Sonos remote for iPhone and iPod touch does it all

If you're lucky enough to have a Sonos music system in the house, you've got lots of music everywhere. The Sonos is a deluxe, wireless distribution system that integrates beautifully with iTunes, and can get your music, Sirius Radio and Pandora, Last.fm, Napster, Rhapsody and Deezer to any room where you have a Sonos Zone player. It can also access more than 15,000 internet radio stations. Subscriptions are required for some of these services.

It's an elegant, easy to set up (yet pricey) system. It is also very reliable and supports wake up and sleep alarms, sending music to every room at once, or letting each room have a choice of what to listen to.

Sonos has a very strong iPhone app, [App Store] which is free. It's been recently updated to version 3, and gives you complete and easy control of your system. You can see album art, change the configuration of the system, adjust the volume, and even access artist information on Rhapsody and Last.fm. If you are running Pandora, as I am, you can create new stations, advance to another tune, or even rate what you are listening to so you can tailor your custom station to your taste.

Sonos has recently offered a wireless handheld controller for US$349.00, but frankly, the iPhone is free [assuming you already have one –Ed.] and has the same capabilities.

Even if you bought the cheapest iPod touch for $229.00, and ran the free Sonos app, you'd have the same features, plus you'd have an iPod touch.

The Sonos system also comes with desktop controller software that lets you play and manage the system from a Mac or PC.

I've had the system for years, and it really is great. I have also used and enjoyed the Squeezebox solution, and Apple can get your music moving around with Airport Express running Airtunes.

If you have a Sonos system and an iPhone or iPod touch, the free app is a no-brainer. If you're looking for a whole house, state of the art music system, the Sonos should be on your list.

Screen shots of the iPhone app in use are below:

Sonos iPhone remote

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Source: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcas…

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If you're lucky enough to have a Sonos music system in the house, you've got lots of music everywhere. The Sonos is a deluxe, wireless...

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Brad

If you have a squeezebox (such as the Boom), get iPeng on the App store to control it with your iPhone through WiFi.

August 12 2009 at 8:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Steve Rapport

Already downloaded, installing it right now...

August 12 2009 at 12:49 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Daniel

I just received my new Sonos Controller yesterday and I promise you it is well worth the $349. I've been using the iPhone app since it was first released but the stand alone controller wins over it in every way.

August 11 2009 at 9:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ryan

I have Sonos and love it. I have it in 6 rooms and have 3 of the 1st gen wireless controllers as well as the iphone app on a ipod touch. I really like the interface on the app better but a downside is the time it takes for your ipod touch to connect with your wireless when you turn it back on. It might seem like the 10-20 seconds would be no big deal but when you are boping around the house and just want to turn it up or skip to the next song, it sucks standing there looking at your ipod screen waiting. The dedicated wireless controllers respond instantly.

August 11 2009 at 4:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Rick

Is there just a Harmony Remote type of app yet that will control any TV with the right codes?

August 11 2009 at 4:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Wouter

Personally, I prefer the AirTunes option. Admittedly, I am a casual listener and can live with the quality of a good set of computer speakers thru mini jack.

Airtunes doesn't require me to have a copy of my iTunes library and yet another sync.
But most of all, it is way way better value. The difference between a Sonos station and an airport express is about $300 last time I looked. And that is per rooms or set you intend to use.
And with multiple accounts on my Mac, I can also listen to different music in different rooms.

August 11 2009 at 3:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Drifter71

WOW, is it expensive. Especially when you can stream your iTunes to any room in your house with an Airport Express at $79 per room. The Cheapest Sonos system is 350 per room. Pluse with an AE, you get range extension for your wireless. I like the idea, but this can get expensive really quickly. And for $350, you still have to provide the stereo, speakers etc.

August 11 2009 at 3:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Drifter71's comment

Edward Sparrow

That is quite a drastic price change, but I did find a site that has it for $297. I don't recall which forum it was, but there was a link for electronics-expo.com and found the zone player there. I went to checkout and used a coupon i found on that forum, JKL33X , and it took off $52. Also, the ZP 90 is an item with Free Shipping. After scouring the internet for a few days, this was the cheapest I could find the Zone player.

August 12 2009 at 3:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply