If you’ve ever wanted to listen to podcasts on your Sonos speakers, then there are several ways to stream them, whether from the web, a computer, or a mobile device like a phone or tablet.
The Sonos system has great versatility and functionality. It can be set up virtually, and from there you can do a lot of cool stuff, including adding streaming music services and using it as a sleep timer or alarm clock. Podcasts are no different.
Stream podcasts directly from the web
If you want to stream podcasts from the web, then look no further than Sonos software.
First, click «Radio by TuneIn» in Music Sources.
Select «Talk» from the resulting list, and then «Podcasts».
You can add select any podcast from the available options, then click on the little arrow to the right of your selection, and then you can play it, add it to your favorites, and also check any information and options available on it.
The number of podcasts there is relatively high, and chances are you won’t be able to see your favorite podcast in TuneIn’s settings. In such a case, you can try Stitcher or Spreaker, streaming services you can add. Please note that you may need to create accounts for these streaming services in order to use them.
If you don’t like these options, you can also stream podcasts from your computer.
Stream podcasts from your computer
If you prefer to download podcast files to your computer using programs such as iTunes or MediaMonkey, you will have to open the folder where you save your podcasts. To do this, open the Sonos desktop app on your computer. Click Manage and then Music Library Settings.
The Control menu is the same on PC or Mac
On the settings screen, you will need to add the location where you want to save your podcasts. On a Mac, click the + symbol, or on a PC, click Add.
If your podcasts are in the default music folder, leave this setting as it is. If they are saved elsewhere, navigate to it and select that location.
Your podcasts will be listed in the app under » Music Library» > «Artist» . Depending on whether the podcast provides any metadata, it can also be viewed under the » Music Library > Genre > Podcasts .
Unfortunately, every time you add new podcasts, you will need to re-index your music library. To do this, click Manage and then Update Music Library Now.
Stream podcasts from your phone or tablet
If you want to stream podcasts from your mobile device, you can do that too.
On iOS
Your iPhone or iPad comes preinstalled with the Podcast app, so when you subscribe and download new episodes, they’ll be automatically available in the Sonos app. Just tap to open the music menu and then «On This iPhone».
Now click open Podcasts.
All your downloaded podcasts will be available here so you can easily stream them to your Sonos player or players.
Finally, let’s turn to Android and show how to do it from this platform.
On android
On Android, you will need to download the podcasts to the «Podcasts» folder in your root directory. How do you do this? It’s pretty easy, but not very convenient. Let’s show you how.
On most Android devices, anything you download is automatically stored in your Downloads folder, which means you’ll need to copy or move any podcasts from that folder to your Podcasts folder (if they’re not already saved there).
One way to do this is to use the file management tool (there are many on the Play Store). In this case, we are using the popular Astro app. We will select our podcast that we just uploaded and move it.
Here you can see the Podcasts directory in the root directory of our Android device’s storage system, where we will move our podcast files.
Having moved there (you should probably download and move all your podcasts at the same time, not one at a time), you can now find them in your Sonos app.
Open the Music menu and select On This Mobile Device.
Then choose «Podcasts» from the options.
And now you can see and play any podcast on your Android device.
It’s not as easy as it is on an iPhone or iPad, but once you get the hang of it, you shouldn’t have any problems.
RELATED:How to Add Streaming Services to Sonos Player
There are, of course, other easier ways to listen to podcasts on your Android device, but getting that audio to your Sonos player requires you to jump through a few hoops. In general, however, the easiest way is to listen to them directly from the Sonos app itself.
