Spotify generally seems better at finding the speakers than the app itself. Here's the advice they gave me, tailored for BT routers. Haven't actually tried any of the advanced stuff as it seemed to involve downgrading to older slower protocols.
Wireless Mode 2 (b/g/n) is recommended for station mode. BT's guide on this here.- If is not possible to fix the wireless channel or to separate the 2.4Ghz and 5ghz Bands on the Smart Hub 2, you can perform a "rescan" against each of the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, within "advanced" - >"wireless"-Opt out of BT Web protect help service:BT Web Protect You can turn off BT Web Protect by logging in to My BT and scrolling down to ‘Manage my extras’ and then selecting Turn Off in the ‘BT Web Protect’ panel within the 'Your included extras' page. It will take up to two hours for your service to be removed.- If you have association issues, it may be worth toggling UPnP off then on and rebooting the router ( Advanced → Firewall → Configuration tab → Upnp On/Off- Worth Turning off "Smart Setup" - > from the router home page → this can cause devices to have to "login" before getting an internet connection - Not necessary
- If is not possible to fix the wireless channel or to separate the 2.4Ghz and 5ghz Bands on the Smart Hub 2, you can perform a "rescan" against each of the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, within "advanced" - >"wireless"
-Opt out of BT Web protect help service:BT Web Protect You can turn off BT Web Protect by logging in to My BT and scrolling down to ‘Manage my extras’ and then selecting Turn Off in the ‘BT Web Protect’ panel within the 'Your included extras' page. It will take up to two hours for your service to be removed.
- If you have association issues, it may be worth toggling UPnP off then on and rebooting the router ( Advanced → Firewall → Configuration tab → Upnp On/Off
- Worth Turning off "Smart Setup" - > from the router home page → this can cause devices to have to "login" before getting an internet connection - Not necessary
My biggest gripe now is, once I used to be able to say 'Hey google play autechre'. Then that changed and I had to say 'Hey google play autechre on sonos'. Now I have to say 'Hey google play autechre on spotify on sonos in the living room'!
― a holistic digital egosystem (ledge), Monday, 10 July 2023 11:14 (one year ago) link
can you not define macros for these things?
― koogs, Monday, 10 July 2023 11:16 (one year ago) link
My biggest Sonos gripe is that rewind and fast forward doesn't work on the BBC Sounds Alexa skill - even though it announces that it's doing it, it just goes back to the start of the bloody show. It works fine on Echo devices. No idea if it's the BBC's fault or Sonos's.
― Alba, Monday, 10 July 2023 11:28 (one year ago) link
Is this voice control of Sounds via Alexa on a Sonos speaker?
And what are you saying to it?
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 10 July 2023 12:05 (one year ago) link
Yes, that's it, Tracer. Using Alexa integration on the Sonos.
I'm listening to the most recent edition of a show on demand then say "Alexa, ask BBC to fast forward 10 minutes" and it replies "Going forward 10 minutes" and then the show restarts from the beginning.
― Alba, Monday, 10 July 2023 12:57 (one year ago) link
Same happens with resume function. I go back to a show and it says "Would you like to resume the episode of Cerys Matthews from Sunday 9th July" or whatever and I say yes and it just starts the show from the start.
― Alba, Monday, 10 July 2023 13:16 (one year ago) link
Not the only one with this issue
https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/bbc-alexa-skill-6851039
― Alba, Monday, 10 July 2023 13:18 (one year ago) link
That's v helpful, thanks :)
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 10 July 2023 13:29 (one year ago) link
:)
― Alba, Monday, 10 July 2023 13:32 (one year ago) link
I'm told it's either Amazon or Sonos at fault but Amazon are now aware...
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 11 July 2023 14:58 (one year ago) link
Thank you!
― Alba, Tuesday, 11 July 2023 16:53 (one year ago) link
To be honest I'm amazed that this elaborate fusion of iOS, Sonos, Amazon and fourth (fifth?) parties like the BBC or Spotify works at all. So many layers!
― Alba, Tuesday, 11 July 2023 17:32 (one year ago) link
FWIW there is a Sonos "controller app" for BBC Sounds though you're probably aware of that..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/listening-on-a-smart-speaker/sonos
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 09:05 (one year ago) link
Thanks Tracer. I do have BBC Sounds added to the Sonos app but don't use it much as I find it easier just to use the BBC's own app and then Airplay it. But experimenting with it again, I've found that if I've started listening via Alexa, it does remember where I was if I resume via the Sonos app, and once I've resumed via that route, Alexa voice commands to rewind and FF magically do start working. Something about passing through the app seems to set the whole thing right. Not ideal but good to know until it's properly fixed.
