Retired Sonos Staff

Resolving (the majority of) Issues with Alexa on Sonos

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
January 5, 2018
111 replies
205033 views

Moderator note: This article was updated in December 2024.

This thread is intended to help get you going if you get stuck setting up Alexa with Sonos, or if you have run into any errors. The setup process does use two different apps, so don’t stress if you’re having trouble, we can help.

If you are reading this thread, you will now be aware that integrating the two platforms requires several authentication steps which require you to move between applications and interfaces, providing login details and authorising services along the way.
Simply put: It involves some moving back and forth, providing information as you go.

The issues this post may help you resolve include but are not limited to:
- "Your Spotify account does not support streaming on this device."
- Radio stations not playing when you ask them to.
- Asking for something to play- whether this is acknowledged or not- only to be met with silence.

It is worth noting, however, that several of your desired functions may simply not be available on Alexa via Sonos just yet. We have an article that describes exactly what services to expect at this time: Control Sonos with Amazon Alexa

Is your desired functionality available? Then let's move on to fixing your issue.

If you get to a point where you're not able to complete a step, just skip to the next section.

1. In the Alexa app, go to More > Skills & Games > Your Skills > Sonos > Settings > Manage Smart Home Devices > Tap 'Forget All'.
Note: The step to 'Forget All' will delete all actions in all Routines within an Alexa set-up.

2. Go to Alexa's UK site or Alexa's US site (again, depending on your region).
Please do this in a web browser on a computer (PC or Mac).
It's also best to do this using private browsing or incognito mode to avoid using cached information.

Go to Settings. Click on your Sonos One in the list of devices. It will probably be listed both as '(your name)'s Sonos One' and whatever room name you gave it in Sonos. It's the '(your name)'s Sonos One we're looking for. On this page, click on 'deregister' and confirm that.

If on this page you do not see your Sonos One already set up, then it's probably linked to a different account somehow. In this case you can skip the rest of the troubleshooting. Just add the Sonos skill on this website, then follow the prompts.

3. Make sure you know your Amazon account password, and then log out of your Amazon account everywhere. Log out of the Alexa app, log out on your web browser, log out on the shopping app, the music app.

4. Delete all your Amazon apps, including the Alexa app, and then just install the Alexa app.

5. Add the Sonos One back to the system in the Sonos app, via Settings -> Add Speaker or Component. Follow the prompts to set up voice services which will require you log in to your Sonos account, and then your Amazon account, to link them together. You'll also need to enable the Sonos skill in the Alexa app at this point.

6. If that's all worked you should hear the Sonos One say "Hello". Try asking it to play something like a radio station (Radio by TuneIn is enabled by default) and see if that works.

If this does not work, or you are getting stuck at any stage, please post a diagnostic confirmation number and describe how/where it went wrong.

Thank you, keep us posted as to whether or not this helps!

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Show previous replies

UKMedia

This did not resolve the issue of Alexa skills not actually playing even though Alexa acknowledged the command and said "now playing..." I am having this same issue, followed all the instructions three times over, clearing out Amazon accounts, etc, and nothing. She still says, "playing *whatever*" and then nothing. This is very irritating. Anything I can do? If not I might have to return.

Hi

This is an earlier post of mine which has some additional steps to those listed above. It's normally one of these three issues:

1/ Duplicate device names - Alexa prefers that names for Devices, Groups and Scenes are unique,
1.1/ Please open up the Alexa App>Smart Home and make a note of any duplicate device names;
1.2/ You can then change them in the source app. e.g. Use the Sonos App to change the name of Sonos players. (I personally use the naming standard Room Name + Device type. e.g. Kitchen Sonos, Kitchen Echo Dot, Lounge Sonos, etc)
1.3/ Once you have changed any duplicate names then please open the Alexa App on a PC (https://alexa.amazon.co.uk or https://alexa.amazon.com)>Smart Home>Devices and select 'Forget All' followed by 'Discover'. NOTE: This will remove ALL Actions from ALL Alexa Routines! (Only the PC version has this functionality.)

