HomeKit Using HomePods and Sonos Speakers in different rooms

[Synna]

Dear Community,

I am currently preparing my entry into the Apple HomeKit world and I am a bit confused regarding the possibilities with speakers. I have found a thread discussing a similar issue, but it did not fully answer my questions, so first, I'll lay out my setup:

Living room: HomePod (HomeKit hub), Sonos Arc
Bedroom: 2 HomePod Mini
Kitchen: Sonos One SL
Hallway: HomePod Mini

Will it be possible to assign those speakers to individual rooms inside the Home app, especially the Arc and the One SL?

If yes, from what I have read, I can play music...
...in the living room by asking Siri via the HomePod, then the HomePod and the Arc will play simultaneously.
...in the bedroom by asking Siri, using the HomePod Minis as a stereo pair.
...in the hallway by asking Siri, using the HomePod Mini.
...in the kitchen, but only if I also have an iOS device with me, as the One SL is not able to receive Siri voice commands.

Therefore, my only limitation regarding voice control would be the kitchen.

Is my train of thought correct here or am I missing something?

Thank you so much for your help!

"Bonus question": If I add a Sonos Sub to my Arc, will the Sub always play as soon as the Arc plays? Or do I have to add the Sub to my Home app too?

 

[waw74]

yes, any speaker with airplay2 can be assigned to a room in homekit. and then have siri use it as a target.
everything in your list seems reasonable



the sub will essentially become part of the Arc, the Arc will look exactly the same in the sonos app, unless you go into settings, then you'll see a couple of new options. But in everyday use, you'll see only the arc (and not the sub), both in the sonos music choosing section, and in the airplay menus on your various devices. Whatever the arc does, the sub will go along for the ride
Same thing happens for sonos stereo pairs, or if you add surrounds to the arc, they all just become part of the main speaker.
*bonus answer* this is also why you can airplay stereo to sonos from a Mac, but you can't do the same to hompods. Sending system audio in Mac uses airplay1 (even in Big Sur), hompods require airplay2 to do stereo, but with sonos, you airplay to one of the speakers, and it sends it to the other using Sonos's streaming.

 

[Synna]

yes, any speaker with airplay2 can be assigned to a room in homekit. and then have siri use it as a target.
everything in your list seems reasonable



the sub will essentially become part of the Arc, the Arc will look exactly the same in the sonos app, unless you go into settings, then you'll see a couple of new options. But in everyday use, you'll see only the arc (and not the sub), both in the sonos music choosing section, and in the airplay menus on your various devices. Whatever the arc does, the sub will go along for the ride
Same thing happens for sonos stereo pairs, or if you add surrounds to the arc, they all just become part of the main speaker.
*bonus answer* this is also why you can airplay stereo to sonos from a Mac, but you can't do the same to hompods. Sending system audio in Mac uses airplay1 (even in Big Sur), hompods require airplay2 to do stereo, but with sonos, you airplay to one of the speakers, and it sends it to the other using Sonos's streaming.

Thank you so much for this, especially also for adding the "bonus answer", this is really helpful!