I love my Sonos Beam w/ Alexa, but it really sucks that a lot of baseline Alexa functionality doesn't work w/ Sonos. For example, I want to set a Routine that shuts off my TV, dims the lights, and plays Jazz music from Pandora at volume 10. I can easily setup this Routine on my iPhone, but Alexa on Sonos doesn't support it at all, which is incredibly annoying.
Does your engineering team have a roadmap or timeline to adopt more of the standard or baseline Alexa functionality, like Routines?
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Userlevel 1
I’m just trying to help people on the forum, I’ve no axe to grind one way or the other.
And I’m not going to get into a competition on who has the most relevant experience with relation to IT or Product Management after 35 years in the business.
Most people buy Sonos products because of the ability to play great music in a multi-room environment. I do find it strange that such a minor issue within a very narrow focused use case can generate such emotion but this obviously is a make or break issue for you. Sorry I couldn’t help.
Who defines what constitutes a minor issue or a very narrow focus? Routines are becoming a core service in smart speakers.
I appreciate you may feel you are trying to help, but by downplaying the importance of the issue on a Sonus forum you are doing exactly the opposite.
Userlevel 2
Hi Kirk, I don't know either. However, I'm pretty sure it's not me; AI is my profession -- I'm building the next-generation AI Chatbot for Wells Fargo, and we are absolutely focused on the end-user experience (nothing else matters -- if the customer isn't happy, they'll go somewhere else). I love my Sonos Beam, but I'm super unhappy w/ both Alexa and Google Assistant functionality on Sonos.
Basically, I'm really hoping I don't have to buy an Amazon Echo to control my Sonos Beam, which would kind of defeat the purpose. But right now I have no way of replicating the core functionality of an Echo or a Dot on my Sonos.
Based on my experience, this is likely a Sonos engineering problem (defect in the codebase or an API issue). I've been a developer for 30 years, and I know you guys are probably held hostage by whatever interfaces or API calls you've been given by Amazon and Google. I presume you're not representing engineering and I know that customer service and QA are seldom consulted when creating product roadmaps... but if we're having this same discussion on Black Friday later this year, I'll have to jump to another Alexa-supported soundbar (because somebody is going to figure this out... and I really hope it's Sonos).
Basically, I'm really hoping I don't have to buy an Amazon Echo to control my Sonos Beam, which would kind of defeat the purpose. But right now I have no way of replicating the core functionality of an Echo or a Dot on my Sonos.
Based on my experience, this is likely a Sonos engineering problem (defect in the codebase or an API issue). I've been a developer for 30 years, and I know you guys are probably held hostage by whatever interfaces or API calls you've been given by Amazon and Google. I presume you're not representing engineering and I know that customer service and QA are seldom consulted when creating product roadmaps... but if we're having this same discussion on Black Friday later this year, I'll have to jump to another Alexa-supported soundbar (because somebody is going to figure this out... and I really hope it's Sonos).
Userlevel 2
This is NOT a limitation of Alexa or the API provided by Amazon for third parties. This is something that Sonos CAN fix.
When I had the Bose Soundbar 700, it had this exact same problem, and it was simply because Bose had not implemented the new "InteractionModel interface for the Alexa Voice Service". Amazon announced this new interface in August 2018 on their developer blog here:-
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/a1470f4c-8aaf-4d12-b3bc-5cf38820ff82/alexa-it-s-bedtime-routines-for-avs
I informed Bose about this information, both on their forum and via their telephone support around 25th October 2018. They fixed it in their firmware released on 28th Feb 2019.
I've had my Sonos system over six months now, and I informed Sonos about this interface pretty much as soon as I got the system. I assumed Sonos would be able to address the issue in a similar time frame as Bose managed to. But I'm still waiting.
So if this issue affects you, please call your Sonos support center and let them know about this.
When I had the Bose Soundbar 700, it had this exact same problem, and it was simply because Bose had not implemented the new "InteractionModel interface for the Alexa Voice Service". Amazon announced this new interface in August 2018 on their developer blog here:-
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/a1470f4c-8aaf-4d12-b3bc-5cf38820ff82/alexa-it-s-bedtime-routines-for-avs
I informed Bose about this information, both on their forum and via their telephone support around 25th October 2018. They fixed it in their firmware released on 28th Feb 2019.
I've had my Sonos system over six months now, and I informed Sonos about this interface pretty much as soon as I got the system. I assumed Sonos would be able to address the issue in a similar time frame as Bose managed to. But I'm still waiting.
So if this issue affects you, please call your Sonos support center and let them know about this.
Userlevel 1
Exactly this. It is false advertising to state that these sonos devices are certified for use with Alexa.
They cannot do routines nor drop in - two of the main benefits of owning an alexa based system. Ridiculous and i wish i had never purchased my sonos enable devies especially now you could have a simple Amazon Echo and set the default outputted speaker to one of your sonos’!!!
Lastly, I think it's important to remember that we do not have anything to do with features both supported and unsupported on this platform. As Alexa voice service is owned by Amazon, supported features and services would be decided by Amazon.
