If you’re wondering if it’s possible to control Sonos speakers and components with just your voice and a Google Home, it is! This article points out all of the Sonos products that are compatible, shows you exactly what you need to get it working, and clearly explains how to do everything.
The information in this post applies to the original Google Home, the Google Home Mini, and the Google Home Max, too.
Let’s get this out of the way at the start…
If you only have Sonos PLAY:1 or Sonos PLAY:3 speakers, and you don’t have any other Sonos components — there is no way to integrate them with Google Home. Neither speaker has “line inputs,” which are required. You are going to need to get an additional Sonos component that has a line input.
The Sonos Playbar, Playbase, and Sonos Sub also lack analog audio inputs, so they can’t connect to a Google Home either.
If you own one of these, one solution is to buy a used Sonos PLAY:5 speaker. The older version of the PLAY:5 works great for this (the new one is compatible, too) and they can be bought on eBay for around $250. The huge advantage with getting a PLAY:5 is that both the first generation and the current model are amazing sounding speakers.
Sonos recently released a new model called the Sonos One. It has a microphone array and the Amazon Alexa digital assistant built in. Sonos plans to add the Google Assistant to this model in the near future. This will make it equal in capability to a Google Home, and fully able to control all of the other Sonos units in your home. However, you can’t connect a Google Home directly to a Sonos One.
You can integrate Google Home with these Sonos products:
- PLAY:5 wireless speaker
- Sonos Connect
- Sonos Connect:Amp
- And the older ZonePlayer 120 and ZonePlayer 90
When your Google Home is connected to a Sonos, you can wirelessly stream the audio to any other Sonos products in your home. So, you could connect your Google Home to a PLAY:5, and the PLAY:5 can share the same audio with other Sonos products in your home, such as the PLAY:1.
I recently made a video that explains how to get this running:
If you prefer written instructions, here you go…
In order to integrate Google Home with a Sonos, you are going to need a Chromecast Audio. What the heck is that, you ask?
The Chromecast Audio is a flat device that’s the same size as a miniature English Muffin (if such a thing existed). It has a 3.5mm stereo audio output (and it comes with that cool looking yellow cable pictured above).
Power is supplied to the Chromecast Audio from an included 6-foot (1.8 meter) cable, which plugs into a micro-USB port on the device. So, you’re going to need to plug it into an AC outlet near your Sonos.
Here’s how this works: you get a Chromecast Audio, you plug its audio output into the audio input on your Sonos, in the Google Home app on your iPhone or Android device you will “add” the Chromecast Audio to your system. You also “add” your music streaming service in the Google Home app. After that’s done, you will be able to command Google Home to play music to your Sonos with your voice.
Here’s a terrible drawing of the set up:
Required cables:
The short, yellow 3.5mm audio cable that comes with the Chromecast Audio is all that’s needed to plug into the line-input on the Sonos PLAY:5. No additional audio cables need to be purchased.
If you’re using the Sonos Connect, Sonos Connect:Amp, ZonePlayer 120, or ZonePlayer 90, you are going to need a 3.5mm to dual RCA male cable. If you don’t already have one of these laying around somewhere, you can purchase one at this link.
Required software:
You are going to need the Google Home app. If you have a Google Home running in your house, you likely already have this app on your mobile device.
You are going to need a music streaming service. With the Chromecast Audio and the Google Home you can use Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, YouTube Music, tunein, or Deezer. Personally, I recommend using Spotify.
Obsessively detailed set up instructions:
- Plug the Chromecast Audio into an AC outlet with the included power cable, and connect the power cable to the micro-USB port on the Chromecast Audio
- Connect an audio cable to the 3.5mm audio output on the Chromecast Audio. If you’re using a PLAY:5, use the included yellow 3.5mm cable. If you have any of the other compatible Sonos products use one of these.
- Open the Sonos app on your device, tap the hamburger menu in the top left corner, and select Line-In from the menu in the app.
- Open the Google Home app. Tap the tiny devices icon in the top right corner of the screen (it kind of looks like an illustration of a speaker in front of a TV) .
- Next, select “Chromecast Audio” from the list that appears. — If you have trouble with this step, try going into the Wi-Fi settings on your mobile device, and see if you can connect with the Chromecast Audio there.
- You may need to “set up” your Chromecast Audio in the Google Home app, so tap the words “SET UP.” NOTE… You can easily set up a new Google Home on this screen, too.
- Next you should be asked to connect your Chromecast Audio to your home Wi-Fi. You may need to enter the password for your Wi-Fi network. Make sure the mobile device you’re using connected to your Wi-Fi network, too.
- Next, you are going to have to select your default music streaming service. Do so.
