Audiobooks & Sonos: The Amazon Problem

  • 3 January 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 1242 views

One of the first things I wanted to enjoy when I got my first Sonos Play:3 was an audiobook - I've always loved them, and had by that stage been an Audible subscriber for over 12 months - and whilst I was disappointed to find Audible had not been integrated, I saw that Audiobooks.com was available - so I rushed out and subscribed (still got my membership, so big win for Audiobooks.com!) so I could have some Audioboks to listen to.

Then I saw the Sonos ONE announced. Clearly I allowed hope to rule factual knowledge and so I didn't even look to verify that Sonos ONE, with Alexa built-in, would actually have Audible compatibility - I just assumed, given they would be working with Amazon to integrate Alexa, that they would figure out whatever obstacles stood in the way of Audible integration. Wrong!

Now I not only have no Audible on Sonos, but - and this is the part I'm really annoyed about, the reason I'm making this topic - Sonos ONE will not take voice commands concerning Audiobooks.com as Amazon Audible is a rival service which, honestly, leaves me feeling rather ripped off. How dare Amazon be allowed to dictate the full functionality of my Sonos player. Why was this allowed to happen? How do Sonos feel they can justify that price given the reduced functionality?

Really, it's poor on your behalf, Sonos. And I feel cheated in all honesty. Does anyone else feel the same?

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6 replies

I think you misunderstood. It's not about voice activation of Sonos, it's about using the Audible.com application through which I, like many others, listen to audio books. Why doesn't Sonos recognize this application. It really is a shame. I'm thinking about selling my Sonos system for Bose or something else.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
As far as audio services through the voice feature - that is completely in hands of Amazon. It is limited in what is supported via voice. Voice control is not meant to replace the controller but be a convienience.

However, your Sonos One is fully functional via the controller. So nothing is standing in your way of your audiobooks.com.

Also - Sonos has said Audible integration with Sonos is coming and soon. I wouldn't expect a wait to go on very long for Audible.
Sonos has announced Audible support is coming soon.
We have a lot of exciting plans for the future and we wanted to share some of them with you all.

We know you’ve loved using your Spotify App to control Sonos and we’ve been working to bring that experience to more services. Starting in the coming months, we’ll be adding the ability to control Sonos directly from additional music service apps, including Tidal, Pandora, Audible and iHeart Radio.


Tidal and Pandora apps have been able to play directly to Sonos for a while now. Amazon is just being slow about adding support, for reasons known only to Amazon. Not much Sonos can do about Amazon’s slowness, but enough Audible users complaining to Amazon might light a fire under them.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Yes as I said in my response and those after me. Audible is coming and coming soon per Sonos
Userlevel 5
Badge +11
Audible supports whispersync. Which is why it broke in the first place. Sonos can not control or affect this function (is it even legal for a third party to read/write info to your personal a count?) ergo, Audible will arrive via the Audible app. At some point. Pester the hell out of Amazon.