Patent ID: 11914921
Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A method for synchronous audio playback, comprising:
at each of a plurality of electronic devices, each electronic device comprising an audio system, an internal clock, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, and each of the electronic devices being configured for two-way communications with a server system and associated with a user account maintained at the server system:
receiving from the server system an identification of a first electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices as a common clock device, the first electronic device having a first internal clock being designated as a master clock which is known to the server system;
receiving from the server system a synchronized audio playback command, the synchronized audio playback command including audio data to be output by each of the electronic devices and a future playback time relative to the master clock; and
in response to receiving the audio data:
determining a synchronized audio playback time based on a time difference between the internal clock, the master clock, and the future playback time; and
outputting the audio data via the audio system based on the determined synchronized audio playback time.