- It should work now. Say something like, “Ok Google, play the song 1901 by Phoenix on Spotify.”
Important tips:
After this is set up, you will need to launch the Sonos app on your mobile device, tap the hamburger menu in the top left corner, and select Line-In in order to hear sound from your Chromecast Audio.
A better way to do this is to enable the Autoplay feature on your Sonos. This will automatically change your Sonos to Line-In when an audio signal is detected. This way, when you speak to your Google Home, your Sonos will automatically switch to the line input when Google speaks, even if you’re streaming music that you started from the Sonos or Spotify apps.
How to enable Autoplay:
- Launch the Sonos app on your mobile device, tap the hamburger menu in the top left corner, then tap Settings
- On the next screen, tap on Room Settings
- On the next screen, tap on the name of the Sonos component that your Echo Dot is plugged into (for example, it may be named Kitchen)
- On the next screen, tap Line-In
- On the next screen, tap Autoplay Room and select the name of the Sonos device
Now you should be rocking. Thanks for reading this post! If it was helpful, you can help me out by using the links below before you buy anything at Amazon or B&H Photo. I appreciate it!
Purchase links:
Google Home – B&H, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de
Chromecast Audio – eBay
Google Home Mini – B&H
Google Home Max – B&H
Sonos One – B&H
Sonos PLAY:5 – Amazon USA, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr
Used Sonos Play:5 – eBay
Sonos Connect – Amazon USA, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr
Sonos Connect:Amp – Amazon USA, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr
Cable for connecting Chromecast Audio to Sonos Connect, Connect:Amp, and ZonePlayers – Amazon USA
Very useful post, thank you. I have a Sonos system with 4 Sonos:Connect units, each one powering a set of speakers in a different room (kitchen, dining room, etc). If I want to use my Google Home to send music to one or more Sonos:Connects, would I need a separate Chromecast for each Sonos:Connect? If so, how would I tell Google Chrome which one to send the music to?
Hi David,
Yes, you are going to need Chromecast Audio devices for each of your Sonos Connect units.
Instructions for how to set up and use Google Home voice commands to send audio to the various Chromecast Audio groups you create can be found at this link.
There is a chance that in the future you may be able to send audio to Sonos using voice commands and Google Home, without needing Chromecast Audio devices. However, plans to develop this integration have not been shared publicly by either Google or Sonos at this time.
I’m glad this post was helpful! Thank you for commenting!
Sam
Sam, great article. Exactly what I needed.
Can you check the link you provided in the reply above to David? All of your other links work, but that one does not. Thanks!
Yikes! Thanks for finding that ugly link and letting me know about it! It’s working now.
Glad my article was helpful!
Sam
Is it possible to link my TDK speaker to my Goggle home?
Hi Mom, :)
Either tell me the exact model number of your TDK speaker, or send me a photo of the outputs it has.
Hi Sam, followed your instructions and nothing is coming out of my Sonos. Any thoughts on why this would be happening?
What model of Sonos are you using?
Shouldn’t any Sonos connect device have access to the line-in of any OTHER Sonos device on the same wifi network? If so, the only reason David would need multiple Chromecast audio devices would be to play different music in different rooms… Correct?
If you only have a single Chromecast Audio plugged into one Sonos unit, that Sonos unit can indeed share the audio it receives from the Chromecast Audio with Sonos units in other rooms.
However, it gets complicated if you don’t want to listen to the Chromecast Audio in the room that it and the Sonos unit is in, but you do want to hear it in another room on another Sonos unit.
Thinking about this is starting to give me a headache. ;)
hi, I got my Google Home playing through my Sonos with Google audio chrome cast. Thanks!! One issue I had is that you need to create a home group to link Chromecast audio with Google Home. You do this through the App. Here’s a link.
Awesome! Thank you very much for sharing this extra bit of information!
Unfortunately, Chromecast Audio cannot do uncompressed Hi-Fi playback
This is not really integrating Sonos with Google Home – it is using a line-in device to stream music to a Chromecast and play it through a Sonos device…
Any idea when you will be able to use Google Home to actually integrate Sonos? Such as “OK Google, play Pandora on Shuffle in the Living Room.”
Hi Patrick,
Neither Sonos nor Google has publicly announced plans to integrate. I agree with you. It would be much nicer to just speak to a Google Home and ask it to play stuff on Sonos without any extra equipment or hassle. That’s the way it should be. We’re just not there yet.
Sonos is going to integrate with the Amazon Echo soon. This could arrive any day. It could also be delayed until December or later. No firm dates have been given. But, it is coming. It would make sense for Sonos to also integrate with Google, but both companies have limited numbers of talented engineers that can do this stuff, and both have endless to-do lists that need to be prioritized in importance of business needs. It could be a while before this happens, if it happens at all. You may want to consider selling the talking speaker you own and start talking to Alexa.
