Sonos, Alexa and local NAS stored music

I'd say the amateur code isn't exactly an integration either. In that setup Alexa has absolutely no idea what just happened. Alexa doesn't know what speakers you have, what they are doing, or what they can do. That can be a limiting factor on future functionality. This setup, though somewhat wanting in many areas, allows for much better enhancements in the future.

That said though, anyone who has homebrew skills, direct line in's, or third party hubs to make an 'integration' happen...I completely see why you aren't giving them up yet. I'm sure I'll still using my 3rd party hub (Lutron) to setup some common routines.

There is a thread elsewhere ( https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/playing-local-music-library-on-sonos-through-alexa-6791360/index1.html#post16150671 ) where the question was explicitly asked "Will alexa skill be able to play from my music library?" and, although Ryan (from Sonos) at no point answers this (instead essentially talking about what it can currently do), it is marked as 'Answered'.
My apologies, it was a busy day and I marked it answered because it answered the second question asked, I must not have noticed that the original one was "will" not "what". I've since edited the post a bit.

In short, melvimbe's analysis is pretty darn good, and on point. There would be work needing to be done on both sides of things for local libraries. There needs to be a cloud listing of your local tracks available when you'd want to listen to music, also with the knowledge of where or when to tell Sonos where to go. You can expect this Alexa integration to get better over time, we're constantly working on it. But I don't have any specifics on if or when we might get local libraries included. For those new to the thread, you can still use Alexa to control what's currently playing from any source, you just can't add something to the queue or start playing from certain sources with Alexa.

There is a thread elsewhere ( https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/playing-local-music-library-on-sonos-through-alexa-6791360/index1.html#post16150671 ) where the question was explicitly asked "Will alexa skill be able to play from my music library?" and, although Ryan (from Sonos) at no point answers this (instead essentially talking about what it can currently do), it is marked as 'Answered'.
My apologies, it was a busy day and I marked it answered because it answered the second question asked, I must not have noticed that the original one was "will" not "what". I've since edited the post a bit.

In short, melvimbe's analysis is pretty darn good, and on point. There would be work needing to be done on both sides of things for local libraries. There needs to be a cloud listing of your local tracks available when you'd want to listen to music, also with the knowledge of where or when to tell Sonos where to go. You can expect this Alexa integration to get better over time, we're constantly working on it. But I don't have any specifics on if or when we might get local libraries included. For those new to the thread, you can still use Alexa to control what's currently playing from any source, you just can't add something to the queue or start playing from certain sources with Alexa.

I am running Plex on my nas and on the sonos app. Is Plex then supported by Alexa as this will allow me to use my own library and not force me to use a streaming service

I am running Plex on my nas and on the sonos app. Is Plex then supported by Alexa as this will allow me to use my own library and not force me to use a streaming service

Alexa does not support Plex, but it supports Amazon uploads of your own tracks. I believe the cost per year is ~$25.

See here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001432841

After you upload/match your tracks, they will play over Alexa.

I am running Plex on my nas and on the sonos app. Is Plex then supported by Alexa as this will allow me to use my own library and not force me to use a streaming service

Alexa does not support Plex, but it supports Amazon uploads of your own tracks. I believe the cost per year is ~$25.

See here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001432841

After you upload/match your tracks, they will play over Alexa.

I do not want to use amazon. Plex is a far superior system. So frustrating.

I am running Plex on my nas and on the sonos app. Is Plex then supported by Alexa as this will allow me to use my own library and not force me to use a streaming service

Alexa does not support Plex, but it supports Amazon uploads of your own tracks. I believe the cost per year is ~$25.

See here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001432841

After you upload/match your tracks, they will play over Alexa.

According to Plex it does support Alexa. Sonos also supports Plex. However that does not mean sonos implementation of Alexa will work with it. They should as this will allow users to access their music and. It have to rent music

According to Plex it does support Alexa. Sonos also supports Plex. However that does not mean sonos implementation of Alexa will work with it. They should as this will allow users to access their music and. It have to rent music

Sorry meant to say "Alexa on Sonos does not support Plex". Just trying to help.

Really is pathetic that sonos released a version that in now way matches the amatuer code. I do not want to be forced into renting music.

The "amatuer" (sic) code requires a server running full time on your PC or some other computer on your network. It also requires you to state "tell Sonos" in every command. I'm quite glad Sonos decided not to "match" that particular implementation, as well as it works for some.

I think the point being made is not the utterances needed to invoke the skill, or the processing being done client side, but that the functionality of grouping, local library and spotify is possible using code thats been in the public domain for a year, but developers from multi billion dollar companies take a year to release less functionality.

The invocation not needing "ask sonos", and the processing being done back end rather than on a users own server/pc are trivial matters for amazon.

I think the point being made is not the utterances needed to invoke the skill, or the processing being done client side, but that the functionality of grouping, local library and spotify is possible using code thats been in the public domain for a year, but developers from multi billion dollar companies take a year to release less functionality.

The invocation not needing "ask sonos", and the processing being done back end rather than on a users own server/pc are trivial matters for amazon.

But the whole point is "the utterances needed to invoke the skill, or the processing being done client side". If Sonos actually required you to run a server, or process on your own PC, or say more words than is convenient or necessary, you'd be here screaming about that (Admit it, you would!). Now combine that with the requirement to take all that functionality, streamline it and get it into the cloud, and you see where the problem lies, and it is by no means "trivial". melvimbe's analysis above is conveniently ignored by those who bleat on how "amateurs did it, why can't Sonos???" You would be well served to read it before posting again.

And you would be well served to realise that the only difference between that amateur code being run client side and server side is publishing the app on amazon and having their servers talk to the sonos cloud instead of your own home server (and then duly paying for the processing time).

The invocation name, or lack thereof with amazon native interaction is down to amazon. With third party published apps the invocation name needs to meet criterea. Amazon can pick and choose their own, or indeed with third party offerings they can opt for direct control without an invocation name (i.e. smartthings smart devices).

Have you installed and tried the home brew solution? Have you seen first hand the differences between this and an officially published app?

You would be well served to gain an understanding of how minimal the changes would be to take this code and streamline it into a native amazon environment before dismissing the posts made by those who have. Amazon will have development teams capable of doing this within a week and have almost unlimited resources to do so. The reason for these functionalities not being available almost certainly lies with a commercial decision to drive consumers toward purchasing more hardware (playones with alexa) or AmazonMusic streaming or upload space.