How to · Listening together
Listening sessions
Every linked device sees what's playing, and can join it, control it or leave it.
Needs Sterio Server 0.2.17 or later. On iPhone and iPad, the Listening sessions button is in Sterio 0.2.0 (90) and later.
Where to find it
- iPhone and iPad: the two-person icon beside Play on, in the Home and Library headers.
- Mac: the same icon in the player bar at the bottom.
A session is what one device is playing: its queue, the current track, where it is in the track, and whether it's playing or paused. Devices you've linked share sessions through your Sterio Server, with no cloud in between.
See what's playing
The Listening sessions button is plain normally and turns green while any linked device is playing. Tap it to open Listening sessions, which lists each linked device that is playing or paused, with what it plays and who listens along, for example Listening: this iPhone, Kitchen iPad.
Join or leave
- Join: this device shows that session and controls it: Now Playing, play and pause, next and previous, seek.
- Leave session: back to this device's own music. It then listens separately and doesn't join others on its own until you tap Join, pick a device in Play on, or tap Join sessions automatically. Sterio remembers the choice.
Joining on its own
Unless you've left, a device that plays nothing joins the session that is playing. A Mac does this always; an iPhone or iPad only while the app is open, so its lock screen and battery stay its own.
Picking music on a device always plays it on that device.
It works wherever your devices reach the server: at home, and away if your server is reachable from the internet.
Related
- Link devices: Link iPhones, iPads and Macs so they share Play on and listening sessions.
- Play on: Move what's playing to another device or a network streamer, and back.
- Listener profiles: One person's devices share playlists, favourites and history.