Thanks for commenting,
Sam
Hi Sam, I went through the above steps, and can control the music to my Play 5 through regular casting, but not to voice commands through Google Home. Can you help?
NOTE TO READERS: I replied to this comment here.
Hi Kate… I apologize for my super-late reply. When you speak to your Google Home, do you tell it to play the music on the name that you assigned to your Chromecast Audio in the Google Home app? For example, I named my Chromecast Audio “Play 5 Chromecast.” When I speak a command to my Google Home, I specifically tell it to “Play [insert name of music] on Play 5 Chromecast.”
You can always buy a Logitech Harmony Hub to connect pretty much everything in your home. Use the IFTTT app or Stingify and the apps walk you through it. You will be amazed!
Is there any info on how to get Google Home to work with the Sonos Playbar? Just invested in both along with some extensive Lutron Caseta dimmers. Would really like to stay with Google but I really want that integration with the Playbar. Any help/feedback is greatly appreciated.
I think an option missing here is simply using Google Chromecast into your TV (no direct audio to sonos). Google home speaks it’s language and Chromecast inegrates with all your streaming services.
This is pretty much the only article like this that I could find: how does someone already invested in the Sonos ecosystem integrate with Google Home? Lots of info about Alexa but this is very useful for Google Home. I imagine other early adopters of Sonos are anxious for this concept too as they early-adopt voice assistants!
I followed this setup and it works excellently. I named my Chromecast Audio device “Sonos” so I could tell GH to “play favorite song playlist from Spotify on Sonos”.
I followed these instructions but have a massive delay, greater than the 200ms the the Google delay correction slider. Have you come access this? I have 5x Play 5 and 2x Play 3, but I was only testing on one Play 5 unit.
I have tested this on a Play 5, but had a massive delay. The delay was greater than the 200ms delay correction slider that Google have built in. Is there any advice on how I can improve this? I have 5x Play 5 and 2x Play 3 and would love to have these running all in harmony.
Hey Sam, can you clarify this for me . . .? Is Google Home allowing you to find and play music that is from any part of your Sonos library – your music files, Pandora acct, Spotify acct, etc.? Does it also allow you to play music it finds on the web like from youtube or elsewhere? And do you have the voice control to tell it what source you want to access (spotify vs your music library, etc.)?
The Google Home can only send music to the Chomecast Audio that is linked to the Google Home app on your mobile device. You can link the app to your Pandora account and send music to your Sonos using only your voice. Same with Spotify. You can only send music from YouTube if you have a YouTube Red subscription. When you have multiple services connected, you tell the Google Home which service you want it to play music from when you speak to it.
Can I just play the 1speaker and leave the 5 speaker silent?
Hi John,
This isn’t currently possible. The Chromecast Audio only outputs sound, that’s why it needs to plug into an analog audio input on a Sonos. The Chromecast Audio does not control the Sonos in any way.
Perhaps in the future Google will be more integrated with Sonos, and things like this will be possible.
Thanks for commenting,
Sam
This is awesome! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Does Google Home also play music from my NAS (donwloaded music) or does it only work with streamed music like spotify?
There doesn’t appear to be a way to speak to your Google Home and have it play locally stored music files. There is a way to do it by using a computer running the Chrome browser:
https://mashtips.com/play-local-music-google-home/
But, using that solution, you need to click around on a computer to make it happen, as opposed to just speaking to the Google Home. This is a glaring limitation of the device. It’s called the “Google Home” but it can’t playback files that you store in your home. Sorry!
Hi Sam, can I use Chromecast Audio and Google Home with a Sonos Zone Player 100?
Hi Ian,
Yes, you can use a Chromecast Audio with the Zone Player 100.
Can I connect Chromecast Audio with Sonos zp 80 .
I tried connecting and following your instructions but no sound
Have you been using this Zoneplayer 80 previously? The Chromecast Audio is only outputting sound, so your ZP80 should be able to handle it like any other sound source.
Hi Sam,
I am using SONOS connect Amp. I connected the chrome cast audio to the Sonos using the RCA male audio cable. I can’t hear the test sound when i tried to connect. Not sure what the problem is.
Great clear article. A quick ‘tune up’ tip. I have a Home Mini and don’t ever want to use it for music playback.
In the Google Home device settings, find “Default media playback”
Set this to the Chromecast or Chromecast group of your choice.
This makes the voice comments simpler, you can drop the “on Chromecast”.
