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Reconnecting Bluetooth from android phone to Sonos Roam SL

  • 22 January 2024
  • 5 replies
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K

I have several Sonos speakers around my home and have added a Sonos Roam.  It makes playing audio from podcasts and streaming on my phone through my home system seamless.  I leave the Roam home in its usual place connected to the other devices here and go out with my phone.  The car picks up the bluetooth and plays without even asking.  Smooth.  The problem is when I come home.  I go to the android bluetooth app and on request it connects to the Roam.  Then I go to the Sonos app and try to get it to resume playing that stream.  When I click on the Room Selector button, it shows a list of my sonos devices with my Roam unticked.  So I tick it and mark it done.  But that doesn’t stick.  What seems to work is to untick every device except the Roam then bring the others back on.

I must have something set up wrong or be doing it wrong but it sure seems complicated.

 

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Best answer by Corry P 22 January 2024, 16:31

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5 replies

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @kgwlunar 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I think the problem you’re having is due to trying to use the Sonos app after you have re-established the Bluetooth connection to restart playback - when Bluetooth is active, the Sonos app has nothing to do with what your Roam plays. Please use whichever app on your phone is providing the audio to continue playback once you reconnect to your Roam with Bluetooth.

Roam will be removed from any groups when it leaves the network, and a different speaker will be put in charge of the group - when Roam returns, if you then want to share the Bluetooth audio to other speakers on your system, Roam must be placed in charge of the group once more. So, please follow the instructions found on our Share Bluetooth audio with your Sonos system help page - which is basically to select the Roam in the System tab and group other units to it, rather than grouping the Roam in with the existing group, which is what it sounds like you are trying to do. It does sound like you get there in the end, though, so you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head there.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
K

I understand the difference between using the Sonos app to select rooms and the player app (in my case BeyondPod) to play the track.  Unfortunately you have to go back to the Sonos app and its room selector to adjust volume.  Regardless, that problem I described is not solved by the memo you refer to although it does explain why I cutting off all the other rooms, putting the Sonos SL back in play alone, getting that to work and then bringing the other speakers back in.  It works but takes several minutes of tinkering to get running every time I come into the house.  Using a JBL bluetooth speaker, it just works when I come back into the house.  So, sorry to say, the problem is not resolved. 

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

What happens if you’ve created and saved a group which includes the Roam? Then get home and Bluetooth to the Roam, and the rest of the group are there too. 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @kgwlunar 

Unfortunately you have to go back to the Sonos app and its room selector to adjust volume.

This should not be the case - you should be able to adjust Roam’s volume by adjusting the phone’s volume while Bluetooth is connected.

 Regardless, that problem I described is not solved by the memo you refer to although it does explain why I cutting off all the other rooms, putting the Sonos SL back in play alone, getting that to work and then bringing the other speakers back in.  It works but takes several minutes of tinkering to get running every time I come into the house. 

I think, therefore, that I’ll need to classify this thread as a feature request to get Roam to re-establish itself as the “leader” of a group it was the leader of before it left the network - this would be the only way to get Bluetooth audio shared across the system without going through the app. At present, that last part is not possible, though @nik9669a’s idea above certainly has merit.

I’m hoping “several minutes” is hyperbole? It’s okay - I’m not unknown for being hyperbolic myself. If not, however, please let me know in more detail what’s happening and I’ll be happy to assist further, if I can.

Using a JBL bluetooth speaker, it just works when I come back into the house.  So, sorry to say, the problem is not resolved. 

It’s not uncommon, but it is a little unfair, I feel, to compare the Sonos Roam with products from other manufacturers that are classed as “Bluetooth Speakers” - unfair not just to the Roam, but also to the others! I prefer to think of my Roam as predominantly a Sonos speaker that happens to have Bluetooth functionality, and portability too. “Standard” Bluetooth speakers typically do not have voice assistants, and almost certainly do not have integration of multiroom playback functionality, which is the main purpose of the Sonos ecosystem - and what it is that you’re trying to do here. Would I be correct in guessing that your other Bluetooth speaker can’t play with/to up to 31 other speakers, which may well have been doing their own thing(s) in the time that the Bluetooth source was away? Note that you can play only to the Roam without involving the Sonos app, just like your other speaker.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
K

Thanks for the reply.

As to the time it takes to reconnect, I have had the experience of wanting to listen to something starting right now and, yes, being 3 minutes in before I get connected.  I know most of that is me being clumsy, but it still seems more complicated than it needs to be. At best there are several steps to get things running again.  I just returned from a drive and when I called up the room selector in Sonos app, after reconnecting bluetooth, it came up with all selected except my Roam.  I ticked that and it stuck this time.  I had my sound playing within a minute.

I does help to know that the Roam needs to know it is the leader of the group.  Understanding that helps me.

Yes, feature request is a good idea.

I agree, the comparison to a bluetooth speaker device that is simple but doesn’t do the things the Roam does is not fair to this device which, by the way, I have no regrets in buying.  It works great, just working on finer points here.  I am a happy Sonos user and didn’t mean to sound otherwise.

Love your Einstein quote.

Ken

 

 

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