Answered

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


Userlevel 4
I just set up a Sonos One with Alexa and the sound is noticeably better than the Amazon Echo. On the Sonos One though, each and every time I call "Alexa" it plays some kind of acknowledgement tone. When I call my Echo or Dot, thankfully there is no such tone. Is there anyway to disable it?
icon

Best answer by Ryan S 29 January 2019, 18:01

View original

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

313 replies

Userlevel 1
We can put a man on the moon but we can’t add a toggle switch to an app that makes a beeping noise not beep? I donno, I stopped reading the reasoning behind why you haven’t fixed this once I realized there is no possible nuance to adding this option.

At least add a simple slider to the app in it’s settings that allows adjustment of the ungodly level of volume that assaults my ears whenever I do something as simple as saying “Alexa.” And this is because of the lack of an indicator light evidentially? Personally I don’t need someone to yell in my face during my sentence to indicate that they’ve heard me say their name.

I can only howl tearful obscenities into the cold night for so long before I give in and Shot Put this speaker through my window on to the dewy grass that lay beneath, thereby muting the rival wails of any and all police sirens within an ear shot of it’s obnoxious cry of acknowledgement.

But seriously I literally can’t hear myself over that noise. I’m in total agreement with everyone else here - pls fix.
Wo, I just bought 7 units of Sonos One for replacing all my alexa devices. After reading this, I am preparing the returns. Showstopper for me. The whole house is beeping with a loud ugly "alexa-ready" sound. Sorry, Sonos. NO WAY.
Badge
It's been over a year. It ain't getting fixed.

Mainly as Sonos don't think there is anything wrong, and I guess if Amazon are involved the more things that push users back to their own devices the better.

Once Amazon actually get a decent sounding device out there....well, it's going to be interesting.
Alexa through SonosOne seems to respond to "whisper mode" (https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/how-to-enable-whisper-mode-on-alexa/) - but it doesn't make any difference. When will this be supported? Thanks.
I was looking at Soundbars and had decided on the Sonos Beam because whilst it met my sound requirements it also had Alexa integration and meant that I could move my Sonos Play 1 and Alexa Dot to another room. Final research made me find this topic and I now no longer want the Beam. What a shame to spoil a great product in this way.
Userlevel 1
Badge
I've only lived with the Sonos One for a little over a week, but - obvious as it may seem - the annoyance of this sound grows with our use of Alexa. We primarily listened to music at first; not that big of a deal. But then we started using it more to control lights and even play games. With those use cases (frequently with my kids), it's a dramatic rise of that intrusive sound, and becomes much more invasive. We just added a Dot in another room and wow - it honestly relaxes me to not hear it anymore! My challenge (likely shared by others here): Start using Alexa with Play:1 speakers only to find out many interactions with the Echo would not route to the Sonos (e.g. flash briefing, weather). So we purchased two Play One speakers to fix that problem, but which added this new one. My hope of an update to remove/change that sound are keeping me holding onto these speakers for now, at least until the return period ends. But based on a year of requests and nothing but "Amazon makes us do it", that hope is almost zero. I'm guessing the only solution is a redesigned speaker with an "Amazon approved" visual indication. Sad (and ironic) predicament for what is otherwise a beautiful sounding piece of technology.
Badge
Sonos please answer. Is there at least a timeline that can be presented please? At least present us the information concerning what the delay is resulting from.
Sonos please answer. Is there at least a timeline that can be presented please? At least present us the information concerning what the delay is resulting from.

What "delay" are you speaking about? Sonos has never presented a timeline for changing this functionality, nor have they ever stated it would be changed at all.
Badge
Earlier post indicated that the request would be taken back to developers and also there was reference to work being done on the matter. Since those posts, no further response concerning status. That's the "delay". You can feel free to word as you please if you believe it can help. Also, there was not a definitive, "We cannot do anything about it". That also would have helped conclude this matter.
Badge
Folks, got a definitive answer to the question concerning if they can do ANYTHING about the tone.

NO

Disappointed. Being a programmer, especially so.
Please add me to the list.

Just bought a Beam and found this ridiculously long thread 10 mins later when I was trying to turn off the tone
Userlevel 6
Badge +9
Folks, got a definitive answer to the question concerning if they can do ANYTHING about the tone.
NO.


Source?
Badge
Folks, got a definitive answer to the question concerning if they can do ANYTHING about the tone.
NO.


Source?


History?🆒
I probably could live with the acknowledgment bong but it drives my poor dog insane! So, the microphone is always turned off, and I might as well have bought PlayOnes.
It is policy, not technology, which is barring a solution, in my opinion.
Badge
Hmmm..... I posted a reply with a link to the posting that was sent concerning Sonos not doing anything further but it did not make it here. Will try again. Sorry folks for not noticing earlier
Badge
Original message posted below; looks like link to it won't get posted:

Keith N Sonos Staff 4082 replies 7 days ago
Hi there! Thanks for the post. If you would like to get in contact with our support team, our contact information can be found here.

