, so they respond instantly. The streaming services themselves still come from the internet, as they must.

Is Sonos still worth it after the app problems?

The 2024 rewrite was badly handled and worth knowing about. The hardware and the local API were not the problem, and for multi-room audio driven by a smart home it remains the best option we know.
// 3 more in this category

See others in audio, media and other

Zigbee ยท Wi-Fi Xiaomi / Mi Home Enormous catalogue, tangled ecosystem Open firmware ESPHome How we integrate the things nothing else can Cloud API Tesla Great integration, an API that keeps moving

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