Is there a way to not silence all Sonos speakers when Alexa is active? We have Sonos speakers throughout the house (two stories). We have two echo dots (one on the first floor, one on the second floor). Every time someone makes a request to Alexa, all of the Sonos speakers go silent. This is annoying when someone is listening to music on the second floor, for example, and someone is asking a question on the first floor. Ideally only the speakers near the Echo dot would go silent. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Use Alexa groups. See this thread for details:
https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/sonos-now-playing-with-alexa-groups-6817588/index7.html#post16305403
I ran into an issue last night (and am still trying to resolve). I have a Beam and a One, with room names Living Room and Kitchen. When I first set up Sonos integration with Alexa, all worked perfectly. including Alexa grouping with Sonos. Last night my Sonos devices in Alexa no longer displayed the Sonos room name, but showed 'Jeff's Sonos One', the icon changed and I couldn't have both Sonos devices as 'Preferred Speakers' in my group. I've reset literally everything, but I can't get the Sonos room names to show back up. See attached screenshot for the icon in Alexa.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I ran into an issue last night (and am still trying to resolve). I have a Beam and a One, with room names Living Room and Kitchen. When I first set up Sonos integration with Alexa, all worked perfectly. including Alexa grouping with Sonos. Last night my Sonos devices in Alexa no longer displayed the Sonos room name, but showed 'Jeff's Sonos One', the icon changed and I couldn't have both Sonos devices as 'Preferred Speakers' in my group. I've reset literally everything, but I can't get the Sonos room names to show back up. See attached screenshot for the icon in Alexa.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
FWIW, this sounds a lot like what I'm seeing, if not identical: https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/starting-yesterday-alexa-cannot-discover-any-sonos-devices-as-speakers-but-sonos-devices-accept-voice-input-6819621
I ran into an issue last night (and am still trying to resolve). I have a Beam and a One, with room names Living Room and Kitchen. When I first set up Sonos integration with Alexa, all worked perfectly. including Alexa grouping with Sonos. Last night my Sonos devices in Alexa no longer displayed the Sonos room name, but showed 'Jeff's Sonos One', the icon changed and I couldn't have both Sonos devices as 'Preferred Speakers' in my group. I've reset literally everything, but I can't get the Sonos room names to show back up. See attached screenshot for the icon in Alexa.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If you've added your Sonos speakers to iOS HomeKit using the Home app, it will periodically (nightly i believe) sync the room names in the Sonos app with the Home app. So maybe you have it labelled as 'Jeff's Sonos One' in the Home app? For me, the room names in the Sonos app kept resetting back to 'Sonos Speaker' - turns out it was the Home app doing this, so i just renamed them their and it's now good.
Hi,
Having issues with Alexa at the moment. All spotify voice commands results with a “Sonos is offline”. All devices are “Online” on the Alexa app. Playing music through the Sonos and spotify app works fine. Spoke to Sonos tech this afternoon and they said it’s a widespread issue with Alexa.
Anyone else experiencing this?
I just bought a Sonos one without realising that in effect, only Amazon Music is supported. I can sometimes get it to play other things via the app but usually Alexa shuts them down, I only listen to classical music and my preferred service is Idagio. After following the procedure it still does not work. I bought the device on the basis that I could do this as (fraudulently) claimed by Sonos. I cannot return it as it is working so onto Ebay it goes. Sonos have scammed me.
During the last weeks (maybe from the latest sonos/alexa update), music played with Sonos:One will interrupt if the request is made via Alexa [music service connected as default: Deezer (Hi-Fi account)].
There are no issue if I use the sonos-app from the cellphone (no interruption); to better explain here we go:
USER - "Alexa, play Pink Floyd"
ALEXA - "Pink Floyd playing from Deezer"
--Music Starts-- after 1/2minutes
ALEXA - "Impossible playing..."
