Yes, Sonos, I have further questions. And I am letting you know here.
by Volker Weber
Executive summary: go ahead and upvote this idea. And write a comment, please.
Every Sonos player has three buttons. Mute, volume up and down. You don't need to fetch the remote if you want to adjust the volume, and you can stop it from playing when the phone rings. A long press will mute the house. That is good, tried and true.
However, there is a problem. If you place a PLAY:3 in the kitchen and you want to turn on the radio in the morning, and then turn it off, and then on again, you can't use mute. The player does not go to sleep. It justs turns the volume down. It keeps hitting your storage, it keeps streaming from Spotify, it keeps streaming the radio.
That is wasteful. Your NAS cannot spin down, you are hitting your internet connection, you even make it expensive for Spotify. They pay per play. And you are not even listening.
I have a solution. Let me program the mute key. I want it to be play/pause. I don't know for sure, but I believe this can be done. The button isn't hardwired to an amp. Otherwise you could not do a "mute all zone players". If you can do that, you can also do a "pause player".
Let me take it up a notch. This does not need to be a per player option. I would be fine, if every single player in my household would have a pause/play switch instead of mute. And a long press could be "pause all". That is the most used function on my Sonos CR200 btw. Before I leave the house, I fetch it and stop all players in the household. Wouldn't it be convenient to have this button on every single player?
If you can't get this fixed, people will prefer a Tivoli Audio ONE. I know that. We have one. And it happens in other houses with Sonos gear as well. So puleeeze, give me that option. More players sold. How does that sound?
How about the headline? Well, you asked for it:
Wer nicht gut englisch versteht: der letzte Satz heißt das Gegenteil, also "lass mich in Ruhe".
Comments
Thanks for making this public statement! This feature request has been on my wish list for ever. And I know a few people who have the same request.
Sonos could sell a bunch more devices (bathroom, kitchen) if the thing would start playing your favorite radio station with one button press (and stop with another). In my case the kitchen alternative is a Logitech Squeezebox radio (now Logitech UE Smart-Radio), bathroom sound provided by a Tivoli SongBook.
That would be the solution for so many families. Sonos please listen!!!!
+1
I also know for sure "some" people who would like that a lot!
This one has been running for a long time, probably since before I introduced you to Sonos.
There has never been any question over if this is possible. It's essentially a soft key, of course it is programmable. A similar argument cropped up regarding the hard keys on the CR200 controller - I, and many others, wanted to use the volume controls on the CR200 as track skip and the mute as play/pause. We used those buttons on the CR100 more than the volume, the volume rarely changes in each zone but we stop/start the music all the time.
There were many reasons given but, ultimately, nothing has ever changed. On the old Soviet CR100 controller, there were always suggestions for the unused middle soft key. None of those were adopted either.
The strongest arguments I've ever heard against your suggestion is as follows:
1) It's a mute button, it has a mute label. Making it not function as mute could be very confusing. Of course, I don't care about that, it's my house. There was a fear for all the support calls it might generate should the option be accidentally toggled.
2) When you press the mute button, it mutes the local zone. If you hold down the mute button, it mutes all zones. When you press mute again, the music output resume...but in that room only. You cannot use the local mute button to un-mute another zone. This means you don't accidentally play music on your patio at 2am, or in your child's bedroom when they are asleep. This wouldn't be the case if the button operated the pause function - music would resume in all linked zones at the previous set volume.
Essentially, Sonos are protecting users from themselves...but some of us don't need protecting. We're happy to take the risk. It's this lack of control that led people to stick with Squeezeboxen all those years, they were somewhat open and more configurable...not that it did Squeezebox any favours in the end.
Understood.
And there is no reason why they could not do exactly the same thing with pause as they do with mute.
It's the same thing as the white status LED. It was put there to indicate the player is on and connected. Now you can turn it off. This is potentially misleading, but people yelled at Sonos, because they did not want to put a sticker on top of it.
I guess we need to make some noise.
Come to think of it, you don't even need to change mute. You can still mute. And give me the option "[ X ] Pause when muted".
Every Sonos mute button behaves the same way, be it on a device or a controller.
Every Sonos play/pause button also behaves the same way.
When you push one of the buttons, it obviously calls a subroutine to action the button push according to context.
Exchanging one button for another, you simply call a different subroutine. But to change the behaviour of the play/pause button would require a completely new subroutine to be added. Not impossible, but quite an extensive piece of work.
If you press this new pause button (labelled mute) on a device, should it stop just that room? How? Should it drop that zone from the group?
If you then want to resume music in that zone, does it relink it? But the music never stopped in the other rooms, so at which point in the playlist should it start?
