Cannot group Sonos system with Google Home devices

I don't think there will be any major development before the UK launch. I may be wrong and regret my decision, but I feel Sonos will always be playing catch-up with Google and their development of Google Assistant.

Just decided I wanted the option of Full Google Assistant and Chromecast. Shame as I really loved my Sonos speakers. After sale of Play 5, I will then sell the Play 1 & Play 3.

It will be very nice to have some information from Sonos about their roadmap with regards to further GA implementation. All I hear above is speculation (assuming it will be similar to Alexa, etc.) and it is not clear at all that this functionality (chromcast functionality) will ever happen. The wait will be easier if I know it is something they are actually working on. Sonos speakers are not cheap and as paying consumers I think Sonos should treat us with respect, especially given that GA support was promised when I bought the speaker (yes, no specific functionality was promised but it was easy to assume that it will have the same basic functionality as other google-supported network speakers).

If a year ago Sonos were honest and said - we will have GA support but it is going to be limited, I probably wouldn't have spent the money on a Sonos speaker

I don't think that Sonos will ever support all GA or Alexa functionality, their stated goal is to support commands that enable the control of music.

As the people above, I am similarly disappointed from the Google Assistant integration into the Sonos ecosystem, especially after waiting for so long. I think it is crucial requirement that users will be able to:

1. Group Sonos speaker with other speakers for multiroom playback (not necessarily with Sonos in all rooms)

I was not surprised by this at all. While I get that there are 3rd party speakers that can play in sync with Google speakers (the same with Alexa) there are not any multiroom systems that play in sync. While I understand why some could care less about Sonos multiroom functionality, or any feature that isn't related to Google home for that matter as they just wanted a better sounding speaker, that's not what Sonos is.

Whether it's Sonos decision or Google's decision, I can't say for sure. I believe Sonos wants to remain a multiroom system company, not a simple smart speaker company, so it makes sense to see Sonos in favor of this move. However, they do support airplay, which doesn't completely fit with the closed system model.

1. Set Sonos speaker as a default music speaker

Yea, this is disappointing. Sonos is definitely aware that this is desired by customers. With Alexa, it seems like the delay in bringing this was waiting on Amazon to implement the Alexa groups on their side. It does make more sense for the functional be on the assistant side. With Google, it seems like the functionality already exists. I still think it would be Google that needs to apply the default setting in their logic, but I'm surprised this wasn't done. Perhaps it will come much sooner than it did with Alexa.

1. Cast from Google Assistant/Google Home to a Sonos speaker from within apps (i.e. for the Sonos speaker to show up as one of the casting destinations).

As I've not used Google's casting very much, I don't know what to make of this. It seems like Google's casting strategy is evolving, so perhaps it's being delayed for that reason. Perhaps it has something to do with casting for youtube requiring video capabilities on it's casting destinations. Perhaps, Sonos didn't want it for whatever reason, or Google is requiring a license fee that Sonos doesn't like. Perhaps it's coming after further development.

Essentially, all this functionality would be possible if Sonos implemented Chromcast into the system. For me, it is not so important to use the Sonos speaker itself as a Google Assistant/Home device - I have google Home devices for that. I just want to use Sonos as a network speaker (I only have Sonos Play:5)

Yea, that's the thing. Sonos isn't just a wifi speaker, it's an entire integrated system. In a way, saying that Sonos is poor since they don't do the things you want from an essentially 'dumb' smart speaker, is ignoring all the things that Sonos is. I'm not at all saying that you're wrong for wanting the features you want or being disappointed. I'm not. I'm not even saying that your assumptions on functionality were poor. Maybe Sonos could have done a better job of expectations, though I'm not exactly sure how that would be done in a positive manner.

Basically it comes down to whether you were looking to buy Sonos with a google assistant, or a google assistant with the Sonos brand on it.

Personally, I'm hopeful that having the integration of both Google and Alexa is going to create some competition that will drive more features in the future on the Sonos platform. In that regard, I'm disappointed that the Google integration isn't starting off at the current level of Alexa integration, and has some catching up to do before competition can really be effective.

Can anyone comment (I am hoping for an official Sonos response) if those functionalities will be coming to Sonos in the near future? It will be nice to know because if it is not coming soon I think it will be time to sell my Sonos and invest in other solutions.

Based on past experience, Sonos doesn't like to give out this kind of information until firm dates are set. Obviously, they want to avoid customer disappointment from missed dates, as was the case with this integration. Everything I've seen from Sonos staff on this subject so far has been no commitments on future releases or what will be in those releases.

Basically it comes down to whether you were looking to buy Sonos with a google assistant, or a google assistant with the Sonos brand on it.

I think this is a great summarization. Thus far--for my Sonos Beam soundbar--it feels like a Sonos with GA but I really just wanted a high-quality GA that has native support for TVs.

Knowing that they don't typically communicate their feature roadmap, it's somewhat comforting that we have not gotten confirmation that using Sonos within a Google Home speaker group is not something they're planning on doing.

Basically it comes down to whether you were looking to buy Sonos with a google assistant, or a google assistant with the Sonos brand on it.I think this is a great summarization. Thus far--for my Sonos Beam soundbar--it feels like a Sonos with GA but I really just wanted a high-quality GA that has native support for TVs.

Knowing that they don't typically communicate their feature roadmap, it's somewhat comforting that we have not gotten confirmation that using Sonos within a Google Home speaker group is not something they're planning on doing.

This article says about the same thing.

https://9to5google.com/2019/05/17/google-assistant-sonos-home/

Here’s a workaround I tested yesterday morning:

Using a Chromecast on the TV you’ve paired with your Sonos Beam create a group using the Chromecast and any other Google devices you own, call the the TV Chromecast Group.

Cast to the TV Chromecast Group and then using the Sonos app select all the Sonos speakers you want to play along with Google devices.

You may have to adjust for a lag between the Sonos and Google devices but it works.

I bought Sonos One last year hoping it would be able to be grouped with other Chromecast speakers including google home in the other rooms once upgraded. But now it's disappointing...

Add me to the list of disappointed customers. I really hope they add the ability to add the Sonos speakers to Google Speaker Groups.