Silence... //\\DEAD//\\
Who is responsible? Sonos or Amazon?? 😃
I have a lot of (expensive) SONOS speakers in my home and would really really really like to work with voice commands (Alexa or Google) but this won't work in BELGIUM!! WHY WHY WHY ????? Belgium is a civilised country with a lot of SONOS buyers. Too difficult to implement or ...?
Where should I start? I'm currently on my 3rd Sonos One. Every one has had the same issues. I'm absolutely sick of the thing and wish I'd never bought it.
Firstly, after a few days Alexa stops responding to voice commands. Sonos technical's solution to this is to reboot the Alexa skill. I'm currently doing this 2-3 times a week just to make the product usable. I'd say that makes it unfit for purpose.
If I set an alarm and choose a radio station as the alarm it works for about 2-3 days, then when it comes on the volume is so low it can barely be heard. Any attempt to ask Alexa to change the volume fails. If I attempt to change the volume by using the touch buttons on top of the device, nothing happens. The only way to alter the volume is to open the Sonos app and do it from there.
Some days the radio doesn't launch when I select it as the alarm. In these cases I'm greeted with the standard alarm tone and have to open the Sonos app to turn it off as Alexa doesn't respond to my command to stop the alarm. Whenever this problem arises, the white light on top of the device pulses at a very high speed, much faster than when it flashes during the set up process. What does this mean? Nobody seems to be able to answer this.
As far as I'm concerned the Alexa skill is useless. There is clearly some issue with Sonos & Alexa that nobody is prepared to admit to.
I'll wait for the Google assistant to launch and try that instead. If that fails to work then I'm binning the thing.
BTW, I'm a Sonos retailer and have been for well over a decade. This has completely changed my opinion of the Sonos range of products, which up until the integration of Alexa had been absolutely faultless and superb.
Hi Steven
This is far from my experience with the Sonos One - sorry, I know this statement won't make you feel any better but it is an indication that there is something specific about your set-up that is causing this issue.
Before we start looking specifically at the Alexa integration, can you confirm your set-up: Is your system wired, SonosNet or Wi-Fi connected? Have you reserved IP addresses for your Sonos devices within your Router settings pages?
My initial thinking is that this may be some form of connectivity issue and I think it best if we explore that before moving on to Alexa specific troubleshooting.
I solved the problem... get rid of the Sonos One and Alexa combo from hell and get a HomePod...wow it actually works!
I solved the problem... get rid of the Sonos One and Alexa combo from hell and get a HomePod...wow it actually works!
Might be the best suggestion I’ve seen yet! The OP is outdated and to learn this has been ongoing for this long is disheartening. Maybe I’ll just buy another one and keep returning it until I find one that works for more than two days.
I’m really not sure why this thread is stickied - it’s useless when the solution lands you back at the starting point two days later and each time you’ll waste ½ hour of your time following these procedures.
I just want to say that it is insane to have to factory reset all Sonos devices, especially when one has several rooms set up, to resolve this issue.
No idea why better solutions have not been offered. No idea why this thread is still stickied.
I just want to say that it is insane to have to factory reset all Sonos devices, especially when one has several rooms set up, to resolve this issue.
No idea why better solutions have not been offered. No idea why this thread is still stickied.
There is never, ever a need to factory reset, unless an update fails in the middle of updating, and certainly not for any issues with Alexa. In fact, Sonos advises against it unless specifically told to do so by support.
I just want to say that it is insane to have to factory reset all Sonos devices, especially when one has several rooms set up, to resolve this issue.
No idea why better solutions have not been offered. No idea why this thread is still stickied.
There is never, ever a need to factory reset, unless an update fails in the middle of updating, and certainly not for any issues with Alexa. In fact, Sonos advises against it unless specifically told to do so by support.
Step 3 of Edward R’s first post specifically mentions factory reset. This is why I am suggesting this thread either be unstickied, or edited with more current instructions.
3. Factory Reset the Sonos One by following the steps here.
missyagogo, thanks for pointing this out, I have removed the instructions to Factory Reset, jgatie is entirely correct.
