Answered

Playbar surround AirPlay homekit setup

  • 31 October 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 460 views

So I’ve been trying to google/searched forums and there does not seem to be any clear answers on this topic.


Today I have an older surround setup containing one Playbar and 2 Play 1s. I’m looking into making my home smart and have been leaning towards Apple HomeKit. 

 

I would like to know before I buy two new Sonos One to make my surround setup compatible, if it will work with apple HomeKit or not? 

If not, are there any way to make it work correctly? 
For example keeping my play 1s in the surround and buying 1 Sonos One to get AirPlay to work? I’m very confused and cannot figure out the correct way to make this work. 
 

Or am I just better of going for Google’s smart home platform even though I only have apple products at home. 
 

Also will Siri work with the Sonos One which I will place in my livingroom for communication and HomePods placed in different locations in the house.

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Best answer by 106rallye 3 November 2022, 21:44

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5 replies

No. The PLAYBAR is not AirPlay 2 compatible, and Apple only sends a stereo signal across AirPlay 2, not a 5.1 signal, so even if you were to include the Sonos Ones, which are AirPlay 2 compatible, in your system, you’d still be sending them a stereo signal only. And I’m pretty sure AirPlay 2 is turned off as soon as they’re bonded as surrounds, to boot, since at that point they can’t “send” audio data to the PLAYBAR, only receive it. 

You could conceivably use AirPlay 2 to send a 5.1 signal to an Apple TV, connect that Apple TV to your TV, and use an optical connection to connect the TV to the Sonos PLAYBAR. 

Apple has not yet integrated Siri with the Sonos devices, so any commands would need to be picked up by your HomePods, and then forwarded to the Sonos. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

You state: “I have an older surround setup containing one Playbar and 2 Play 1s. I’m looking into making my home smart and have been leaning towards Apple HomeKit.“

What exactly do you want to achieve on your Playbar with Homekit?

You state: “I have an older surround setup containing one Playbar and 2 Play 1s. I’m looking into making my home smart and have been leaning towards Apple HomeKit.“

What exactly do you want to achieve on your Playbar with Homekit?

Play/control the music in the livingroom with voice commands I guess. Not a need to have just a nice to have. 
I would be able to do it with google assistant. 

So I’ve been trying to google/searched forums and there does not seem to be any clear answers on this topic.


Today I have an older surround setup containing one Playbar and 2 Play 1s. I’m looking into making my home smart and have been leaning towards Apple HomeKit. 

 

I would like to know before I buy two new Sonos One to make my surround setup compatible, if it will work with apple HomeKit or not? 

If not, are there any way to make it work correctly? 
For example keeping my play 1s in the surround and buying 1 Sonos One to get AirPlay to work? I’m very confused and cannot figure out the correct way to make this work. 
 

Or am I just better of going for Google’s smart home platform even though I only have apple products at home. 
 

Also will Siri work with the Sonos One which I will place in my livingroom for communication and HomePods placed in different locations in the house.

Okay thank you. And buying a single Sonos one and have it in the same group as the existing surround would not solve the problem either? 

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

I’m not a Apple Homekit user, but as far as I know it is Apple’s smart home platform. If you only need an assistant, Apple has Siri - which does not work with Sonos.

Sonos has Sonos Voice Control, Google Assistant and Alexa as assistants. For your use Sonos Voice Control could be a solution, but SVC need your Sonos devices to be equiped with microphones, which they are not. This leaves either Google Assistant or Alexa, that you could use with a Google (Nest Mini) or Alexa device (don’t know, I use Google) respectively.