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Contributor I
February 15, 2018
Question

Playing to an *additional* Sonos speaker via Alexa

  • February 15, 2018
  • 16 replies
  • 500 views
I think I know the answer here, due to lots to trying... but let's say you're playing music on a Sonos in the kitchen, and you are moving to the living room. Can you somehow tell Alexa to play the same stream on the Living Room Sonos, in sync with the kitchen? Basically, just adding the Living Room Sonos speaker to the currently playing Sonos stream? Of course, on the phone, you'd just open the Sonos app and put a check next to the living room speaker, but I'd love to be able to do this via Alexa.

Thanks!
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16 replies

February 15, 2018
It's easy just to walk into the new room and do a long press on the play/pause button. Saves opening the app. Or your mouth.
AjTrek1
February 15, 2018
It's easy just to walk into the new room and do a long press on the play/pause button. Saves opening the app. Or your mouth.

Hey John B...
With all my vast and encompassing knowledge of Sonos :8 I didn't know your suggestion was possible. Seriously, all jokes aside...is that an alternative to grouping in the Sonos App and is it permanent or temp? Thanks for the tip!
Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
jgatie
February 15, 2018


Hey John B...
With all my vast and encompassing knowledge of Sonos :8 I didn't know your suggestion was possible. Seriously, all jokes aside...is that an alternative to grouping in the Sonos App and is it permanent or temp? Thanks for the tip!


It was added a couple releases ago. It is an alternative to breaking out the controller if you are near a speaker and just want to group it quickly.
February 15, 2018
Also, if you want to transfer music from room A to room B without a controller then just stop the music in A by pressing play/pause then long press in B.

None of your controllers will shift room focus though, which is something to watch out for when you return to the app.
AjTrek1
February 15, 2018
Thanks, John B and jgatie! I'll have to pay more attention to the release notes going forward 🆒
Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
Enthusiast II
February 15, 2018
How does it know which stream to attach? I'd hate to get the 80's radio station my wife listens to in her office. We will often have either two streams (Radio2/4 & 80sCrap), or three/four if the kids are in. How does it know which stream you want - which obviously it can't - but which does it pick? Longest playing, some preference order (stream>local>line-in), nearest ZP (as measured Sonosnet somehow).

Most of the Zoneplayers aren't reachable put the playbar in the playroom, the Play5 and a few Play1s are eminently to hand.

Dave
Owner since 2006: Legacy System(8.4):3*CR100:1*ZP80:4*ZP100:1*Play 5. - S1 System:1*ZP100:1*Z120. - S2 System:5*Amp:1*Port:2*Five:1*Arc,1*Move:1*Play Bar:1*Subwoofer:5*Play1 : Long live the CR100!
February 15, 2018
How does it know which stream to attach? I'd hate to get the 80's radio station my wife listens to in her office. We will often have either two streams (Radio2/4 & 80sCrap), or three/four if the kids are in. How does it know which stream you want - which obviously it can't - but which does it pick? Longest playing, some preference order (stream>local>line-in), nearest ZP (as measured Sonosnet somehow).

Most of the Zoneplayers aren't reachable put the playbar in the playroom, the Play5 and a few Play1s are eminently to hand.

Dave
I honestly don't know which it will pick, but that circumstance hardly ever arises for me. Nobody is claiming this is a comprehensive replacement for grouping in the app, just an additional tool that some users will find useful some of the time.
JollyOrc
Contributor I
February 15, 2018
It's easy just to walk into the new room and do a long press on the play/pause button. Saves opening the app. Or your mouth.

that is awesome to know, thanks!

(I'd also love to know how to do this via voice still 🙂 )
February 15, 2018
On a brief experiment, if there is nothing playing currently it will play the last stream to finish. If two are currently playing it seems to pick the one most recently started. But I don't think that is the point. Use it if and when it is clear what is going to happen. Don't if it isn't. For some users (like me) it's a useful additional feature. Others will find it adds nothing for them.
February 15, 2018
It's easy just to walk into the new room and do a long press on the play/pause button. Saves opening the app. Or your mouth.

that is awesome to know, thanks!

(I'd also love to know how to do this via voice still 🙂 )
Grouping via Alexa is a requested and hoped-for feature. I suspect that at some point you will get your wish!