2/ Some form of Account Linking or Authorisation has not completed successfully. There are a number of causes for this and it's best to try these steps 1 at a time and test before moving on to the next step if the problem persists:
2.1/ Open the Alexa App>Skills>Your Skills>Sonos and 'Disable' followed by 'Enable';
2.2/ Ensure that you don't have multiple Amazon accounts logged into different Apps on your device, as this can confuse the Amazon Authorisation. If yes, then please log out of the other accounts and then complete step 2.1 again;
2.3/ If the problem still persists, please logout of all Amazon accounts then select the Alexa App>Skills>Your Skills>Sonos and 'Disable. Now power down all Sonos devices for 10 secs, allowing for any wired devices to boot before booting the remaining Sonos players. Now log back into the Alexa App>Skills>Sonos and 'Enable'

3/ If the problem persists then an entire reset of the Authorisation & Account Linking process is required:
3.1/ In the Alexa app, select Skills>Your Skills>Sonos and then 'Disable';
3.2 In the Alexa app (PC version), select 'Smart Home>Devices'. Now select 'Forget All' at the bottom of the screen;
3.3/ In the Sonos app (Android or iOS), select Settings>Room Settings and for each of the Sonos One's sign into 'Voice Services' and select 'Remove Amazon Alexa from this Room';
3.4/ If you have any wired Sonos devices, please power down for 10 secs and then switch on and wait for it to boot;
3.5/ Now power down all other Sonos Players for 10 secs then switch them back on and wait for them to boot;
3.6/ In the Sonos app, Select Manage>Add a player or sub' and add the Sonos One's again. This will complete the set-up process again;
3.7/ In the Alexa app, select Skills>Your Skills and ensure the Sonos skill is 'Enabled', if not please 'Enable';
3.8/ In the Alexa app , select Smart Home>Devices>Discover. Ensure that your Sonos One's are displayed correctly and not shown as 'Off Line'.
3.9/ Also check one last time that there are no devices with the same name. Remember, if there is a need to rename any then you'll need to select 'Discover' again.

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

G

grumpysausage

Enthusiast I

This did not resolve the issue of Alexa skills not actually playing even though Alexa acknowledged the command and said "now playing..." I am having this same issue, followed all the instructions three times over, clearing out Amazon accounts, etc, and nothing. She still says, "playing *whatever*" and then nothing. This is very irritating. Anything I can do? If not I might have to return.

This was a known issue for a while with no amount of resetting addressing it, but it seems to have been fixed in one of the last two Sonos updates. Mine now works OK (previously no joy even with UK Media's steps).

So do check your application version on your phone/device and make sure Sonos is updated to the latest version.

As a test, enable "Babbling Brook" skill on the Alexa page and then say "Alexa, start babbling brook".

Good luck.

N

nice guy

Lyricist III

There is no Forget All in the Alexa app. There is also no Settings on the Sonos link USA site. Terrible instructions.

M

mendy45

Lyricist III

I have a new Sonos Beam. All working well, except I can't setup Alexa. I've been onto the Alexa app/website and added the Sonos skill; I've then been through the steps of providing Amazon and Sonos credentials. But then when it asks to discover, it tells me that an error has occurred so the Beam never appears. I've tried restarting the Beam but to no avail. It is my first Alexa product fyi. Please can someone assist? Been going at this for hours.

UKMedia

There is no Forget All in the Alexa app. There is also no Settings on the Sonos link USA site. Terrible instructions.

I can't see the US site, as I have a UK account but they were there and still are on the UK site Also, are you trying to tell me that Amazon have removed the Settings page from the Alexa App in the US? How do you configure Alexa then?

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

UKMedia

I have a new Sonos Beam. All working well, except I can't setup Alexa. I've been onto the Alexa app/website and added the Sonos skill; I've then been through the steps of providing Amazon and Sonos credentials. But then when it asks to discover, it tells me that an error has occurred so the Beam never appears. I've tried restarting the Beam but to no avail. It is my first Alexa product fyi. Please can someone assist? Been going at this for hours.

Is your Beam visible to your Sonos App?

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

M

mendy45

Lyricist III

Yes...

Strangely, when I click on Voice Services in the Sonos App it tells me voice services are not currently available in my country. I’m in the UK.

Ken_Griffiths

Mendy45 go to your Sonos Account here https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/ and look at flag on left hand side and make sure you are set to UK... you can click the flag to change country if necessary.

If it isn’t your Sonos account make sure your Amazon Alexa account is also set to UK. I’m not sure where the setting is for that, but hopefully you will find it, or can speak to Amazon Support to resolve that.

UKMedia

Yes...

Strangely, when I click on Voice Services in the Sonos App it tells me voice services are not currently available in my country. I’m in the UK.

Can you check your addess in your profile in www.sonos.com and also the device location in the Alexa app>settings>{your beam}

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

M

mendy45

Lyricist III

Mendy45 go to your Sonos Account here https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/ and look at flag on left hand side and make sure you are set to UK... you can click the flag to change country if necessary.

If it isn’t your Sonos account make sure your Amazon Alexa account is also set to UK. I’m not sure where the setting is for that, but hopefully you will find it, or can speak to Amazon Support to resolve that.

Thanks - both look like they are set to UK...

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