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Suddenly alexa is not working with my voice enabled Sonos Speakers S1 app

G
Userlevel 2

I am using the S1 app for my Sonos speakers.  Recently my voice enabled Sonos speakers are not working with Alexa.  I can control my speakers in the S1 app but not with Alexa.

When I look at the Alexa app the voice enabled Sonos speakers are showing offline.

  • I have disabled and re-enabled Sonos Skill in Alexa
  • Alexa does not find any devices when I re-enabled Sonos skill in the Alexa app
  • I have removed and added Alexa voice enable to each speaker
  • I have powered off and on the speakers

Did something change?

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Best answer by Corry P 21 March 2024, 17:51

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60 replies

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gduncan3595 

Thanks for your post!

We are aware of an issue affecting functionality of Alexa on S1 Sonos systems. We are investigating, but do not have an ETA for a resolution.

You can, however, cease troubleshooting - nothing you can do will help.

We will post here when there is an update.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gduncan3595 et al

We have released an update for S1 that we believe addresses this issue. Please check your system for updates and test. If you continue to see this issue after updating, we recommend you get in touch with our technical support team for assistance.

Thank you for your patience.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
G
Userlevel 1

I am glad I found this thread.  I also spent (part of) two days, and several hours trying to reset devices, reset Alexa, all various different methods and ways, to no success.  I had added a new type of Alexa device and thought perhaps it was somehow related so that was a wild goose chase of wasted time as well.  ETA would be nice…, and spreading the word on twitter/x or other forums as well.

N
Userlevel 1

I suspect this has more to do with Amazon than SONOS. I’ve had a few runs in with their software people, specifically with ‘works with Alexa’ there seems to be little or no due diligence from them, off topic I know, but I spent a lot of money on a smart bath/shower system that ‘works with Alexa’ only to discover it doesn’t in reality. it seems as long as something connected to Alexa once it gets blessed, even if it doesn’t do anything or can’t connect a second time. 
it maybe didn’t used to matter too much with throw away iot type stuff, but now higher end devices are using and increasingly relying on Alexa functionality it’s getting more serious. 
There is still a lack of maturity with voice systems where there are two parties involved and we are moving away from  cheap gimmick into more solid everyday, expected functionality - the service side is clearly lacking and not so easy to implement. 
these things are never easy or simple to fix, but when you leave a communication vacuum like this it does tend to suck in a lot of spurious stuff unfortunately.

 

E
Userlevel 1

The first reports of this surfaced on 15 March. I install Sonos S1 updates manually rather than automatically, and didn’t install the current update until yesterday evening (16 March). Alexa was working fine before the update, but hasn’t worked since then.

Clearly, something in the Sonos update has broken the interface with Alexa, and it should therefore be within the capability of Sonos to roll the change back out for the time being until they can figure out exactly why it didn’t work as expected.

D
Userlevel 1
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yep.  looks like Amazon change something about there Alexa API access that affects the S1 app integration.  S2 I understand is not affected. Hopefully we get a fix soon delivered by Sonos

J
Userlevel 2
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Regardless of blame, it’s still been three days since a high impact outage with no update and that’s utterly unacceptable 

 

I’m a lead software engineer in charge a $6+ Billion a year OLTP transaction engine.  Anybody interrupts me for an update in the middle of a high impact outage, they are losing their frigging job.  Period.  You will get an update when there is something to update. 

LOL! what a response. you act like there is no mechanism for updates by those involved with fixing something to relay back to a task force over 3 days. what BS is that? I also work at a large company that is involved with high impact incidents all the time. you need to manage a task force and communication to affected users / customers. if there is one guy turning the wrench on everything and giving updates at a company, they have some major problems. i hope your $6 billion dollar organization functions better than you suggest. 

W

Me too it’s a shame the online chat support we’re not aware I have now spent some time re-installing!!! I will wait for a solution and go back to the rugby!

M

Same here - have spent a few hours trying to fix this in vain.

S
Userlevel 1
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Anyone who remembers the complete hash Sonos made of their EOL announcement will know they don't do comms to customers well. 

They wanted to change their model to get customers to keep upgrading. I'm sorry, forking out thousands on hardware doesn't make it easy for most to bin old for new. People invested in a brand and ecosystem. I've been a Sonos customer for almost 20 years (yes I had a gen 1 CR100 conroller 😆). Over that time I have upgraded and changed some devices (including that controller). Ive kept others. But the key was, I was never forced to upgrade. 

Their uturn of, sorry your devices are no longer supported, to a we bad, they will be but in a limited fashion (and here's and email from our COE saying sorry) was messy and poor. Customers dont forgot. The whole S1 was only created due to the backlash they got from their customers.  

I get it, you can want to have customers always on the latest version, spending more money with you. But hardware and software aren't the same. And a Sonos music device is not as important as a mobile phone to users, so pushing people to upgrade was wrong. 

If they wanted more revenue, a better model might have been to create a premium service that worked across all their ecosystem (maybe even Alexa dare I say it), ragher than segregate their hardware. You would get users who would pay a subscription to get those extra services. Others who dont could happily stay in their standard world. People would have also naturally upgraded some obsolete hardware over time, just like I did. So more revenue. 