― Alba, Thursday, 13 July 2023 18:05 (one year ago) link
New app coming: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/24137502/sonos-new-app-announced
― rendered nugatory (morrisp), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 15:12 (five months ago) link
hope it can actually play music on my speakers without saying it can't find them, or claiming it is playing on them when it clearly isn't.
― ledge, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 15:14 (five months ago) link
the description implies that sonos devices will now be controllable from the web (which was previously limited to your network), creating a much higher potential for somebody hacking into your system. and for what? so i can control music at home while i’m in the office?
it’d be better if they fixed the latency issues, speakers periodically getting lost and frequent forced updates (which included such “useful” functionality as having an inbox that only receives marketing messages).
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 25 April 2024 00:43 (five months ago) link
xp +1
― Indexed, Thursday, 25 April 2024 14:29 (five months ago) link
Thoughts?
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 9 May 2024 08:59 (four months ago) link
Do not update. This is something rushed out with no quality control. Slow, sluggish, removes features, and not accessibility tested
― I am using your worlds, Thursday, 9 May 2024 11:52 (four months ago) link
They did not allow third parties to test fwiw
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 9 May 2024 13:06 (four months ago) link
ugh
― Indexed, Thursday, 9 May 2024 14:36 (four months ago) link
kind of glad i stuck to my S1 era device now.at one time i was tempted to upgrade/replace my Connect with an S2 version, but upon investigation found that there was actually very little reason to make the switch.subsequently, the S1 software now rarely gets an update, certainly nothing to do with functionality.which suits my requirements just fine.
― mark e, Thursday, 9 May 2024 15:29 (four months ago) link
Good thread on the app. It's wild that a company that's dependent on return customers (building out a system with Sonos products) would fumble and piss them off this much.
So the forced update to my @Sonos app is easily the most mind-bogglingly terrible degradation of a previously beloved service I have experienced in my 59 years on planet Earth.Basic functionality has simply been...removed. Want to edit your queue? Fuck you -- you can't!— Tim Quirk (@tbquirk) May 9, 2024
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Thursday, 9 May 2024 19:40 (four months ago) link
the problem with no updating is that at some point it just stops working until you update.
so, what are good alternatives to sonos nowadays?
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 9 May 2024 21:11 (four months ago) link
Depends what you're after - for all-in-one streaming smart speaker multiroom, I'm starting to think 'just don't do it, don't get trapped' - right now something more like a wiim mini running into a half-decent powered speaker is probably a more flexible alternative. Wiim seem to have a decent roadmap, deliver iterative improvements, good price for the hardware, app is multi-service (but I don't use it much - see next para).
Personally - I got out a 2-3 years ago & rebuilt a stereo system for the main room. Wiim pro for streaming but it's always just connecting via spotify or apple music or chromecast, not using the wiim app. Really solid, tho - like I really do not have to think about, it never seems to get confused.
The sonos speakers (3 s1s) sit around the house but tbh are mostly for my wife, who's used to them, used to using them from her phone and likes what she's used to.
The S1s still sound great - the room correction stuff built into them is really nice & tbh might probably make them outgun a powered speaker plus little wiim streamer. But I just don't want to be trapped with Sonos the company.
― woof, Thursday, 9 May 2024 22:12 (four months ago) link
https://lyrion.org/Logitech Media Server renamed and put together some easier documentation, from the look of it!Worth a look if you are into playing your own collection of files... since even if you are just streaming from the cloud to your player(s), you need your server to be on.Everyone uses the Material skin and not the ugliness displayed on the homepage.
― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, 9 May 2024 22:16 (four months ago) link
thanks, both looks like promising options from a quick look!
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 9 May 2024 23:21 (four months ago) link
new wiim ultra looks very impressive -
https://www.blog.wiimhome.com/post/unveiling-wiim-ultra-the-digital-hub-for-your-music
― woof, Friday, 10 May 2024 10:04 (four months ago) link
all these years and that $35 little Google Chromecast audio is still working for me
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 May 2024 12:51 (four months ago) link
they don't make 'em like that any more!
forgot to turn off auto update, so let's see if it's fixed my main and critical gripe of saying it can't find any speakers when you open the app... and that's a nope.
reading about the wiim and now starting to regret the money i have punted sonos' way.
