Restrict access to certain zones

  • 1 September 2012
  • 195 replies
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There should be a way to restrict access to certain zones or allow control of certain zones from a specific controller. This is very important when you have children or have guests staying to stop inadvertent or deliberate changing of zone settings.

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195 replies

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You can't even stop people who have a Play in their room from registering their app into your system. Surely this must be a problem for Sonos at trade shows when visitors can gain control of their demo systems... come to think of it maybe that's a way to get Sonos to really focus on this issue.
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You can't even stop people who have a Play in their room from registering their app into your system. Surely this must be a problem for Sonos at trade shows when visitors can gain control of their demo systems... come to think of it maybe that's a way to get Sonos to really focus on this issue.
Especially when you play something "special" from your own device through it!
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Add me in to, and merge with this topic: http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=36704
Just brought a play 1. First sonos purchase been deciding for a while to discontinue my my investment in logitech squeezebox and move to sonos. My initial impression is it's an excellent piece of kit. However I stumbled across this forum when trying to find out how to lock unwanted guests out of the system and I must admit I cannot believe this feature is missing. If I had known about this (what I would consider a flaw.) beforehand I wouldn't have purchased it. Certainly won't be extending my system until I can secure it.
This would be an excellent feature! Looking forward to it being implemented soon as I am sure you guys are working on it. Would be nice to have some confirmation that it is being looked into. Thanks!
Need a way to lock the kids out of each other zones.

You talk up that you have 84 consumer  retainment/satisfaction rating higher than the gold standard 72 of Apple. Surely they do not read this forum as this is a major flaw in design. that appears that many many folks need.

It's been 2 days since they got their Play:1 and I may have to return them if the mutal volume song changing doesn't stop
Yet another "me too"...

My scenario is that I would like to get a couple of devices for my kids, ages 4 and 6. The problem here isn't really that they would be able to control the other zones in the house, but they're simply not old enough to understand how to use the controller at all.

What I would really like is a much simplified controller app that's attached to a specific zone and which would only allow the user to select playlists (presented in a grid view with large icons), start/stop/skip music and turn the volume up and down. Later on they could upgrade to a proper controller, and then having a "master switch" would be nice - but for now the much simpler solution would be the best.

Best regards & thanks,
  Mikkel Lauritsen
Password protection is SORELY needed in this otherwise excellent product. Still recovering from a party hosted by my teens that had people switching tracks every minute, as well as fiddling with the volume control. After several warnings, my only solution was to unplug the damn bridge after it was apparent acting reasonably was beyond their comprehension. How unfortunate that this is my only option, when I would prefer to control the situation myself and leave the music on at a reasonable volume level.
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With the introduction of the new Play:1 I was planning to buy it for my kids' bedrooms. But the inability to control individual zones is what is holding me back. I don't want my kids to be able to accidentally (or deliberately) wake me up with their favorite music at 6 A.M.

Since I am subscribed to this list, I receive new responses every few days. So I took it to twitter.

The response I got from @SonosSupport on twitter was that I should invest in additional hardware to set up a separate wi-fi network. That's odd. Just because Sonos software is not capable of handling a simple admin/user/guest setup, I should switch my kids off of the family network!?

On my next tweet, I was asked to put in another request here.

What puzzles me, is that Sonos is not really listening to its users. This feature request has been around for ages and now it's 'under consideration'. We want this implemented. Please, Sonos, we love your product, but you need to develop this.
With the introduction of the new Play:1 I was planning to buy it for my kids' bedrooms. But the inability to control individual zones is what is holding me back. I don't want my kids to be able to accidentally (or deliberately) wake me up with their favorite music at 6 A.M.

Since I am subscribed to this list, I receive new responses every few days. So I took it to twitter.

The response I got from @SonosSupport on twitter was that I should invest in additional hardware to set up a separate wi-fi network. That's odd. Just because Sonos software is not capable of handling a simple admin/user/guest setup, I should switch my kids off of the family network!?

On my next tweet, I was asked to put in another request here.

What puzzles me, is that Sonos is not really listening to its users. This feature request has been around for ages and now it's 'under consideration'. We want this implemented. Please, Sonos, we love your product, but you need to develop this.


From my point of view there're a couple of reasons why the Sonos guys are not developing this feature, especially these three:

1. No one in the Sonos team has kids or guests with Wifi-Access
2. No one of the Sonos team is using Sonos in their homes
3. They have a workaround that fits their needs, but they don't tell us (and a separate Wifi network is not really a suitable workaround)

Of course I see some more reasons NOT to develop the function. But in the end it doesn't help the customer who has ALREADY BOUGHT this kind of entertainment stuff. All the others can avoid buying...

