Sonos Trueplay Missing or Not Working: Why, and What to Do

What Trueplay actually does

It uses the microphone in your iPhone or iPad to measure how sound reflects off the walls and furnishings in your room, then adjusts the speaker's output to match. The goal is for it to sound right wherever you have put it. The process takes about three minutes, and as long as the speaker stays where it is, you only ever need to do it once.

Worth noting on privacy: Sonos states that tuning is the only time it uses your device's microphone.

Why is the Trueplay option missing?

Work down this list and you will almost always find the reason:

• You are on Android. Full Trueplay is iOS and iPadOS only. The one route open to Android users is quick tuning, covered below.
• Your iOS device is running a beta. Beta versions of iOS and iPadOS are excluded across the board.
• Your device is too new. Sonos has to test each device and build a tuning profile for its built-in microphone, so newly released iPhones and iPads are unsupported until that is done. This is a wait, not a fault.
• Your device is on the unsupported list — see the next section. A lot of current iPads are.
• That Sonos product is excluded. Port, Connect and Roam SL cannot be tuned.

The unsupported iPads

This list catches people out most, because several of them are recent and expensive:

• iPad Pro 11-inch: 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch: 4th, 5th and 6th generation
• iPad Pro M4 (7th generation)
• iPad (10th generation) and iPad (11th generation, A16)
• iPad Air 11-inch and 13-inch (M2, 6th generation)

The practical answer: borrow a supported iPhone and do it once. Since tuning only has to happen once, giving the phone back changes nothing — the result lives on the speaker, not on the phone.

Can Android users tune their Sonos at all?

Arc Ultra, Era 100 and Era 300 support quick tuning, which does not need your phone's microphone — it uses the speaker's own. So Android users, beta testers and owners of unsupported iPads can still tune these three.

The portables are simpler still: Move, Move 2, Play, Roam and Roam 2 have automatic Trueplay, which tunes as soon as playback starts and re-tunes when you move the speaker, in both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth mode. Toggle it under Settings → the product → Sound → Trueplay. The onboard microphone has to be enabled for it to work — and if two are stereo paired, both microphones must be on.

Getting an error during tuning — what's wrong?

The common one is "Speaker problem". Three things to check: is the iOS device on the right Wi-Fi (it and the speaker must stay on the same network throughout), is there internet access (tuning downloads data), and is the speaker itself connecting reliably (reboot that one and try again).

Trueplay made no difference — did it fail?

No difference usually means your placement was already good, so Trueplay only made subtle adjustments. If you want to go further, use the EQ in the app rather than tuning again.

Worse means retune — but get these four right, or you will land in the same place:

• Keep it quiet — don't talk, and switch off fans and air conditioning if you can.
• Cover the room — in a small room, concentrate on where you actually listen.
• Move the device smoothly — head to waist, and not too fast.
• Do not touch the volume while tuning — this is the one people trip over. The test tones are loud, the reflex is to turn them down, and doing so ruins the result.

To A/B it you do not need to retune at all: go to Settings → the room → Trueplay and toggle Trueplay Tuning off and back on.

Is Trueplay the same as EQ?

The two get treated as one thing, but they solve different problems. Trueplay deals with the room — the reflections created by walls, furnishings and placement. EQ deals with your taste — more bass, less treble. They stack rather than conflict, so using EQ after tuning is entirely normal.

Sonos' EQ is not a multi-band graphic equaliser — there are four controls: bass, treble, balance and loudness. You'll find them under Settings → the product → Sound → EQ. For quick changes mid-song, turn on the EQ Shortcut under Account → App Preferences, after which tapping the volume slider reveals an EQ icon. Balance only appears on products with left and right channels — Five, Port, Amp, Play:5 (Gen 2), Play:3, Connect and similar.

While we're here, a question a lot of people search for: there is no "best EQ setting". The numbers passed around online were arrived at in someone else's room, with someone else's ears, on someone else's music. The approach that actually works is to let Trueplay handle the room first, then adjust by ear — start at zero and change one control at a time.

Stereo pairs, home theatre, Amp and Sub

• Stereo pairs, home theatre setups, and systems with a Sub or Sub Mini added — all supported, and tuned as a single unit.
• Amp — supported with Sonos In-Wall or In-Ceiling by Sonance architectural speakers, on the current Sonos app only (not S1). It is not supported with Sonos Outdoor by Sonance. Amp also supports tuning when it is powering rear channels in a home theatre.
• Connect:Amp — can only be tuned when it is powering rear channels in a home theatre; not otherwise.
• A Move with Google Assistant added — automatic Trueplay is disabled while it is in Bluetooth mode.

One last thing: if you move the speaker, or rearrange the room substantially, it is worth retuning. What Trueplay remembers is the room as it was at the moment you tuned it.

Official references

• Trueplay-compatible devices and products (official)
• Tune your speakers with Trueplay
• Automatic Trueplay
• Error during Trueplay tuning
• Adjust bass, treble, balance and loudness