However Bose had this same issue with Routines and they actually have fixed it? Why is it that you are saying it’s not a Sonos issue and it’s an Amazon issue? It does appear to be something that could be fixed - there are many posts on Reddit and elsewhere that explain Bose fixed Alexa Routines a year ago on their integrated smart speakers, so it does beg the question why Sonos don’t see this as their issue or as something they can fix?
Basically this means to get maybe 20% of the “now with Alexa” functionality on the box and in the advertising from Sonos you effectively have to buy an Echo.
If I set up a routine in Alexa for “Good Morning” to turn on my lights, tell me the weather, read me the news headlines and then play a playlist it immediately fails on the Sonos One.
Sonos responds “audio not implemented” for the playlist, and then says “here’s you flash briefing” and nothing plays.
Oh but the lights come on so yeah 1 out of 4.
For anyone invested in the smart speaker ecosystem, routines would rate absolutely crucial. I’d love to see many real world use cases for the current Alexa implementation (or lack thereof) on Sonos.
It is a massively hobbled implementation, and it effectively drives users who do want smart speaker integration to buy an Amazon Echo or Show to get it. That seems crazy to me. Don’t encourage your users to buy the competition product.
Userlevel 1
S2 OS is still affected with this bug.
Note, that this is most probably issue on your end. As mentioned earlier by
Check the link provided by him:
Userlevel 7
+20
To further add to @mfowmes comment above. These steps allow for the playing of music at a specific time or via a voice command:
1 Open the Alexa App and click on the menu 3 bars in the top;
2 Select Routines in the Menu;
3 Click the ‘+’ sign in the top right corner of the App;
4 Click ‘When this happens’ and then ‘Voice’;
5 Enter ‘audio test’ – it’s still best to not use capitals;
6 Click ‘Add action’ and then click ‘Play’;
7 Type in ‘Ed Sheeran On [Sonos Room Name]’;
8 Click ‘From’ and then select a source;
9 If you need a ‘Timer’ please click ‘Set Time’;
10 Click ‘Save’
This will now work via the command ‘Alexa, Audio Test’
1 Open the Alexa App and click on the menu 3 bars in the top;
2 Select Routines in the Menu;
3 Click the ‘+’ sign in the top right corner of the App;
4 Click ‘When this happens’ and then ‘Voice’;
5 Enter ‘audio test’ – it’s still best to not use capitals;
6 Click ‘Add action’ and then click ‘Play’;
7 Type in ‘Ed Sheeran On [Sonos Room Name]’;
8 Click ‘From’ and then select a source;
9 If you need a ‘Timer’ please click ‘Set Time’;
10 Click ‘Save’
This will now work via the command ‘Alexa, Audio Test’
Userlevel 1
Until this is resolved I’ll keep telling my friends to avoid Sonos. Two friends have gone elsewhere so far and I’ll keep telling others.
the product is hobbled because they don’t prioritis defect fixing.
This isn’t a true defect if Sonos didn’t design the product to have this functionality, more of a design limitation. However, what is the functionality you are looking for? As per my post earlier my Routines output Audio to Sonos devices without issue.
The beam does not operate as an Alexa enabled device should and as other non-Amazon Alexa enabled devices do. You might want to get into a semantic debate about whether it’s a defect or not, but that’s what I am calling it and as someone in Product Management, I’d accept that terminology if it was my product.
I certainly won’t be recommending anybody else buys Sonos.
I want to run a routine without it telling me it can’t do it.
Sonos, any update?
Userlevel 2
I have called Sonos UK support today to see if there is any progress for Alexa Routines, they were very polite and apologetic, but unfortunately they still have no development plan to support this.
Just a reminder that Bose implemented support for Alexa routines in their Feb 2019 firmware, after being notified about the issue in October 2018.
If you read the post right above yours, you’ll see there’s a work around.
Thank you, but I’m still expecting Sonos to implement full support for Alexa routines. As these are voice enabled devices, I expect Sonos to be on top of the latest developments in this field, and on this issue they are extremely slow. Remember its not that it can’t be done, as Bose implemented this relatively quickly.
Userlevel 7
+20
I came here after searching for an answer to this, April 2020.
Trying to trigger a simple morning routine like
1: switch on all LIFX lights
2: play a playlist
from my Move or Sonos One and Alexa immediately replies with this “Audio actions not supported”...BUT she does run the routine, the lights come on and the playlist plays.
I see no way to set what room or Sonos device to have Alexa play the music from, but it seems to play fine from every room and the Alexa routine does work fine.
The error message doesn’t seem to stop the Alexa routine from running. It’s just very clunky and awkward to listen to an error message every morning after running the routine.
seems this should be fixed by Sonos by now. If you advertise Alexa support or Alexa works with this device, then it’s misleading when it does not work.
As a work around, I use IFTTT for the playing of a Playlist within a Routine which stops this annoying message.
My post here shows how to set-up IFTTT for a different issue with BBC radio stations but the same approach will resolve your issue: https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/step-by-step-guide-to-play-bbc-radio-station-via-voice-control-6834993
Just insert your Playlist instead of the radio station in each step.
