Play Sonos Radio in Bathroom when Philips Hue Light is switched on


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Hi,

I have a Sonos Play One and Philips Hue spots in the bathroom.

 

I want to be able to autoplay a Sonos Favorite (Radio Stream) whenever the bathroom lights are switched on and of course, when lights are off the music stops.

I can’t seem to find a way. I have a Hue Bridge, Google Assistants (Sonos speakers) around the house. Tried IFTTT and Yonomi with no luck.

Anyone?


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12 replies

Userlevel 7

Can you set up a routine in the Google Assistant app? I use Amazon Alexa and I have created a routine in the Alexa app so when my daughter pushes a smart button, it plays her “favorites” playlist on Spotify on a specific Sonos speaker.

I think Hue lights can only respond not trigger, but I would not say I was totally confident of that.  You might be able to set up something in IFTTT that triggers both the Sonos and the light.  Have you tried that?  In fact, I can do that with an Alexa routine, so I would have thought it might be possible in Google Assistant.

Perhaps see this link:

https://www.hiddenwires.co.uk/products/article/violet-launches-touchscreen-switch-for-hue-and-sonos

I just found the above in a Google search and so can’t comment on its features. 

Userlevel 7

Another option is getting a SmartThings hub. I just tested it by creating an automation for one of my Leviton dimmer switches. When it is switched on, a specific Sonos speaker plays the current song. When it is switched off, the music is stopped. It doesn’t allow me to pick a specific playlist though.

Badge +1

Can you set up a routine in the Google Assistant app? I use Amazon Alexa and I have created a routine in the Alexa app so when my daughter pushes a smart button, it plays her “favorites” playlist on Spotify on a specific Sonos speaker.

It’s not possible with Google Assistant routines. Tried that already. 

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Perhaps see this link:

https://www.hiddenwires.co.uk/products/article/violet-launches-touchscreen-switch-for-hue-and-sonos

I just found the above in a Google search and so can’t comment on its features. 

It’s an expensive solution but doesn’t look like a guaranteed solution. 

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I think Hue lights can only respond not trigger, but I would not say I was totally confident of that.  You might be able to set up something in IFTTT that triggers both the Sonos and the light.  Have you tried that?  In fact, I can do that with an Alexa routine, so I would have thought it might be possible in Google Assistant.

I cannot seem to find a solution for this in IFTTT :(

Badge +1

Another option is getting a SmartThings hub. I just tested it by creating an automation for one of my Leviton dimmer switches. When it is switched on, a specific Sonos speaker plays the current song. When it is switched off, the music is stopped. It doesn’t allow me to pick a specific playlist though.

I just hoped that I would not have to buy more bridges :(

I think Hue lights can only respond not trigger, but I would not say I was totally confident of that.  You might be able to set up something in IFTTT that triggers both the Sonos and the light.  Have you tried that?  In fact, I can do that with an Alexa routine, so I would have thought it might be possible in Google Assistant.

 

I would look to get confirmation on what John is saying about Hue lights inability to create a trigger event.  If that’s the case, they you simply won’t be able to do this as you wish.  You would need to purchase some other device to trigger the event at a minimum.  That could be a smart button device or a smart motion detection device.  I’ve never had much need for either, so can’t recommend anything. (I use motion detection, but they aren’t smart devices)

 

Badge +1

I think Hue lights can only respond not trigger, but I would not say I was totally confident of that.  You might be able to set up something in IFTTT that triggers both the Sonos and the light.  Have you tried that?  In fact, I can do that with an Alexa routine, so I would have thought it might be possible in Google Assistant.

 

I would look to get confirmation on what John is saying about Hue lights inability to create a trigger event.  If that’s the case, they you simply won’t be able to do this as you wish.  You would need to purchase some other device to trigger the event at a minimum.  That could be a smart button device or a smart motion detection device.  I’ve never had much need for either, so can’t recommend anything. (I use motion detection, but they aren’t smart devices)

 

Hi,

I have researched on this a bit more on the internet and apparently it can be confirmed that Hue lights do not trigger but only respond to actions.
I even got a Hue Sensor for the bathroom so the lights turn on as soon as the door is opened, but triggering the Sonia to play music is not possible. Even with Alexa, I tried and cannot seem to make it work :( 

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Hey guys,

Just wanted to give you an update on this, to help out people in the same situation.

