The issue I believe is that Google won’t allow it.

It is different for devices that you want a Voice Assistant (VA) to control but Sonos is a VA Enabled device, which in both the technical and legal framework is different.

@UKMedia is correct.  Google does not allow you to use Alexa or Sonos VA when Google is installed as a voice assistant.  Nothing Sonos can do about it, your beef is with Google. 

So, to clarify for my non tekky brain, my other devices work with both Google and Alexa because the Google device or Alexa jobbie is doing the controlling ( home of the assistant, i.e my phone) but the Sonos can only work with one ( either Google or Alexa not both) because it has the assistant built in and isn't using the same assistant everything else is.

Is there any way for me to remove both assistants from the speakers and just control the speakers with my Google and Alexa the same way I do everything else?

I could be mistaken on this, but my android phone cannot respond to both Alexa and Google voice commands with me changing settings to specify what the default assistant is, or pressing a button on the phone to initiate the voice assistant listening.  This typically very easy and practically seamless, but not the same as my phone listening for both system key words at the same time.  Sonos is not so seamless in transitioning between voice assistance, true.  And I think much of that has to do with the limited processing power and memory on your Sonos speaker compared to your phone.  The speaker needs to install google assistant when you enable it.

Yes, you can setup Sonos in your Google and Alexa accounts and control the speakers by speaking with any voice assistant in your account.

Thank-you very much  - I will give this a go.

apologies for my lack of technical understanding - i am just a regular end user - i really have no idea  how these things work, just that they do or don’t, and when i read the posts here from 4 years ago saying this will no longer be an issue because of the Google / alexa et al collaboration, I was flabberghasted that years later Sonos still hadnt changed and still couldn’t do both Google and Alexa at the same time, and as far as my non tekky brain was concerned - all my other smart home devices work with both alexa and google assistant at the same time.

now , thanks to you guys, I understand that what i assumed was seamless integration with both google and alexa on my smart home devices is simply google and alexa being able to control a device (eg. tv, lightbulbs, alarm, hoover, sockets, other speakers and so on), whereas Sonos went a different route and embedded the whole  assistant inside the speaker ( as though it was an echo or phone or laptop) - I imagine there was a reason to go this more complex route.

I am delighted to read your reply, to know that i can add control of my sonos to my existing assistants via their home devices and control it from there - I will try that this afternoon.just as an example of how non tekky i am - i have had the alexa thing for a while now but only realised a few months ago that i could not just ask mrs A to ruen on the main hall lights - but that i could also rename the main hall lights to something selly, like Baldrick, and also ask her to dim the lights to pretty much any percentage i felt like - so its that extremely entry level understanding of technology that you are dealing with here.

Many thanks again for everyones replies

Hello
 

The limitation of using a single voice assistant at a time stems from several factors, primarily the way voice assistants are designed and integrated into devices. Each voice assistant—such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple's Siri—relies on its own proprietary ecosystem, which often means they are not designed to work seamlessly together. This integration complexity results from each company building exclusive features and capabilities within its own platform, which may not be compatible with others.

Additionally, voice assistants often require significant system resources and processing power to function optimally. Running multiple assistants simultaneously could lead to conflicts or inefficiencies, especially with devices that have limited processing power or memory.

However, as technology advances, we may see more interoperability between different voice assistants or even the development of multi-assistant systems that allow users to interact with more than one assistant at a time. Currently, there are efforts by third-party applications to enable multi-assistant functionalities, but full integration and simultaneous operation remain a challenge due to competitive and technical limitations.

Moderator edit: Post may be AI generated

Sonos sued google for patent infringement, and killed it.

You can set the target default speaker inside a google device to a sonos speaker, google hub will also display volume controls

It’s going off memory, but I believe Google has always had the policy that they don’t want Google Assistant on speakers that have other brand voice assistant.  It’s not a retaliation from Google.

You are correct.  It was a stipulation in the first agreement to put Google on the Sonos One.  A joint effort which, ironically, enabled Google to steal from Sonos and infringe on their patents.