Userlevel 2
ISSUE RESOLVED
Sonos have finally implemented Alexa Routines in S2 version 12.1 which includes official support for Alexa Routines:
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3521?language=en_US
I've updated today and it is working. Thank you Sonos!
Userlevel 2
When I ask Alexa, "Turn on the TV," she appears to comprehend and replies, "OK," and then I hear the confirmation chime play... but nothing happens. By contrast, when I say, "Turn off the TV," I get the same "OK" response and chime, and then the TV turns off, as expected. Perhaps it's just a defect in the codebase?
Regarding Alexa "Routines," I have a dozen of these on my iPhone, which combine multiple basic Alexa functionalities, such as: news alerts at a specific time, reminders of appointments, raising the audio volume, playing a particular song, and many others. Whenever I attempt any of my Routines, Alexa always replies, "Audio actions and Routines are not supported on this device."
I've read that some Routines will work on Sonos Beam, even when Alexas says they're unsupported, but I haven't found a single one that works.
Thanks,
David K.
Regarding Alexa "Routines," I have a dozen of these on my iPhone, which combine multiple basic Alexa functionalities, such as: news alerts at a specific time, reminders of appointments, raising the audio volume, playing a particular song, and many others. Whenever I attempt any of my Routines, Alexa always replies, "Audio actions and Routines are not supported on this device."
I've read that some Routines will work on Sonos Beam, even when Alexas says they're unsupported, but I haven't found a single one that works.
Thanks,
David K.
Userlevel 1
Until this is resolved I’ll keep telling my friends to avoid Sonos. Two friends have gone elsewhere so far and I’ll keep telling others.
the product is hobbled because they don’t prioritis defect fixing.
Userlevel 7
+20
I’m just trying to help people on the forum, I’ve no axe to grind one way or the other.
And I’m not going to get into a competition on who has the most relevant experience with relation to IT or Product Management after 35 years in the business.
Most people buy Sonos products because of the ability to play great music in a multi-room environment. I do find it strange that such a minor issue within a very narrow focused use case can generate such emotion but this obviously is a make or break issue for you. Sorry I couldn’t help.
Userlevel 2
I have called Sonos UK support today to see if there is any progress for Alexa Routines, they were very polite and apologetic, but unfortunately they still have no development plan to support this.
Just a reminder that Bose implemented support for Alexa routines in their Feb 2019 firmware, after being notified about the issue in October 2018.
I have called Sonos UK support today to see if there is any progress for Alexa Routines, they were very polite and apologetic, but unfortunately they still have no development plan to support this.
Just a reminder that Bose implemented support for Alexa routines in their Feb 2019 firmware, after being notified about the issue in October 2018.
If you read the post right above yours, you’ll see there’s a work around.
Userlevel 1
(...)
Lastly, I think it's important to remember that we do not have anything to do with features both supported and unsupported on this platform. As Alexa voice service is owned by Amazon, supported features and services would be decided by Amazon.
Have you checked if this is not a matter of implementation of the new "InteractionModel interface for the Alexa Voice Service”?
Amazon announced this new interface in August 2018 on their developer blog here:
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/a1470f4c-8aaf-4d12-b3bc-5cf38820ff82/alexa-it-s-bedtime-routines-for-avs
It’s sad to hear the new app and the new upgrades done to the speakers when you upgrade to S2 still doesn’t fix this.
Greetings everyone,
We do not have any timeline to share on when or if these changes will be made. While routines may or may not run as expected, they are still considered unsupported and when I mean by unsupported, that doesn’t mean it won’t work, it is that we cannot effectively troubleshoot it.
Lastly, I think it's important to remember that we do not have anything to do with features both supported and unsupported on this platform. As Alexa voice service is owned by Amazon, supported features and services would be decided by Amazon.
Come on get it fixed
This lack of elegant compatibility with the full Alexa feature set is annoying. Is this also the reason Sonos speakers don’t show up as devices that are available to set up as “actions” in the Alexa app’s Routine section?
I have an Alexa motion sensor and I was hoping I could set it so that the Sonos speaker in that room unmutes only when there is motion. And mute again 5 minutes after there is no motion. Is that possible with Alexa and Sonos currently or do I need to integrate a Smartthings hub (or similar) to make this happen?
That’s exactly the kind of thing you should be able to do with Alexa from Sonos. But no. It won’t work like that without a 3rd party integration like IFTTT.
would love to hear if this will ever work like advertised. Sonos are busy promoting ‘new colours’ for speakers when they should be fixing functionality first.
Userlevel 1
This is suppressing me from extending my system :/
Greetings folks,
Thanks for your interest in Sonos and Alexa. New features are being added regularly, but we do not publicly post our development timeline.
Thanks, I understand sonos won’t publish a roadmap, but many others do. What users are asking is simply “are Sonos aware of the issue and aware other smart speaker companies have solved the issue?”
just a simple ‘we know’ would be really handy. What’s happening here is people are losing faith in the claims on the box and in the marketing about ‘works with Alexa’. For many, integration like routines working as advertised is indeed a crucial feature for the longevity of our systems, and future purchasing choices.
Sonos won’t comment publicly on development, but they sure do comment a lot publicly through marketing and advertising. 
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