 

I finally got it to work :)

 

I purchased a Philips Hue Sensor, which I placed in the bathroom. The sensor is set up using standard settings through the Philips Hue app, where if motion is detected, then the lights turn on. If no motion detected for 30 mins, the lights go off. I also have a Philips Hue Dimmer V2, which allows me to change scenes and also manually turn off the lights. So far so good.

 

Then I used the Alexa app and IFTTT to setup the following:

IFTTT:

  • Created an applet called Sonos On, where it basically plays a Sonos Favorite on the Sonos One speaker placed in the bathroom, that I had setup within the Sonos S2 app. It is just a local music radio station that I found through Sonos Radio and marked as Favorite.
  • Created an applet called Sonos Off, where it basically pauses any music playing in the Sonos One speaker placed in the bathroom.

Alexa:

  • Enabled the Philips Hue and Sonos Skills to link my Philips Hue and Sonos accounts to Alexa
  • Setup a room called Bathroom
  • Added the Sonos One speaker placed in the bathroom to this room
  • Added the Philips Hue Sensor placed in the bathroom to this room
  • Created a Routine called Sonos On,  where I set it up stating if motion detected in the Philips Hue Sensor placed in the Bathroom, then run the IFTTT applet called Sonos On, but only during the timeframe 07:00AM - 07:00PM. I have also added a suppress function, meaning the routine does not run if motion is detected within the first 30 minutes after the routine has run once (more on this later). This basically plays my Sonos Favorite (local Radio Station), if motion is detected and does not play / restart the stream if more motion is detected within the first 30 minutes.
  • Created a Routine called Sonos Off, where I set it up stating if no motion detected in the Philips Hue Sensor placed in the Bathroom for 30 minutes, then run the IFTTT applet called Sonos On, but only during the timeframe 07:00AM - 07:00PM. This basically pauses the music that has been playing within the defined timeframe, if no motion detected.

This basically means, that now the lights turn on when anyone opens the bathroom door, and music plays. The light goes off and music stops if no motion detected in 30 minutes, however, I have the possibility to turn off the lights before those 30 minutes have passed using the dimmer switch, while the music can either turn off on its’ own after 30 minutes or I have to tell Alexa / Google Assistant to do it.

 

Problem:

  • If I “manually” turn off the music either through Alexa / Google Assistant / Sonos App before the 30 minutes have passed, then because I have a suppression set for 30 minutes, the routine will not run no matter how much motion is detected by the sensor. However, if I remove the suppression of 30 minutes from my Sonos On Routine, then what happens is, each time the motion sensor detects a movement well, the Sonos On Routine runs again, giving a silent period of 2-5 seconds. I don’t know how to overcome this!

Questions:

  • Using suppression mode: is it possible to pause the music, when the lights are turned off manually using the dimmer switch?
  •  Not using suppression mode: How do I avoid getting the routine to run all over every time motion is detected by the sensor?

I hope some of you can shed a light and let me know if anything I have done is wrong here.

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry for the long post!

 

Br,

Nissar

Problem:

  • If I “manually” turn off the music either through Alexa / Google Assistant / Sonos App before the 30 minutes have passed, then because I have a suppression set for 30 minutes, the routine will not run no matter how much motion is detected by the sensor. However, if I remove the suppression of 30 minutes from my Sonos On Routine, then what happens is, each time the motion sensor detects a movement well, the Sonos On Routine runs again, giving a silent period of 2-5 seconds. I don’t know how to overcome this!

Questions:

  • Using suppression mode: is it possible to pause the music, when the lights are turned off manually using the dimmer switch?
  •  Not using suppression mode: How do I avoid getting the routine to run all over every time motion is detected by the sensor?

I hope some of you can shed a light and let me know if anything I have done is wrong here.

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry for the long post!

 

Br,

Nissar

 

I don’t know if this is possible, but it sounds like you want music to turn on if motion is detected and the lights are off currently.

 

CASE 1 - Motion detected; lights are off

ACTION -  Command to turn on music, then turn on lights

 

CASE 2 - Motion detected; light are currently on

ACTION - do nothing

If someone in the room manually turned off music, then motion will not trigger music unless they turned off lights too.  The only flaw of this is that if someone leaves the room without turning off the lights, and someone else comes in, it won’t know that it’s a new person.  You wouldn’t need a suppression mode. And I would think you can then trigger music off when the lights are turned off?

If you can’t use manually turning lights off as a trigger, the you could use a smart button.  Amazon used to make echo buttons if you can get one of those.  if not, something like this would work, though probably cheaper options.  Instead of a manual switch for the lights, have this button there to trigger a routine that shuts off lights and the music.