SiriusXM channels not listing in latest Sonos App... sonos and sirius pointing fingers at each other...

  • 9 February 2024
  • 50 replies
  • 1960 views
T
Userlevel 1

I spent 2 hours this morning with Sonos and SiriusXM trying to resolve an issue with how SiriusXM channels are displayed in the Sonos App. After the usual stuff (uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting, etc...) Sonos ran a screen share and could clearly see that the Sirius channels are not being displayed properly. Sirius claims that this issue is on the Sonos end. To their credit, Sonos did temporarily log into their Sirius test account (via screenshare) within my Sonos app and their Sirius stations were displaying.

Sirius seems to think this is an issue with how Sonos is handling the channel lineup info being delivered to them from Sirius. Seems right to me although that doesnt fully explain why the Sonos test account worked but my account didnt. Anyway, after numerous call backs I got tired of helping two large companies solve problems that they should be able to do without irritating their customers are wasting our time.

Next step is to consider an alternative way to power my music at home. Not sure Sonos is worth the aggravation.

 

50 replies

L

Song titles and categories are back. I still have my section of blacked out channels (that shouldn’t be) but maybe we’re getting there…..

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

SiriusXM recently updated its iPhone app, and I've noticed some changes in Sonos’s presentation of the Sirius info after that update occurred.

However, all is still not right.

There are now more top-level choices when you browse to SiriusXM on Sonos: ‘Sports’, ‘Library’, etc. ‘All Channels’ is still present -- but drilling down into it still shows virtually all channels greyed out. For example, Channel 67 -- Real Jazz, which I know is part of my SiriusXM plan, is in that state.

Interestingly, though, if I search on Sonos for ‘Real Jazz’, that channel comes up, active and accessible, in the search results, and can be played on Sonos simply by selecting it there.

I don’t know if that was the case before this latest SiriusXM update -- I never had to use the Sonos search functionality. But to me it reinforces the point that either SiriusXM is passing incorrectly coded intomation to Sonos, or Sonos is incorrectly parsing the information that SiriusXM is passing, or both.

 

jgatie

 

I don’t know if that was the case before this latest SiriusXM update -- I never had to use the Sonos search functionality. But to me it reinforces the point that either SiriusXM is passing incorrectly coded intomation to Sonos, or Sonos is incorrectly parsing the information that SiriusXM is passing, or both.

 

 

Sonos doesn’t parse anything, it displays search results as they are given by the content provider.

G

Just adding myself here to the list of unhappy customers. Read thru all the very helpful posts. Thank you to all. Went thru similar of verifying my XM account, removing and re-adding the service to the Sonos App without resolution.  The channels remain greyed out unless on is available in recently listened to section then it can be played while it is greyed out on the all channel selection list.

S
Userlevel 1

I am having this same problem and it is VERY frustrating to not be able to use the SiriusXM channels that should be available through Sonos.  Please, someone at Sonos work with Sirius and get this fixed!

S
Userlevel 1

I just realized that if you use the SEARCH bar looking for channels the channel will show up and not be grayed out.  However, this is quirky still as searching for YACH will bring up a selectable Yacht Rock Radio channel but searching for YACHT bring up said channel but still grayed out.  So this is a work around you can use.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

As I posted 6 days ago….

Are you using the New Search or the Classic Search?

With Classic Search and ‘Stations’ selected as the filter, ‘yach’ returns results under the headings Sonos Radio, Apple Music, radio.net, and SiriusXM. Under SiriusXM is channel 311, and it’s accessible. Searching for ‘yacht’ similarly produces the same headings, but all results under ‘SiriusXM’, including channel 311, are greyed out.

(Why a less restrictive search (‘yach’) is more useful than a more restrictive one (‘yacht’) is totally beyond me...)

With New Search and ‘All’ selected as the filter, we get results under the same four headings as above. ‘yach’ produces a live link to channel 311 under SiriusXM. ‘yacht’ also produces a live link there.

With New Search and ‘SiriusXM’ as the filter, we get results under Live Stations, Songs, Other, and Episodes. ‘yach’  produces a live link to channel 311 under Live Stations, as does ‘yacht’.