“Hey Google, play some funky music” now triggers my group (called Home) and plays over all my linked Chromecast and Sonos devices in one go.
Music now comes out of my Sonos (and associated group).
Google assistant stuff (weather, news, searches, timers etc) still comes out of the Mini.
Thanks for the blog post and YouTube video, Sam. One question though: you’ve mentioned Google Home can control just about every music streaming service….except Apple Music. Will I be able to control my Apple Music subscription using the Google Home Mini if it’s connected to my Sonos speakers? Pandora is great and all…but I like to listen to specific songs on repeat for days on end sometimes. Haha! :)
Hi Sam,
What line in level setting on the Sonos app produces the best sound coming out of my stereo. The Sonos app offers 10 settings. Airplay should be at level 4, for example.
I’m just trying to get my new (used) connect to sound better coming out of my stereo.
Hi Tim,
I’m not sure what level setting to recommend. Just do a little experimentation and trust your ears. Leave it at the setting that sounds best to you.
Best of luck,
Sam
Hello Sam,
March 1st Sonos pushed an software update. I believe Sonos removed the ability to use your Google Home workaround.
Settings > Room Settings > select my Sonos Speaker (Living Room) > NO “Line In” option
Has Live In been removed from your Sonos App? Do you have another workaround solution?
Thank You,
Todd
Hi Todd,
I just checked this out. I have the latest Sonos software on my phone and my Sonos speakers. I looked in the settings as you suggested, and the Line In option is still there for me. I asked my Google Home Mini to play jazz on my Chromecast Audio, and it sent jazz to it, and the jazz came out of the Sonos PLAY:5. So, it still works fine for me.
What Sonos speaker are you trying to do this with? I ask because only PLAY:5 speakers have the Line In.
Best of luck,
Sam
if the Sonos Play:5 is connected in a group of Sonos speakers will it play on the group?
Hi Gene,
I just tested this out on my system, and the answer is YES. I asked my Google Home Mini to play “Sweet Jane” by Cowboy Junkies on “Play 5 Chromecast” (that’s the name I gave to my Chomecast Audio). It started playing on my Play:5, and since I have my Sonos One grouped with my Play:5, the song was playing on my Sonos One as well.
Thanks for commenting,
Sam
I have this all set up and it works well for playing music through Sonos with voice control. But… I have major problems with drop-outs and stuttering when the music is playing. I even got a Cat5/USB adapter thinking that I might have some WiFi interference. That didn’t help. I got online with Google and their solution was to reboot the cable modem and restart Chromecast Audio. That worked for about 10 minutes and the stuttering began again. It’s inconsistent… sometimes it’ll play for 20 minutes with only minor glitches, sometimes the dropouts start immediately.
Have you had this problem and if so, what did you do about it?
When you use a Chromecast Audio does it then get the musik from the musik AP or does it use the music linked in sonos app. Problem for me is that I do not have Spotity but a different one that is linked in the sonos app. I also have that music as an external app, but that one cannot be used by Google Home. So it plays music from the external app and not using the account in sonos then it is not useful for me. Make sense?
I believe the information you seek is already in the article:
“… With the Chromecast Audio and the Google Home you can use Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, YouTube Music, tunein, or Deezer.”
I recently incorporated a Chromecast Audio (CA) into my Sonos setup in a similar way described in the article. Like a lot of people, I have an HT Sonos setup in the family room, along with a Google Home Mini. I named my CA “Sonos” and set the autoplay room to the HT Sonos system. Now, I can use the Home Mini or other Home speakers in the house to direct music sources to the HT Sonos system. Ex: “Hey, Google, Play Pandora Station Larry Carlton Radio on Sonos”. Obviously, I can’t group speakers in my Sonos environment, or directly access my Sonos favorites, but it’s a decent stopgap until Sonos finally adds Google Assistant support (hopefully before I’m dead).
Whoops, didn’t make something clear. I named the CA “Sonos” in the Google Home app, not in Sonos, where I named it “Chromecast Audio”. Sorry…
Thanks for sharing those tips, Paul! From the look of your profile picture, you must be a cyclist. I recently purchased a Wahoo KICKR Core. It arrived yesterday. I still need to buy a cassette, some bike-specific tools, and a bunch of other stuff for it, but I’m pretty excited to ride indoors this winter. I live in North Carolina but it was unusually cold last winter, and so far our fall and early winter have been super cold too. I don’t want my legs to shrivel up again. Looking forward to trying out Zwift and TrainerRoad.
Now that Chromecast audio is no longer being made, how do we integrate the assistant with Sonos receivers per the first comment?
I’ll think about other options, but for now I would recommend grabbing a used Chromecast Audio from eBay. (Clink on that link to buy one).