Contributor I

Answered

SONOS ALEXA Integration?

266 replies
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Been waiting to hear news about when this will happen and am starting to think it never will. I have Sonos and Alexa in every room. I did this with the assurance that Sonos and Alexa are going to work together. There has been next to no news regarding integration for the past 6 months.... When can we expect to hear about Sonos and Alexa integration? Is it still happening? Please any update would be appreciated.

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Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

Hi everyone, there's a lot of interesting discussion going on here and I love the energy you all have around voice control and Alexa. My message from way earlier in this thread is still very much still the case, so I'll quote it here:

Thanks for jumping in everyone. Great answers already. As suggested, I can't really provide any extra details today, but I assure you, we're as excited about this as you are. It is coming. We'll let the world know as soon as there's more to say, and we'll announce here on the community (and elsewhere) if there are any opportunities to help us beta test.

On top of that, I just want to take a moment to make sure everything is clear about a few things. First off, to use voice control with Sonos, you will need to have a device with Alexa built in. We're largely talking about Amazon Echos and Dots here, but you never know what other fun gadgets may work as well, at launch or after it.

Second, once the software is live, it will work with every updated Sonos component. As long as you already have an Alexa-enabled device, you aren't going to need to buy any new hardware to use Alexa with Sonos. Just make sure your players are updated to the latest version of the Sonos software (when Alexa control comes out for Sonos), you will be able to take advantage of the voice commands sent by your Alexa-enabled devices. We're not going to go into the magic right now, but there have been some pretty good ideas here in the thread already.

That's all for now. More to come later, so stay tuned!

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Chris

Lead Maestro

I would be most certain we will see some Alexa integration prior to the release of the Homepod.

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C

chrisager

Contributor I

Sonos need to get this feature out there sooner rather than later in light of Apples Homepod which will compete in the same market space.

melvimbe

I am sure I am biased, but I just can't be that impressed with HomePod. What I've read just doesn't give me a good feeling about it all. Sure, there will be diehard apple fans, but I'm not sure it's going to cause many people to drop Echo or Google in favor of Apple.

I've searched a little about Airplay 2, but I don't see anything elaborating on what they consider to be multi-room. I'm sure you can play the same source in multiple rooms, but I see nothing about different sources. And yes, you could play music from Apple or whatever is on your phone, which sounds nice, but is really rather limited in practicality, especially when you consider what Sonos offers.

I think you also have to consider the entry price People are going to be much more comfortable with $50-$200 dollar range, particularly when gift giving, then they are with $350.

It will be a rather interesting Christmas retail season.

Danny

jmaok

Contributor I

Sonos need to get this feature out there sooner rather than later in light of Apples Homepod which will compete in the same market space.

...and they rush out a broken implementation, and then everyone gives them grief for not testing before release.

Which is not to let Sonos off the hook, as they 100% were resting on their laurels a little bit.

Cazualchatter

Enthusiast I

I am sure I am biased, but I just can't be that impressed with HomePod. What I've read just doesn't give me a good feeling about it all.

I've searched a little about Airplay 2, but I don't see anything elaborating on what they consider to be multi-room. I'm sure you can play the same source in multiple rooms, but I see nothing about different sources. And yes, you could play music from Apple or whatever is on your phone, which sounds nice, but is really rather limited in practicality, especially when you consider what Sonos offers.

It will be a rather interesting Christmas retail season.

Apple is making a gamble. They are trying to target Sonos customers. By what I see on this forum, they are forever expecting more and better. But customers who experience the effortless setup with Sonos and migrate to Homepod will likely face the same issues but will Apple support the network issues they face? I can't get them to fix the issues I am facing at home in an Apple Store. Then they have to setup a support infra for the home network and third part products like routers et al. I use all the Apple products and know they are good but this is home!! Integration is key. Involvement is also key.

Music + Movies on 2x Play 1s + Sub + Playbar. Amazon Echo Dot + Google Home Mini. Beautiful impulsive music.

gavingks

Enthusiast I

Thanks for jumping in everyone. Great answers already. As suggested, I can't really provide any extra details today, but I assure you, we're as excited about this as you are. It is coming. We'll let the world know as soon as there's more to say, and we'll announce here on the community (and elsewhere) if there are any opportunities to help us beta test.

gavingks

Enthusiast I

Can I ask a daft question as I am a little confused? If you can add Voice Control with a software upgrade are there Microphones in all your speakers ? a software solution sound truly fabulous.

jgatie

Can I ask a daft question as I am a little confused? If you can add Voice Control with a software upgrade are there Microphones in all your speakers ? a software solution sound truly fabulous.

The only Sonos speaker with a microphone is the Play:5 2nd Gen, and it is not the far field microphone array needed for voice control. So the coming Sonos implementation will achieve voice control via an Amazon Alexa device (Echo, Dot, Tap, Fire TV or Fire Tablet). You will speak to the Alexa device, and it will relay the commands to Sonos.

There is also talk of interfacing with Apple/Google voice assistant devices in the future, as well as putting a far field microphone array in future Sonos models.

gavingks

Enthusiast I

so will that mean we need to buy, find space and a power socket for a dot in every room we have Sonos? not a free or neat "software" upgrade.

jgatie

Well, it's either that or not do voice control at all. Right now, Alexa is the defacto standard for voice control. Sonos could either partner with them, or wait the 2-4 years it takes to design, create, test, tool, manufacture, and release the hardware/software to do it themselves. The choice is pretty simple if they wanted to get in on the market now, with a mature voice control product.

Also, many people already have a home full of Dots for lights, thermostats, television, security, etc. Matter of fact, the response to the Alexa announcement saw hundreds of posters here volunteering for the private beta, something which never happened before. It seems not many are put off by the hardship of buying a Dot and finding an outlet as one may think.

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