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Cannot group Sonos system with Google Home devices

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218 replies

UKMedia
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Now I understand why Sonos' stock went down from ~$20 per stock to ~$10. If they do not align to what people are expecting "smart functionality" they are not going to be able to sell more.

There are many reasons that Share prices fluctuate but as Sonos reported higher earnings than analysts were expecting, lack of sales is not relevant in this instance. (16% of the reduction was when the CFO announced his retirement...)

I understand your frustration but I have never seen a definitive list of functionality to be included within the initial release and I expect the level of integration to follow a similar path as the Alexa integration did - with a steady increase in functionality and integration over time.
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
M
Userlevel 1
Now I understand why Sonos' stock went down from ~$20 per stock to ~$10. If they do not align to what people are expecting "smart functionality" they are not going to be able to sell more.
M
Userlevel 2
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)
  2. Set Sonos speaker as a default music speaker
  3. 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).
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)

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.
M
Userlevel 1
Same problem here. I added my two sonos play 1 and found that it is not possible to group them with other google speakers I have at home... that is very frustrating. I hope they get this functionality to work.
B
Userlevel 1
Big let down for me as well.

Google Integration was the driving factor for me choosing sonos. I'd been watching the release of the JBL Link Bar, but after months of delays and the Sonos integration announcement, I changed my plans. I knew not all integrations are created equal, but I didn't expect such common functionality not to exist!

It sounds like the Sonos team may be working on it, so although I'm in the fence, I'm going to take a chance and not return the device hoping that a fix is released in the future.
N
Userlevel 2
Another user here that was expecting being able to group the sonos speakers into the google cast speakers... Not being able to do so basically kills a lot of its functionality. My guess its sonos way of trying to make you buy only their products. This paired with a no line-in in or bluetooth input sonos one makes it a very unused speaker, such a shame.
msangerman
My Google Home/Assistant is linked to my Sonos Play 5.
B
Userlevel 2
A few reporters asked about this specific functionality during CES and the spokesperson said something along the lines of “that’s the plan” w/o full committal. I should know better. As for Alexa, I don’t think that’s the right comparison by which to set expectations. Amazon doesn’t allow any third party devices to be grouped. Google on the other hand does. I have multiple third party speakers (including JBL) that work as Google assistants and can be grouped within the Google home app, so i had a similar expectation for Sonos. It’s fair to believe this is a Sonos issue (or worse, choice) and not a Google permissions issue. Shame because the Sonos speaker has such better sound.
jgatie
Same frustration. Home is networked through google. Waited months for the integration. Every other third party speaker I own can be grouped using Google (unlike Amazon/Alexa groups), and their spokespeople have been telling press this would be part of the functionality. Hugely frustrated to have my highest quality speaker disconnected from my home and rarely used as a result. I would like Sonos to be definitive - one way or the other - on whether this basic feature is on the roadmap.

I follow the press about Sonos pretty closely, and I never saw this type of feature touted as part of the functionality. Furthermore, I wouldn't expect it to be, because you cannot do it with Alexa devices either. I'm curious if you can provide links to these press statements?
B
Userlevel 2
Same frustration. Home is networked through google. Waited months for the integration. Every other third party speaker I own can be grouped using Google (unlike Amazon/Alexa groups), and their spokespeople have been telling press this would be part of the functionality. Hugely frustrated to have my highest quality speaker disconnected from my home and rarely used as a result. I would like Sonos to be definitive - one way or the other - on whether this basic feature is on the roadmap.
R
Userlevel 4
Badge
Thanks for responses everyone. Integration of speakers (the reason we buy multiples) is usually so that we can hear the same thing coming out of multiple speakers.

Im mostly disappointed because of being told by a Sonos representative on Monday of this week that grouping would be part of the update. This was after reading multiple times on tech articles that one of the points of integration was to group. When I spoke with someone again from Sonos on the phone on Wednesday, they told me that a Sonos engineer informed the rep that this is something they are working on for the future.

