Hello Sonos Community
I need some help please.
I am based in the UK and have a Sonos Play One linked upto an Alexa Dot. I have been using via my Amazon Prime account the Tunein service to enable me to listen to BBC Radio stations. "Alexa play Radio 2 in the Kitchen" etc etc.
However, due to some dispute between the BBC and Tunein they have pulled the BBC from their service which means I can no longer access BBC Radio stations through my Alexa and into my Sonos.
Just looking at alternatives and wondered if there is a way to connect say my iPhone via Bluetooth to my Sonos Play One so that via the BBC Iplayer app I could still stream BBC Radio stations through my Sonos
Any ideas or alternative solutions greatly received
Thank You
Brian
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There isn't a way for a Play:1 to play BT content without purchasing an additional Sonos device. One option is to get a Sonos Move, which has BT built in and is also portable. You could replace the Play:1 with this entirely. It does cost twice as much though.
If you have an iphone you could purchase one of the airplay compatible speakers, like the Play:1s replacement, Sonos One SL. You can use airplay in the same way you use BT essentially.
A 3rd option is to get a Sonos device that has an aux input. An Amp, Port, or Play:5. YOu could wire your phone directly to the speaker, or get a BT receiver attached to the aux input.
If you have an iphone you could purchase one of the airplay compatible speakers, like the Play:1s replacement, Sonos One SL. You can use airplay in the same way you use BT essentially.
A 3rd option is to get a Sonos device that has an aux input. An Amp, Port, or Play:5. YOu could wire your phone directly to the speaker, or get a BT receiver attached to the aux input.
Hi. You cannot use Bluetooth on Sonos except for the new Move. There is no speaker called a Play One. If you have a Sonos One you can use Airplay, but as you have a Dot I am guessing that you have a Play:1, which doesn't do Airplay.
Thank you for this and your advice. I did guess as much about Bluetooth compatibility but wasn't sure.
Sonos One SL looks and sounds good and reasonably priced as well
Sonos One SL looks and sounds good and reasonably priced as well
Or see my post currently at the end of this thread.
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/bbc-tunein-6828704/index2.html
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/bbc-tunein-6828704/index2.html
John B wrote:
Or see my post currently at the end of this thread.
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/bbc-tunein-6828704/index2.html
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/bbc-tunein-6828704/index2.html
Taking note of the content in your opening post, you might find this link an interesting read...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/37e4e3f6-fbd2-4c14-8d72-7f7139641582
I’m sure you can still access BBC TuneIn stations from your Sonos app on your phone at the moment. It’s doing it through Alexa that’s ended.
+26I believe you can still use Alexa to play BBC using the Radioplayer skill. With a Sonos One (not the SL), you could ask Alexa to play BBC using the Radioplayer skill to stream it on Sonos, but the Dot I don't believe will be able to stream Radioplayer to a Sonos player via Alexa, since it's not a supported music service on Sonos.
“Alexa, Play BBC Radio 2 from Tunein” does play here for me, but some other stations don’t ... I read the article as though the BBC were saying that all their stations will play via Sonos and Alexa. So perhaps this is a 'glitch', post switch off.
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all. 😁
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all. 😁
I'm sharing the same frustration, I've got a few sonos units none of which have voice control built in. I've got an Echo Dot that I use to start the radio etc when I'm cooking in the kitchen and it stopped working today with BBC Radio 5 after they switched off the tune in service.
Got to be honest I don't want a faffy solution I want to know how to speak to Alexa and get her/it to start the BBC Radio channels on Sonos. (I appreciate this isn't really a Sonos issue though)
Got to be honest I don't want a faffy solution I want to know how to speak to Alexa and get her/it to start the BBC Radio channels on Sonos. (I appreciate this isn't really a Sonos issue though)
stooH wrote:
I'm sharing the same frustration, I've got a few sonos units none of which have voice control built in. I've got an Echo Dot that I use to start the radio etc when I'm cooking in the kitchen and it stopped working today with BBC Radio 5 after they switched off the tune in service.
Got to be honest I don't want a faffy solution I want to know how to speak to Alexa and get her/it to start the BBC Radio channels on Sonos. (I appreciate this isn't really a Sonos issue though)
Got to be honest I don't want a faffy solution I want to know how to speak to Alexa and get her/it to start the BBC Radio channels on Sonos. (I appreciate this isn't really a Sonos issue though)
Yes I totally agree. I want to say "Alexa play radio 1 on the house" which I used to do and it was fine. I don't care which service it uses. I don't even want to go as far as saying "Alexa open BBC sounds and play radio 1 on the house" but I suppose I would if it worked!
