Google Assistant on Sonos is a joke

  • 22 December 2019
  • 26 replies
  • 2845 views

Userlevel 2

Is it really that bad?  Because at this point, it feels that bad.

I have a stereo pair of sonos ones (the main speaker being the second gen, the other 1st) and a sonos move.

I have no other google speakers in the house and to lessen any confusion from my Google assistants part, I even disengaged it on my phone.

I have problems nearly 100% of the time with google.  Simple commands such as, "pause," "play some music", or "skip this song" or mainly everything music related I get a constant,

"Sorry, something went wrong, when you're ready, give it another try."

 

Or, my favorite one is,

"Sorry, I can't do that here, but you can ask me to play it on one of your other devices."

This happens all the time.  If it does work, it's usually on the second or third try, and by then I'm so frustrated I wish I never invested in these speakers. 

Spotify is my main squeeze, but anything streaming related seems to be a nightmare.  I've tried rebooting google assistant but nothing works and now I feel like I have some serious buyers remorse.  These speakers are very expensive and sound great, but I have nothing but frustration with the simplest of music tasks.

 

I've looked at the forums and overall it seems like it's a mess for google assistant all around, but if anyone has found out anything I havent yet it would be helpful!

 

 

 

 


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26 replies

I agree. Google assistant on my Sonos one gen two is basically ****. it barely works and when it does it takes a very long time thinking before anything happens. It  never play songs when requested. Is there any type of update coming?

The Sonos app **** and for the price of Sonos products they should be ashamed of themselves. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Strange thing is, on my system GA works most of the time. While not perfect, most commands are being dealt with OK. Maybe you could contact Sonos?

I sold my Sonos ones and bought a Google home Max. So much better and it hooks up to my Bose system.  Much more responsive and I don't need a $500 Port to have my Sonos work with Bose just a cheap Chromecast. Sonos sucks 

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Can you elaborate on in what way the Google Home Max is better than the Sonos One and how you have it hooked up to what Bose system? Maybe your expericence can benefit others.

Have you tried contacting Sonos about the problems you where experiencing. so they could help you?

Userlevel 1

I just spent 10 minutes creating a Sonos account just to agree with you, google assistant on Sonos is pathetic. It’s like talking to a deaf person. 

“Hey google, turn on my bedroom lamp”

“turning on the sitting room lamp” 

“Hey google, turn on my bedroom lamp”

“I don’t know how to deal with that request right now” 

“Hey google, turn on my bedroom lamp” 

“blimp” (nothing)

Google assistant is good, it’s just Sonos’ version that isn’t. Sonos google assistant does not work. Sonos sells a premium product that does not operate as advertised. Lazy, careless service. 

Userlevel 5
Badge +8

There are rather a lot of problems with Google Assistant on Sonos, but the biggest one is that Sonos has not fixed one single problem since the initial introduction of Google Assistant support last year. It’s like they want it to fail.

You do know that your Sonos speakers can now be set up as the “default speaker” for any Google Assistant device, right?  Best of both worlds. 

Userlevel 1

You do know that your Sonos speakers can now be set up as the “default speaker” for any Google Assistant device, right?  Best of both worlds. 
 

 

Thanks, that might solve a problem for some people. 
 

If I wanted a speaker linked to my Google Assistant, I could have chosen one of hundreds of much cheaper systems of comparable quality. 

Sonos advertise the Google Assistant as a feature, so it should work, but it doesn’t.

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

I wouldn’t describe GA on Sonos as “doesn’t work”, but it’s certainly not perfect and it will sometimes suddenly change it’s behaviour - for better of for worse.

For example: since a few months I could turn my Philips Hue lights in a room on by saying “Hey Google, lights on” (or off). Only lights in the room linked with a Sonos speaker (living room and attic) would act on this command. Earlier all (22) lights in my home would turn on (or off) with this command. Since earlier this week (update to 11.1?) the exact same command will, on Sonos, turn on (or off) one light - the one in my daughters room. On my Google Home/Nest Mini’s nothing has changed. Now (only on Sonos) I again have to point out in which room I want to turn the lights on or off……

Also the Beam (in the living room) and the One in the (open) kitchen sometimes react as if they are somehow linked together.

I have tried removing Sonos and Hue from GA, but this has been no help.

@106rallye don't forget that GA on Sonos seems to be dumb as soup compared to GA on Google Home, judging by its response to simple questions, as we discussed on the Dutch community.

So yeah, with that and the features like Voice Match that are lacking, GA on Sonos is underwhelming. No doubt some of this is per Google's demands, but it makes you wonder why other speaker manufacturers have been able to integrate GA more successfully.

 

You do know that your Sonos speakers can now be set up as the “default speaker” for any Google Assistant device, right?  Best of both worlds. 

This works fine in rooms where I have a Home mini and a Sonos speaker without voice capabilities, but in rooms where I have Ones, or a Beam I shouldn't need to have an additional device to make GA work well. And still, choosing Sonos as a default speaker will not have GA answer questions on that speaker, only media output will be directed there - it's just not the same experience.

I really wish I hadn’t wasted my money on this, given how frustrating it is. I bought it purely for a better GA speaker, it is a speaker, but GA on it is too painful...

