Contributor I

Answered

API Feature Request - Queue Control

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I am both an avid Sonos (hardware) fan and also a Control4 user who loves to program in Composer.

I'm wondering how / where I can submit feature requests to re-enable a VERY important feature in the Sonos API. And that is... the ability to replace the queue when we are calling different playlists in programming.

If Playlist A is currently in the queue, and I don't manually go into the sonos app and clear the queue first, when I call Playlist B in programming (from a custom button, voice control, etc) it will MERGE Playlist B randomly into the queue alongside Playlist A's songs.

I understand that this topic has been hotly debated for some time on what the DEFAULT handling of the situation should be. And, although I still disagree that the majority of people would ever want to merge playlists into a queue by default... I do respect the decision by the devs to be diligent in keeping the default behavior consistent. However, i do not understand why you would REMOVE the ability to clear the queue through a command in the API for those users who want to implement that behavior? I have circled this request internally with several different 3rd parties thinking that it was a feature they just weren't tapping into. But, alas, each of them came back with the same reply saying that the API used to allow it, but now explicitly prohibits it???? Again, aside from the debate on what should be the default action... why would you remove functionality from the API? And, is there any way to get it added back? I can think of no reason why I would ever want to merge playlists in a custom control system specifically designed to give me TOTAL control of everything.

Thanks to the community managers for any info you can provide on this? I greatly appreciate it.

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Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

Hi g8rfn2, I don't have a timeline right now, but you can always contact the team at https://developer.sonos.com/ in case you want to give them a direct request. They may not have time to get right back to you though.

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Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

Hi g8rfn2, sadly I don't have any details I can bring to light on this interaction, but I'll let the right people on the API dev team know about your inquiry and request. Maybe this is something that they can look further into and add at some point in the future. Thanks for asking!

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g8rfn2Author

Contributor I

Thanks Ryan,

Can you please keep me updated on their response (good or bad)? This is imperative for the way i continue to build out my system.

controlav

Lead Maestro

Which of the many API sets are you talking about? This is trivial to do with the UPnP API.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

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g8rfn2Author

Contributor I

They mentioned that... But, also mentioned it's use is now prohibited by third parties. This is what I got back from the Control4 developers:

Well, unfortunately this is a request that needs to be received by Sonos.

The Sonos API is explicit that the behavior explained here is how it is supposed to work and is not to be tampered with. The API also does not include any mechanism for cleaning the queue ; that was present in the old UPNP API but those commands are no longer supported or allowed for third parties.

https://developer.sonos.com/reference/control-api/favorites/loadfavorite/ is the URL for the command we use to load a favorite and calls this behavior out.

I hope that this information is helpful,

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

I'll let you know if I hear anything, they don't always have a response to every request however. So I would recommend making decisions entirely based on what's currently available and what you can work with.

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g8rfn2Author

Contributor I

I'll let you know if I hear anything, they don't always have a response to every request however. So I would recommend making decisions entirely based on what's currently available and what you can work with.

Ryan,

I understand that requests can get out of hand, and that's why they cant respond to everything. But, especially given that this is something that USED TO WORK, and now is no longer permitted in the API, I would hope they could at least let us know if it's something they are looking into? I'm not asking for any sort of un-charted features here...

Would really appreciate an update.

Thanks,
-Matt

I

iiich

Contributor II

This is also a very important function for us which I had requested last year.
The problem with the current playlist still exists. As described, we can not play any Favorite in random mode, because we can not delete the current playlist. So in random mode everything is played, not just the selected playlist. This is a very important feature for us and we would be very happy if we get a chance to delete the current playlist.

Thanks,
Marco

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g8rfn2Author

Contributor I

@Ryan S

Can we please get an update on this feature request and/or get the contact info for someone directly? This seems like such a common sense request, I just don't understand why the functionality was removed from a prior version? Who do we contact to actually have a discussion about this?

Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

Hi g8rfn2, I don't have a timeline right now, but you can always contact the team at https://developer.sonos.com/ in case you want to give them a direct request. They may not have time to get right back to you though.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

G

g8rfn2Author

Contributor I

Definitely not getting back to me via that route either... This is incredibly frustrating! I have over $3K of Sonos stuff in my house, and cant get any of it to do what I want it to do any more.

@Ryan S , we could really use your help here. I found the (very long) thread about everyone complaining when a queue was reset in a prior update. And, I get that every situation is unique. But, what I cannot understand is regardless of the "default" behavior of how the queue works... Why can we not have the OPTION to make it do whatever WE want it to do via the programming in the API? All I am asking for is either:

Add a programmatic way to clear the queue (before I send other commands)

or

Add the EXISTING functionality that is already located in the "3 dots" menu using "Replace Queue" when i select a new playlist to play.

I'm not asking for new features here. And, I'm not asking to change any default behaviors. I just asking for them to expose things and let us use features that are ALREADY there.

Please help us get a response and some traction on this.

Thanks,
-Matt

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