It's ridiculous and happens far too much, stupid reasons for reversing how far technology has come and how easy it is to use.
But yes, appreciate it probably isn't a sonos issue.
Ken_Griffiths wrote:
“Alexa, Play BBC Radio 2 from Tunein” does play here for me, but some other stations don’t ... I read the article as though the BBC were saying that all their stations will play via Sonos and Alexa. So perhaps this is a 'glitch', post switch off.
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all. 😁
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all. 😁
Licence payer has nothing to do with BBC radio. The licence covers TV reception. However, I agree with most posts that the beeb have increasinglly messed up the radio streams. The half-arsed voice activation services have a lot to answer for! (And don't grt me started on those one-finger bandit smartphones).
This is a highly frustrating move by the BBC. I’d recommend adding your comments to the BBC blog, signing the change.org petition, sending a complaint to the BBC & leaving a review on the BBC Alexa skill and on the BBC Sounds app on the iOS or Android AppStore (whichever you use).
In the meantime you should still be able to stream BBC stations via TuneIn from the Sonos app. It’s only the Alexa voice functionality which has been withdrawn. If you can’t get the Sonos app to do this something is wrong & you need support.
There is one other workaround I often use as I find that it’s never possible to find all the BBC programmes I want to listen to (retrospectively) via the Sonos app/TuneIn.
I have a Chromecast stick plugged into my tv (bought a few hrs ago, can’t recall precisely how much it cost, maybe £30).
I can chromecast direct from BBC sounds to the tv. I can then group any other speakers to the speaker playing my TV so I can listen throughout my house. The drawbacks of this are that your tv must be switched on & no one else could use it during that time. Sometimes I knock the tv sound onto mute and just have the sound coming from speakers in other rooms.
Hope that helps.
In the meantime you should still be able to stream BBC stations via TuneIn from the Sonos app. It’s only the Alexa voice functionality which has been withdrawn. If you can’t get the Sonos app to do this something is wrong & you need support.
There is one other workaround I often use as I find that it’s never possible to find all the BBC programmes I want to listen to (retrospectively) via the Sonos app/TuneIn.
I have a Chromecast stick plugged into my tv (bought a few hrs ago, can’t recall precisely how much it cost, maybe £30).
I can chromecast direct from BBC sounds to the tv. I can then group any other speakers to the speaker playing my TV so I can listen throughout my house. The drawbacks of this are that your tv must be switched on & no one else could use it during that time. Sometimes I knock the tv sound onto mute and just have the sound coming from speakers in other rooms.
Hope that helps.
You need to set up playing using BBC stations using IFTTT. Download the IFTTT app to your phone. Several in here have written down what to do then. But it can be done.
+3It's this kind of thing that really spoils "smart home" tech. Whether it's Google being useless and not supporting their own GSuite accounts with Google Assistant, or Alexa not being able to use TuneIn any more, it makes buyers wary of investing in any tech.
Sonos is different in that it allows all services on its platform, but even it isn't immune when another service decides to make a change.
I was all invested in Google Home/Assistant until I discovered the various shortcomings with their own GSuite accounts, and their habit of dropping support for products at a moment's notice. So I've moved over to Alexa/Echo. But they don't have quote as good a Spotify integration, Amazon Music doesn't work well on Android Auto/Apple Car Play and now I can't easily use their voice assistant to play BBC Radio stations on Sonos.
It's very frustrating.
Derrick123 wrote:
You need to set up playing using BBC stations using IFTTT. Download the IFTTT app to your phone. Several in here have written down what to do then. But it can be done.
Please see my posts in this thread for a solution: https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/alexa-and-bbc-6831167
+22castalla wrote:
Ken_Griffiths wrote:
“Alexa, Play BBC Radio 2 from Tunein” does play here for me, but some other stations don’t ... I read the article as though the BBC were saying that all their stations will play via Sonos and Alexa. So perhaps this is a 'glitch', post switch off.
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all.
I hope that proves to be the case. I am a UK resident and BBC licence payer after all.
Licence payer has nothing to do with BBC radio. The licence covers TV reception. However, I agree with most posts that the beeb have increasinglly messed up the radio streams. The half-arsed voice activation services have a lot to answer for! (And don't grt me started on those one-finger bandit smartphones).
This is not correct. Whilst it is true to say you do not need a TV licence to listen to radio the BBC radio service IS funded through the TV licence.
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