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TomPurcell
TomPurcell
Contributor III
April 17, 2016
Answered

iPhone Volume Buttons Don't Work

  • April 17, 2016
  • 19 replies
  • 6697 views
Hi,

I have seen similar topics on here regarding this issue but think this one is unique.

I received my Play:1 & 3 yesterday and set them up fine. At this point my iPhone 6 was able to adjust the volume using the physical buttons.

Later that day I set my girlfriend's iPhone 6 up and realised that my buttons no longer worked. I have reset the app, re-downloaded it, even factory reset both speakers and set it up again.

As it stands her phone can control the volume but mine cannot.

Is there anyway to resolve this so that both phones can use the physical buttons to control the volume?

Thanks in advance for any help.
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    Best answer by Ken_Griffiths
    It sounds to me like you have a few issues here. I personally would start again... It sounds like your girlfriends phone was setup as a new Sonos network instead of being added to an existing one.

    This is what I would do:

    Uninstall the controller software on both your phones.

    Switch off BOTH speakers and move one to near your router and connect it with an Ethernet cable (leave it switched off)

    Now go through the hardware reset procedure for just the speaker plugged into the router... I will send you the instructions to do that in a personal message. Give me one second or two to send it.

    After the hardware reset and with the other (non-wired) speaker still switched off ... Install your Sonos controller software just on your phone only and setup a new Sonos network and add your speaker that's cabled into the router.

    When complete I would then do the hardware reset on the non-wired speaker (there is no need to wire that one to the router) ... Set that speaker up on your phone by adding it to your existing Sonos network... You do that in the settings/add player or sub (see the message I sent you).

    Okay when done, your phone will be working fine with your two speakers.

    Now download the Sonos controller again on your girlfriends phone but this time add her controller to the existing Sonos network... Do NOT create another network.

    The girlfriends phone controller will set itself up automatically and will literally end up as a copy of your phone controller settings.

    Now move the speakers to where you want them ... No need to leave one cabled anymore though it is a good idea to have one Sonos device cabled to the router, if possible.

    All should now work fine!

    Ken Griffiths

    Note: when you un-cable/move your speakers, switch them off and when you plug them back in, wait a minute or two for them to sort themselves out before using your phone controllers.

    19 replies

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    Ken_Griffiths
    Ken_Griffiths
    April 17, 2016
    Reading your post, TomPurcell, of the things you did etc. The uninstalling/installing and switching your email accounts etc. I think you got yourself and the Sonos system in a bit of a 'pickle' ...

    Not to worry though, I am fairly confident that my reset procedure sent to you by personal message and the instructions in my second post to you above, will resolve your issues. You need to follow the instructions 'exactly' step-by-step and stick to one email address (your main one). Leave your MAC PC off too and sort that afterwards as I described above.

    Forget about the online registration of the software controllers, under your different email addresses in your profile for now, that perhaps can be sorted out with Sonos Support later. They will know which ones to remove (all except the last two and your MAC PC) ... Assuming they can remove them that is, without the help of a Sonos DBA.

    Let me know how you get on.
      TomPurcell
      TomPurcellAuthor
      Contributor III
      April 17, 2016
      Hi Ken,

      I've just tried the app again despite not resetting the speakers since this afternoon (after your helpful instructions) and for some reason it appears to have sorted itself out.

      All I can say is thanks for your time. You've been quite patient and very helpful!
      Ken_Griffiths
      Ken_Griffiths
      April 17, 2016
      Well okay Tom, good luck. I am more than happy to help a fellow Sonos user anytime.
        Ken_Griffiths
        Ken_Griffiths
        April 17, 2016
        TomPurcell.

        I appreciate your matter is now sorted, but I was going through some other things this afternoon and I stumbled upon another thing on the iPhone device, which relates to controlling the volume of Sonos speakers with the iphone hardware buttons.

        You can apparently go into the iPhone SETTINGS (grey cog icon) and scroll down the list of applications on the left hand side until you see Sonos (The list of apps is in alphabetical order). If you select the Sonos app here it displays some further options including a toggle button, to switch on/off the hardware volume control.

        I thought it worth mentioning here for information purposes.

        Ken Griffiths
          SkiRX
          Lyricist I
          January 28, 2017
          Another thing you may try is to see if your iPhone is connected via Bluetooth to a nearby audio device. Mine was still connected to a sound bar, and this overrode the volume control for Sonos. I disconnected the phone from the sound bar by turning off its Bluetooth connection and the volume control worked fine again with the Sonos.
          Subrakay
          Lyricist II
          July 25, 2017
          Did you try completely shutting off your iPhone and leaving it off (30 secs) and switching it back on again? ... Also check the following in Settings/Sounds .. "Change with Buttons" toggle switch is turned on.

          Note you can only change the Sonos audio whilst the app is running on screen, it will not work when the app is in the background or closed (obviously).

          Hope that helps.

          Obviously?

          Listen, the bottom line is, Apple Music works perfect when you lock the phone and use the volume, the Sonos app does not. I have a brand new iPhone SE and just installed the app, I made certain that everything else was closed and I am not able to control the volume unless the phone is UNLOCKED and the app is as you stated in the forground.

          This is retarded.

          I have all the settings locked in the settings which were already locked before I locked them and tried to unlocked them relock them etc.

          Why is the Sonos programming not up to par like Apple Music to where it controls the volume no matter what with zero excuses?

          Your coding department needs assistance in this area, my gf works for Apple and knows a gillion people and some that were on the iOS team, we should talk.
          Subrakay
          Lyricist II
          July 27, 2017
          xyz
          Subrakay
          Lyricist II
          July 27, 2017
          Thanks that worked!
          neek
          Lyricist I
          October 22, 2017
          This same problem is happening to me. I can confirm I have the hardware volume control set in both System Sounds and Sonos app. This used to work and seems to have boken when I updated to Sonos 8, though that could also be around when I updated to iOS 11. The on-screen volume controls work so it shouldn't have anything to do with me re-pairing with the devices.
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