Regards,
Ralph.
I just called them out on Twitter again too. I want to get my two teens Play:1's for their rooms but won't do it till I know I can lock their controllers down to just their rooms.
Dear Sonos,

I would like to spend alot of my money on alot of your products but the lack of this feature is stopping me. I own a Play:3 and want to purchase more devices for my house. I will promise to do this once you function in a way to either master control my devices or restrict access somehow.
Also I want to have more parties and make more friends - please Sonos do not deprive me of making friends.
With the introduction of the new Play:1 I was planning to buy it for my kids' bedrooms. But the inability to control individual zones is what is holding me back. I don't want my kids to be able to accidentally (or deliberately) wake me up with their favorite music at 6 A.M.

Since I am subscribed to this list, I receive new responses every few days. So I took it to twitter.

The response I got from @SonosSupport on twitter was that I should invest in additional hardware to set up a separate wi-fi network. That's odd. Just because Sonos software is not capable of handling a simple admin/user/guest setup, I should switch my kids off of the family network!?

On my next tweet, I was asked to put in another request here.

What puzzles me, is that Sonos is not really listening to its users. This feature request has been around for ages and now it's 'under consideration'. We want this implemented. Please, Sonos, we love your product, but you need to develop this.


Just to make it really obvious for anybody from Sonos following this thread:

Having multiple networks - or even just setting the players up as different households but on the same network - isn't really an option. One thing is that it's a hassle, since for example it would make it necessary for me to have multiple controllers, but another thing is that I'd assume that the household ID is what makes the players only count as one user on my streaming service. Splitting into multiple households would make it necessary for me to have one streaming account per "limited" device, which would mean an additional expense of $200/year. Thanks, but no thanks.

Best regards,
  Mikkel Lauritsen
Just to be clear, my core issue here is the party hijacking. I've had Sonos for a year (2 play 3's, 2 play 5's, SUB) and I can count on one hand how many times this has happened (it's just when the kids have parties and invite obnoxious people with their own smartphones that I foolishly allow on the network). Normally, everyone in the house plays nice together however the zoning happens to be set up. So personally I don't see the lack of this feature as a deal breaker. It would, however, be an awesome addition. 
You can actually also merge it with this one: https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/hide_zones_on_any_type_of_controllers_and_unhide_using_a_password It's intended to achieve the same result.
Merge as many of these threads as you like.  Sonos operates in a vacuum.  This "Sonos Satisfaction" board has lost any credibility.
I am organizing a group to address this at the 2014 International CES on January 8, at 2 p.m. in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Sonos will be exhibiting with a booth for this event at the Renaissance Hospitality Suites.  Mark your calendar.  We hope to see you there as well.
Userlevel 2
Hey guys,

Not sure if any SONOS reps have commented lately but it doesn't appear to be the case.  Wondering if we could get some official SONOS word on this one.

An extra tab in your setup area would do the trick whereby you allocate rights to certain systems and or users.

eg. Play:5 in bedroom 1 is Master Controller only (usually the household owner)
      Play:3 in child's room is User A (and master controller)
      Play:3 in teenager's room is User B (and master controller)
      ZP-90 in Family/Rumpus is All users.

This sort of thing is surely achievable!!!
Hey guys,

Not sure if any SONOS reps have commented lately but it doesn't appear to be the case.  Wondering if we could get some official SONOS word on this one.

An extra tab in your setup area would do the trick whereby you allocate rights to certain systems and or users.

eg. Play:5 in bedroom 1 is Master Controller only (usually the household owner)
      Play:3 in child's room is User A (and master controller)
      Play:3 in teenager's room is User B (and master controller)
      ZP-90 in Family/Rumpus is All users.

This sort of thing is surely achievable!!!


There seems to be a reluctance from SONOS this may be due to the ease of use statements around the web however I believe all we are asking for is an option to limit access. This feature when available( as it will do eventually) does not need to be mandatory. Thank you Marc for you succinct comments.
Hey guys,

Not sure if any SONOS reps have commented lately but it doesn't appear to be the case.  Wondering if we could get some official SONOS word on this one.

An extra tab in your setup area would do the trick whereby you allocate rights to certain systems and or users.

eg. Play:5 in bedroom 1 is Master Controller only (usually the household owner)
      Play:3 in child's room is User A (and master controller)
      Play:3 in teenager's room is User B (and master controller)
      ZP-90 in Family/Rumpus is All users.

This sort of thing is surely achievable!!!


As I've said before I think that the easiest way to implement this would be to add an additional option to the Room Settings list in the controller software, 'Show in this Controller (on)' - e.g. emulate the White Status Indicator Light option. Then in the My Sonos Players list, change the order to show 'non-hidden' players first, and then the 'hidden' ones. I'm hopeful that this kind of change isn't too much work for the team, and could address a number of the issues raised here. 

