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.

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barkiechan

Lyricist III

Hi,

Having issues with Alexa at the moment. All spotify voice commands results with a “Sonos is offline”. All devices are “Online” on the Alexa app. Playing music through the Sonos and spotify app works fine. Spoke to Sonos tech this afternoon and they said it’s a widespread issue with Alexa.

Anyone else experiencing this?

P

PhiliptheOld

Contributor I

I just bought a Sonos one without realising that in effect, only Amazon Music is supported. I can sometimes get it to play other things via the app but usually Alexa shuts them down, I only listen to classical music and my preferred service is Idagio. After following the procedure it still does not work. I bought the device on the basis that I could do this as (fraudulently) claimed by Sonos. I cannot return it as it is working so onto Ebay it goes. Sonos have scammed me.

P

pelsf

Contributor I

During the last weeks (maybe from the latest sonos/alexa update), music played with Sonos:One will interrupt if the request is made via Alexa [music service connected as default: Deezer (Hi-Fi account)].

There are no issue if I use the sonos-app from the cellphone (no interruption); to better explain here we go:
USER - "Alexa, play Pink Floyd"
ALEXA - "Pink Floyd playing from Deezer"
--Music Starts-- after 1/2minutes
ALEXA - "Impossible playing..."
Silence... //\\DEAD//\\

Who is responsible? Sonos or Amazon?? 😃

D

Distero

Contributor I

I have a lot of (expensive) SONOS speakers in my home and would really really really like to work with voice commands (Alexa or Google) but this won't work in BELGIUM!! WHY WHY WHY ????? Belgium is a civilised country with a lot of SONOS buyers. Too difficult to implement or ...?

S

Steven_11

Lyricist I

Where should I start? I'm currently on my 3rd Sonos One. Every one has had the same issues. I'm absolutely sick of the thing and wish I'd never bought it.
Firstly, after a few days Alexa stops responding to voice commands. Sonos technical's solution to this is to reboot the Alexa skill. I'm currently doing this 2-3 times a week just to make the product usable. I'd say that makes it unfit for purpose.
If I set an alarm and choose a radio station as the alarm it works for about 2-3 days, then when it comes on the volume is so low it can barely be heard. Any attempt to ask Alexa to change the volume fails. If I attempt to change the volume by using the touch buttons on top of the device, nothing happens. The only way to alter the volume is to open the Sonos app and do it from there.
Some days the radio doesn't launch when I select it as the alarm. In these cases I'm greeted with the standard alarm tone and have to open the Sonos app to turn it off as Alexa doesn't respond to my command to stop the alarm. Whenever this problem arises, the white light on top of the device pulses at a very high speed, much faster than when it flashes during the set up process. What does this mean? Nobody seems to be able to answer this.
As far as I'm concerned the Alexa skill is useless. There is clearly some issue with Sonos & Alexa that nobody is prepared to admit to.
I'll wait for the Google assistant to launch and try that instead. If that fails to work then I'm binning the thing.
BTW, I'm a Sonos retailer and have been for well over a decade. This has completely changed my opinion of the Sonos range of products, which up until the integration of Alexa had been absolutely faultless and superb.

UKMedia

Hi Steven

This is far from my experience with the Sonos One - sorry, I know this statement won't make you feel any better but it is an indication that there is something specific about your set-up that is causing this issue.

Before we start looking specifically at the Alexa integration, can you confirm your set-up: Is your system wired, SonosNet or Wi-Fi connected? Have you reserved IP addresses for your Sonos devices within your Router settings pages?

My initial thinking is that this may be some form of connectivity issue and I think it best if we explore that before moving on to Alexa specific troubleshooting.

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

M

motif88

Lyricist I

I solved the problem... get rid of the Sonos One and Alexa combo from hell and get a HomePod...wow it actually works!

S

silicone

Contributor I

I solved the problem... get rid of the Sonos One and Alexa combo from hell and get a HomePod...wow it actually works!

Might be the best suggestion I’ve seen yet! The OP is outdated and to learn this has been ongoing for this long is disheartening. Maybe I’ll just buy another one and keep returning it until I find one that works for more than two days.

I’m really not sure why this thread is stickied - it’s useless when the solution lands you back at the starting point two days later and each time you’ll waste ½ hour of your time following these procedures.

missyagogo

Avid Contributor I

I just want to say that it is insane to have to factory reset all Sonos devices, especially when one has several rooms set up, to resolve this issue.

No idea why better solutions have not been offered. No idea why this thread is still stickied.

jgatie

I just want to say that it is insane to have to factory reset all Sonos devices, especially when one has several rooms set up, to resolve this issue.

No idea why better solutions have not been offered. No idea why this thread is still stickied.

There is never, ever a need to factory reset, unless an update fails in the middle of updating, and certainly not for any issues with Alexa. In fact, Sonos advises against it unless specifically told to do so by support.

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