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Contributor I
December 7, 2020
Answered

Voice assistant not working when playing music

I've just got a sonos move.  All was great until I tried to use voice assistant during playback, you know to change the volume etc!  

 

Voice works fine until music is playing and then the sonos just doesn't pick up the prompt (alexa, or hey google).  Its the same if I'm using Alexa or Google VA and also however music is being played, e.g. Spotify or tunein etc.  

 

Pause the music and it works fine again.

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masheriAnswer
Lyricist I
December 28, 2020

nealth...I found the following instructions somewhere in the Sonos Community and it solved my issue with Alexa not acknowledging the command to stop playing the music once the music started playing.  At first it was only following the first command to play music but not stopping it or pausing etc...try these steps, hope it helps!

 

17 replies

Simon B
Retired Sonos Staff
December 11, 2020

Hi @tom83, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about this issue on your Sonos Move on Google Assistant and Alexa. Both Google Assistant and Aleza are having the same issue? I’ll ask you to submit a diagnostic report to investigate further what could be causing this issue. You may reply to the thread with the confirmation number to assist you with this issue.  

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

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Lyricist I
December 12, 2020

Hello,

 

I'm having the exact same issues. Tried both alexa and Google assistant. 

 

Do I have to submit the diagnostic report too?

Simon B
Retired Sonos Staff
December 15, 2020

Hi @Traian24, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear that you have the same issue with your Voice Assistant. I want to ask some questions to further check on this issue.

  • When did it start happening?
  • Did it work before or it’s the first time that you tried to add Voice Assistant on your Sonos?
  • Have you tried to add it on another device controller where you have the Sonos App?
  • Are there any changes made on the settings on the Sonos App and Google Assistant or Alexa App?
  • Does it happen only when playing music or a specific music service or on all music services?

Answers to these questions will help us determine what could be causing this issue.

Kindly submit a diagnostic report to investigate further what could be causing this issue. You may reply to the thread with the confirmation number to assist you with this issue.  

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

 

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Lyricist I
December 26, 2020

Hey Simon! 
 

Having the same problem on my brand new Move, with Alexa.

Lyricist I
December 26, 2020

I just got the Sonos Move for Christmas and I am having a similar issue.  I can get Alexa to play a song from Spotify with an Alexa command, but when I say “Alexa stop or off or pause”, while the song is playing there is no chime letting me know that my voice was heard like when I asked to play a song.

I am unable to stop the music from playing unless I physically stop the music.

I’m not sure if I should return the item and get another one or is this a known issue with the Sonos Move?

Lyricist II
December 27, 2020

I’m having the same issue.  Google assistant work fine when not playing the radio, but simply ignores me even with the volume turned right down.

Is this a known issue

Lyricist II
December 27, 2020

I’m having the same issue.  Google assistant work fine when not playing the radio, but simply ignores me even with the volume turned right down.

Is this a known issue

I’ve also now tried using Alexa instead of GA, but I’m still having the same issue.

This is my first Sonos product (a Move), and specifically bought for voice control.

masheriAnswer
Lyricist I
December 28, 2020

nealth...I found the following instructions somewhere in the Sonos Community and it solved my issue with Alexa not acknowledging the command to stop playing the music once the music started playing.  At first it was only following the first command to play music but not stopping it or pausing etc...try these steps, hope it helps!

 

Lyricist II
December 28, 2020

Weirdly, it Alexa is responsive now when music is playing.

I changed nothing other then reading somewhere that Trueplay seemed to have some bearing.  I simply disabled it and then re-enabled it and everything sprung to live.

Simon B
Retired Sonos Staff
December 29, 2020

Hi there @nealdh, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry about what happened. But I’m glad it’s working now for your Alexa. You can submit a diagnostic report for us to check the status of your Sonos system If there are any issues with Alexa on your Sonos. 

Hello @masheri, thanks for reaching out, and thanks for assisting. Those troubleshooting steps are helpful for this type of Alexa issue. 

Let us know how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question