Sonos might’ve been a bit ambitious when it promised both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support on the Sonos One smart speaker back in 2017: It’s been over a year now and while the speaker has seen a number of updates – including AirPlay 2 support – Google Assistant wasn’t among them.
Unfortunately, according to a post on Sonos’ blog, that’s not changing anytime soon.
“While we originally planned to have the experience ready to ship in 2018, the reality is that we need a bit more time to get the experience right and will now look to lock down a date in 2019,” Sonos says. “We’re very excited to see Google Assistant come to life on Sonos, and we know our customers are too.”
Despite being asked about it frequently, Sonos has so far been relatively quiet about when the integration would be available. "It’s easily one of the questions we get the most from customers, press, and even in the comments on our Instagram feed: When is Google Assistant coming to Sonos?" says Sonos. "We’re listening. Together with Google, we’ve learned a lot, and are confident the integration will be worth the wait."
The early bird gets the beta
If you can’t wait until 2019 to get your hands on a Google Assistant update to the Sonos One, Sonos says it’s accepting applications for private beta testers that will help the company by providing data on Google Assistant usage.
The catch here is that participants will need to “commit to at least 14 hours of listening per week, use 10 voice commands daily, and respond to surveys within 72 hours” all in the name of technological progress.
Initially, Sonos will start the beta with just a few hundred applicants before extending the invitation to another few thousand homes in the coming months.
Interested parties will need to fill out a short survey ... or, alternatively, non-interested parties can just sit and wait patiently for the next announcement that's coming in early 2019. Both options are fine.
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