Sonos group vs Alexa group

  • 30 December 2017
  • 7 replies
  • 657 views

Badge +2
Hi, I hve multiple Sonos products (Play1, Play3, Connect Amp)....I can setup "whole house"group in the Sonos app. But, I can' see how to set up "whole house" that Alexa will recognize?

I also posted elsewhere that the living room volume through Alexa (even at 10) isnot as loud as direct play through the Sonos app?

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.

7 replies

Alexa groups are not used for 3rd party speakers at this time. You must do grouping via the Sonos app. Then tell Alexa to play to any one room in the group and it will play to the whole group. Whether Alexa groups will be supported in the future remains to be seen. Right now the holdup is waiting for a new Amazon multi-room music SDK scheduled for next year.
I was able to create a Sonos group with 4 Play:1's and Alexa recognixed it and was able to "Play music to all speakers" sucessfully.
I just purchased 2 Play:3's and added them to this group and now Alexa says "I can't play music on the group yet".

I understand that you can't combine Sonos devices with Google devices... but I can't even combine Sonos devices of different types. (This new group of 1's & 3's CAN be played via the Sonos app.)
Userlevel 7
Badge +20


I understand that you can't combine Sonos devices with Google devices... but I can't even combine Sonos devices of different types. (This new group of 1's & 3's CAN be played via the Sonos app.)


The Sonos app isn't aware of Alexa Groups, so whilst you can create a Device Group (Note: not a Multi-Room Music group) containing Sonos players, the Sonos App is unaware of this group. As jgatie stated, currently the only way to output audio to multiple Sonos players is via creating a group within the Rooms tab in the Sonos App.
Understood.
I had Play:1’s defined as a group and was able to play to it from Alexa by referencing one device.
I added 2 Play:3’s to that group and now receive the Alexa error message when making the same request.
Understood.
I had Play:1’s defined as a group and was able to play to it from Alexa by referencing one device.
I added 2 Play:3’s to that group and now receive the Alexa error message when making the same request.


I was able to make this work with both 1’s and 3’s.
I just deleted the group in the Sonos app and then redefined it. I asked Alexa to play music on one of the Sonos device names within the group and, as stated above, it played on all the devices in the group.

It would be nice to be able to play on a mix of devices.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Understood.
I had Play:1’s defined as a group and was able to play to it from Alexa by referencing one device.
I added 2 Play:3’s to that group and now receive the Alexa error message when making the same request.


I was able to make this work with both 1’s and 3’s.
I just deleted the group in the Sonos app and then redefined it. I asked Alexa to play music on one of the Sonos device names within the group and, as stated above, it played on all the devices in the group.

It would be nice to be able to play on a mix of devices.


Yes, this has been available since launch. If you create a group in the Sonos App, of any combination of Sonos devices, and then ask Alexa to play music on one of them, the audio will output to all players within the group.
Userlevel 7
Badge +23
You can also use a 3rd party Alexa skill and add the word "everywhere" on the end, eg "play adele everywhere". You just can't do this with the Sonos skill.