Apple AirPlay 2: Sonos to bring new iPhone streaming technology to its speakers

Apple's HomePod has its first rival

Sonos will bring Apple's new AirPlay 2 streaming technology to its speakers in July, it has announced.

The decision will likely make Sonos the first third party to support Apple's new multi-speaker home audio technology.

The feature will be enabled through a free software update in July, Sonos announced. It will come only to the company's latest speakers – including the brand new One as well as the older Play:5, and future speakers.

As well as allowing people to easily stream music to their speakers from their iPhone or iPad, the update will also bring Siri control to Sonos for the first time. It will not live inside the speakers – as Alexa does – but will allow people to use their phones to control what's playing, just by asking.

Alexa will work with Siri, however. If music is started through Apple's voice assistant, it can still be controlled by Amazon – users can ask Alexa what is playing, even if that song was started by talking to Alexa's rival.

Though Siri will only come to newer speakers, it can still be used to control older ones. If older products are linked up with newer ones, then they will be able to allow AirPlay 2 for the whole system.

Apple and Sonos have had an on-off relationship in recent months. While the integration with Siri has required the two companies to work closely together, the introduction of the HomePod has also made them into rivals – and that rivalry has sometimes led the firms to insult each other.