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Best answer by PPaulp
Hi All, I have a solution and it works well. It takes some setting up but its worth it.

The added benefit is that you can prefix defferent volumes for each speak whn it becomes a group. This is great for mivies etc.

Download the Yonomi app (free) and set up a command list that plays 5 seconds of silence on all of teh speakers that you want to group. It will then group all the speakers together after the silence finishes. Its important to add the command ‘set repeat to off’ and ‘set shuffle to off’ for each speaker , after the silence (this prevents Sonos from moving to the next song in your playlist library).

FYI, you can find short recordings of silence on line with just a google search. You can also add it to Sonos as a ‘favourite’ by uploading the silence to soundcloud and synching your Sonos and sound cloud account.

44 replies

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Meccanica
Meccanica
Lyricist III
December 3, 2017
How can this functionality be so broken and marketed to the public already? Sonos is designed as a multi room audio system yet that does not work with this new API? SMH. 😠
    UKMedia
    UKMedia
    December 3, 2017
    How can this functionality be so broken and marketed to the public already? Sonos is designed as a multi room audio system yet that does not work with this new API? SMH. :@

    It is Amazon that doesn't support the inclusion of 3rd party speakers in Alexa groups.
    Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
    Meccanica
    Meccanica
    Lyricist III
    December 3, 2017
    How can this functionality be so broken and marketed to the public already? Sonos is designed as a multi room audio system yet that does not work with this new API? SMH. :@

    It is Amazon that doesn't support the inclusion of 3rd party speakers in Alexa groups.

    Sorry, you are mistaken, the fault lies with the Sonos API. The Sonos API does not facilitate presenting a group of speakers as a target for Alexa like every single other smart home capable system. Essentially what needs to happen is you need to be able to group your speakers into logical groups and assign it a name, that name needs to show up in Alexa as a target device.
      UKMedia
      UKMedia
      December 3, 2017
      How can this functionality be so broken and marketed to the public already? Sonos is designed as a multi room audio system yet that does not work with this new API? SMH. :@

      It is Amazon that doesn't support the inclusion of 3rd party speakers in Alexa groups.

      Sorry, you are mistaken, the fault lies with the Sonos API. The Sonos API does not facilitate presenting a group of speakers as a target for Alexa like every single other smart home capable system. Essentially what needs to happen is you need to be able to group your speakers into logical groups and assign it a name, that name needs to show up in Alexa as a target device.

      You obviously know better than me and:

      https://sixcolors.com/link/2017/08/amazon-adds-multi-room-audio-for-echo-dot-and-show-third-party-support-on-the-way/

      https://www.tomsguide.com/us/amazon-echo-multi-room-music-setup,review-4634.html

      http://uk.pcmag.com/news/90941/how-to-set-up-a-second-alexa-enable-multi-room-playback

      But it is coming soon...
      Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
      Meccanica
      Meccanica
      Lyricist III
      December 3, 2017
      How can this functionality be so broken and marketed to the public already? Sonos is designed as a multi room audio system yet that does not work with this new API? SMH. :@

      It is Amazon that doesn't support the inclusion of 3rd party speakers in Alexa groups.

      Sorry, you are mistaken, the fault lies with the Sonos API. The Sonos API does not facilitate presenting a group of speakers as a target for Alexa like every single other smart home capable system. Essentially what needs to happen is you need to be able to group your speakers into logical groups and assign it a name, that name needs to show up in Alexa as a target device.

      You obviously know better than me and:

      https://sixcolors.com/link/2017/08/amazon-adds-multi-room-audio-for-echo-dot-and-show-third-party-support-on-the-way/

      https://www.tomsguide.com/us/amazon-echo-multi-room-music-setup,review-4634.html

      http://uk.pcmag.com/news/90941/how-to-set-up-a-second-alexa-enable-multi-room-playback

      Clearly. Since you are showing articles written by other people, talking about a feature that does not work correctly with the immature Sonos API. Sure this is another way to accomplish this, also not working.

