The one-minute version
1. Set it up once: Settings → Action Button → swipe to Controls → ZoneFoundry → Open Voice Orb.
2. From then on, hold the Action button: the voice orb opens and starts listening.
3. Just say it: "play Eason Chan in the living room", "set the living room volume to 20", "pause everything".
No Action button? Control Center, a Lock Screen widget, Siri or Spotlight open the same voice orb.
Before you start
- An iPhone with an Action button (see the next section) on iOS 18 or later. No Action button? See section 4
- An iPhone with ZoneFoundry installed and your Sonos rooms already showing up
- Signed in to your Sonos account (no bridge needed). On Wi-Fi alone without signing in, the assistant isn't available
- On first use, agree to let AI process your commands
- Allow both microphone and speech recognition access (iOS asks once for each)
1. Which iPhones have an Action button
The Action button is at the top of the left side, above the volume buttons, in place of the old Ring/Silent switch. According to Apple's list of models with an Action button:
- Yes: iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max; iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max and 16e; iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max; iPhone Air; iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max.
- No: iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus and earlier models, which still have the Ring/Silent switch. Skip to the four alternatives in section 4.
2. Set up: make the Action button open the Voice Orb
You only do this once. The menu names below come from Apple's guide "Use and customize the Action button on iPhone" (worded the same for iOS 18 and iOS 27). The ZoneFoundry item is shown in your iPhone's system language.
Use the voice assistant once in the app
Open ZoneFoundry, make sure you're signed in to your Sonos account, then tap the orb on the Assistant tab and say something. The first time, you'll be asked to let AI process your commands and to allow the microphone and speech recognition. Get these out of the way so the Action button can go straight to listening later.
Open Settings → Action Button
Go to the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Action Button. A side view of the iPhone appears, with icons for the actions you can assign to the Action button.
Swipe to Controls and choose ZoneFoundry's Open Voice Orb
Swipe until Controls appears below the dots. Tap the button below the name, find ZoneFoundry in the list and choose Open Voice Orb. As Apple points out, for Controls and Shortcut you must pick a specific option, or the Action button does nothing.
Hold the Action button and start talking
From the Home Screen or any app, press and hold the Action button on the left side (Apple says press and hold; a quick press won't trigger it). ZoneFoundry opens Assistant and starts listening. Let go and say something like "play Eason Chan in the living room".
The other way: use Shortcut
At step 3, instead of Controls, swipe to Shortcut, tap the button below it, find ZoneFoundry in the list and choose Open Voice Assistant. It does the same thing when pressed: opens Assistant and starts listening. Either works, so pick one. We suggest Controls, because the name matches the Open Voice Orb control in Control Center.
3. What you can say once it's listening
No commands to memorise: say it the way you normally would, in Mandarin, Cantonese or English. Use the room names from your Sonos system. Some examples:
Play
- Play Eason Chan in the living room
- Put on some soft music in the bedroom
Pause and skip
- Pause everything
- Next track
Volume
- Set the living room volume to 20
- Turn it up in the bedroom
- Unmute the living room
Announcements
- Announce "dinner's ready" in the living room
- One thing per sentence. A room and an artist in one sentence is fine; to change the song and the volume, say them separately.
- Watch the live caption. What you say appears as you speak. If it mishears, tap the orb while it's still working to cancel, or say it again; a wrong volume or grouping change can be undone from the result card.
- For more phrases and how to set the recognition language, see Control Sonos by voice.
How this differs from Siri: the Action button opens ZoneFoundry's own voice assistant, and that's who you're talking to, not Siri. Siri only understands a fixed set of phrases and can't mute or unmute; for "unmute the living room", use the voice orb.
4. No Action button? Use one of these four
iPhone 15, 15 Plus and earlier have no Action button, but these four all open the same voice orb: Assistant opens and starts listening. They work on iPhones with an Action button too.
- Control Center: edit Control Center the usual iOS way, add a control, find ZoneFoundry in the list and add Open Voice Orb (the tile reads Voice Orb). Needs iOS 18 or later.
- Lock Screen widget: add ZoneFoundry's Voice Orb widget to your Lock Screen, in circular or rectangular size (its description reads "Tap the orb to start a conversation with ZoneFoundry."). Tap it to open.
- Siri: say "Talk to ZoneFoundry" or "Open voice assistant in ZoneFoundry". This is the app's Open Voice Assistant shortcut.
- Spotlight: swipe down on the Home Screen, search "zone" (or ZoneFoundry) and tap Open Voice Orb in the results. Checked on iOS 26.
For the full rundown of Control Center buttons, widgets and Siri phrases, see Control Sonos without opening the app.
FAQ
Nothing happens when I hold the Action button.
Go back to Settings → Action Button and check that Controls is selected with Open Voice Orb chosen below it. If you only swipe to Controls without picking an option, the Action button does nothing. Also make sure you press and hold rather than tap.
ZoneFoundry isn't in the list.
Controls needs iOS 18 or later. Open ZoneFoundry once and sign in, then look again under Action Button. If you're using Shortcut instead, the item is called Open Voice Assistant.
The orb opens but the assistant doesn't work.
The assistant needs you to be signed in to your Sonos account; it isn't available on Wi-Fi alone. The first time, you also need to let AI process your commands and allow the microphone and speech recognition.
Hold, speak, and Sonos does it
ZoneFoundry is an iOS app that works with your existing Sonos. Open its voice assistant from the Action button, Control Center, the Lock Screen or Siri. It understands Mandarin, Cantonese and English, with no home bridge needed.