Userlevel 1

Has anyone found any improvement over the last few months? I've just switched my kitchen speaker from a Google Home Mini to a Sonos One Gen 2 - and the difference between Google Assistant responsiveness is insane. I basically have to yell at the Sonos One, and it still only works half the time…

For some reason it never has a problem with "Hey Google"? 

I feel that there has been a big improvement in mine, could be since I have it, and all other devices in my home, a static email address. However, I also find its picking up my voice better. Either that or I got used to asking less of it 😂.

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

Has anyone found any improvement over the last few months? I've just switched my kitchen speaker from a Google Home Mini to a Sonos One Gen 2 - and the difference between Google Assistant responsiveness is insane. I basically have to yell at the Sonos One, and it still only works half the time…

For some reason it never has a problem with "Hey Google"? 

Nope, same problem with mine as well. Barely works.

What happens mostly is that the speaker hears the wake word but then doesn’t respond to any commands. And this isn’t the only issue.

There’s no separate alarm volume, so when you have music playing at 30% volume at night, the alarm sounds at that same volume. No shuffling of music. No Chromecast support but of course AirPlay 2 is supported which is no good for anyone without an iPhone. The Assistant on Sonos is slow and unresponsive and rarely works even a bit.

Many smaller features don’t work either, such as no voice ducking when using a Nest Mini with a Sonos speaker, an annoying confirmation after turning lights on and off etc. Many users have been complaining about Google Assistant support on this forum without any luck. Sonos doesn’t seem to care.

Userlevel 1
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You put a Google Nest on top of a Sonos, then you have a working assistant and Sonos sound. 

Userlevel 4
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You put a Google Nest on top of a Sonos, then you have a working assistant and Sonos sound. 

I tried this out long ago. But no voice ducking. Meaning if the Sonos is playing music at 60% volume and you try to speak to Google Nest, the volume on Sonos will not duck while Assistant is listening.

Which results in you having to shout at the speaker.

Userlevel 1
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Well. My main problem is listening to music at 3pct volume and have GA shouting at me. 

Sonos and GA/Alexa is merely a proof of concept.

The second Google/Amazon/Apple make a replacement to the connect:amp I will have a handful of Sonos devices for sale.

In my surround setup I switched from a Beam to a Sonos Arc. The performance of the Google Assistant after the switch is very bad. Most of the time I have to yell for the GA to respond. 
when I have success with “Hey Google” the sound bar doesn’t respond to a simple command 80% of the time. The light on the soundbar stays on (listening mode) but doesn’t respond after that at all. 
Sonos support told me they see a slow response to the cloud but all suggestions doesn’t seem to work. 

Userlevel 1
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Google Assistant on Google is a horse, Google Assistant, or Alexa, on Sonos is a donkey.

Kind of the same, but not really.

And it is futile to discuss the differences.

 

 

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I have this same issue.  

 

google assistant on my Sonos One never works.  At all.  No matter what the command for playback control “Start playing music”, or “skip track”, or “pause”, or “raise/lower volume”, the answer is always the same: “Sorry, something went wrong.  When you’re ready, try again later.”

 

I’ve “tried again” dozens of times.  Never works on my two Sonos Ones.  I’ve factory reset the devices.  I’ve removed, then re-added Google Assistant.  Several times, in fact.  It never works.  

 

Sonos Customer support is a joke.  Ignored my first email for 10 days, then when I replied for a follow up...they asked me for a list of information that was already in the original ticket.  So I copy and paste it and send it back in.  No response for 3 more days.  I follow up again.  A different person replies, asks for  the same information again and tells me to re-install Google Assistant.

 

I guess this is what happens when they lay off their entire customer support team.  I can honestly say I’ll never get another Sonos Speaker again.  Did you know they now recommend you have one speaker wired via ethernet to your network for every 2 you have in your system?  I was told this by customer support because my system has never worked properly (always 2-3 players are not playing, skipping, one of a stereo pair not getting music, subwoofer not working, etc).  

So much for a wireless sound system!  If I knew I had to wire everything up, I’d just run speaker wire and get “normal” speakers.  

 

“Sorry, something went wrong.  Please try again later.”  What’s the point of even having a voice assistant built in if it literally never, ever works?

Userlevel 1
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Well. We have gotten to the point, where it is just funny how s***** the voice control is. 

But one useful command works: “hey google, Stop”, and the music stop on all speakers.

For for Sonos Marketing, that qualifies as Voice Control. :D

 

 

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the community guidelines.

 

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

Well. We have gotten to the point, where it is just funny how shitty the voice control is. 

But one useful command works: “hey google, Stop”, and the music stop on all speakers.

For for Sonos Marketing, that qualifies as Voice Control. :D

Welp, lucky you. All mine says is “I can’t do that here, but you can ask me to play it on one of your other devices” or “Something went wrong. Try again in a few seconds”.

It’s time to address the elephant in the room.

Sonos and Google don’t work together anymore and things are getting more and more broken because of patent disputes.

I also have apple devices, and it’s easier to use Apple (airplay and Siri) to play YTM to Sonos products, than it is to use casting (which actually no longer works) and Google Assistant.

 

Is sonos planning to address this? I had to switch back to Alexa because I couldn't get GA setup to discover my devices. But on Alexa. It was found instantaneously.