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Google Assistant algorithms different on Sonos compared to Google Home?

  • 12 August 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 339 views

So a rarely use GA to find specific songs or artists but when I do I find that it works fine. Ok sometimes it might start playing an acoustic version instead but since the artist and song title is the same I can understand that. A friend of mine asked if I could recommend a Sonos One for the start of a multi-room system with GA integrated and I did recommend it. But no he’s not satisfied at all because he thinks that the response and action from GA on Sonos doesn’t work compared to his Google Home.

In my world it should be the same since GA on Sonos just contacts the GA servers and get a response and action from them, using the same algoritms as any GA enabled speaker? Or am I wrong?

Upon testing at my place I sometimes do find some differences between the respond and result from GA on Sonos One and GA on Google Home Mini but in general it’s the same and it more seems a bit randomized when there is differences. And the differences is sometimes beneficial for GA on Sonos and sometimes for GA on Google Home Mini so it’s not like one of the platforms is better or worse than the other.

Could someone shed some light on this?

He is new to Google Assistant as such, could it be that the assistant needs to “learn” his voice?

 

Edit: I use Spotify as music service, my friend use Youtube Music, if that makes any difference.

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7 replies

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @User746219, welcome to the community, and thanks for reaching out. 

You can do many of the things with the Google Assistant on Sonos, but we aim for the best experience we can deliver on Sonos vs. trying to do everything a first-party device can do. We’re always adding to the experience, so the functionality and features can evolve over time with software, and with Sonos, you do get all of the benefits of the Sonos system. 

With the Google Assistant, you can play music, find answers courtesy of Google Search, plan your day, set timers, and easily control smart devices around your home. And, with a Chromecast device, access TV and movies by using a simple voice command. 

The integration also supports features specific to Google Assistant, like a continued conversation, meaning you can ask the Google Assistant a series of questions without having to say “Hey Google” every time. For more information on using Google Assistant to control Sonos, please see this link.​

We’ll continue to bring more actions and functionality to the experience over time through software. 

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.
U
Badge

Hi @User746219, welcome to the community, and thanks for reaching out. 

You can do many of the things with the Google Assistant on Sonos, but we aim for the best experience we can deliver on Sonos vs. trying to do everything a first-party device can do. We’re always adding to the experience, so the functionality and features can evolve over time with software, and with Sonos, you do get all of the benefits of the Sonos system. 

With the Google Assistant, you can play music, find answers courtesy of Google Search, plan your day, set timers, and easily control smart devices around your home. And, with a Chromecast device, access TV and movies by using a simple voice command. 

The integration also supports features specific to Google Assistant, like a continued conversation, meaning you can ask the Google Assistant a series of questions without having to say “Hey Google” every time. For more information on using Google Assistant to control Sonos, please see this link.​

We’ll continue to bring more actions and functionality to the experience over time through software. 

Okay so this response wasn’t useful at all…
Anyone else wanna have a go at actually answering my questions and thoughts?
 

/Stevo
R
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

 

Okay so this response wasn’t useful at all…
Anyone else wanna have a go at actually answering my questions and thoughts?
 

Hahahaha... I saw that coming. 

My first question would be does he have You Tube Music set up as a musicsmusic in his Sonos account. Like you I also use Spotify. My experience with You Tube Music is very little though b I'm considering a switch in the near future.

My other question would be os he the only user? Wondering if the search could be pulling results from another user in his household.

I have some things to sort out but right now it seems anything voice searched uses my account.  Now that Sonos should be able to use Voice Match that may fix my problem.

Back to your question, Google assistant should give the same or near same results regardless on device with the exception of anything that requires Voice Match will I'll be testing again tomorrow. Didn't go so well earlier today. 

P

Hi,

I’m having a similar issue.  I speak commands at Sonos Arc - Google Assistant, and it hardly ever works, especially volume down commands.

I then repeat the exact commands via my iphone and it works perfectly.

All apps and software update to date.

Thinking of switching to Alexa but i’d prefer not to.

Cheers

R
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

@Philimo 

Are you very far away from your Arc? I would imagine your phone would be a lot closer when speaking the commands.

I've noticed that I seem to have to speak louder for the Arc than other Google Assistant enabled devices. 

B

Just saw this thread  and I've been wondering the same. I also expected Sonos GA to contact Google cloud and return same result. It does not seem to.

I moved my home mini to other room and used my Sonos one in bedroom as my GA as they sometimes clashed depending which one picked up the command. But now I am moving the mini back and switching off Sonos microphone. 

Sonos GA is much worse at understanding and often returns "I don't understand". Setting an alarm time is a chore as it often asks what day I want the alarm set and repeatedly fails to understand even after 3 or 4 attempts. It struggles to play the right song or playlist often coming up with an obscure random playlist or artist I've never played before when I ask to play one my frequently used. It also struggles with Google routines often leaving out random parts of the routine. 

I am also perplexed as to how GA in the Sonos varies so much in terms of result back compared with Google home mini. 

 

R

I have the same problem. My son was has Google assistant on it but response completely different than actual Google Assistant. Most often times it says it doesn't understand or asks for more directions. Is there an update or something I need to do to make this work?

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