If you hold down the new pause button (labelled mute) it will stop all linked devices. If you then press resume briefly, it will start playback in only that room. How? By unlinking that zone from the group? What happens when you unpause in another room? Where does it start.
I support your argument, I too would like to see the option to exchange mute for pause (especially on CR200) but I understand why it may not have happened.
Reminds me a bit of this: http://xkcd.com/1172/
Ben, Sonos will figure it out. Once they want to fix this. They are missing the "want".
Me too
@Sonos: Me too.
Me too
+1
+1
Me too
Me too.
@Sonos: Me too - whenever it is possible to turn on the radio by a simple keypress I can finally buy a Sonos-System... This function is necessary in the kitchen in the morning ;-) no hassle with the app or something.
I see the implications of this in a similar way as Ben described them.
But anyhow, I agree with Volker, that this can be solved. It is all a matter of Sono's technical design, once we made sure, our requirement is being heard.
Signed.
Me too
Same here, give the user the power to decide whether mute means mute or something else.
I'd love to see this option implemented.
@Sonos: Me too.
+1
Me too!
Me too, please. :)
Me too, good idea
+1
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Smart!
+1
+1
@sonos: World be a splendid feature, which should be the idea for an innovative company like yours.
will auch äh me too
Me too!
Couldn't agree more. It's the constant debate I have with my wife. She's insisting on that single button on our Sonos device in the kitchen! Sonos, please listen up!
Me too :-))
+1
Yes. And QoS on the Mesh network, please...
Yes. And QoS on the Mesh network, please...
Me too, please! Never use the mute button, but pause/play would be perfect.
me too
+1
Definetly useful! Would want that, too.
I have raised a similar question to the Sonos Support more than a year ago. There was a quick response to my Email. But that was the only thing being quick. I am still missing the "Turn-Sonos-on-and-play-my-favourite-music-feature". @Sonos: Add this feature and I will buy a Play3 for our bathroom and maybe another one for the kitchen!
13.11.2011
Liebes Sonos Team,
Ich hätte einen Verbesserungsvorschlag, dessen Umsetzung auch viele meiner Freunde, die auch Sonos nutzen, begeistern würde.
Besteht die Möglichkeit durch ein Software Updates den Sonos Player beim Anschalten eine bestimmte, vom Nutzer zu definierende Musikquelle (z.B. Radiosender oder Napster Playlist) automatisch abspielen zu lassen?
14.11.2012
Sehr geehrter Herr Dierker,
vielen Dank für Ihre Email. Wir haben Ihre Anregung nach einer automatischen Wiedergabe nach dem Neustart an unsere Entwicklung weitergeleitet. Solche Verbesserungsvorschläge sind uns höchst willkommen.
Bitte teilen Sie uns auch zukünftig mit, wenn Sie Vorschläge zur Verbesserung unserer Produkte haben.
Now everybody that agrees with this needs to go and click the button on this page:
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/programable_buttons_on_sonos_components
+1
Ben, this isn't working. We tried that for years.
SONOS, I want to start/stop my PLAY:5 with the mute button on last used source. I don´t want to use an app every time for the simplest thing to do with a PLAY:5: Start and stop with just one button. Make my wish come true!
Me too
Me too.
Me too!
I'm missing this feature every morning I have to get up early. Looking full of hope at the PLay:3 in the bathroom 30 Minutes before the planned alarm starts the player. Disappointed !
This would be quite useful.
+1
+1
Volker, we had this years ago. I asked for "-autoplay or pause instead of a mute button " (see http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=16012 and http://vowe.net/archives/011900.html), you then posted "On my Sonos wishlist: pause instead of mute" (http://vowe.net/archives/011291.html). Lets hope SONOS listens this time.
I am not surprised this request is very popular in Germany, I would not be surprised if customers in the USA do not care much if their muted SONOS keeps on streaming for hours (just like the bus drivers in Orlando, FL keep their engins running for hours waiting for their passengers)
Me too
Felix, we can be heard without bashing anybody.
+2 (wife wants this as well)
One more thing: wemo (motion) and ifttt integration.
I talked to John McFarlane (Sonos founder) in Berlin a few years ago. He told me he wanted to open a controller API. Never happened. Without this API nobody outside of Sonos can build reliable controllers, let alone WeMo or IFTTT integration.
Let's stay on topic.
+1
Me too!
Would be a very nice feature. Thank you vowe for this platform.
Yes, please!
Me too!
This is *exactly* why my wife wanted an iPdio for the kitchen:
Turn on coffee machine. Press one button on iPdio to turn it on. Press another button for her favorite morning channel. Grab cup and spoon. Return to coffee machine. Wait for blue light and make coffee. Add sugar, sit down, sip espresso, wake up.
