I’m the opposite too, for a different reason to you. I have Sonos home theatre (soundbar, sub, rear speakers) and Chromecast with Google TV hooked up to the TV. I control music on a pixel phone or pixel tablet through the Chromecast, Sonos kinda just hangs off on the edge of my ecosystem and I don’t think about it. I maybe use the app a few times a year.
But I get why if you just have a few speakers it would be a pain to use the app.