Contributor I

Answered

Recent update now breaking groups with Alexa

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
December 11, 2018
55 replies
3580 views

After an update to the Sonos software this weekend, the Alexa integration is "broken" in that now, starting music using voice commands breaks apart groups of speakers. Are there new commands, or is there a way to roll back the software version to one that actually worked? If this is the "new normal," then I will need to discuss returning all of the Sonos products I own and looking into a new Alexa compatible system.

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Best answer by Ryan S

I posted this in the other thread with the same topic, but so the information is in both threads, here's an update on some things you've noticed.

We're working with Amazon to bring some additional features and improvements to Sonos. These are rolling out in stages, and you've noticed some of them. Not all of the changes are out yet, but I wanted to clarify a few things here for you. We'll make a public announcement when that work's complete.

There are some changes that you're seeing around naming rooms when you go to perform a function. One of these changes is that when you explicitly call out to stop/pause an active Sonos speaker, just that room will stop playing.

"Alexa, stop in living room" will stop the music in just the living room, even if it's grouped with other players in the Sonos app. For example, if the player was grouped with a Sonos speaker in the Kitchen, the two will ungroup, and the Kitchen will keep on playing.

This also includes telling rooms to play music. If the Living Room and Kitchen are grouped in Sonos and not playing music, "Alexa, play in the Kitchen" will remove Living Room from the group in Sonos, and start playing in Kitchen only.

And this applies to Sonos players that have Alexa built in too, so if you have Living Room and Kitchen (a Sonos One) currently grouped and not playing music. Speaking to the Sonos One "Alexa, Play Music," will cause the Sonos One to remove Living Room from the group and start playing on its own.

If you notice Sonos groups changing due to your voice commands, open your Alexa app and look for the new Groups setup. Tap the lower-right icon, a house outline with two levers, to find it. Create an Alexa group with your desired speakers and assign your Alexa or Sonos device as the input for that group. Your voice commands will now use that group without needing to say the location name as part of the command.

You will also notice some other changes soon, and we'll let you know when it's all live. Stay tuned!

Chris

Lead Maestro

Alexa integration is still considered beta. Looks like in Amazon's newest update they have introduced some new functionality and maybe its not completely working as intended. There is ability now in Alexa app to set a default speaker when issuing Alexa commands (ie you don't have to say the in room name anymore). Looks like ability coming to also have it automatically group multiple speakers when commanded to play - even if not currently grouped). So maybe this functionality is causing some issues for pre-grouped speakers.

You also may want to disable the Sonos skill in alexa and re-enable to make sure all properly updated.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

Liron

Avid Contributor I

I have the same issue, just chiming in.. When I ask either of my dots to play on my Living Room speakers (Play 5 stereo pair) or the Kitchen speaker (a One), it just plays it from that speaker instead of playing to the the entire group (these are grouped in the Sonos app). Previously, asking the Dots to play to either of the speakers would cause the entire group to play.

Do we know for certain that this is an Alexa bug or is this an issue with the Sonos skill perhaps? I've disabled and enabled the skill just in case, but no effect.

P

peter.black

Lyricist II

Same issue. Hugely annoying.

W

webtuner

Lyricist I

Same issue: Alexa breaks my Sonos group and plays only on the named speaker. A recent change and a real drag. Alexa is now useful only to kill all sound on my way out the door...

Chris

Lead Maestro

Drama

You can play and then group via alexa setting up via speakerscenes.com

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

Smilja

1) Create an Alexa Group for each room that has an Amazon Echo in.
2) Put the (e.g. living-room) Echo device and all Sonos speakers which are in the same room into the Alexa Group; tap 'Save'.
3) Tap (the green area of) the Alexa Group
4) Set up 'Preferred Music Speaker(s)'

Should resolve the issue for now.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

S

samonty

Contributor I

I am very upset with the new update. It has now made my whole Sonos system inoperable, and I've had speakers for seven years. Sonos used to be great but has steadily gone downhill.

1) My Sonos 1 and Play 5(1st Gen) which are normally grouped together could no longer be seen. They Vanished.
2) I tried to add them back to the system. Found out I no longer could add via my PC.
3) I tried to reboot and reset my Bridge. ( Sonos app cannot see my Bridge! ) ps. I always hated having to have a Bridge as I have a powerful and capable router, but I got used to it.
4) Tried to add my speakers by adding them via wifi and I keep getting fails. I got a Dot last year for my daughter and an echo for my wife. I could not stand the ridiculous set up app -> hold,login,temp network, rinse repeat -> puke , I even had to send one back because you can not manually set an IP address.
5) System Junk -> I REFUSE TO RUN ETHERNET CABLES FOR A SYSTEM THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BEW I R E L E S S 😠

Chris

Lead Maestro

Resetting bridge a bad idea. Your going through wrong. I think you should talk to someone onnphone to setup properly.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

Liron

Avid Contributor I

1) Create an Alexa Group for each room that has an Amazon Echo in.
2) Put the (e.g. living-room) Echo device and all Sonos speakers which are in the same room into the Alexa Group; tap 'Save'.
3) Tap (the green area of) the Alexa Group
4) Set up 'Preferred Music Speaker(s)'

Should resolve the issue for now.

The main room in my house doesn't have an Echo in it, because I use Alexa on the One. My dots are not in the same room as my Sonos, but I still want both of them (one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom) to play to the grouped Play 5s and the One in my living room / kitchen area instead of to only one of them.

Smilja

The main room in my house doesn't have an Echo in it, because I use Alexa on the One. My dots are not in the same room as my Sonos, but I still want both of them (one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom) to play to the grouped Play 5s and the One in my living room / kitchen area instead of to only one of them.

It's a bug that is going to be resolved.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

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