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flytzen
Contributor I
May 1, 2020

Google Assistant does not play Radio Stations

  • May 1, 2020
  • 66 replies
  • 7448 views

When I ask my Sonos: "Hey, Google! Play Heart 80s". It replies with: "Playing Heart 80s on TuneIn". However, it then says: "Sorry I can't find what you asked for". This is really disappointing, because Alexa plays radio stations without any issues. Any suggestions on how to fix this? 

 

Exactly the same issue reported 

https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/google-assistant-does-not-play-radio-stations-6833977

and

https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/google-assistant-has-problem-playing-tunein-station-6825633

Weirdly Sonos seems to just keep closing the issues so you can’t comment on. Very poor customer service.

 

As described in the other issues - this is 100% a Sonos issue. The error comes after control is handed back from Google to Sonos and the exact same voice commands work on google home devices on the same network.

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    66 replies

    Show previous replies
    Anonymous
    June 17, 2020

    Hi everyone. 

    We are still investigating reports of an issue with Google Assistant not playing BBC radio streams. I would be happy to provide an update once it becomes available to me.

      Anonymous
      June 17, 2020

      Please do. Its really the main thing we use Sonos for - BBC radio…Will switching back to Alexa assistant fix it for now?  Thx 

        winrow3745
        Contributor I
        June 19, 2020

        Please do. Its really the main thing we use Sonos for - BBC radio…Will switching back to Alexa assistant fix it for now?  Thx 

        That's what I've done for now and it works with Alexa due to the BBC skill.

        Feels like a big step backwards though using Alexa to me and it refuses to play my Daily mixes on Spotify as it says it can't find them!

        Doug Ames
        Headliner I
        June 19, 2020

        The workaround I use is to set the stations I want up as Sonos Favorites, then I use an IFTTT Google Assistant custom command to play that Favorite.

        For example where GA on Sonos can’t play my local news stations from TuneIn, I set it up as a Favorite radio station Station1 in the Sonos app, then I create an IFTTT command so that if I say “Hey Google, local news” it plays favorite Station1.

        eddr85
        Lyricist I
        June 26, 2020

        +1 reporting same issue here with Sonos One and same issue using a Google Home Hub with a Sonos Amp set as its default speaker 

         

        Dufflebag
        Lyricist III
        June 28, 2020

        THIS ISSUE’S REALLY GETTING UP MY NOSE NOW.

          rwrgeo
          Renowned Enthusiast II
          July 15, 2020

          Any updates on this???

          I’ve posted on the other threads on this … it worked fine until about a couple of months ago and is now still broken for BBC radio in the UK (I’m on S1 system) despite Sonos saying they would investigate.

            JamesDan
            JamesDan
            Prominent Collaborator I
            July 19, 2020

            I just found out that the Assistant on my Ones/Beam cannot seem to use Assistant actions. If I tell Sonos to play Radio 4 on the BBC, it says that the BBC isn’t currently supported on [speaker name]. All my other Google Home speakers support this but Sonos doesn’t. Even asking it to play Radio 4 on TuneIn doesn’t work. All I get is silence.

             

            Trying to play LBC/Classic FM on Global Player doesn’t work either. It also tells me that Global Player currently isn’t supported on [speaker name]

            Issuing the same command to my Google Home speakers always works.

            Sonos is clearly at fault here, it doesn’t seem to support Assistant actions!

            This needs to be fixed pronto!

            mmca22gr
            Enthusiast II
            July 19, 2020

            I don’t think that SONOS should really be allowed to advertise their devices as having Google Assistant. 

            A key selling point is the ability to say “Hey Google, play Jimi Hendrix” if it fails then how can they advertise this rubbish.

            Had I purchased from SONOS and still in the returns window I would be sending it back for a refund. 

              Jean C.
              Jean C.
              Retired Sonos Staff
              July 20, 2020

              @johnson.sam.r, et all.

              We are still working on a fix for this issue and unfortunately not able to provide a time-frame for a fix on this playback command issue.

              We understand your frustration and hope to have a solution for this soon. 

               

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