Radio skipping backwards - BBC radio repeats

Could it be that via the newly updated app and changes to services I’m now using Sonos Radio and not TuneIn to play Radio 2?

I know TuneIn is for sure used via Google assistant so if the app isn’t using TuneIn then this could narrow the issue.

@cwarrent and @neilandjan .

May I ask if you have the BBC Sounds Skill for Alexa installed? (Although I am not sure whether this is relevant!)

(I know nothing about Google Assistant - is there something comparable to the Alexa Skill?)

I’ve never used Alexa (as I preferred Google Assistant) but I get the feeling the issue arises using both assistants from replies within this post.

Thanks for reply - I edited my post while you were sending yours - is there anything from the BBC you can install on Google Assistant?

I thought that GA did NOT use TuneIn - what makes you say you are sure it does?

Edit - I mean not for BBC stations, at least.

Yes. I have the BBC Sounds skill installed in Alexa. 

N.B. I am still seeing NO repeats whilst starting playback via the Sonos app and not using Alexa, through MyTuner.

OK, some history.  (I hope my recollection is correct where it’s needed, but I won’t guarantee it.)

Back in August 2019, the BBC pulled its live stations from TuneIn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/37e4e3f6-fbd2-4c14-8d72-7f7139641582

The advice for Amazon Echo users was to access BBC stations via the BBC Sounds Skill for Alexa, for GA users to ‘use Chromecast or voice’.  I think GA already had something built in for BBC stations that was not TuneIn, and still does.

A concession was made for Sonos and similar systems, that they could continue to use TuneIn for BBC stations.  (In fact Sonos has never used the full TuneIn app - TuneIn just feeds Sonos the URL and then Sonos fetches the stream directly.)

At the time of the change, this meant the app could continue to play BBC stations via TuneIn and it still can.  There was no impact for GA users, as it wasn’t using TuneIn for BBC anyway.  For Alexa users (like me) it has meant using the BBC Sounds skill instead.  

So the upshot is, I think, that TuneIn is being used for requests from the Sonos app (and seems to have no repeat problems) and the voice systems are using something else, and are having repeat problems.  What is the something else?  In my case the ‘something else’ is BBC Sounds Skill for Alexa and it repeats.  What happens if you don’t have BBC Sounds but specify an alternative service to TuneIn in Alexa?  I don’t know, but it might be useful to know.

But key takeaway may be the app uses TuneIn by default and is fine (no repeats) .  Other radio consolidators also seem to be fine via the Sonos app.  Voice control goes by a different route, or maybe a few possible routes, and some or all of these are problematic.  

On Alexa, I think it will use BBC Sounds if it is installed, not sure about if it isn’t.  Using with BBC Sounds it repeats.

On GA I suspect it just uses GA built-in BBC thing in all circumstances (and that suffers repeats).

Even if correct, it doesn’t answer the question of whether this occurs only on voice control through Sonos or also on voice control of Echo devices and Google devices.  There doesn’t seem to be much out there on the internet about a general problem.  I have a feeling that somehow voice control via Sonos follows a different path and gets a different (faulty) stream from the BBC.  I doubt very much that it is a software error in Sonos.

I shall now reread the various posts on this thread and possibly find that they completely contradict this theory!

A summary of my experience so far:

1. I noticed BBC radio skipping back, this has been happening for some time
2. My standard setup was to use the TuneIn service on Sonos
3. I use a Google Home Mini to start the radio - not always but most of the time
4. If I use Google Home Mini “play Radio 2 in the office” for example, it will start and use TuneIn saying “BBC Radio 2 from TuneIn playing in Office”
5. I have now removed the TuneIn service from Sonos, Google Home will still say  “BBC Radio 2 from TuneIn playing in Office” - and looking at Sonos I can see it is using TuneIn

   

6. In order to see if the stream via TuneIn skips but another service (e.g. myTuner) doesn’t I need to start radio only via the app (not Google Assistant) for a while - will report back then.

Regards,

Gavin

Might be tempting fate here but I’ve either resolved this issue or it’s been fixed anyway. For me I changed my Alexa settings/change music and podcasts default player from Spotify (where I’d previously had a 3 month trial which was downgraded to free) to Amazon. No issue since with the BBC radio jumping issue. No idea whether this fixed it, if it hadn’t then next thing I would have tried was an Alexa command ‘tell BBC sounds to play radio 2’ instead of ‘play radio 2’ and narrow down from there to work out which service Alexa is calling. Either way, I think just blaming Sonos is a bit lazy, they build amazing speakers, and opened up their previously locked down ecosystem to 3rd party own voice products re Amazon/Google voice control because the community wanted them to.

I only use the S1 app with Tunein and Radio 2 skips back circa 4 times a day. Only started about December and I don't think Sonos are particularly interested in fixing it. It's a shame as I have Sonos in every room and I don't think I could recommend it to friends anymore as it is really irritating.