Tips & Tricks

Helpful tips for making the Google Assistant work with Sonos

Helpful tips for making the Google Assistant work with Sonos
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  • Retired Sonos Staff
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There are some basic things to check when you’re trying to get the Google Assistant to work with Sonos if you’re having trouble. This thread will have some starting steps to getting it all sorted out.

You can also find some useful tips and tricks here and there's a list of commands here.

Check your Google Account(s)


To start with, make sure you’re checking that you have the correct Google Account being used for Sonos.

If you have multiple Google accounts set up and logged in on your mobile device, it’s possible the wrong one is trying to be used. Check in your phones Account Settings, you may need to remove the extra ones during set up if the apps keep trying to use the wrong one.

You may have your Sonos system linked to one of your Google accounts but your Google Home devices could be linked with a different one. In this case, Google will return an error about being unable to find the device.

Possible Mismatched Music Service accounts


If you’re using a music service that needs a premium account, make sure that you have those credentials in both Sonos and in the Google Assistant app.

In the Sonos app, check in Settings > Music Services to make sure you have the same credentials as those in the Google Assistant app.

Also, the music service in Sonos may be a free account or an expired account, so please confirm with the service.

Are multiple Sonos systems using the same Google Assistant


Only one Sonos system can be associated with a Google account at a time. If you have two homes both with the Google Assistant being used in them, you’ll need to pick one Sonos system to have linked with them at a time. Alternatively, you could use a different Google account for each location.

Duplicate names or room name conflicts


When you ask the Google Assistant to perform a task on a device, it uses the name, and potentially could be confused if you have multiple devices with the same name.

As an example, if you have a Sonos player named Living Room and a smart light named Living Room, using the command "Hey Google, turn it up in the Living Room" may have Google Assistant try to increase the brightness of your smart lights instead of the volume of your speaker. Which wouldn’t work.

Using Google Room names


The Google Assistant has Google Room names that can be targeted to perform actions. These names aren’t supported by Sonos devices at this time. You must use the Sonos room name in your command, the one that shows in the Sonos app, when specifically talking to a Sonos room.

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29 replies

I had an error message that said something to the effect of "There aren't any other speakers on this network" or something. Here's the fix: uninstall Google Assistant in the Sonos app. Reinstall it and make sure it has the exact same address as your internet network. It will work. 

I have a mish-mash of Bluetooth speakers with Chromecasts and an old Sonos Play One. I'm old, so I have a huge music library I already paid for, and no intention to buy a subscription to anything. I wrangled with the Google assistant for months to get it to work with my library so I could voice control it from my phone and cast to the non-Sonos speakers. It now works well. I just bought a Sonos One thinking I would now be able to voice control my library through the speaker - nope! I'm ready to return it. This is ridiculous - why buy a $200 speaker, only to have to pay an extra $120 a year forever in music subscriptions to access music I already own?

Userlevel 3
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In google home you can now set a sonos device as a default speaker.

Well done, this has given new life to my sonos stuff as family could never be bothered to say “on kitchen sonos”

@pbanders

, Google Play Music requires a Premium account to play music on Sonos using the Google Assistant. Currently this functionality isn't available for their free accounts. I'll make sure to add a request to the teams here and at Google for you.

Too bad I didn’t know this before I purchased a Sonos One...I’ll now be unloading it  getting Google Max speaker...