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Integrating Sonos and Apple HomePod-Minis

  • 11 November 2021
  • 4 replies
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D
  • DAE
  • Contributor I
  • 1 reply

Hi Guys.

 

Firstly, I tried to get this problem answered by Apple, but get nothing but the runaround from their support. While this appears to be a Home App issue, maybe one of the more technical people can help as it is also Sonos-related.

 

I have a mix of HomePod Minis and Sonos Airplay-2 speakers scattered throughout the house. Some rooms only have HomePods, some rooms have only Sonos and some contain both. I want the ability to create a group that I can reference as a single entity and contains only the devices I select - for example, when I play music in a room that contains both Sonos and HomePod Mini, I only want the Sonos to play. Hence the need to be able to chose and pick which speakers are in the 'group'. (The HomePod’s are primarily deployed to provide intercom functionality, speakers in places where a Sonos speaker would be overkill, such as the two garages, and provide voice commands for other Homekit accessories.)

 

I believe the Home app used to have the ability to create groups, but that seems to have gone away in a recent build - now the options seems to be zones, which does not address this scenario.

 

Has anyone addressed this problem in the past?

 

Thanks, Darrell

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Best answer by DAE 11 November 2021, 02:39

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4 replies

Ken_Griffiths

Hi Guys.

 

Firstly, I tried to get this problem answered by Apple, but get nothing but the runaround from their support. While this appears to be a Home App issue, maybe one of the more technical people can help as it is also Sonos-related.

 

I have a mix of HomePod Minis and Sonos Airplay-2 speakers scattered throughout the house. Some rooms only have HomePods, some rooms have only Sonos and some contain both. I want the ability to create a group that I can reference as a single entity and contains only the devices I select - for example, when I play music in a room that contains both Sonos and HomePod Mini, I only want the Sonos to play. Hence the need to be able to chose and pick which speakers are in the 'group'. (The HomePod’s are primarily deployed to provide intercom functionality, speakers in places where a Sonos speaker would be overkill, such as the two garages, and provide voice commands for other Homekit accessories.)

 

I believe the Home app used to have the ability to create groups, but that seems to have gone away in a recent build - now the options seems to be zones, which does not address this scenario.

I’ve used Apple HomeKit for a long time and I’ve not seen ‘groups’ in that App -  the Home is divided just into ‘Rooms’ as shown in the attached screenshot. 

Has anyone addressed this problem in the past?

 

Thanks, Darrell

The only way to stream audio across both Apple and Sonos devices is to use the Airplay selector on the iOS device as far as I’m aware, or you can ask Siri to play to a Sonos Room …and then group that room with other Sonos ‘rooms’ in the Sonos App.

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D

Thanks, Ken.

 

I found another thread on this site which suggested a solution: Create psuedo-rooms (such as “Kitchen-HomePod”, “Masterbedroom-Homepod”, etc.) and drop the Homepods in those rooms. Then create a zone called “House’ that includes all rooms EXCEPT those psuedo-rooms. That way, Siri commands as “Play music in House” plays on those speakers that I want. This way, the intercom function still works, and if the mood takes me, I can intercom to specific rooms.

 

Groups in the Home app would have been so much cleaner and better, and Apple does suggest they are there: https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/control-accessories-ipad82770048/ipados. It’s just that I can’t find out where they are ! (Hence my frustration with Apple support.)

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks, Ken.

 

I found another thread on this site which suggested a solution: Create psuedo-rooms (such as “Kitchen-HomePod”, “Masterbedroom-Homepod”, etc.) and drop the Homepods in those rooms. Then create a zone called “House’ that includes all rooms EXCEPT those psuedo-rooms. That way, Siri commands as “Play music in House” plays on those speakers that I want. This way, the intercom function still works, and if the mood takes me, I can intercom to specific rooms.

 

Groups in the Home app would have been so much cleaner and better, and Apple does suggest they are there: https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/control-accessories-ipad82770048/ipados. It’s just that I can’t find out where they are ! (Hence my frustration with Apple support.)

Glad you have found a ‘workaround’ solution to the issue here.. 👍

That is the first time I’ve seen ‘groups’ mentioned for HomeKit and I have now found the option. It seems it’s available on ‘some’ of the accessories I have here, namely it’s available for Philips Hue lights - see screenshots attached. (Hope they make sense).

It seems ‘Groups’ are not available/implemented on every type of smart-home product in HomeKit and by the looks of it, that currently includes Sonos devices too.

I went onto look at grouping our Hue lights we have here and created a multiroom Group called ‘Downstairs Lights’ (just as a test) and it places the chosen lights from our existing rooms into one overarching Group… browse through the other screenshots I’ve attached.

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Thanks, Ken.

 

I found another thread on this site which suggested a solution: Create psuedo-rooms (such as “Kitchen-HomePod”, “Masterbedroom-Homepod”, etc.) and drop the Homepods in those rooms. Then create a zone called “House’ that includes all rooms EXCEPT those psuedo-rooms. That way, Siri commands as “Play music in House” plays on those speakers that I want. This way, the intercom function still works, and if the mood takes me, I can intercom to specific rooms.

 

Groups in the Home app would have been so much cleaner and better, and Apple does suggest they are there: https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/control-accessories-ipad82770048/ipados. It’s just that I can’t find out where they are ! (Hence my frustration with Apple support.)

Hi,

I tried your workaround and it does not work for me.


My setup is as follows:

1 x Sonos One in “Bathroom”

1 x Sonos One in “Bedroom”

1 x Sonos One in “Nursery Room”

1 x Sonos One in the “Office”

1 x Sonos ARC, Sonos SUB (3rd Gen) and 2 x Sonos SL in the “Living Room”, where I have my TV, which also has an Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen) plugged in to it.

 

All rooms have Philips Hue lights as well.

 

The name of the rooms are set up as stated in the quotation marks.

 

Up until now, I have used Google Assistant to send voice commands and it has been working OK, with the exception of not being able to control my Apple TV with it, obviously.

 

I just got a HomePod Mini as a present, which I have placed in the Living Room, same place and want to be able to use it as a voice command interface, to for example, “Hey Siri, play music in Living Room” or “Hey Siri, play music in Bathroom”. What happens is, Siri plays music on the HomePod Mini instead of the actual speakers in the rooms mentioned. I am able to control the lights with Siri in specific rooms, but music is always played on the HomePod Mini. Then I have to go manually on my iPhone and select the speakers through the AirPlay settings in order to redirect the music to the designated room.

 

I tried with creating a pseudo room for the HomePod Mini and moved it there, I even called the room something totally different than “Living Room”. And even when my voice command was like “Hey Siri, play music in {ANY} Room”, it would still play on the HomePod Mini.

 

I also tried with creating a pseudo room and moved everything except the HomePod Mini to another zone than the remaining devices, no help.

 

What am I doing wrong here?

 

The room names in the Home App, Sonos App, Google Home App and Philips Hue App are completely matching, as suggested by Sonos.

 

Anybody can help?

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