I’ve read a couple posts, and it appears you cannot use multiple Sonos accounts on 1 system. I would like to raise a feature request to enable this. It is ridiculous that the leader in connected speakers doesn’t handle multiple users properly. Each user should have their own Sonos account. This is a serious design flaw and it should be corrected. If there is a solution that enables multiple Sonos accounts and I haven’t found it, please let me know. If not, then please make this an enhancement request.
It actually maybe best to explain clearly why you need multiple accounts, because you can certainly have multiple Sonos systems on the same network logged into different Sonos accounts, aswell as having multiple music services (using different user-accounts) within one Sonos system. So perhaps a more detailed explanation of the issue you’re trying to resolve will perhaps help, so that others here in this user-community can maybe see if there is already a solution you can implement, to solve whatever it is you’re trying to solve.
Simple – you should never be ID and password sharing on any modern application. This is security 101. I’m asking Sonos for an enhancement request because I don’t think they have designed their system to be in line with modern day applications.
Strange my Wife uses our Sonos system and she hasn’t a clue what the password is - simply don’t tell anyone the password. It’s not necessary to be logged into the Sonos account anyway, to use the system with a controller device on the same network subnet. If you don’t want them to have network access too, then maybe use double NAT instead with a separate Sonos setup on that subnet instead.
There are probably plenty of ways to ensure your local security is not compromised.
Or you could do what some people do with their teenage children and that is give them their own Sonos system with their own mobile controller device and keep things entirely separate on the same WiFi network - as I say, it depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
Userlevel 7
+23
What are you actually asking for?
Sonos supports multiple music accounts on one system, which is what most people want.
Sonos supports multiple Sonos Households on one network, which is what a few use (for split systems or large installs).
Simple – you should never be ID and password sharing on any modern application. This is security 101. I’m asking Sonos for an enhancement request because I don’t think they have designed their system to be in line with modern day applications.
The password isn’t to the application, it’s to access administration of the speakers. Perhaps trivial, but an important distinction I think.
Can you provide an example of another household device that allows multiple accounts to be setup for administrative purposes? My TVs have Samsung accounts, but to my knowledge, they don’t allow multiple accounts for the TVs. They actually seem to encourage the use of the same account to control TVs, phones, tablets and other devices for integrated control. Camera systems? Ring has the devices owned by one account that can further grant access to other accounts. Do other audio systems allow multiple accounts like this? I believe Amazon has multiple music accounts, but not multiple accounts for administration of their devices.
I know that Sonos Pro/business line has a setup for multiple accounts with varying access, and maybe this is what you’re looking for?
Honestly, for my home use, I’ve never thought that Sonos needed a more complex account structure.
When it comes to sharing any ‘accounts’, according to my Wife, what’s hers is hers and what’s mine is hers too.. ha ha 😀
Userlevel 7
+22
When it comes to sharing any ‘accounts’, according to my Wife, what’s hers is hers and what’s mine is hers too.. ha ha 😀
Until something needs fixed, updated or adjusted… Then they are mine.
I’m of the same opinion, folks that get my WiFi access are trusted to run my Sonos. Un-trusted folks get access to a guest WiFi or nothing.
?
I've got a use case this feature could be the solution for. I have two homes with a unique Sonos system at each home but both are setup with the same Sonos account (mine). Both accounts work great for myself and my wife who both use our own Sonos App on our respective phones, but she uses my Sonos account login too). We can both control at each location and no problem playing music from our separate Spotify accounts on the same system simultaneously (on different speaker groups of course).
Where it goes to hell is when one of us is at each of the different houses at the same time and tries to play music on each system simultaneously. When she plays at one house, mu music stops at the other house and vice versa. Doesn't matter that it's separate Spotify accounts streaming. Sonos seems to have an issue with one account streaming to two Sonos setups simultaneously regardless of the stream source. It's weird but both of us know exactly when the other fires up Sonos because the current stream dies...even though we're separated by a 1000 miles!
So what's the workaround here? How can we both enjoy our Sonos at different locations at the same time? My thought is setup a Sonos account in her name and reset up the Sonos at on location use that new account? But then it's going to make all integrations for the assistant and other services a total pain. Any other ideas?
Maybe see this Sonos support link… where fictitious users ‘Jane’ and ‘John’ are able to each use their own respective music accounts from the same music service by adding both accounts and selecting their own account in the Sonos App from the drop-down list.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/use-multiple-accounts-for-the-same-music-service
If it’s not working for you and your Wife, then one of you maybe doing something wrong - but if you think there is a problem with how it works, then you maybe best to reproduce the issue and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.
As far as I’m aware the multiple music account setup works okay, but I’ve not ever had the chance to test it personally speaking, as my Wife mostly uses Apple Music and I use Amazon Music even within the same location.
Try force closing the SONOS controller when moving to the other house. I think that this will cure the Spotify issue as long as each of you is using your own account. I don’t know how other premium services might react.
So thanks for the replies. The fix suggested by
I will have my wife try the force close at the other house...if I can get her to take a second to want to debug some tech. It's like her favorite thing to do...NOT!
