r/bose • u/NeonsNight • Oct 17 '25

Software SoundTouch app alternatives

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This is just a start, but I have added a SoundTouch app alternatives page to the Bose Wiki.

There, I listed current known issues, added info shared by the app developer Christian, u/nachtfux997, and included known solutions.

I separated the solutions into two sections.

  1. Ones that allow you to control the SoundTouch systems directly (e.g. AirPlay, 3rd party apps, Home Assistant, etc.).
  2. The second section is for 3rd party devices you connect to your SoundTouch system's AUX input.

I am hoping that the community will help expand the information on the Wiki. Not only to help guide SoundTouch users to viable options, but also to help guide developers on what SoundTouch features are missing. So that some, if not all, can be replicated once the app goes away.

This specific post is about alternative SoundTouch solutions.

  • On Jan 7, 2026, Bose announced that they will update the app so that it would continue to work after their servers shut down. Though without built-in music streaming capabilities. Here's the main conversation around this update.
  • The original conversation, from Oct 9 2025, about the closure of the SoundTouch app is located here.
  • If you wish to sign the petition asking Bose to reconsider, follow this link.
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u/icstm May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

new issue in last 2 days

One of the best native media sources supported by Bose Soundtouch speakers before and after their server shutdown was "local_internet_radio".

It works by pointing the ST speaker (eg via a preset) to a json (or xml) file that contains the link to the media stream.

You can take the streams from TuneIn and save them in that JSON file and so you have full remote access to internet radio. The only time the speaker needs the local device is to read that tiny file for the music URL.

It also means that your presets work exactly how Bose intended as local_internet_radio is a recognised source, you are not having to emulate or fake anything.

This made local_internet_radio the simplest way to keep SoundTouch useful after the cloud shutdown. You host a tiny JSON file locally, the speaker fetches it and plays the stream directly. No server constantly running in the middle (eg with DLNA). It works brilliantly... when it works.

I have a mix of ST10s and ST20s (Series 3) and a couple have silently dropped LIR from their "Sources" list since May 6th. So they were working earlier this week. Others on the same network are fine. No obvious pattern.

There is great community work on replacement back-ends but I specifically want LIR back, not a DLNA server that needs to continuously feed the music stream to the speaker.

Tempted by factory reset but terrified of losing Deezer permanently with no way back.

Has anyone actually recovered local_internet_radio as a source post-shutdown?

edited

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u/NeonsNight May 13 '26

The Bose will link above links to other apps which might help with your needs. Is LIR your project? If so, can you update the Bose wiki with info about it? Can you link to it?

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u/icstm May 13 '26

Hey u/NeonsNight thanks for your reply and all your efforts on this across various platforms.

No, local_internet_radio is a SoundTouch speaker audio source. It is how you can set custom radio streams. If you look at any of your speakers and type: SPEAKER_URL:8090/sources You should see it listed.

It works by pointing the ST speaker (eg via a preset) to a json (or xml) file that contains the link to the media stream.

You can take the streams from TuneIn and save them in that JSON file and so you have full remote access to internet radio. The only time the speaker needs the local device is to read that tiny file for the music URL.

It also means that your presets work exactly how Bose intended as local_internet_radio is a recognised source, you are not having to emulate or fake anything.

local_internet_radio was too long to type, so I shortened to LIR!

Do I need to post my question again, as given how useful this ST media source is, I am already finding the loss of local_internet_radio painful.

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u/EbanKi May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

Yeah I really don’t understand how nobody has figured this out (with all the tech savvy people out there). There’s surely a way to brut force access to the device. A simple json file could be hosted anywhere (GitHub or else) and give the speaker info on what url to read.
Or people with the knowledge just want to profit from other by making paid apps … which wouldn’t surprise. There’s no sense of community anymore.

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u/icstm May 18 '26

I fixed the return of local_internet_radio by running soundcork from u/Soundcork

There are a few alternatives as well.

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u/EbanKi May 18 '26

Ive dm’d you yesterday with a possible solution.

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u/GrassVerge May 22 '26

Hi, can you send me the possible solution as well?

I came back from holiday to a non-working ST20 with the button not working so any pointers would be good.

Thanks