One can only hope....
R
Userlevel 1
Same here. I have a few Chromecast audio and I would of loved to link then to my 2 Sonos one speakers for a multiroom configuration. I now find myself having to choose between listening to my Klipsch system or the 2 Sonos speakers.
R
Userlevel 3
I don't have to do any walking room to room because google home mini's are cheap and microphone inputs are not my problem. I was hoping to be able to group sonos speakers with my "whole home" google speaker group to have synced music throughout my home and espcially on the most prominent living room speaker set.

Its the primary reason I chose Sonos for my living room surround sound with lots of other options that have advanced featured like DTS support, ATMOS, etc, over the playbar + sonos one's for surround. I chose them because of the promise of google integration with the target feature being syncing with the rest of my speakers when I want music througout the house.

Definitely disappointing but hoping future upgrades provide this functionality
PhunkyOleTime
Userlevel 3

In all honesty, what is the point of adding Google assistant to Sonos if you can’t even use Sonos speakers with Google Speakers together in a group? It’s pretty useless for me to be in living room, have to get up and walk to my kitchen to say “hey google, play x in my Living Room” and then walk back.Perhaps I'm not understanding your scenario properly, but I don't know see why you would ever have to do any walking to another room as you describe, unless you don't have an GA compatible speakers in the living room at all.

If you have a Sonos One or a Beam in your living room, you can enable it for GA and then say "hey google, play x" to that device.. If you have have Google home speaker in your living room, then you say hey google, play x in my Living Room” to that device. If you don't have any GA device in your living around, there is no feature that would prevent you from having to walk to another room to give a voice command.
Correct, you don't understand. Google Home has groups of speakers that can be "cast" to. Because Sonos is not able to be added to these groups, you end up having to have a Sonos device and a Google home device in the same room to achieve the dual purpose having assistant linked mic and ability to function as a true speaker within Google Home system.
melvimbe
In all honesty, what is the point of adding Google assistant to Sonos if you can’t even use Sonos speakers with Google Speakers together in a group? It’s pretty useless for me to be in living room, have to get up and walk to my kitchen to say “hey google, play x in my Living Room” and then walk back.

Perhaps I'm not understanding your scenario properly, but I don't know see why you would ever have to do any walking to another room as you describe, unless you don't have an GA compatible speakers in the living room at all.

If you have a Sonos One or a Beam in your living room, you can enable it for GA and then say "hey google, play x" to that device.. If you have have Google home speaker in your living room, then you say hey google, play x in my Living Room” to that device. If you don't have any GA device in your living around, there is no feature that would prevent you from having to walk to another room to give a voice command.
Danny
PhunkyOleTime
Userlevel 3
I appreciate the back and forth year. If I could just add my voice to the chorus that will form requesting this feature. Without this feature you need to have to devices that have microphones for Google home in the same room to get the functionality desired. In the meantime, this new integration will just be shut off and existing Google home speaker in whatever room the theme is in will continue to do its primary function. Don't get me wrong I love having the surround sound with the beam but I could have gotten that with the bar or the base. I didn't have that option when anticipating a true integration between Google and Sonos.

Food for thought. Godspeed
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
Hi Roman, sorry to hear it took you so long to find your answers. You're correct, the current integration brings Google Assistant to Sonos devices with built in microphones, and it allows you to control what's playing using Google Home devices. However, Sonos devices and Google devices are unable to be grouped together to play the same thing in sync. Also, there isn't currently the ability to set a Sonos device as a preferred speaker within the Google Home app.

This is just the beginning of our integration with Google Assistant and we're looking forward to making improvements as we go, but I don't have any specifics I can share on what's next, or if either of those things are on the list. We'll be sure to tell everyone when changes are made, so you can always watch out for announcements on our board here, or elsewhere.
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jgatie
You most certainly cannot do it with Amazon devices. I don't know where that idea came from.
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