― ledge, Friday, 10 May 2024 12:56 (four months ago) link
the missing "add to queue" option is very strange. a page says it's coming back in a future update to this update, but how can you push a version without it? I also miss the volume numbers for precisely setting the volume of sleep noise or music in the kids' room. Suppose I mostly use the spotify app anyhow.
― 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 10 May 2024 14:52 (four months ago) link
there's some good discussion of alternatives to Sonos on this thread:
Maintaining a Digital Music Collection
― Brad C., Friday, 10 May 2024 15:14 (four months ago) link
There’s an option for “Save to Sonos Favorites” (for a playlist, track, or album); and when you try it, it just says “Something went wrong. Try again.”(??)
― OG Rizzler (morrisp), Friday, 10 May 2024 15:26 (four months ago) link
I hear you - the trigger for rebuilding was wanting to bring my vinyl back to life and the sonos sunk cost thing pulled me towards a sonos amp or sonos port for a bit of my research but nah - they're still very respectable streaming speakers to have around the house but I'm happier out.
― woof, Friday, 10 May 2024 15:36 (four months ago) link
wow.the previous app would eventually pick up the speakers if you left it on for a bit or restarted a few times. the new one doesn't, and can't find any products if I try and set up a new system.
― ledge, Friday, 10 May 2024 17:13 (four months ago) link
it's found them now. then loses and finds them again every time I reopen.
― ledge, Friday, 10 May 2024 20:50 (four months ago) link
the sonos experience in a nutshell
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Friday, 10 May 2024 20:54 (four months ago) link
just had a message from a fellow Sonos user via Twitter :
"Don’t upgrade to the new Sonos app!Nothing works any more"
hope others here are not suffering as badly as this guy is ..
― mark e, Wednesday, 15 May 2024 17:48 (four months ago) link
good god the new app is utter dogshit. how could they make something already quite bad worse
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Saturday, 18 May 2024 09:54 (four months ago) link
it seems i was forced to update to the new sonos app later than most people were, but i've finally been forced to update and, good god, this is by far the biggest fuck-you sonos has ever fucked me with (and there was a lot of comopetition).
in addition to everything else that's bonkers about this update, am i missing something or can i no longer create a playlist?
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 31 May 2024 19:42 (three months ago) link
yeah, i have heard a lot from my friend re how bad this has been.the sonos forums are just full of chaos and anger.
― mark e, Friday, 31 May 2024 19:47 (three months ago) link
i refused to update and at some point it told me my library wasn't available anymore and that i needed to update to fix thati said fuck that and just listened to radio and bandcamp - and now the library is magically back
― scanner darkly, Saturday, 1 June 2024 02:53 (three months ago) link
between Spotify and sonos im kinda getting over the idea of listening to music at all anymore tbh
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Thursday, 20 June 2024 20:56 (three months ago) link
I splurged on the Sonos Ace headphones – my old pair died, I've never owned a "really nice" pair of headphones, and there was a discount available to me.
― Energy wrong, I log off (morrisp), Thursday, 20 June 2024 22:16 (three months ago) link
How are they so far?
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Thursday, 20 June 2024 22:30 (three months ago) link
I like them... the sound is nice, and the settings can be adjusted thru the Sonos app – even when they're paired with a different device – or by fiddling with the side button. The app has an EQ with three sliders, which suits me fine. Apparently they'll do the Sonos Wifi thing only with a soundbar (which I don't have), so for my purposes they just work like standard headphones.
The pads are the kind that fully enclose your ears, which I find a little weird (my last pair sort of rested on top of my ears). They're metal but lightweight, and seem nicely put together.
― Energy wrong, I log off (morrisp), Thursday, 20 June 2024 22:38 (three months ago) link
Surprising so many people use the Sonos app. I've had Sonos for years and exclusively use Apple Music app to control it. Works fine.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 20 June 2024 22:55 (three months ago) link
Opposite for me; I’m always surprised to see how many people buy Sonos speakers only to use Airplay instead of the app! Getting away from all of the limitations of Airplay was one of the primary reasons I went with Sonos.
― early rejecter, Friday, 21 June 2024 04:24 (three months ago) link
sonos earphones don’t integrate with rest of your sonos system so you can’t hand off from one to another ?
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Friday, 21 June 2024 05:16 (three months ago) link