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Raph06
Contributor I
February 17, 2018

Sonos One seen as "Smart Home" device, not "Alexa enabled" device

  • February 17, 2018
  • 26 replies
  • 6846 views
Hi,
I recently bought a Sonos One to upgrade the sound quality in my living room. It replaces an Amazon Echo (1st Gen), which now sits in one of the bedrooms.

I was obviously disappointed to see that most Alexa skills (the ones involving sound) do not work on Sonos One. I'm looking for a work around until an update is released.

I have another issue. I also use Alexa to control my smart home devices (mostly lightbulbs). I have become quite familiar with the procedure needed to add an use devices on Alexa.

I also use groups, and this is where my question comes from. I noticed that Alexa sees Sonos One as a "Smart Home" device of unknown type. The Alexa app sees my other Amazon speakers as "Alexa enabled devices" when creating groups, where as Sonos One is seen as just another device called "Living room".

Is this normal?

I am sort of happy to accept that I can't use Drop In, but creating Groups is a really important feature when you have a few Alexa and smart home devices lying around.
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    26 replies

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    mrwuffles
    Lyricist III
    April 27, 2018
    I’ve been waiting for this feature since the announcement about 4 months ago now. I wonder if the hold up is on Sonos or Amazon’s side. The Sonos One still doesn’t get recognized as an “Alexa Enabled Device” under groups, and I’m starting to wonder if it ever will...

    Sonos works very slowly. What would take other apps a week to push out an update takes many months, and there are rarely if ever any status updates. I don't know if they just have very small teams or it's due to having to do a lot of hardware testing, but I've learned to just check the forum when a new software update comes out. Don't check more than once a month. In the end, they usually create a good result, so I am begrudgingly patient.
      mark@scan
      Trending Lyricist I
      July 2, 2018
      What's Sonos status wrt integrating the new "smart groups" API so that the Sonos One can take advantage of the simplified room lighting/device controls? "Alexa, turn on the lights" is a whole lot more convenient than having to specify the name of the room. :(

      +1 on this, I've resorted to putting dots back in the same rooms as my ones which really defeats the object of why I purchased them.
      sacha81
      Lyricist III
      July 24, 2018
      +1 on this
      Dhouston
      Avid Contributor II
      July 24, 2018
      Same issue with the new Beam which is a pity, but I’m guessing when one is fixed, the other will also work.

      David
      Xombie
      Lyricist II
      September 11, 2018
      Any update?
      amsquires83
      Lyricist III
      September 27, 2018
      +1 grrrr Sonos
      sacha81
      Lyricist III
      November 23, 2018
      still no update on this?
      eab6287
      Contributor II
      November 29, 2018
      +1; would love to use this feature with my new Beam
      nicka99
      nicka99
      Local Superstar
      November 29, 2018
      ++1 - just got a beam (my first sonos alexa enabled device) and really disappointed by lack of support for groups so cannot just say ‘alexa turn on the lights’ 😞
      UKMedia
      UKMedia
      November 29, 2018
      ++1 - just got a beam (my first sonos alexa enabled device) and really disappointed by lack of support for groups so cannot just say ‘alexa turn on the lights’ :-(

      Hi

      Yes you can now - Alexa update in the last week. Open the Alexa App and press the Home button in the bottom right of the app. If you haven't got a Group for your room name, then please create a Group and Add Devices - Your Beam and Your Alexa light switch for that room. Please Save the Group and allow 5-10 secs for this to be sync'd. Now if you ask your Beam 'Alexa, Turn on the Lights' it will control the associated light switch.

      Also note: that if you have Non Alexa Sonos devices and an Echo Dot, then you can do the same as above and group the Sonos Device and the Echo Dot and then set a 'Preferred Speaker'. This will now output music to the Sonos device without the need to include the Sonos device name in the command. i.e. 'Alexa, Play soft Jazz' to the Echo device will output the music to the Sonos device and not the Echo Dot.

      Let us know if you have any further questions.
      Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
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