Answered

Sonos with Homepod Mini voice control

  • 19 December 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 14167 views
M
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

I have Sonos throughout my house but I recently added 2x HomePod minis. I mainly want to use the HomePod minis for the Siri function, rather than as actual speakers.

 

id be interested to know how others have set up HomePod mini to work with Sonos.


For example, I have one HomePod mini physically in the kitchen with a play 5 and a Sonos move also in my kitchen. Whenever I want the HomePod to play to the play 5 and move I say “hey Siri, play … in the kitchen”. However in order to prevent the HomePod mini also playing the music on its own speaker (which I don’t want it to do - as the sound quality is inferior to the play 5 and move) I have designated the HomePod mini to be in a separate room on HomeKit (I called the room “kitchen HomePod” whereas the play 5 and move are in the HomeKit room “kitchen”). If I just say “hey Siri play...” then it just plays in the HomePod mini only. It would be nice if I could set the HomePod mini to always default to play music on specific speakers.

 

it all seems a bit cumbersome, and I was wondering if anyone else has found a better way of setting this all up?

 

thanks!

 

 

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Best answer by Corry P 22 February 2021, 15:24

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5 replies

Rowena B.
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @markwills, 

Thanks for reaching out to the Sonos community and for letting us know about your concern. Let me share some information about the Apple HomeKit on Sonos.

The Apple HomeKit is the bridge between the Apple device and Sonos for communication through Siri. Apple HomeKit lets you control smart home products using apps on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or simple Siri voice commands with the key features to play, pause, skip, and volume control. You can also jump over to the Sonos app in adjusting the volume on your Sonos speakers. In asking Siri to play on your HomePod, you need to specify the command like, “Hey Siri, play some jazz in the kitchen HomePod”.

  • Apple HomeKit and Sonos
    • The Sonos players can be added to HomeKit as accessories
    • You can utilize Siri for playback to specific Sonos zones once added to HomeKit using Siri to control Sonos.
      • Open the Apple Home app and tap Add Accessory.
      • Choose Don't Have a Code or Can't Scan?
      • Tap the speaker you want to add.
      • Pick the same room name used in the Sonos app.
      • Note: If you rename your Sonos speaker in the Sonos app, you will also need to make the same change in the Apple Home app. You may need to check out this article Sonos speaker names change on their own for more info.

Hope this helps. We can also wait for suggestions and feedback from our Sonos community members, they might provide additional information about this.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have further questions or concerns. We are always happy to help out.

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M
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Thanks, I’ve already done the things suggested in your post to add Sonos to my HomeKit. I was wondering how other Sonos users use HomePod mini alongside their HomePod - ie how they choose to set up different rooms & whether there is a way of getting a HomePod mini to always play to a specific speaker.

S

What I would do is not to add the homepod mini and the sonos in the same room;

 

  • create a new room in apple homekit for the homepod mini called “mini room” but place it on the kitchen
  • When you order siri to play something in the kitchen, it will use airplay to send the music to your sonos 

hope it will work

M
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

What I would do is not to add the homepod mini and the sonos in the same room;

 

  • create a new room in apple homekit for the homepod mini called “mini room” but place it on the kitchen
  • When you order siri to play something in the kitchen, it will use airplay to send the music to your sonos 

hope it will work

Thanks - yes that’s what I’ve done & it works quite well, the only annoying thing is that I have to remember to always say “in the kitchen” when I ask the HomePod to play anything

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @markwills 

Are you still having this problem? If so, I recommend you feed back to Apple, as they are in a position to allow the functionality you want to be implemented. In short, it would require them to alter the Homekit app so that you could choose this option. They will only do so if they have enough interest from their customers, though they may have other reasons for not doing so.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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