Where am I going with this? Well Sonos created a 2 tier system for customers at that time.  Everyone knows S1 support and updates are second class to S2. Anyone who says otherwise is in cloud lala land.

It may not be that cynical, but at the end of the day they want you on the latest hardware. So resources to develop, test releases etc will be less than S2.

As some have said here, S1 customers are being treated poorly, but...

1. Did they cause the outage on purpose as a a ploy to upgrade? Very Doubtful. Did they cause the outage? Absolutely. 

2. Nothing was shared out to the "loyal" customers. We all had to find out ourselves after trying to fix it. Now we are self supporting others.

3. This is a global major outage (as Sonos report). But the length of time it's taking to resolve is frankly shocking. If you caused it, then make sure you fix it quickly. 

In summary, all this outage is doing is further showing the gap between their 2 tier system. And many probably didn't need any more proof of that.

A

wow… nothing as sinister as such a conspiracy theory!  More indirect, they are not adequately resourcing the support for customers on S1, imagine this happened on S2?? I would bet this is solved by now….

 

they are OK making that resourcing decision because we are no longer top tier customers to them? I hope not…. we invested a lot in Sonos and can’t just throw the non S2 compatable stuff away.

 

To be clear, i’m sure the people working on fixing this are working hard. Are there enough people doing it? i am not sure…

 

Also btw… a bit surprised by the number of staunch corporate defenders on this forum too now hitting back? how are posters like that employed? by sonos? just looking for neutrality and focus the problem. look i love the sonos equipment when it works too, but this has become an important functionality for anyone using some home automation. 

Agree on the slight religious tone here from some - Think your comment is very balanced and spot on;

Love my Sonos stuff and repeatedly surprised by the level of service i get upon contact even with my old stuff. Nevertheless a bit surprised on this outage. It is not like they are about to send a man to Mars, so assume there is some dependency to Amazon that lag out.

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

@Dbuiz 

For Beta issues that forum isn‘t the right place. 
For the S1 fix there was no app update necessary. You just have to update Sonos firmware from within latest S1 app. 

Ralf
M

Mine is exactly the same, help Sonos!

H

Can Sonos advise when system is fixed please? I’ve spent two days trying to find a solution 

L

Does not work for me ! Still same issue

Did you renew Alexa installation and Sonos skill? 

It is ok now, i had updated sonos app but not the sonos products. I have done it now and it is working. Thanks a lot

 

jgatie

Regardless of blame, it’s still been three days since a high impact outage with no update and that’s utterly unacceptable 

 

I’m a lead software engineer in charge a $6+ Billion a year OLTP transaction engine.  Anybody interrupts me for an update in the middle of a high impact outage, they are losing their frigging job.  Period.  You will get an update when there is something to update. 

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Wow… that‘s getting worse over here blaming Sonos for hypothetical reasons to let this Alexa issue happen and exist as long as users buy new hardware. Come on… do some reality check. What kind of problem are we talking about!? There is a temporary outtage of Alexa on S1. Sonos knows about it, communicates it and is working on it. They will give an update as soon as there are things to share. 
Some of you are talking about that, as if it’s the biggest thing ever. 
To take part in that plot I would ask myself if some of you are employees of bo**, yam*** or any other company that wants to discredit Sonos. 😉

Ralf
J
Userlevel 2
Badge

Yep feeling like before when Sonos ditched us after spending thousands with them. Except I doubt there will be the same media outcry and they are probably fine with it at some leadership level. This is a major issue and needs a much better response if Sonos cared about those that have been users for a long time. I still have many newer Sonos products as well and this affects them as well. Not great customer service to have a global outage lingering now on day 4 and may customers likely haven’t even figured this out. 

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Low prio due to S1? Time to shift to Google Home?

Why do you think the issue might have a low prio? I cross my fingers it’s a problem Sonos can fix without Amazon because imho things take more time if Amazon is involved. 

Ralf
B

Sonos, please fix this! Longtime loyal customers with speakers that are only supported by S1 are struggling. 

M
Userlevel 1

Could Sonus please issue an email to all registered users once they have issued the fix

L

Same for me, je cherche depuis 4 heures !!! Je suis contente de voir ce post !! Hope it wil be fixed very very very SOON !!

M
Userlevel 1

So its now been the best part of a week since the fault was reported but still no update.  Why cant Sonos just immediately roll back the last update that appeared to cause the issue whilst they investigate further the longer term solution.

Or is this just an underhand way Sonos have thought of to force its long term Sonos Owners to scrap all their S1 hardware in the hope they will buy the new Sonos kit?? 

Airgetlam

Or a fix supplied by Amazon, since they broke it. 

Bruce
D

I can’t believe Sonos hasn’t notified users of the outage… only a deep dive search revealed there’s a problem.  This is going to be a good test Sonos.  Do you fix this quickly (How about roll out the previous update so we can revert back!?!?) or do you leave us hanging and chosing to never buy another Sonos product again?  This is a bigger issue than they are recognizing.

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