Before her first espresso she wouldn't *want* to handle anything more complex than a pushbutton.
Sonos: You don't want to change the behaviour of the button and you don't want an extra button. I can understand that. Why not assign a double tap on the mute button the desired function?
1. Double tap while off: start playing default source.
2. Double tap while playing: pause. (LED could indicate paused state)
3. Double tap while paused: resume playing.
Would that work? What am I missing?
Yes! +1
+1 - Sonos, please add this feature - thx.
+1
This request appears to have more traction:
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/pause_stop_streaming_when_a_zone_or_group_is_muted
It may not help, but it can't hurt...
+1
+1
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I thought this was already a feature, good to know before I push the investment button (oh, not sure if this is embedded in the API already...)
Want as well.
@sonos: me too!
Me too!
Me too.
@sonos: me too!
@Sonos: me too
+1
Me too
Me too.
I like Ingo's idea about the double tab. Even iOS devices have this ;-).
I will buy two Play 3 for the kitchen and the bathroom if this feature will be implemented.
Vote: YES PLEASE
Me too.
+1
Me too!
+1
@Sonos: me too. This will make Sonos more family compatible.
+1
+1 ( would dramatically increase the WAF)
Definitely +1. Even +2, if I count my wife. This function would instantly sell a play.5 for the kitchen and a play.3 for the bathroom, maybe even make me pull the trigger on a playbar.
@Sonos: we (5 users) too.
+1
Have been waiting for this for a long time
Me too.
+1
+1 for this feature. Perhaps a mute or mute all can be a pause streaming after 3 or 5 minutes ?
+1. find a lot of other great ideas on ask.sonos.com (show recently added music, improve the new sonos favorites, let controllers also be players/zones, ...). go vote!
+1, Me too, good idea!
@Sonos: Yes please!
+1
I would totally use the "[ X ] Pause when muted" option.
Me too!
+1 for [ X ] "Pause when muted" option
Me too!
This was also one of the first things a was missing after toying around with my newly installed vowe-recommended™ SONOS gear.
As the manufacturer does (at least currently) not seem to care much about implementing such an option, I hacked together a quick an dirty php script during the Christmas holidays which is running on one of my Linux boxes using the nice PHPSonos class (see http://www.ip-symcon.de/wiki/PHPSonos ).
The script was originally designed to display the current track/title information from the SONOS on my beloved Roku M1001 that was sitting unused ever since the SONOS players arrived at my house. The "STOP on MUTE" helper function was a trivial addition to the existing code. The script is running in an endless loop and will poll the SONOS's status every two seconds or so and check if the MUTE button was pressed and issue a PAUSE or STOP command in return. If the device gets unmuted again, it will issue a PLAY command. As I said, it is a rather crude hack - but the script has been running quite nicely on my box (as long as the SONOS device is available on the network).
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do a proper writeup on this, but if there is any interest at all, I'd gladly offer a stripped down version (without the Roku stuff) that will just do the mute/unmute -> STOP/PLAY thingy.
Hi Jörg! This sounds like an interesting approach. Mark me as interested. Is there any way you can share this script in public (i.e. post it somewhere)? I would like to take a look :-)
excellent request! +1
@Markus: Thanks for your interest! I've tidied up the code a bit, removed the Roku stuff, zipped it and put it in my Dropbox for now:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8tyfthx1gqq0bia/sonos_stoponmute_v0.1.zip
Have fun! Comments are very much appreciated.
+1
Thank you Jörg!!
+1 > This feature is on my wish list too.
Me too
@Jörg: FHEM together with SONUS module on a FritzBox could be another solution. AND I like your idea checking the mute button by a script. Maybe both solutions could be connected with FS20 devices, WeMo together with IFTTT, etc.
in der Hoffnung, dass hier vielleicht noch viele einen "mitleser" drauf haben - es gibt eine, in meinen augen ebenfalls unterstuetzenswerte idee!
"HERE IS WHAT WE NEED SONOS...
The ability at the push of a button to switch between the 'Surround 5.1' mode for watching TV and a seperate 'Stereo 5.1' mode for listening to music in this room setup without having to group or re-setup the whole surround setup for the playbar everytime as I describe above. It seems like a simple EQ settings type thing where in that Stereo mode the output is equal on the playbar and Play 3's versus the Sourround mode where the Play 3's are really just functioning as rear channels with much less output. "
die diskussion dazu :
http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=33907
die abstimung:
https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/audio_sound_disconnect_when_listening_to_music_on_surround_setup_playbar_sub_2_play_3s_versus_same_setup_without_playbar