We will look into revising the information contained here in the near future.
This issue has been going on for years and wow… still not fixed? I can’t get mine to at all play with Alexa.
Reset Alexa on Sonos
Step 1: unplug the speaker. Unplug your speaker from the socket. ...
Step 2: start the reset. Hold down the pause or Join button while plugging the speaker back into the socket. ...
Step 3: wait for the reset to complete. Within 30 seconds, the LED will flash green.
MyCCPay
Reset Alexa on Sonos
Step 1: unplug the speaker. Unplug your speaker from the socket. ...
Step 2: start the reset. Hold down the pause or Join button while plugging the speaker back into the socket. ...
Step 3: wait for the reset to complete. Within 30 seconds, the LED will flash green.
MyCCPay
This is not good advice: A factory reset removes all diagnostic information and rarely fixes the problem. This should only be carried out when recommended by Sonos Tech Support.
What a complete disaster, some people just want a device that plugs and plays. You really want me to delete all of my amazon apps across devices and go through this Myraid just to get your speaker working.
Paid £199 for this, wasted 2 days trying to get it to function at any type of capacity.
Microphone not working, pages of manuals to get it on
Alexa not working, reprogram your whole house to connect it.
Folks please just buy yourself and Amazon Echo or an Ultimate Ears, save yourself some money and a lot of time.
What a complete disaster, some people just want a device that plugs and plays. You really want me to delete all of my amazon apps across devices and go through this Myraid just to get your speaker working.
Paid £199 for this, wasted 2 days trying to get it to function at any type of capacity.
Microphone not working, pages of manuals to get it on
Alexa not working, reprogram your whole house to connect it.
Folks please just buy yourself and Amazon Echo or an Ultimate Ears, save yourself some money and a lot of time.
I can try and help if you want me to? Can you briefly describe the progress you have made and what error message or issue that you have. Also, can you also describe if the system works fine via the Sonos App and what type of mobile device that you are using?
Thank you for replying got it.
soap2day
Seeing this, and the myriad of other posts dealing with Alexa & Sonos integration (and lack of real fixes even from the experts), you would think that both organizations would want to correct this ASAP. I'm new to the Alexa ecosystem, and so far I have been happy with just the Alexa devices performance. All seems to work well.
Using just an Echo Dot to get started, I decided I'd add a good speaker for this task. I purchased a Play:1 because of it's ability to integrate with Alexa. The setup went fine, but I'm now having issues when I switch back and forth between using the Sonos app and then the Alexa App. I find that I lose some functionality (volume control of the speaker and navigation control in Amazon Music via Sonos) when just in the Sonos App, but I can't control the speaker volume in just the Alexa App. Thus, I have to hop back and forth. Ridiculous for very basic functions.
Then, what I noticed was that you loose the ability to go back to the Sonos speaker via the Alexa app. It will tell you, Speaker Off line when the darn thing is playing at the time. The only way I could regain control of the Sonos via the Alexa app was to remove the skill, reinstall the skill, and then go through the skill setup process in Alexa app.
It's as if Amazon did not want to give you full functionality via the Sonos App, but didn't realize you have no volume control via the Alexa app.
Voice control seems to work fine as long as you don't go back and forth on the apps. This is inconvenient though due to the lack of remote volume control.
This integration needs a lot of work. I'm surprised they let this go to market this chopped up. Hopefully some upgrades will help get closer to the seamlessness they market as being here now.
I should have never bought a Sonos One, I was moving into a new house and wanted music without having to fit speakers. I should have bought an Echo Dot, that works and is no trouble.
