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Contributor I
Oct 15, 2014 12:37 AM UTC

Mac Keyboard Volume Buttons?

Can anyone help, I am using a Play:3 with the Sonos Mac Controller, the Next/ Previous buttons on my keyboard work fine, but the volume control does not register at all.

I am about to wall mount the speaker and will be in trouble if I can not control the volume from my computer??
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18 replies

Lyricist III
Oct 15, 2014 7:04 AM UTC
Try the volume slider in your Sonos Controller. The hardware buttons are not supported.
Take a look.
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/mac_volume_buttons_to_control_sonos_volume_via_desktop_controller_app

Rainer
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MikeV
Oct 15, 2014 1:10 PM UTC
I would imagine that the volume buttons on your Mac keyboard will always control your Mac's volume. Since content - I'm sure it's not limited to just music - is played by software, it's possible for those buttons to control the actions of an application (in Sonos' case, changing the track on the currently selected zone). But volume is a function of the computer's built-in sound hardware, and as such those buttons cannot be remapped unless the OS permits it.

As Rainer_B suggests, the volume slider in the Sonos controller software can always be used to adjust the volume of your zones. Or you could set up the Sonos app on a phone or tablet, and use that to adjust the volume too.
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Lyricist I
May 21, 2015 7:53 AM UTC
This is not true. The volume of the sonos system could be matched to the mac volume. AirFoil doe this too. Of course, turning the volume up on the Sonos speakers would also mean turning up the volume on all other mac sounds, but it's a really nice feature to have. I imagine machine volume can be read and parsed by the sonos controller system.
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Lyricist I
Jun 22, 2015 12:12 PM UTC
With spotify I can control the volume just fine. Why not with sonos? Seems like a such a basic feature...
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Enthusiast II
Aug 11, 2016 4:58 PM UTC
They could make it work with a modifier key, like alt+vol up/down.

(Note that Mac already has alt+shift+vol up/down to change the volume in smaller increments)
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Lyricist I
Feb 8, 2017 7:13 PM UTC
Please make this happen. Would make using your Mac desktop app so much friendlier.
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Lyricist I
Feb 21, 2017 3:19 PM UTC
I would love to have the mac keyboard volume control the app volume.
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Lyricist I
Jun 12, 2017 6:03 PM UTC
Adding my voice to the choir: Would love to have mac keyboard control!

Honestly, I'm surprised this functionality isn't part of the desktop app.
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Contributor I
Jun 16, 2017 4:18 PM UTC
Would be good to be able to control the volume through the keyboard, BUT to have it decoupled from the Mac Volume. You would not want to change the volume of the Sonos devices on your network while you are for example working and hearing something with some headsets on.
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Trending Lyricist I
Feb 2, 2018 2:37 PM UTC
Realise this is quite an old thread but I've only just purchased Sonos speakers and using the Mac App to control it. Agree would be very good to control it with the keyboard keys, like Spotify does.
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