Roku Sonos Controller

  • 14 September 2020
  • 10 replies
  • 9483 views

Userlevel 1

There have been several posts in the past on this forum asking for a Sonos controller for the Roku. Now there is one.

This controller will let you control your Sonos equipment from your Roku using the Roku remote. It shows on-screen album art, song/artist/album information, room and player information, and volume controls. You can play from your Sonos music services, your music library, or from line-in.

The app uses the Sonos API, so it is limited to what the API currently provides. As the Sonos API evolves, more features will become available. The API currently requires the source to be from your favorites, playlists, or line-in, so you will need to create favorites or playlists from your services or music library if you haven't already done so.

The app will also respond to other Sonos controllers, so you can see the results of changes from other controllers on your screen as they happen.

Following is a summary of the features of the Sonos Controller:

  • S1 and S2 compatible.
  • Select your audio source from your Sonos Favorites, Playlists, or Line-In.
  • Change volume settings for groups or individual players.
  • Mute/Un-Mute volume.
  • Pause/Play the audio.
  • Seek to a particular location within the audio.
  • Select Play Modes Shuffle, Repeat, Repeat Current, and Crossfade.
  • Select the rooms to control.
  • Group rooms to play the same audio in multiple rooms.
  • Ungroup rooms to play different audio in different rooms.

To add the app, search for "Sonos Controller" from the Roku home screen search option, or from the Roku online channel store, or click this link.

Since I’m the developer, I can answer questions you have, and discuss enhancements you would like to see.


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10 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Could you post a screenshot so those of us without Rokus can see what it looks like? Thanks.

Take care. Sonos do not like us third parties using their forum to support our customers.

Userlevel 1

Screenshot

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

Looks nice! Except for the misuse of the Sonos trademark in the top left. If you read the small print on the developer site, that kind of thing is not permitted. You also cannot call it “Sonos Controller”.

@Wildd, thanks for this information.  I particularly like how it shows what’s currently playing regardless of where the command to play came from.  Just to clarify, if I changed the music via an alexa voice command, it would be reflected on the screen immediately, or does it periodically ping to get updates?  At what frequency?  Can you configure the app so that it always shows a particular what’s playing on one particular room?

Say for example you have Sonos speakers, an alexa echo, and roku TV in your Sun Room.  It would be nice if you configure it so that the roku app essentially becomes visual feedback for Alexa voice requests to Sonos.

 

 

Userlevel 1

Looks nice! Except for the misuse of the Sonos trademark in the top left. If you read the small print on the developer site, that kind of thing is not permitted. You also cannot call it “Sonos Controller”.

I might be pushing the limit a bit, but technically it’s not the actual Sonos logo. It’s just SONOS spelled with an Arial font. And the actual name on the Roku site is Wildd xStream Sonos Controller. Hopefully it’s enough to keep me out of trouble.

Userlevel 1

@Wildd, thanks for this information.  I particularly like how it shows what’s currently playing regardless of where the command to play came from.  Just to clarify, if I changed the music via an alexa voice command, it would be reflected on the screen immediately, or does it periodically ping to get updates?  At what frequency?  Can you configure the app so that it always shows a particular what’s playing on one particular room?

Say for example you have Sonos speakers, an alexa echo, and roku TV in your Sun Room.  It would be nice if you configure it so that the roku app essentially becomes visual feedback for Alexa voice requests to Sonos.

 

 


Any changes to the music through Alexa or any other controller will be reflected on the screen immediately. This includes volume changes, mute changes, room changes, track changes, etc. It does not ping or poll the Sonos system. When an event change happens, the Sonos API sends the change to a callback server, which forwards it to your Roku, so the Roku controller displays the change when it receives the event. There could be a very slight delay, depending on network traffic, but it is normally less than one second.

Yes, you can use this controller as a visual feedback for any Sonos controller (including Alexa). Just make the change on the other controller and it will immediately be shown on the TV screen. Of course album art and metadata changes occur automatically as you go from one song to the next.

I will definitely keep this in mind.  Ideally, I would like to make an Amazon music request to an echo and see it on the TV through the Amazon music app (so that I get lyrics), but this may be the closet I can get to that.

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I’m assuming this cannot be used to play audio from the Roku device through my Sonos Ones, right?

 

Userlevel 1

I’m assuming this cannot be used to play audio from the Roku device through my Sonos Ones, right?

 


That’s correct. This is a Sonos controller, which will allow you to control your Sonos system from your Roku, and also will provide a nice visual display on your TV or other video monitor attached to a Roku. The visual display also responds to other Sonos controllers such as an iOS or Android controller.

Yes that's alright if you dont have a CR 100.  Keybvoards should work on any device so why is this one malfunctioning and what can I do about it?