Yes, when you unauthorize you’re talking to Roon server.
Perhaps you meant this, but you’re actually talking to a Roon service in the cloud - that’s where the authorise/unauthorise switch is handled/
I don’t know where the Roon server is located, but you’re talking to it via the internet. You’re not talking to your own Roon server at your house. That’s the point.
I was closed to subscribe after my free trial period. However I just discovered that I must be connected to the internet in order to run the software. I was on the plane and wanted to listen my music from Roon (launching a custom playlist that I built from my library…but it refused to open until I connect to the internet). This is so disappointing. All my music is local (more 5k albums) and I really love how Roon made me navigate to my own library, better than any other streaming plateform…but the fact that I was not able to listen to my own music playlist offline (on the plane) is definitely a BIG disadvantage of the software. I am not sure to subscribe anymore…unless the support will explain how to bypass this or will this be plan for a next release?
Just to be clear: I got the point that Roon needs internet to do things like authorization and authentication, gathering data on my local files in order to create connections (even if for this one I am doubting) or display very cool things about music authors…
However, all this should not avoid an offline usage…at least for a small period of time. By doing caching or whatever. I am really disappointed. I thought I found THE BEST software for navigating through my music…but this is point is to me a killer
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That’s a very good question and the simple answer is that Roon have just designed the software to work that way now to improve search performance. However, it is unfortunate that one cannot just use Roon as a local file player anymore, as one would Foobar2000 or VLC (navigate to a folder, right click, Play With Roon). This avoids completely having to use a search engine in Roon, just use the OS one.
So either just install a local file player if you have a laptop. Or use Roon ARC on a mobile device with pre-downloaded music, as you would the Tidal player.
One question for you, is it clearly stated on the Roon website that an always on internet connection is now required?
EDIT: to answer my own question it is stated in the Roon KB via the System Requirements page link at the bottom of the pricing/subscription page. Not exactly hidden but not exactly obvious either. Not on the front page of the website.
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Search is a terrible excuse for requiring internet access. Do away with offline search if one must, just leave filtering capabilities under artists and albums. Both get to the answer in a fraction of the time that regular search does.
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314 votes when I looked, including mine. Wonder if it is low because it has not been seen .
It may be low in absolute votes, but it’s the feature request with the most votes, with some 50 votes difference to the second most voted on. 
Thanks to all replies, I thought I was the only frustrated guy…but obviously not.
I really hope that Roon team will take this in consideration for a next release as it is a real killer ! For me without offline player (and I am talking about computer…Roon ARC is cool…but it does not replace the computer usage, far from), my subscription is definitely out of question…no way (And I was very closed to subscribe the costly lifetime)
I wanted to bring the vote into the awareness of more people by stating that in the hope even more people would see it and vote. 
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Best way for them to notice is if your not lifetime is to stop subscribing If this ridiculous action on their behalf does not agree with you. I bet most users who don’t frequent here or other forums have not a clue about this as we where not forewarned in any way. Just an out of context line in the release notes they likely hoped would go under the radar. Such a major change to the usage of Roon should have been upfront and centre but it was buried under a shiny new feature and version number.
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Nope, it’s low because it’s not something the team at Roon care about.
I’ve switched back to LMS with Material skin and Squeezelite. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how the UI has progressed. It now handles artist and composer images along with album images. The Material skin turns my tablet into a pretty nifty remote and artist bios, album reviews etc. are all nicely incorporated too. With a bit more development and polish I think it’d a compelling alternative.
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This topic has been widely discussed (often contentiously) ever since the release of Roon 2.0 in September and spawned multiple threads. Here is the most recent active thread:
This has made me think back to discussions about what happens if Roon cease to operate.
I believe we’d be given an offline version we could use in perpetuity after that, especially if you were a lifetime subscriber.
What would happen now if offline is not possible, but Roon ceases operations and there’s no cloud service?
you’ll get some form of crippleware because the cloud stuff is now so deeply integrated the effort required to remove the dependencies would simply not transpire.
Yes, a clarifying statement about this from Roon would be appreciated.
I agree that it’s a rude awakening if you didn’t know this dependency was required. But you can use Roon ARC in offline mode with downloaded files.
Sounds like your roon core is on the laptop you carry with you? If it were on a machine at home with internet connectivity, you could also use Roon ARC from the plane if you are connected to wifi.
More of a solution-based response than a misery-loves-company response, but there are plenty of those to go around.
I suspect that there are ulterior motives, design oriented or otherwise, behind insisting on internet access. Yes, search sucks and will probably still suck, but that shouldn’t be enough to impose an internet dependency that alienates so many.
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