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public-broadcasting / bbc-sounds-community-edition-for-sonos

Alternative integration of BBC Sounds on Sonos for listeners outside the UK. Which brings back the classic Sonos control to listen to your favorite stations without the hassle of using third-party apps and cast technologies.
MIT License
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How to go on after Sonos update #5

Open raffisweb opened 3 months ago

raffisweb commented 3 months ago

First of all, thank you very much for this great work!

I hardly dare to ask, but what happens now after the Sonos update? Are there any solutions or do we have to ask Sonos to allow own content services?

I still kept the old app on my Mac and can use the service. But no longer on my smartphone. I'm longing for this great service!

public-broadcasting commented 3 months ago

Hi Rafael,

It is great to hear that you like the Sonos integration. If you are excited about the BBC Sounds Community Edition, you should try the following integration:

https://smapi.streamurl.link/public-broadcasting/de_DE/

Although it is geared towards German members, it uses over 90% of all available features of the ("old") Sonos API, plus some hacks (not apparent unless you are in the know) that were wished to be standard by Sonos... but enough nerd talk.

Previously, it was standard for music services that wanted to develop and test their integration for Sonos to define the API endpoints on their speakers. This is done via 1400:/customsd.htm, which is also how you set up the BBC Sounds Community Edition.

For the Sonos update released in May 2024, this local feature was announced to be deprecated some time ago. Interested music services are asked to create a developer account to gain access to a sandbox for the Sonos API:

https://docs.sonos.com/docs/test-your-service

In short, the configuration data necessary to operate such a service had to be self-hosted back then, while now it has to be stored in the cloud with Sonos. Even if this hurdle is overcome, only developers will be able to access their own integration (not tested/confirmed, just a guess based on common sense).

From Sonos's perspective, this makes sense, considering that with the update, you can also control your Sonos system through a web interface:

https://play.sonos.com/

While the new Sonos app (black logo) only queries data regarding music services from the Sonos Cloud, only the Sonos Desktop Controller is able to read in addition the stored data via 1400:/customsd.htm. That’s why it no longer works with the mobile app. It’s only a matter of time before the Sonos Desktop Controller catches up in this area (which is already limited from 14 to 1 service).

In one way, it’s a shame that the project can’t be expanded and has to end prematurely, but as the saying goes:

"When one door closes, another opens."

Thanks go to you and the hundreds of others who gave the project meaning through their usage. 🫶

raffisweb commented 3 months ago

Wow, what a great workaround. I managed to add the service - with Icons and all around. It appears on my old Sonos App (golden) but in the new one (black) the service says "0" (zero) and does not show stations at all. It keeps on showing already played stations (stared from golden App) in the "recently played-List" where I can start them again. So I think this is some catalog index issue I have to figure out... Maybe there is a tick I missed?

I had to use en_UK to get the British stations. ;-) Can share scaled Icons if somebody is interested. Unfortunately the channel logo and station logos don't appear everywhere as expected or turn away after a while. Buggy new app.

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-03 um 21 51 48 Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-03 um 21 51 24
public-broadcasting commented 3 months ago

Not sure what you're trying to do, but the second screenshot is the official BBC Sounds integration on Sonos, which you can add to Sonos if your Sonos account is set to the UK. This has nothing to do with the BBC Sounds Community Edition which is offered here.

Recently played is comparable to a bookmark in the browser. If the link to the stream url or image logo were to change, the Recently played function would also fail retrospectively.

raffisweb commented 3 months ago

The second screenshot is my own work. I've registered at Sonos as Developer and created the Channel according to your first answer (Sandbox) but as I described it does say "0" (zero) in the new App and only works on the old one.