setting up multi-room music in Alexa app
I have 2 Sonos Ones (both have Alexa built in)n and a Sonos Play 5. I asked Alexa to play music in bedroom, dining room and family room, then Alexa tells me I need to set up multi-room music on Alexa app. I checked internet to see how to do that and it says to go to "Audio Groups" in Settings but there is no Audio Groups shown in my Alexa app Settings.
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ok, thanks! 😃
I have a group called 'Lounge' which is my Beam + 2x Play:1's and another group called 'Bedroom' which is just a Sonos One. As far as I can tell from this thread it's only possible to play music through both groups by physically selecting them in the Sonos App, and not possible to pair them using voice control with Alexa.
Is it possible to create a new group in the Sonos app called "Everything" that includes my Beam + 2x Play:1's + Sonos One so I can tell Alexa to play music to "Everything" and bypass having to select them individually on the app?
Is it possible to create a new group in the Sonos app called "Everything" that includes my Beam + 2x Play:1's + Sonos One so I can tell Alexa to play music to "Everything" and bypass having to select them individually on the app?
Is the only way to group everything together at the beginning? I have my Beam and 2x Play:1s set up as a home theatre. I tried setting them up all together but it didn't change anything.
Ken that is great information.
Okay so just to clarify there isn't any way of using the voice command to group the two rooms when playing music, only via the app. After the rooms are grouped in the app I can use voice commands to play music, yes?
I don't seem to have the option to play "Everywhere" like you do on the app. I only have two rooms to choose from though.
Okay so just to clarify there isn't any way of using the voice command to group the two rooms when playing music, only via the app. After the rooms are grouped in the app I can use voice commands to play music, yes?
I don't seem to have the option to play "Everywhere" like you do on the app. I only have two rooms to choose from though.
Sprint211,
Yes that’s correct.
I assume the 'Play Everywhere' is simply because I have lots of rooms.
Yes that’s correct.
I assume the 'Play Everywhere' is simply because I have lots of rooms.
Yes that is correct. In the Rooms tab, as soon as you hit the 'Group' button the top option should be 'Everywhere'. It is possible that it doesn't appear for a two-room setup as it only requires one touch to achieve that anyway (by selecting the other 'room').
Sorry Ken - should have left it in your capable hands!
All capable hands are welcome!
Okay so I have another problem. I love sonos so much I decided to get another Sonos One for my work which is in a different building on a different wifi network.
When I try to use Alexa to do music commands like skip track etc it tells me I need to learn the skill in the Alexa app.
I go to the app and find that the Sonos skill is enabled, but if I disable it and then re-enable it, then the voice control works on my work speaker. However when I come home it has now kicked off my home speakers and I have to do the same disable/enable thing, which then kicks off my work speaker.
Thoughts?
Okay so I have another problem. I love sonos so much I decided to get another Sonos One for my work which is in a different building on a different wifi network.
When I try to use Alexa to do music commands like skip track etc it tells me I need to learn the skill in the Alexa app.
I go to the app and find that the Sonos skill is enabled, but if I disable it and then re-enable it, then the voice control works on my work speaker. However when I come home it has now kicked off my home speakers and I have to do the same disable/enable thing, which then kicks off my work speaker.
Thoughts?
I am no Alexa expert. Maybe sufficient to tell Alexa to 'discover devices' after moving?
I tried that, unfortunately it says it has no devices to discover..
Indeed, I think the answer is no, you can’t do that. You can always tell woeful customer support when they respond by initially repeating a version of your question, when the question was, in fact, perfectly clear :-)
Currently the the Alexia/Echo “multiroom” and “everywhere” are restricted to Echo only. I assume this is because either Sonos or Amazon wish you to fill your entire house with just their own speakers. 😃
Currently the the Alexia/Echo “multiroom” and “everywhere” are restricted to Echo only. I assume this is because either Sonos or Amazon wish you to fill your entire house with just their own speakers. :D
I am hopeful that the Alexa groups can eventually be used to create named groups of Sonos speakers, or Sonos will have a named group feature all of their own. But not at all hopeful that you'll be able to play echos and sonos speakers together. Yes, it has something to do with wanting to sell you're products and make a profit, but the fact that there is any integration at all shows that both companies realize that working together can make both companies more profitable (for now anyway). There is also the fact that Sonos has both companies have their own multiroom protocols. Sonos doesn't want to share that with anyone, and Amazon surely feels the same way. Maybe circumstances will change on that one day.
So if I want to use to voice control to play music throughout my house, I have to find my phone, set up a group in the app, and then issue the voice command.
I think we are stretching the definition of voice control here! There needs to be a way to create the group with an Alexa command.
So if I want to use to voice control to play music throughout my house, I have to find my phone, set up a group in the app, and then issue the voice command.
I think we are stretching the definition of voice control here! There needs to be a way to create the group with an Alexa command.
Even Alexa does not do that for Amazon devices at the moment... so Sonos may have to wait for Amazon to get that resolved first.