      My way is easier allowing for greater control within Sonos, the way you highlighted affords greater control in Alexa.... however more importantly that ease within one app or the other I highly doubt Sonos will ever allow it to work this way, as it would enable users to group together other brand smart speakers forming a hybrid sort of system... NO way Sonos lets that fly.
      d.avitabile
      Contributor I
      December 7, 2017
      I keep reading comments on the forum that go along the lines of “Do you want to Voice control Alexa for feature xxxx? Then switch to the controller, do the thing manually and then instruct Alexa to play in that room”. What exactly is the point of this? If I buy a voice assisted player that does something on top of my existing Play:1, then I want, at the very least, that is able to group rooms, play my library (not just Amazon’s catalogue). I think that Sonos are simply selling an unfinished product.
        jgatie
        jgatie
        December 7, 2017
        I keep reading comments on the forum that go along the lines of “Do you want to Voice control Alexa for feature xxxx? Then switch to the controller, do the thing manually and then instruct Alexa to play in that room”. What exactly is the point of this? If I buy a voice assisted player that does something on top of my existing Play:1, then I want, at the very least, that is able to group rooms, play my library (not just Amazon’s catalogue). I think that Sonos are simply selling an unfinished product.

        Yes, the Alexa skill for Sonos' 3rd party multi-room speakers is indeed a work in progress and is waiting for broader support for features such as grouping which are coming in an SDK next year. This was made clear by the "Beta" status of the skill. If you do not wish to participate in a beta program for the Alexa skill for Sonos speakers, I suggest you disable the skill.
        Doctor B
        Lyricist I
        January 1, 2018
        d.avitabile wrote:
        I keep reading comments on the forum that go along the lines of “Do you want to Voice control Alexa for feature xxxx? Then switch to the controller, do the thing manually and then instruct Alexa to play in that room”. What exactly is the point of this? If I buy a voice assisted player that does something on top of my existing Play:1, then I want, at the very least, that is able to group rooms, play my library (not just Amazon’s catalogue). I think that Sonos are simply selling an unfinished product.

        Which came first? Been using and loving sonos for 4-5 years. Now that Amazon and Google have a new device that is a game changer, give people an opportunity to adjust and adapt their strategy to these new devices. I can use about 50% of my curent Sonos features and functions with the dot. I can still start or mute the music faster with alexa than getting the phone out and muting. Likewise, the features and sound quality are great on Sonos. I do not have a smart tv and alexa can not control the tv, does it make the tv an unfinished product? I believe in using what is available and if there are better options, i will review them and may switch. Have not found one yet and people are amazed when i show them what sonos can do. Sound quality of Amazon or Google is no where near that of sonos.
        jgatie
        jgatie
        January 1, 2018
        Such is the state of partnerships between voice control services and 3rd party multi-room speakers at this point in time. In addition to being in its infancy, with important API and SDK functions still in the pipeline, there are also technical and financial goals that are not shared by each vendor in the partnership, and in some cases, may just be at odds with each other. Things must be worked out on all levels, so one must be patient, and your approach Doctor B, is the one I have adopted as well.
        Master T
        Master T
        Prodigy I
        January 1, 2018
        I think a lot of people forget how limited the Echo was when it was first released a little over 2.5 years ago. It wasn't capable of doing much of anything, and even those things it could do it often did quite poorly. It has certainly come a long way since, although a lot of features people here take for granted are practically brand new. Look at everything Alexa learned to do in 2017 -- while the Sonos One was still in development:

        https://venturebeat.com/2017/12/29/everything-amazons-alexa-learned-to-do-in-2017/

        The point is, the Echo family of devices are all "unfinished products," as is the Sonos One, and they always will be. But in the little more than two months since the Sonos One was released, I've seen a number of features and skills implemented, improvements in responsiveness, etc. I have little doubt that we're going to see a lot more improvement in 2018. Yes, the process can occasionally be frustrating or painful for early adopters, and I understand why some have been disappointed or chosen to return their units. I certainly have complaints of my own with the One, issues I'm tracking and features I'm hoping will be supported soon, but overall I'm okay with the progress the product has made. .
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