Seriously this is herd to diagnose simultaneously over two geographic locations and the other person would rather stick a fork in it rather than fix a Sonos issue. Lol
First try “Force Close”. ”Reset” requires more work to bring the controller back online. Your wife will lock the door.
Refrain from Factory Reset.
Userlevel 7
+23
So thanks for the replies. The fix suggested by
I will have my wife try the force close at the other house...if I can get her to take a second to want to debug some tech. It's like her favorite thing to do...NOT!
Seriously this is herd to diagnose simultaneously over two geographic locations and the other person would rather stick a fork in it rather than fix a Sonos issue. Lol
I think this depends on what exactly you mean by “using the same account”. You can use the same email address on multiple Sonos Households without issue (the household ID is included in the data that is sent to Spotify for playback). I do NOT recommend using the same Sonos Household in multiple locations though (which you can do by physically moving one or more speaker to the other location without a factory reset, a kind of pseudo-divorce). You can see a version of your Household ID in Settings / About my system. Once “fully divorced” into two Households (via a factory reset in one of them) you will need to add your Spotify accounts to the “fresh” household.
This is my best guess from your scenario. I run multiple systems in multiple locations, but have never attempted simultaneous playback as you do. I use “fully-divorced” systems.
Ah thanks
And so I can have a separate Household ID created by factory resetting the the system or the controller at one of my houses? I suppose I wonder why a new Household ID wasn't generated automatically when I set up the system at the new home on a new network? But I suppose there's a good reason for that.
Wait… I’m still not getting this.
There is a Sonos system in our house.
“I” have a Sonos Account (login)
“I” stream my Apple Music Library music to my Sonos system.
How the heck do the other members of my family stream “THEIR” Apple Music libraries to the Sonos system in our house?
Read the multiple accounts per service FAQ.
Sorry, but does EVERYBODY who plays THEIR music through my Sonos have to have their own Sonos acct?!
Somebody comes over; they want to play me a song they have on their iPad.
They have to create a Sonos acct first?
(but thanks for response)
No, certainly not. In your specific case (music on an iPad), they would just use AirPlay 2 to send the song in question to your Sonos speaker (that is AirPlay 2 capable), and it would play. Or, since they’re in your home, they could download the Sonos controller, and access the streams/playlists you’ve set up on your system, and find the music from your streaming sources, and play it from there. No need for them to have an account for either. But that wasn’t what the OP was asking about.
Userlevel 7
+17
If this is not the case, I’d make a diagnostic on both locations once this happens and call Sonos about it.
Userlevel 7
+23
Ah thanks
And so I can have a separate Household ID created by factory resetting the the system or the controller at one of my houses? I suppose I wonder why a new Household ID wasn't generated automatically when I set up the system at the new home on a new network? But I suppose there's a good reason for that.
A Household ID is really a long string starting with HHID_ or Sonos_, but you can’t see that in the official apps (you can in mine). You can see the Sonos ID which is a numeric representation of the same thing, so yes, this should be different in each house.
Yes, a factory reset followed by a “create new system” will create a new ID. However if you take a speaker from House A and relocate it to House B (without a reset), then add new speakers to that, you’ll end up with a “half-divorced” setup: two houses, one Sonos ID. If you ever brought one back from House B to House A then things will get very confusing, but that’s not something I have ever attempted, nor would I.
Ah thanks
And so I can have a separate Household ID created by factory resetting the the system or the controller at one of my houses? I suppose I wonder why a new Household ID wasn't generated automatically when I set up the system at the new home on a new network? But I suppose there's a good reason for that.
A Household ID is really a long string starting with HHID_ or Sonos_, but you can’t see that in the official apps (you can in mine). You can see the Sonos ID which is a numeric representation of the same thing, so yes, this should be different in each house.
Yes, a factory reset followed by a “create new system” will create a new ID. However if you take a speaker from House A and relocate it to House B (without a reset), then add new speakers to that, you’ll end up with a “half-divorced” setup: two houses, one Sonos ID. If you ever brought one back from House B to House A then things will get very confusing, but that’s not something I have ever attempted, nor would I.
So I unfortunately don't see HHID but the Sonos ID in both locations is showing the same value.
So resetting is from the app (reset the controllers for both my and my wife's apps) or every speaker at house B or all of it? Is the idea that my app is fully reset when I I go about setting up the system again at house B? And hopefully it kicks out a new HHID for house B?
The tech support person I talked to didn't explain any thing like this and to simply add and remove the Spotify accounts at house B. Not sure what that will do but I'm hesitant to only try that because each of these tests is plane ride and a lot of time and $, so looking for a likely fix. Your solution seems to have the most logic to it.
If this is not the case, I’d make a diagnostic on both locations once this happens and call Sonos about it.
Yep definitely aware of the Spotify account issue you mentioned. Ran into it many years ago and have to remind my wife about it ever so often. But it's definitely not that.
I did submit diagnostic reports from both apps and got bounced to multiple techs who thought as you did as it is probably Spotify that is stopping the streams but why, when it's separate accounts on separate networks?