No waiting is required. Sonos simply needs to add grouping to its API, then Alexa can access those features. Alexa controls thousands of devices. Do you honestly believe that each of those thousands of companies just sat around and waited for Amazon to support them??? No! Each of those companies simply wrote their own API with the features that they need. Once that's done, Alexa is able to access those features.
It's the same thing here, Sonos simply needs to add grouping into its API. Once that's done, Alexa will be able to use the new feature.
My guess is the Sonos team is buried in trying to set up Google Assistant and isn't thinking about anything else at the moment.
Kirk33
So where does the actual creation and interpretation of the initial voice instruction come from then?... such as ... 'Alexa, group my living room with my Lounge' Does that not have to be created by Amazon then ? How will Alexa know and become aware that I’m talking about my speakers and not my Hue Lights or my living room smart plugs, for example?
Calling to the Sonos API features to group my speakers is one thing, but what about the initial Amazon Alexa side of things and it’s interpreter?
So where does the actual creation and interpretation of the initial voice instruction come from then?... such as ... 'Alexa, group my living room with my Lounge' Does that not have to be created by Amazon then ? How will Alexa know and become aware that I’m talking about my speakers and not my Hue Lights or my living room smart plugs, for example?
Calling to the Sonos API features to group my speakers is one thing, but what about the initial Amazon Alexa side of things and it’s interpreter?
Ken, I believe if you simply say "Alexa, tell Sonos..." then Alexa will let the Sonos API handle whatever words come next. Therefore "Alexa, tell Sonos to group all my speakers" is a command that Sonos could create all by themselves. They can do it anytime they want. However, if you simply want to say "Alexa, group all my speakers", then Sonos needs to work with Amazon.
IMO, the "tell Sonos" thing is perfectly acceptable. But that's just me. I want to specify that I'm not an API expert. I believe the above is accurate, but I'm not 100% certain.
IMO, the "tell Sonos" thing is perfectly acceptable. But that's just me. I want to specify that I'm not an API expert. I believe the above is accurate, but I'm not 100% certain.
The Alexa/Sonos interface was not designed as a "Alexa, tell Sonos" type skill. It is far more versatile and interactive. Being so, it is also far more reliant on development by both Sonos and Amazon for new features.
True, the existing command set does not rely on "tell Sonos". That absolutely does NOT mean that new commands can't be added using "tell Sonos". The alternative is that we wait for years, maybe forever, to get Amazon to implement the most basic of Sonos features like grouping. Is that your definition of "versatile"??? I'm sorry, but that sounds insane to me.
Sonos could literally write that API in just a few days, all by themselves. Now THAT is versatile.
Personally, if it required "tell Sonos", I would be looking elsewhere. I suspect others would too and, versatile or not, that is not good for Sonos.
I'm certainly no expert here either, but I would have thought the Alexa voice command would need key 'unique' words in it, in a particular order, that passes through the Amazon speech engine and is then interpretted into a particular compiled set of instructions that are encrypted and passed back to the Sonos API on the users local network. I think it would need work from both sides to do something like that. I would be surprised if Sonos are able to add their own unique key words in an instruction. I would have guessed that needed to centrally managed by Amazon, personally speaking, aswell as compiling and encrypting the returned instruction back to the API interface?
Kirk33 isn't wrong. The 'tell sonos' method would mean that any text preceding the phrase gets passed on to Sonos servers for further processing. Sonos could then have could that could do grouping instructions If Sonos can't understand the text, it's supposed to return an error message. This would not be a smart skill though and would be a completely secondary way of controlling sonos outside of the current smart skill.
I personally don't care for this route. My pool control operates this way, and it's rather annoying to have to say 'Alexa, Ask Hayward to..." instead of just saying what I want to do. I also means that my pool control can't be integrated with any other smart devices in my home.
I would guess that Sonos management did take this under consideration and chose not to go this route. I would also guess that they believed that grouping capabilities would be possible through the smart skill by now. Not sure if they'd make the same choice again, hindsight being 20/20.
No waiting is required. Sonos simply needs to add grouping to its API, then Alexa can access those features. Alexa controls thousands of devices. Do you honestly believe that each of those thousands of companies just sat around and waited for Amazon to support them??? No! Each of those companies simply wrote their own API with the features that they need. Once that's done, Alexa is able to access those features.
I'm confident that this part is not true. Amazon isn't letting the tail wag the dog. They surely have a very generic interface where they pass text on to whatever skill was called, and it's up to the developers of that skill to know what to do with it. They are not going to call a different API for each skill you can use through Alexa.
Even with smart skills, Amazon sets up APIs for each object type they support, and everyone else must bend to meet Amazon standards. Amazon is not letting each lighter set a different API for controlling their lights.
I personally don't care for this route. My pool control operates this way, and it's rather annoying to have to say 'Alexa, Ask Hayward to..." instead of just saying what I want to do. I also means that my pool control can't be integrated with any other smart devices in my home.
I would guess that Sonos management did take this under consideration and chose not to go this route. I would also guess that they believed that grouping capabilities would be possible through the smart skill by now. Not sure if they'd make the same choice again, hindsight being 20/20.