In no case does the search have to be case-sensitive.

My conclusions, if you’re primarily searching for live stations:

  • Use New Search
  • Filter by SiriusXM

 

L

I think my solution is to cancel SiriusXM. I’ve been on the fence for a while and this is enough to push me over. I feel like their music selection is not the best. I get better listens out of my free pandora account. 

J

Just set up a new Sonos system, new account.  Added SiriusXM service.  No channels listed.  

My old system had SiriusXM working until it suddenly stopped, asked that I reauthorize.  That “succeeded” after a couple of failed attempts but had no channels authorized.  Additional attempts to reauthorize or remove/re-add SiriusXM had similar outcomes, either showed no channels or just the two default ones.  Other streaming services all worked and continue to do so.

Sonos blames SiriusXM.  I’m thinking Sonos are probably right since SiriusXM are the only ones with problems, and the old connection broke without any changes to the Sonos system or app (suggesting that a change in what SiriusXM sends to the Sonos broke things.)  

Will take this up with SiriusXM but I’m not optimistic based on what’s been posted here.

 

 

J

This issue is still happening, and it is the first week of April 2024. I'm not a tech person but I do know that both SONOS and Sirius XM are big companies that need to FIGURE OUT A WAY to work together. Frustrating. 

G

Seriously, the two companies should start talking to resolve the matter. My belief strictly based on my personal circumstances is that Sonos will suffer more than Sirius XM. I have but a few music subscriptions and XM being my goto in the car and it was also whilst at home. I own a number of Sonos products but this lack of customer focus already stopped me from making a Sonos purchase. Nor do I intend to purchase anything from the company till this is resolved regardless of where the technical glitch resides. 

On a positive note; somebody in this thread posted that using the search feature can assist in getting access to stations grayed out on the app.  Kudos to that person as it is the only reason this service has any life in it from my point of view.  I really hope a Sonos moderator sees this and brings it up to a level in which some real actions can be taken.  Almost a month since I logged my first encounter of this matter.   

J

Same issue here - many channels greyed out that should be available.  


Possibly related:  some time in the last couple of months, all favorites pointing to SXM stations stopped working altogether.  Deleting and re-adding them (on those that weren’t greyed out) fixed it, and it is interesting to note that the icon in the app changed for each from a white background to a colored one. 

Seems something was changed on the back end and broke a bunch of stuff.   

How about hiring a few QA engineers, guys?​​​

ETA:  I can play the stations greyed out by telling Amazon Alexa to play them.

L

Just a quick check in. Has anyone seen resolution to this issue? I see an app update is coming. I guess that could fix things but wishful thinking possibly….

jgatie

Just a quick check in. Has anyone seen resolution to this issue? I see an app update is coming. I guess that could fix things but wishful thinking possibly….

 

As stated many times, the SIriusXM content displayed by the Sonos app is controlled by SiriusXM, not Sonos.  Any fix will come from SiriusXM, not Sonos, so a new app cannot do a thing. 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

SiriusXM updated its app (7.4.0) not too long ago. They contacted me and asked if that resolved the problem. It did not.

 

jgatie

SiriusXM updated its app (7.4.0) not too long ago. They contacted me and asked if that resolved the problem. It did not.

 

That’s because SiriusXM’s app has almost nothing to do with the SiriusXM SMAPI implementation which interfaces with Sonos.  In my experience, SiriusXM support has no clue when it comes to these facts and just treats everything as if it were the SiriusXM app.

J

Since the problem manifests itself in the Sonos app, it is a Sonos problem to fix.   

 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

I was going to suggest that was the case, but I decided not to since I really am not an ‘expert’ on this stuff. But it’s true -- when I set up SiriusXM as a service on Sonos, I’m asked to authorize my SiriusXM account. And to do that I have to log in to SiriusXM -- directly, not via the app. The app does not participate in the process. It’s after that login that whatever information interchange is required must be occurring. And failing, because apparently SiriusXM is passing information that doesn’t conform to SMAPI.

jgatie

Since the problem manifests itself in the Sonos app, it is a Sonos problem to fix.   

