Sonos volume controls on a Mac

  • 6 February 2019
  • 10 replies
  • 4261 views

I can control the sound volume of my Sonos equipment (One, Beam) on iPhone/iPad running iOS, but not on my computers (iMac and MacBook Pro (both 2017). Neither on Airplay2 through Apple Music nor through the Sonos app on these computers. Am I overlooking a settings option or is this feature lacking?

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10 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi, deblink. Welcome to the community. Odd - this should be possible. Though certain features are limited on the Desktop controllers, this is not one of them. What are you seeing? Is the bar greyed out or entirely missing? Is your Sonos application up-to-date? Thanks in advance.
Hello Edward, I have this same problem. When I'm using the Sonos desktop app on Mac (even when I don't have the window open), I can control the songs from my keyboard (i.e. hit f7 and f9 to skip forward/back) but I CANNOT use the volume controller to change the volume. This SUCKS! Is there something I'm missing?? On e.g. the Spotify Mac app, you can control tracks AND volume from your keyboard. Please advise 🙂
Perhaps you might answer the questions Edward asked the previous poster?
To Edward's first question, "What are you seeing?", please see the image attached.
To Edward's second question, "Is the bar greyed out or entirely missing?", which bar is Edward referring to?
To Edward's third question, "Is your Sonos application up-to-date?", I downloaded it for the first time 2 weeks ago, does that mean it's up to date? Where do I find out if it's up to date?
The only question that I can answer for you is your third. If you click on the word "Sonos" in the menu bar at the top of your screen, you should be able to select "Check for updates" in that menu tree.

I'd assume that if you downloaded it a couple of weeks ago, you should indeed be current.

If memory serves, and I haven't tested this, it should work if the Sonos window is the active window (selected), but it wouldn't work if it isn't.
One further note: it's now the weekend. If you're interested in an immediate response, I'd contact Sonos Support to discuss it. I tend to suggest the phone folks, they have more tools available, but are only available during business hours. Both the Twitter and Facebook support folks are available 24/7.

Otherwise, I think Edward should be back on the boards on Monday.
Thank you Airgetlam. Actually, it doesn't even work if the Sonos app window is open.

I can wait till Monday. Happy weekend!
Heh. That's what I get for not testing, but I'm busy listening to a baseball game :)

You're most welcome. Have yourself a lovely weekend as well!
Hey Edward/Sonos in general, any thoughts on this?
Userlevel 7
Badge +19
Hey there, @sonosboi

Check to make sure you are on both the most current Sonos Controller software and MacOS. Additionally, you may want to check out the Security & Privacy pane inside of System Preferences. Here you want to make sure that Sonos has permission to control your computer under the Accessibility category.

Check out this thread for more info.

If you are still having troubles after trying this out, it might be best to give our support technicians a call to get eyes on this in real time.

Thanks!