If you are looking for a way to change or silence the Alexa response tone/chime, it is not possible through Sonos. I've seen a few threads where people have asked for this, however in most cases, these topics are tagged as feature requests and should have a response from Sonos staff.

I've seen the specific topic you are talking about and it has an answer marked from Ryan S:

Ryan S wrote:
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!



As of now, we still do not have any information to share regarding changing or silencing the Alexa response tone. However, if that were to change, we will certainly post about it here and make an announcement.

Thanks for your patience.
HelpMe2,

The response you have shown from Ryan S. is not entirely correct, as whilst Sonos does not have the Amazon (blue) ring light, it does light-up/brighten the Status LED light on both the Sonos One and Beam Speakers. So I see that as an adequate replacement for the Echo device circular light. I’m sure, if Sonos wanted to, they could switch off, or perhaps change, this tone. It is most certainly annoying to a lot of people and I include myself on that list.

At the very least it would be nice to change the Sonos device to 'brief mode' (as available through the Alexa App) so that the Sonos Alexa sounds and responses fall in line with the echo responses.

This Sonos Alexa 'notification tone' strikes me as though it is an 'error-tone' and some family and visitors to my home have commented on it.

It does initially cause visitors to pause their own voice instructions, thinking there was some kind of error, as their own Alexa devices don’t bleep at them in this way.

I live in hope that Sonos will fix this issue.
SONOS, please listen to your customers and provide a solution. This hideous dong has no place in these great speakers. I HATE THE ALEXA DONG SOUND in the SONOS ONE.
Userlevel 6
Badge +9
@HelpMe2

Absolutely nothing new or 'definitive' there. All those replies tell us is that it is not currently possible to disable Amazon's wake sound on Sonos with the software/firmware currently available to us, not that it can't or won't be done.

I actually have a couple of wall mounted units where I can't see the the status light on top of the unit and wouldn't mind the tone remaining on those units if it weren't so annoying. I agree with Ken that Amazon's choice for this sounds like an error tone.

Ken, maybe I'm misreading your post, but don't you have 'Brief Mode' available on your devices? Is that possibly a regional thing, because I've enabled it on all of my Ones.
A lot of times, it's not the tone itself that's bothersome, but that fact that it plays at whatever volume I currently have music set to.

And as far a light goes, like Master T, the light on top isn't always very visible. I've also got into the habit of not looking at the Beam or One while I'm making commands anyway. It typically goes "Alexa" -> [wait for beep] -> "do such and such".

Now that I think about it, if the beep could be replaced with "yes master?", that would be ideal. 😃
@HelpMe2

Absolutely nothing new or 'definitive' there. All those replies tell us is that it is not currently possible to disable Amazon's wake sound on Sonos with the software/firmware currently available to us, not that it can't or won't be done.

I actually have a couple of wall mounted units where I can't see the the status light on top of the unit and wouldn't mind the tone remaining on those units if it weren't so annoying. I agree with Ken that Amazon's choice for this sounds like an error tone.

Ken, maybe I'm misreading your post, but don't you have 'Brief Mode' available on your devices? Is that possibly a regional thing, because I've enabled it on all of my Ones.
Yes, you are right master T. I have it under settings so presumably it’s for all Alexa devices.
I have no tone at all on my Amazon echo devices, just a circle of light and after giving an instruction a nice little tone, or sometimes a short reply takes place.. it’s simple and pleasant to listen to.

On my Sonos devices I get the ”BONG” of the 'notification tone' which is like an error sounding bleep to me and really that’s the bit I would like to see turned off... for those people that can’t see their speaker LED light, then by all means leave it on in your settings somewhere, if you want to.

I would just love the option to switch off that tone and to have the LED light be the visible notification.
Very annoying
I cannot believe this is still an issue. There is simple no excuse for the lack of such basic functionality. The sound annoys me, my wife and makes my dog shiver. Please sort this out, it must only be a few lines of code.
Userlevel 6
Badge +9
It must only be a few lines of code.

The fallacy of this statement has been discussed here repeatedly. The issue is more complex than just code.

That said, I would also like to see this change.
It must only be a few lines of code.

The fallacy of this statement has been discussed here repeatedly. The issue is more complex than just code.

That said, I would also like to see this change.


I may have been a little glib in saying it’s just a few lines of code owing to my frustration. Whatever the reason, it certainly isn’t complex given what is achievable with Alexa and Sonos.