No waiting is required. Sonos simply needs to add grouping to its API, then Alexa can access those features. Alexa controls thousands of devices. Do you honestly believe that each of those thousands of companies just sat around and waited for Amazon to support them??? No! Each of those companies simply wrote their own API with the features that they need. Once that's done, Alexa is able to access those features.
I'm confident that this part is not true. Amazon isn't letting the tail wag the dog. They surely have a very generic interface where they pass text on to whatever skill was called, and it's up to the developers of that skill to know what to do with it. They are not going to call a different API for each skill you can use through Alexa.
Even with smart skills, Amazon sets up APIs for each object type they support, and everyone else must bend to meet Amazon standards. Amazon is not letting each lighter set a different API for controlling their lights.
Danny,
That now makes sense to me, as Logitech have two skills on the UK Alexa site for Harmony Remote Support. One Skill is coloured Red and each voice command has to begin with “Alexa, Ask Harmony to...” The other is coloured Blue and the Skill does virtually the same thing, but there is no need to use the ”Ask Harmony to...”.
These two Logitech skills allow for two different Harmony Hubs (usually in different rooms) to be controlled by one single Alexa account.
Funnily enough, Logitech removed what I will call the 'Red Skill' from the Google Assistant a week or two ago ...and they have replaced it with the Blue one only, so whilst only one Harmony Hub can now still be used with that voice assistant, at least the user doesn’t have to say ”Hey Google, Ask Harmony to...” anymore and that’s made a difference in our house.
So I assume now that Logitech are moving things from their own servers back over to the Google side of things and it’s perhaps possible the same thing may eventually happen with Amazon... there needs to be a way though for these voice assistants to use multiple instances of a Skill, so that such multiple devices, like a Harmony Remote, can then be used in the home.
Anyhow, I still wonder why Amazon have not introduced grouping/ungrouping of their own Echo speakers via voice control??... at the moment that’s done in their Alexa App using 'Music Groups', so perhaps grouping via voice is in the 'read difficult to do' category, particularly as the speaker/rooms can be given virtually any name and that alone must be a bit of a challenge to recognise and interpret correctly.
Anyhow I feel a bit wiser having read your informative post above.?
That now makes sense to me, as Logitech have two skills on the UK Alexa site for Harmony Remote Support. One Skill is coloured Red and each voice command has to begin with “Alexa, Ask Harmony to...” The other is coloured Blue and the Skill does virtually the same thing, but there is no need to use the ”Ask Harmony to...”.
These two Logitech skills allow for two different Harmony Hubs (usually in different rooms) to be controlled by one single Alexa account.
Funnily enough, Logitech removed what I will call the 'Red Skill' from the Google Assistant a week or two ago ...and they have replaced it with the Blue one only, so whilst only one Harmony Hub can now still be used with that voice assistant, at least the user doesn’t have to say ”Hey Google, Ask Harmony to...” anymore and that’s made a difference in our house.
So I assume now that Logitech are moving things from their own servers back over to the Google side of things and it’s perhaps possible the same thing may eventually happen with Amazon... there needs to be a way though for these voice assistants to use multiple instances of a Skill, so that such multiple devices, like a Harmony Remote, can then be used in the home.
Anyhow, I still wonder why Amazon have not introduced grouping/ungrouping of their own Echo speakers via voice control??... at the moment that’s done in their Alexa App using 'Music Groups', so perhaps grouping via voice is in the 'read difficult to do' category, particularly as the speaker/rooms can be given virtually any name and that alone must be a bit of a challenge to recognise and interpret correctly.
Anyhow I feel a bit wiser having read your informative post above.?
Anyhow, I still wonder why Amazon have not introduced grouping/ungrouping of their own Echo speakers via voice control??... at the moment that’s done in their Alexa App using 'Music Groups', so perhaps grouping via voice is in the 'read difficult to do' category, particularly as the speaker/rooms can be given virtually any name and that alone must be a bit of a challenge to recognise and interpret correctly.
I believe their speaker API has no mechanism for referencing multiple speakers. Kind of mistake in hindsight if that's the case. Although, I wouldn't be too surprised if Amazon did this intentionally for some unknown reason. I can also think of some reasons why Sonos wouldn't want this...or perhaps they wouldn't want to do group control in this way as it would have some limitations. Sonos could be holding out for the 'right' solution, I don't know, totally guessing.
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/a9acaabd-d5a0-4fdf-b74a-c20cfe4d4ef9/deliver-whole-home-audio-with-alexa-multi-room-music-and-device-targeting
Hoping for multi room for the holidays. While I’ve got a few One’s, this support will decide whether I fill out the rest of the house & tv’s or start exploring ecosystems.
This SDK has nothing to do with grouping Sonos speakers. It's for grouping Alexa speakers. Amazon is developing its own whole-home speaker system (with voice grouping included) to compete with and beat Sonos. They're never gonna write Sonos grouping commands cause that would give away their advantage. If Sonos insists on sitting quietly and waiting for Amazon to do this, they are going to be waiting forever.
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