Sonos One hardly ever does what you want, volume up, volume down, anyone's guess. The music plays at volume 6 by Sonos App control, Alexa has no idea what volume she is at and so cannot reduce it. No tool to reduce volume in Sonos or Alexa if music not playing, reduce Sonos level and Alexa stays the same. She rarely follows instruction. The box is next to the router but the WiFi signal is not seen as strong enough to stay connected, solved by running a Cat6 cable the 6" from router to box, now alarm plays the radio without issue …
It is truly a pile of junk, my Dot upstairs is perfect, plays music well too. Everyone who asks what they should get I say an Echo or an Echo Dot at steer clear of anything Sonos, it's awful.
And Sonos support treat you like a fool, I have an electronics engineering degree and worked for 30 years in IT and more recently IoT hardware and software design, I know what is possible and Sonos is not it.
Seeing this, and the myriad of other posts dealing with Alexa & Sonos integration (and lack of real fixes even from the experts), you would think that both organizations would want to correct this ASAP. I'm new to the Alexa ecosystem, and so far I have been happy with just the Alexa devices performance. All seems to work well.
Using just an Echo Dot to get started, I decided I'd add a good speaker for this task. I purchased a Play:1 because of it's ability to integrate with Alexa. The setup went fine, but I'm now having issues when I switch back and forth between using the Sonos app and then the Alexa App. I find that I lose some functionality (volume control of the speaker and navigation control in Amazon Music via Sonos) when just in the Sonos App, but I can't control the speaker volume in just the Alexa App. Thus, I have to hop back and forth. Ridiculous for very basic functions.
Then, what I noticed was that you loose the ability to go back to the Sonos speaker via the Alexa app. It will tell you, Speaker Off line when the darn thing is playing at the time. The only way I could regain control of the Sonos via the Alexa app was to remove the skill, reinstall the skill, and then go through the skill setup process in Alexa app.
It's as if Amazon did not want to give you full functionality via the Sonos App, but didn't realize you have no volume control via the Alexa app.
Voice control seems to work fine as long as you don't go back and forth on the apps. This is inconvenient though due to the lack of remote volume control.
This integration needs a lot of work. I'm surprised they let this go to market this chopped up. Hopefully some upgrades will help get closer to the seamlessness they market as being here now.
I should have never bought a Sonos One, I was moving into a new house and wanted music without having to fit speakers. I should have bought an Echo Dot, that works and is no trouble.
Sonos One hardly ever does what you want, volume up, volume down, anyone's guess. The music plays at volume 6 by Sonos App control, Alexa has no idea what volume she is at and so cannot reduce it. No tool to reduce volume in Sonos or Alexa if music not playing, reduce Sonos level and Alexa stays the same. She rarely follows instruction. The box is next to the router but the WiFi signal is not seen as strong enough to stay connected, solved by running a Cat6 cable the 6" from router to box, now alarm plays the radio without issue …
It is truly a pile of junk, my Dot upstairs is perfect, plays music well too. Everyone who asks what they should get I say an Echo or an Echo Dot at steer clear of anything Sonos, it's awful.
And Sonos support treat you like a fool, I have an electronics engineering degree and worked for 30 years in IT and more recently IoT hardware and software design, I know what is possible and Sonos is not it.
Hi
I’ll try to work through your issues one by one, if I miss something please reply back:
1/ ‘Sonos One hardly ever does what you want, volume up, volume down, anyone's guess. The music plays at volume 6 by Sonos App control, Alexa has no idea what volume she is at and so cannot reduce it.’ - What commands are you using? Please try ‘Alexa, volume 2’ or ‘Alexa, Softer’ - ‘Alexa, Louder’
2/ ‘No tool to reduce volume in Sonos or Alexa if music not playing, reduce Sonos level and Alexa stays the same.’ - You can adjust the volume via the App by selecting the bottom central ‘Rooms’ tab and choosing the required Sonos Room and volume control or by using the commands above. The volume of Alexa is tied to the volume of your Sonos device, there is no separate volume control although lots of people have requested this.;
3/ ‘The box is next to the router but the WiFi signal is not seen as strong enough to stay connected, solved by running a Cat6 cable the 6" from router to box, now alarm plays the radio without issue …’ - Have you tried the steps in this article?