Userlevel 7
+23
Ah thanks
And so I can have a separate Household ID created by factory resetting the the system or the controller at one of my houses? I suppose I wonder why a new Household ID wasn't generated automatically when I set up the system at the new home on a new network? But I suppose there's a good reason for that.
A Household ID is really a long string starting with HHID_ or Sonos_, but you can’t see that in the official apps (you can in mine). You can see the Sonos ID which is a numeric representation of the same thing, so yes, this should be different in each house.
Yes, a factory reset followed by a “create new system” will create a new ID. However if you take a speaker from House A and relocate it to House B (without a reset), then add new speakers to that, you’ll end up with a “half-divorced” setup: two houses, one Sonos ID. If you ever brought one back from House B to House A then things will get very confusing, but that’s not something I have ever attempted, nor would I.
So I unfortunately don't see HHID but the Sonos ID in both locations is showing the same value.
So resetting is from the app (reset the controllers for both my and my wife's apps) or every speaker at house B or all of it? Is the idea that my app is fully reset when I I go about setting up the system again at house B? And hopefully it kicks out a new HHID for house B?
You need to factory reset every device at one of your locations, then set it all up again there. The app stores almost no data (except the last-used Household ID), all the useful data is stored on the speakers. The only thing you’ll need to do in the app is a “Forget this system” before you factory reset all your devices, then “Create new system” to get it going again.
I understand the plane-ride problem all too well. This is why I now have three systems set up in one location, so I can test my own Sonos code against multiple simultaneous households, without getting on a plane.
If you are concerned my advice will cause a melt-down, I recommend this cautious approach at House B:
- In the app, “forget this system”
- Power down all Sonos devices
- Power one device up and factory reset it
- In the app “create new system” with this single device
- Add in your multiple Spotify accounts
- Test this configuration in both locations, ie “is controlav smoking something or not?”
- If this test works, then factory reset the remaining devices and add them to House B
- If this test fails (ie my speculation is all BS) then Undo this change ie in the app “forget”, power on the other devices, connect the app to them again, then factory reset the test device and add it to the existing system.
Ah thanks
And so I can have a separate Household ID created by factory resetting the the system or the controller at one of my houses? I suppose I wonder why a new Household ID wasn't generated automatically when I set up the system at the new home on a new network? But I suppose there's a good reason for that.
A Household ID is really a long string starting with HHID_ or Sonos_, but you can’t see that in the official apps (you can in mine). You can see the Sonos ID which is a numeric representation of the same thing, so yes, this should be different in each house.
Yes, a factory reset followed by a “create new system” will create a new ID. However if you take a speaker from House A and relocate it to House B (without a reset), then add new speakers to that, you’ll end up with a “half-divorced” setup: two houses, one Sonos ID. If you ever brought one back from House B to House A then things will get very confusing, but that’s not something I have ever attempted, nor would I.
So I unfortunately don't see HHID but the Sonos ID in both locations is showing the same value.
So resetting is from the app (reset the controllers for both my and my wife's apps) or every speaker at house B or all of it? Is the idea that my app is fully reset when I I go about setting up the system again at house B? And hopefully it kicks out a new HHID for house B?
You need to factory reset every device at one of your locations, then set it all up again there. The app stores almost no data (except the last-used Household ID), all the useful data is stored on the speakers. The only thing you’ll need to do in the app is a “Forget this system” before you factory reset all your devices, then “Create new system” to get it going again.
I understand the plane-ride problem all too well. This is why I now have three systems set up in one location, so I can test my own Sonos code against multiple simultaneous households, without getting on a plane.
If you are concerned my advice will cause a melt-down, I recommend this cautious approach at House B:
- In the app, “forget this system”
- Power down all Sonos devices
- Power one device up and factory reset it
- In the app “create new system” with this single device
- Add in your multiple Spotify accounts
- Test this configuration in both locations, ie “is controlav smoking something or not?”
- If this test works, then factory reset the remaining devices and add them to House B
- If this test fails (ie my speculation is all BS) then Undo this change ie in the app “forget”, power on the other devices, connect the app to them again, then factory reset the test device and add it to the existing system.
My curiousity compells me to try this test (and see if you’re really smoking something), though we both realize I can probably relieve the symptom by simply having my wife create her own Sonos account and have her set up the system at house B, right?
What I still don’t understand is how did this happen in the first place? Your steps above seem like they are the exact steps I did when I set up house B’s system in the first place, so I’m wondering what would be different? The only thing that is different (if I can recall) is that I did not “forget this system” from the app before setting up and I know I didn’t do that on both apps (mine and my wife’s). Though the prompt “forget this system” is a bit ambiguous when you’re sitting on a new network with no Sonos system (b/c it wasn’t set up yet) and the app shows no system and I have to “foget a system”? Forget what system? Why is there not a system view in the app? Or a household view?
Seems like that could be nice feature. We see this in smart home apps already (the idea of multiple homes/premises). Might be time to deisgn for these use cases in the Sonos app, or at minimum provide some UI that clues customers into how the app/system is handling these things.
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