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Disable Sonos One Alexa from playing a sound when I say "Alexa"



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Userlevel 6
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There is now a "Brief Mode" available that limits Alexa's response to commands to an innocuous chime, which varies slightly for command success or failure. If Amazon won't allow Sonos to remove the wake-up sound, at least they could allow it to be something similarly less loud, clunky and intrusive.
Userlevel 2
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Unbelievable. 5 months.... unbelievable

* 30 years later *

Hey guys any updates on this suggestion that a huge amount of people wanted to happen to sonos one?


You're actually not far off there (in electronics/app terms, where most updates from other vendors come in days). I just posted this elsewhere, but it may help you to be aware too.. Sonos works very slowly. What would take other apps a week to push out an update takes many months, and there are rarely if ever any status updates. I don't know if they just have very small teams or it's due to having to do a lot of hardware testing, but I've learned to just check the forum when a new software update comes out. Don't check more than once a month. In the end, they usually create a good result, so I am begrudgingly patient.

Just an example. Casting directly from the Spotify app works awesome now. But it took maybe 2 years for it to be released from when Spotify put out the capability. Definitely more than 1.

The One will probably be even worse in this respect since Sonos isn't in control of the smart aspect; Amazon is.

I'm extremely impatient, but all I can say is be patient. There isn't really a better ecosystem out there if you value sound quality.


What i'm disappointed is that there is literally 0 communications between sonos developers and users. i've been reading these forums all day and when it comes to missing features or new suggestions all that the users get is something like "the team is already informed" or "We will make sure that the team is informed" and that's just it. no progress reports. no indications that whether they're working on mentioned feature/bugs or if they are facing with an issue or limitation that they're trying to go around with.
compare this to something like spotify developer blog or something similar and you'll see what i mean. zero communications.
The team is definitely aware of this request and has been looking into it, but it's not quite at the "we're definitely doing this" stage. I don't have any specifics I can let you in on, but it hasn't been forgotten or disregarded. The development team is working on a lot of things at the moment. I'll let you know if there are any details I can share.
I read your words Ryan S but frankly I don't believe any of it. If I were a betting man then I'd put my money on this being down to the relationship between Sonos and Amazon, and it's Amazon that want the 'Boing' retained such that a Sonos One is less friendly than an Amazon Echo. As has previously been mentioned, you already flash the top LED when "Alexa" is detected so why does there need to be a 'Boing' at all? An Echo Dot flashes the light but there is no accompanying sound - why can't the Sonos One behave in a similar way? I think we deserve a clear and honest answer on this matter and not "The team is definitely aware of this request and has been looking into it"
How is this STILL not addressed? This by far the most annoying and intrusive feature ever. I’m not a moron, if I say Alexa I know the next thing I do is give a command. On top of that if it’s the middle of the night and I ask Alexa something this LOUD sound disturbs my environment. And why does it need to match the speaker volume? Does anyone at Sonos actually use this at home? It’s so poorly thought out. I mean come on guys, this is not cool.
I agree with the sentiments expressed by so many; the tone is annoying, it is too loud, it sounds like a Windows error message, it is unnecessary, and it is most unlike Sonos to behave this way. I bought a single Sonos One with the aim of getting more, but I am discouraged by this tone. Although it would be easiest to simply remove the tone why not let users adjust the tone or volume in settings if there is a requirement from Amazon?
Userlevel 2
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Honestly, I hate using Alexa with Sonos because of it but I deal because the sonos sound/platform is so superior for streaming music. The chime sound is very loud and grating. When alexa wakes accidentally when we have the volume up from playing music previously it makes the whole room jump. So we mute the mic to prevent this. It might be good for dev testing purposes, but it’s horrible for home use. What’s the point of marketing this feature if customers come to loathe it? I really hope this feature request to simply be able to turn this obnoxious chime off is in the pipeline. If you really want crossovers from voice assistants buying into sonos, this kind of thing is really glaring. I’ve had several guests comment negatively on it almost in the same breath that they compliment the remarkable sound quality and subtle speaker profile. It’s probably cost you 4 new customers just visiting my house.
Adding my vote to this. It’s obnoxious, and should be incredibly easy to create an option to disable.
How has this not been fixed yet? It's aesthetically and functionally awful. So incongruous with the rest of Sonos.
Userlevel 1
BONG!!!!! Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!
I Wish I had read this thread before buying my Sonos Ones. This unnecessary BEEP after saying Alexa is Bl*****y annoying and distracting. Come on Sonos. You have been promising us monthly updates so let’s get rid of this Noise in the next one and keep us happy customers.
Tacking onto this. The beep is incredibly jarring and totally ruins the otherwise great experience that I’m sure y’all worked really hard on building
Agree. I had been waiting for Alexa integration to upgrade my surround sound (Beam + 1's). But the Alexa is so bad with the beep vs. the normal Echo's that I might have to return the system.
Long time Alexa user. Just “upgraded” to sonos one today within 10 minutes of finishing the setup I found myself on this page. Will be returning this unit to Best Buy as that stupid chime is annoying. Has sonos even Responded to this thread yet? Disappointing to say the least.
Userlevel 6
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The wake sound is definitely not a good companion to Alexa's new whisper mode. 😞
Userlevel 1
Just adding my vote to disable/change the wake chime. Thanks.
+1. Understand the reason and decision. Possible to use the led used for pairing instead? Really annoying for previous user of echo and appreciate any workaround you can provide. Thanks and overall great work!
Userlevel 1
+1 This should be an easy option to implement in the software. Please give users the option to hear the request sound, which, I feel, is loud, annoying, and unnecessary. I just got a Sonos One yesterday and am seriously considering returning it and switching back to my new Echo.
Userlevel 1
Since the Sonos One doesn't have the light ring that you might find on the Echo Dot, the tone was enabled so that you know when the Sonos One heard you and when it's communicating with the cloud. There isn't a way to turn that off, but I'll pass on your request to the team for you.

Thanks for reaching out!


Make the top light come on. The request prompt is unnecessary...or give US the ability to decide by making the tone an option.
+1 on this. SO annoying and doesn’t mimic any of the other Alexa devices’ behavior.
Userlevel 7
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Hi everyone, starting today with Sonos 10.0, you can go into the Sonos room settings in the Sonos app, and turn off the wake sound for Alexa on Sonos One and Sonos Beam speakers.
Userlevel 2
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+1. Also the ability to fix the volume of her voice. I don't like her yelling at me if I ask a command while jamming out to music.
Hi @Ryan S

I'm going to back up some of the other comments, this desperately needs a fix soon and I can see it has been an issue for some time.

I'm using my Sonos one in spite of the tone but frankly, had I known about it, I would have delayed my purchase. It really is that annoying!

And agree, separate volume control between Alexa and music is a must.

Thanks in advance
I'm on this too!
Love the sound of the Sonos One, but that chime has to go PDQ.
Please add the option to turn off the tone.
OMG yes please make this happen. I just added the 2 for $349 Sonos One bundle to my home to complement my Playbar but I will be keeping Alexa mics muted until I can disable the chime. Like echo on a stadium loudspeaker, it’s disruptive to the person speaking. Just flash the LED if you insist on a cue (though that should also be user configurable). It’s easy to tell when Alexa doesn’t hear me...because nothing happens!