For me this is about preventing accidental use of rooms. Personally I'd deal with the problem of children changing the settings themselves in other ways ;o) 

This won't of course resolve hijacking by guests but should satisfy a number of other requirements around accidental usage. On the other hand it doesn't require a pin code, or add any real complexity to the product, and can be accommodated by the existing UI. 
Userlevel 2
I also attend to find Access controll options like users profiles, groups, permissions a VERY wanted.

This should be a fundamental functionality to level up sonos to maintan their state of the art leading solution on the market.

On the same time i understand if this probably was not in the core design from the begining. Meaning that they probably have to rewrite the whole core of the system :-/

Hoping for answers and at least to know if Sonos has any plan for this and if it's possible.
Consider mine one more voice added to the chorus. I'm new to the Sonos community but can see this is an "old" request (at least in tech time). Is there a technical hangup preventing Sonos from implementing admin rights? Surely the company wants to satisfy its paying customers. You'll note a similar theme running through Sonos app reviews on iTunes

Clearly the app is smart enough to recognize the unique network it belongs to. Can it be all that difficult to include code that reserves ownership rights so the primary account holder, so that he or she who paid for the device -- or the person to whom the device was presented as a gift or the like -- gets to decide whether to share access or retain control over what is played?

This seems so basic. Frankly I'm surprised and a bit stunned that such functionality is absent, especially considering the rather extensive history of posts on this issue.
I'd be in favor of SONOS adding a new app called "SONOS Pro" that's a paid app.  For $5 or even $10 a pop, SONOS could satisfy hundreds of SONOS users and help offset the software development costs too. 

The average user who just have one or two zones and doesn't need parental or user control or zone-based restrictions could still use the free app from the iTunes or Play Store, etc.  But for the rest of us that want more control, the "Sonos Pro" app could be purchased.  Once a system is tagged with having been configured with the "pro" app, then it would require each any mobile client that wants to touch/control it to use the same "pro" app.  A master admin acct could permit kids to only control a single zone such as their own bedroom; but give them no control over the family room, outdoor, and theater zones, etc.
Userlevel 2
I'd be in favor of SONOS adding a new app called "SONOS Pro" that's a paid app.  For $5 or even $10 a pop, SONOS could satisfy hundreds of SONOS users and help offset the software development costs too. 

The average user who just have one or two zones and doesn't need parental or user control or zone-based restrictions could still use the free app from the iTunes or Play Store, etc.  But for the rest of us that want more control, the "Sonos Pro" app could be purchased.  Once a system is tagged with having been configured with the "pro" app, then it would require each any mobile client that wants to touch/control it to use the same "pro" app.  A master admin acct could permit kids to only control a single zone such as their own bedroom; but give them no control over the family room, outdoor, and theater zones, etc.

Question for you then... how would you stop people coming to your house and using the standard app... if the "Pro" app is the one that prevents users, then the standard app would have to integrate the same software changes in order to recognise the settings made by the Pro app... essentially costing a hell of a lot more time and money than just keeping it to an extra set of settings for the user.

Additionally, users would be forced to purchase this Pro app for every device in their household which would be extremely unreasonable given that the people who want this improvement are those who have spent upwards of $5000 already on SONOS equipment (I'm well over that myself already).

Those of us who 'need' this change have already paid well and truly for it through our ongoing support of SONOS and purchasing multiple zones.  I think keep it simple, integrate it into the one app.
Userlevel 2
I'd be in favor of SONOS adding a new app called "SONOS Pro" that's a paid app.  For $5 or even $10 a pop, SONOS could satisfy hundreds of SONOS users and help offset the software development costs too. 

The average user who just have one or two zones and doesn't need parental or user control or zone-based restrictions could still use the free app from the iTunes or Play Store, etc.  But for the rest of us that want more control, the "Sonos Pro" app could be purchased.  Once a system is tagged with having been configured with the "pro" app, then it would require each any mobile client that wants to touch/control it to use the same "pro" app.  A master admin acct could permit kids to only control a single zone such as their own bedroom; but give them no control over the family room, outdoor, and theater zones, etc.

Maybe I'm missing something here. The only way someone could access my Sonos system would be with my wifi password. If your wifi is password protected, only people who have your password could change zones, songs, your queue, etc. If you're trying to limit your kids access, you should try Guided Access on the iPhone and iPad. Guided Access will allow the parent to specify what areas of the Sonos app screen can be accessed and it is password protected. If I'm off base here, please let me know. As I said earlier, maybe I'm missing something here. Thanks!
its all very well all these know all network engineers trying to create admin and system lock outs etc. any device with the app will find the sonos and can take control of the music. sonos have emailed me admitting this and are working on a new version of the app with admin permissions. be patient it is coming