I’ve had Sonos speakers for a few years now and have had the horror of the Sonos app overhaul. I’ve used Home Assistant for a similar amount of time and only now realized how well the two work together.
What Home Assistant reveals for Sonos speakers
Easier control than using the app
I have it Sonos integrationn installed in Home Assistant as far as I remember. I knew it exposed me Sonos speakers like media players, but I hadn’t looked more closely at what else was exposed. This is one of the problems with Home Assistant; There are so many things it can do that you often install an integration and then completely forget to do anything with it because you’re busy using some other integration you installed at the same time.
It was only recently that I saw the Sonos integration in my list and took a closer look at what objects and controls it is exposed to. It was more than I expected.
You get number to control bass, treble, treble, crossfade, alarms, status light and touch controls, select or change elements. Play music, get current queue, join speaker groups and more. There are also measures for
If you have Sonos home theater devices, there are additional controls for things like Night Volume, Speech Amplification, Surround Level, and Volume Delay. It’s easier than using the Home Assistant to change some of these Sonos settings access to the official program.
TTS announcements that don’t break the flow
Please don’t stop the music
One of the best features of the Sonos integration is something I was completely unaware of. Since it has Sonos speakers exposed as media playersI have been using them for a long time to play voice announcements.
While reading the integration documentation, I discovered a very useful argument announce. Adjust announce for truewhen you send a text to speech (TTS) or audio file when playing music to Sonos, it does not pause the music. Instead, he lowers the volume to avoid interrupting the music and reads the announcement over the top.
There is also one sonos.snapshot An action you can use to capture what’s currently playing on your Sonos speaker. You can pause the music and continue from the same place using it to make announcements later sonos.restore movement.
Music Assistant makes Sonos speakers even better
Play music from any source
I have been Using the music assistant as the primary method of playing music in my home for a while. It’s a great way to access all my music, including streaming services Like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as music I store locally. There is a Sonos player provider that allows you to stream music from your music assistant to your Sonos speakers.
Sonos speakers are automatically detected by Music Assistant, so adding them is easy. If you have multiple Sonos speakers, you can group them and let them all sync the same music.
The great thing about Music Assistant is that I can access music from all my sources, including my own local music filesand easily transfer music from one speaker to another. I don’t have to go through the Sonos app to find the music I want to play; I can control everything from Music Assistant without ever touching the Sonos app.
Creating automations with Sonos speakers
There are many things you can do
One of the best things about using Home Assistant with Sonos speakers is that you can use in automations. I was already using it for spoken announcements, but now I was able to improve those announcements by slightly improving the music ducks when they are played.
Connecting Sonos speakers, Music Assistant and more presence sensorsI can play music on the Sonos speaker in the dining room, then go into the living room and continue the music there on the Sonos speaker that automatically turns off in the dining room. When I return to the dining room, the music stops playing in the living room and continues in the dining room instead, making me feel like I’m living in the future.
I can also do things like automatically turn down the volume after the kids go to bed, stop the speakers when everyone leaves the house, and start custom playlists when we’re all sitting in the dining room eating.
My Sonos speakers are more useful than ever
Home Assistant is so feature-rich that it’s easy to miss some of the best features of the integrations you already use. Discovering the capabilities of my missing Sonos integration made me want to take a closer look at some other integrations I’ve used for years.