 

Ahhh, no it isn’t.  The agreement between Sonos and the service providers is that they and they alone have control over what is displayed.  Sonos by design doesn’t change anything the service gives to them, so they couldn’t change it if they wanted to without violating the terms of the agreement.  

Now let me ask . . . Given these facts (which are spelled out in the Sonos SMAPI development rules), why would one be insistent on blaming Sonos if Sonos actually isn’t to blame?  It makes no sense. 

Personally, if I had a problem viewing SiriusXM content on my Sonos, and I went to the Sonos site to complain and was told several times, along with indisputable proof, that SiriusXM is the only one who can fix it, would I accept that and go to SiriusXM to complain?  Or would I double-down on blaming Sonos in some foolish face-saving gesture?  I think most would choose the former, which is why choosing the latter is a fascinating exercise in sociological behavior.  

jgatie

I was going to suggest that was the case, but I decided not to since I really am not an ‘expert’ on this stuff. But it’s true -- when I set up SiriusXM as a service on Sonos, I’m asked to authorize my SiriusXM account. And to do that I have to log in to SiriusXM -- directly, not via the app. The app does not participate in the process. It’s after that login that whatever information interchange is required must be occurring. And failing, because apparently SiriusXM is passing information that doesn’t conform to SMAPI.

 

It’s quite obvious what has happened, because it has happened before.  SiriusXM made some changes in order to release their completely new version of the app.  These changes broke some stuff in the SiriusXM implementation of their SMAPI server, and SMAPI being a secondary concern to the main SiriusXM app, SiriusXM hasn’t gotten around to fixing it yet.

This used to happen every time SiriusXM made a change to their encryption, which was often done in the early days.  The app would work fine, and Sonos would be busted for days until enough people complained at SiriusXM to get it fixed.  I was on the phone with them each time back then, explaining what Sonos was, why it was broken, and what they had to do to get it fixed.  Support had no clue, Sonos wasn’t even on their radar.

J

If you are looking for foolishness, look in the mirror.

The Sonos app is failing to deliver content.  Specifically, it is greying out most channels, likely because it is failing some authorization step - channels that are not part of the subscription do the same.  

Now, at that point you could make the case that SXM is not providing the correct authorization info, BUT, the Alexa app when linked to Sonos has no problem not only authorizing the correct channels, but returning the correct error message when non-authorized content is attempted.  Therefore, the API works.

jgatie

If you are looking for foolishness, look in the mirror.

The Sonos app is failing to deliver content.  Specifically, it is greying out most channels, likely because it is failing some authorization step - channels that are not part of the subscription do the same.  

Now, at that point you could make the case that SXM is not providing the correct authorization info, BUT, the Alexa app when linked to Sonos has no problem not only authorizing the correct channels, but returning the correct error message when non-authorized content is attempted.  Therefore, the API works.

 

You couldn’t be more wrong if you were trying to be.  Sonos doesn’t use the SiriusXM API that Alexa uses, not even close.  Instead, Sonos has the music service code their own SMAPI interface that the service and the service alone is responsible for.  This allows Sonos to support over 120 music platforms, without having to code to 120 different APIs.  I highly suggest you read here, before you double down again on foolishness:

https://docs.sonos.com/docs/content-service-get-started

 

Also, we have a SMAPI developer in this very thread who will concur with my post, as he/she did on page one.  You aren’t going to win this one, friend. 

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

 

Also, we have a SMAPI developer in this very thread who will concur with my post, as he/she did on page one.  You aren’t going to win this one, friend. 

LOL that’s me! Yeah this is totally on Sirius to fix. I’d show you the faulty XML they are delivering if I still had my working Sirius sub.

I wasn’t aware of the early history of their SMAPI service, but it makes total sense.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
L

That’s for all the info. So basically if I’m bored, I should call SXM, tell them my issue and explain what Sonos is with a threat to cancel. Then nothing will happen but better than going to Sonos it appears. 

L

I texted SXM support and they escalated/promised me a callback.  That did happen and much to my surprise they all knew what Sonos was.  Second tier support stated as many have mentioned here--known issue, stay tuned.   So no news, but at least consistency.  We’ll see if they can get it fixed before everyone leaves SXM which is happening per their earnings call this week.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings