8.2 Is Completely Frustratingly Awful
Userlevel 4
I created an account here so I can vent. This latest version of the app is horrible. There appears to be rhyme or reason about where anything is located. For some bizarre reason I cannot search for music from the music tab. On the search tab there are buttons at the bottom... but the actual search icon is a dim thing at the top. BTW, what is with unreachable buttons at the bottom? When I am holding my device my thumbs point up, not down. On a scale of 1 to 10 the usability of this version is about minus 3.
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BurtBushell - if you are referring to my comment then I can tell you with certainty that my iPhone app stopped working once I upgraded to 8.2. And the controller on my Mac crashes every time it goes to screen saver. I have all this sonos kit that cannot be operated from the iPhone app - the main reason I bought the sonos set up in the first place.
Not referring to you at all my friend. I was generally referring to users who claim the new app in terms of form and function had become impossible to use. I just find that feedback a bit over the top. Again not to suggest that the latest changes are blessings from above but part of it is about having a reasonable openness to change.
In any event I think in all fairness we have stated our cases and it’s up to Sonos now to respond (or not) in the way they see fit. I am done trying to understand reactions to this.
I am amazed that Sonos has not added a feature to specify a group of rooms to stream to as part of the individual alarm configuration. The “include grouped rooms” option is just not good enough. You end up having to either remember to group rooms before going to bed, or suffer multiple streams being established by means of separate alarms and the resultant lack of audio sync. This really should have been improved when the new alarm features were added.
Update:
Sitting in silence, I continued to revive my Sonos system.
All devices are running the latest software.
All controller devices are running the latest version.
MacBook shows only the Living Room Connect.
iPad shows only the Basement Connect.
iPhone shows only the Basement connect.
***Mind you, I was listening to the Living Room system only earlier today.***
So I begin adding the other Connect...
1. On the MacBook, I begin searching for a new device.
2. On it's own, the iPad finds a new device that is not linked to the system.
3. Okay, so on the iPad, I link the new device to my Sonos Account.
(did I say you must establish a Sonos account now to link your devices to?)
The device now shows up on all controlling devices.
But that's only 2 Connects.
I begin again. Steps 1 thru 3.
Now all 3 Connects show up on all controllers.
The funniest thing is now the red Room Selection at the bottom of the screen works beautifully!!!!!
All this was frustrating to deal with, but I have to thank the Sonos Software folks for fixing the Room Selector.
Sitting in silence, I continued to revive my Sonos system.
All devices are running the latest software.
All controller devices are running the latest version.
MacBook shows only the Living Room Connect.
iPad shows only the Basement Connect.
iPhone shows only the Basement connect.
***Mind you, I was listening to the Living Room system only earlier today.***
So I begin adding the other Connect...
1. On the MacBook, I begin searching for a new device.
2. On it's own, the iPad finds a new device that is not linked to the system.
3. Okay, so on the iPad, I link the new device to my Sonos Account.
(did I say you must establish a Sonos account now to link your devices to?)
The device now shows up on all controlling devices.
But that's only 2 Connects.
I begin again. Steps 1 thru 3.
Now all 3 Connects show up on all controllers.
The funniest thing is now the red Room Selection at the bottom of the screen works beautifully!!!!!
All this was frustrating to deal with, but I have to thank the Sonos Software folks for fixing the Room Selector.
Finally after trying to upgrade the desktop controller through the UPGRADE option in the app, I downloaded the app directly and ran the Windows installer.
The update sort of worked. I still had to run the Update option from the app, then go through all the steps of updating the speakers and with having close to 20 devices it took quite some time to complete. However then I had to re-register my account and update all of my product information to Sonos.
Version 8.2.1 still has problems in the way that you cannot sort the stations you have saved in Pandora in alphabetical order, instead the app has them listed by date they were added? WTF. Why is there no sorting functionality of the app. The same holds true for the Android app, no sorting by alphabetic.
The app is still broken for being able to access stored music that I have on a media server. It links to the folder, but it cannot play any files. I more than 500 CD's stored in digital format, more than 5000 songs that can no longer be played by the Sonos controller. This is unacceptable.
The update sort of worked. I still had to run the Update option from the app, then go through all the steps of updating the speakers and with having close to 20 devices it took quite some time to complete. However then I had to re-register my account and update all of my product information to Sonos.
Version 8.2.1 still has problems in the way that you cannot sort the stations you have saved in Pandora in alphabetical order, instead the app has them listed by date they were added? WTF. Why is there no sorting functionality of the app. The same holds true for the Android app, no sorting by alphabetic.
The app is still broken for being able to access stored music that I have on a media server. It links to the folder, but it cannot play any files. I more than 500 CD's stored in digital format, more than 5000 songs that can no longer be played by the Sonos controller. This is unacceptable.
Here's a good example of some of the problems we've been experiencing:
On iPhone 8, iPad mini and iPad. Latest iOS updates. Network is Ruckus, hard wired w/CAT6A. Speed is 1G, FiOS.
In the Room list, the display shows that I am listening to WQXR in Living Room (ZP-90 Connect into McIntosh C-2600 coax dig input). Display shows a small check mark indicating that the Living Room is active. However, there is no music playing in the Living Room, nor had I selected the Living Room. If I tap the check mark to de-select the Living Room, SONOS asks "Are you sure you want to stop this music in all rooms?" If I tap Yes, SONOS still indicates that I am playing WQXR in Living Room, and the check mark has re-appeared. If I then select Living Room, then tap Browse, then tap < four times, I can get to the Browse screen, select my music choice, and adjust Volume.
The display also indicates that Kitchen is NOT selected, there is no check mark, nor does it indicate that any music is playing in the Kitchen (Play 1).
However, WBGO is playing in Kitchen. Volume slider works intermittently.
If I try to de-select Kitchen, it keeps re-appearing.
If I try swiping the display to find the control bar tab, the iPhone text message page comes up instead.
I can access the control bar tab only by very carefully tapping the very small horizontal grey line at the top of the screen display.
Now, if I try de-selecting Kitchen, display indicates Living Room and Kitchen are now grouped.
We did a complete re-boot of modem, router, Zone Director and WAPs, and all SONOS devices but it made no difference.
We've visited 12 clients in the last 3 days, 10 are having the same issues. (We are/were SONOS re-seller.)
These problems did not exist prior to the latest SONOS updates.
I'll repeat that, lest one might misunderstand.
These problems did not exist prior to the latest SONOS updates.
On iPhone 8, iPad mini and iPad. Latest iOS updates. Network is Ruckus, hard wired w/CAT6A. Speed is 1G, FiOS.
In the Room list, the display shows that I am listening to WQXR in Living Room (ZP-90 Connect into McIntosh C-2600 coax dig input). Display shows a small check mark indicating that the Living Room is active. However, there is no music playing in the Living Room, nor had I selected the Living Room. If I tap the check mark to de-select the Living Room, SONOS asks "Are you sure you want to stop this music in all rooms?" If I tap Yes, SONOS still indicates that I am playing WQXR in Living Room, and the check mark has re-appeared. If I then select Living Room, then tap Browse, then tap < four times, I can get to the Browse screen, select my music choice, and adjust Volume.
The display also indicates that Kitchen is NOT selected, there is no check mark, nor does it indicate that any music is playing in the Kitchen (Play 1).
However, WBGO is playing in Kitchen. Volume slider works intermittently.
If I try to de-select Kitchen, it keeps re-appearing.
If I try swiping the display to find the control bar tab, the iPhone text message page comes up instead.
I can access the control bar tab only by very carefully tapping the very small horizontal grey line at the top of the screen display.
Now, if I try de-selecting Kitchen, display indicates Living Room and Kitchen are now grouped.
We did a complete re-boot of modem, router, Zone Director and WAPs, and all SONOS devices but it made no difference.
We've visited 12 clients in the last 3 days, 10 are having the same issues. (We are/were SONOS re-seller.)
These problems did not exist prior to the latest SONOS updates.
I'll repeat that, lest one might misunderstand.
These problems did not exist prior to the latest SONOS updates.
BTW, SONOS' stock answer to these issues is "interference". It is not. We ran frequency scanners and conducted comprehensive network diagnostics. The problem is not "interference". The problem is faulty SONOS software and app.
May I ask .. are you trying to do these room management tasks using the 'red room' facility on the Now Playing screen, or using the Rooms screen?
When the new version came out, I made this mistake. I now understand how room selection works; but the fact that so many people are confused by this indicates poor UI design.
@mwiseman. I wouldn't disagree with that. But it sounded like it might be a factor here so worth asking
Either/or
I would like to help, because while the app is far from perfect, it sounds like you are not making the best use of it. Here are a few things I have found help me. You are of course free to ignore them.
1 Don't use the red room thing on the Now Playing screen at all. Avoid it. Manage rooms entirely from the Rooms screen.
2 Use the tab bar to navigate to rooms and music choices
3. Swipe down the Now Playing screen to reveal the tab bar. (A quick downward flick of the finger almost anywhere on the screen works on my controllers.)
4. On the Rooms screen, the currently active room is highlighted (i.e. is black). The active room is not necessarily a room in which music is playing. It is the room that is currently being controlled, the one that the Now Playing screen is displaying when expanded. If you want to manage the music in another room, tap it on the Rooms screen. One tap will select it, another will return you to the Now Playing screen with control of that room.
1 Don't use the red room thing on the Now Playing screen at all. Avoid it. Manage rooms entirely from the Rooms screen.
2 Use the tab bar to navigate to rooms and music choices
3. Swipe down the Now Playing screen to reveal the tab bar. (A quick downward flick of the finger almost anywhere on the screen works on my controllers.)
4. On the Rooms screen, the currently active room is highlighted (i.e. is black). The active room is not necessarily a room in which music is playing. It is the room that is currently being controlled, the one that the Now Playing screen is displaying when expanded. If you want to manage the music in another room, tap it on the Rooms screen. One tap will select it, another will return you to the Now Playing screen with control of that room.
Oh, and we are unable to access "Music Library".
And there is no longer a "Now Playing" screen
And there is no longer a "Now Playing" screen
Oh my GAWD this app design is so bad I wanna pull my hair out. It's the least intuitive thing I've seen in ages. For such a modern product, the app is insanely frustrating. The user experience is just terrible, the flow isn't natural, you can't just add or remove or rename things easily. All of the menus take multiple steps - the music streaming syncing is backwards from how the music services work. GAWD I hate this app.
After months of using this version, including updates with “refinements,” I still think its terrible. It is perhaps one of the most unintuitive apps I’ve ever used. What should be simple, and what WAS once simple, is now overly complicated. For reasons I don’t understand Sonos is sticking with this iteration of the app. I’ve resorted to using third-party apps for simple tasks such as choosing groups before I am forced to use the Sonos app for music, radio or podcast selection (and even that can be avoided by using streaming service apps that can directly link to Sonos, although those possibilities are limited).
Toolio, could you reco a third party app you like? I’m in struggle city over here.
On Android, Macronos is great for automating tasks. On IOS, SonoSequencer. I much prefer Macronos, though.
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