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Joelc
Avid Contributor I
Dec 27, 2021 3:18 PM UTC
Answered

Sonos and macOS Permissions

I am installing SONOS Application 13.4.1 on a macOS computer running Monterey 12.1.

I noticed during installation that SONOS requested permission to the computer’s Security&Privacy/Privacy/Accessibility setting, presumably, in order to control my computer.

I would appreciate an explanation as to what specific control or functionality SONOS would like access to in this regard so that I can determine whether to deny / grant it access.

Thank you.

 

 

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      James L.
      James L.Answer
      Retired Community Staff
      Dec 27, 2021 3:33 PM UTC

      Hi @Joelc,

       

      Sonos requests access to two permissions upon the first install for a couple of reasons which I’ll outline below:

       

      Accessibility - Granting this permission lets you control Sonos through the Mac's keyboard media playback buttons for play/pause and forward/back. If you don’t use those buttons to control Sonos, you can deny this permission. If you do use these buttons or accidentally click deny, you will need to grant Sonos permission to access them.

      Notifications - When notifications are allowed, Sonos will send desktop notifications to the Mac whenever a new track is played. Notifications can be toggled on or off in System Preferences > Notifications > Sonos.

       

      I hope that helps.

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      10 replies

      jgatie
      jgatie
      Dec 27, 2021 3:22 PM UTC

      Sonos can play local music files which a stored on your Mac, so the Sonos devices would need access to those files over your local network.

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      James L.
      James L.Answer
      Retired Community Staff
      Dec 27, 2021 3:33 PM UTC

      Hi @Joelc,

       

      Sonos requests access to two permissions upon the first install for a couple of reasons which I’ll outline below:

       

      Accessibility - Granting this permission lets you control Sonos through the Mac's keyboard media playback buttons for play/pause and forward/back. If you don’t use those buttons to control Sonos, you can deny this permission. If you do use these buttons or accidentally click deny, you will need to grant Sonos permission to access them.

      Notifications - When notifications are allowed, Sonos will send desktop notifications to the Mac whenever a new track is played. Notifications can be toggled on or off in System Preferences > Notifications > Sonos.

       

      I hope that helps.

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      Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
      JoelcAuthor
      Avid Contributor I
      Dec 27, 2021 4:25 PM UTC

      Sonos can play local music files which a stored on your Mac, so the Sonos devices would need access to those files over your local network.

      Agreed but that is not the Accessibility permission, that would the the Files and Folders permission.

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      JoelcAuthor
      Avid Contributor I
      Dec 27, 2021 4:40 PM UTC

      Hi @Joelc,

       

      Sonos requests access to two permissions upon the first install for a couple of reasons which I’ll outline below:

       

      Accessibility - Granting this permission lets you control Sonos through the Mac's keyboard media playback buttons for play/pause and forward/back. If you don’t use those buttons to control Sonos, you can deny this permission. If you do use these buttons or accidentally click deny, you will need to grant Sonos permission to access them.

      Notifications - When notifications are allowed, Sonos will send desktop notifications to the Mac whenever a new track is played. Notifications can be toggled on or off in System Preferences > Notifications > Sonos.

       

      I hope that helps.

       

      @James L. , I appreciate the detailed and fast response.  I have never used those buttons to control the Sonos but have now tried using them, very nice feature.

      Again, thank you!

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        JoelcAuthor
        Avid Contributor I
        Dec 27, 2021 4:48 PM UTC

        One follow up, any way to get the Volume Keys (i.e. mine, down and up) to control the Sonos as well?

        PS.  At least on my MacBook they do not control the volume.

         

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        James L.
        James L.
        Retired Community Staff
        Dec 28, 2021 8:43 AM UTC

        One follow up, any way to get the Volume Keys (i.e. mine, down and up) to control the Sonos as well?

        PS.  At least on my MacBook they do not control the volume.

         

        I’m not a Mac user, but I believe you can only do this if you’re Airplaying from the Mac to the Sonos speaker directly.

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        JoelcAuthor
        Avid Contributor I
        Dec 28, 2021 7:57 PM UTC

        One follow up, any way to get the Volume Keys (i.e. mine, down and up) to control the Sonos as well?

        PS.  At least on my MacBook they do not control the volume.

         

        I’m not a Mac user, but I believe you can only do this if you’re Airplaying from the Mac to the Sonos speaker directly.

         

        @James L. appreciate the response.  

        @ All, are there any mac users out there who can answer this?

        Thanks.

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        Airgetlam
        Airgetlam
        Dec 28, 2021 8:43 PM UTC

        The way the OS is written, the volume keys are designated for internal only. Even when the Mac client is “active”, the buttons still control the Mac’s volume, and not the Sonos volume. They would be active if you were using AirPlay, since you’re controlling a Mac OS application. But they’d be still interfacing with the operating system, and not the actual Sonos application.  

        Not that I’ve looked particularly, but I’ve never seen anything out there that interrupts the communication between the keyboard and the OS, and redirects key presses to another application. I suppose such a thing is possible, but I’m not a programmer, so take what I say with a grain of “what the hell does some random person on the internet know, anyway!”.

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        Bruce
        JoelcAuthor
        Avid Contributor I
        Dec 29, 2021 3:03 AM UTC

        @Airgetlam , appreciate the response...I will settle for control of backward / pause or play / forward until someone figures out the use of the volume keys for the Sonos app...that said, it would be a great feature to have!  :)

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        Airgetlam
        Airgetlam
        Dec 29, 2021 6:01 AM UTC

        Probably something Apple needs to open up before Sonos can use, but yep, it would be nice. 

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        Bruce
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