Articles about new app failure?


Userlevel 7
Badge +3

I am aware of four articles so far about the epic failure of the new Sonos app:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24156703/sonos-app-redesign-new-ama-complaints

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/9/24152675/sonos-new-app-bad-reviews-response-statement

https://www.wired.com/story/people-do-not-like-the-new-sonos-app/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanreichental/2024/05/09/4-lessons-from-sonos-app-upgrade-fiasco/?sh=3fc057d656ad

 

Anyone aware of any others?

 


33 replies

Userlevel 2
Badge

There's one right here:

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Vermasselter-App-Launch-Sonos-stellt-sich-dem-Zorn-der-Nutzer-9718770.html

 

"Sonos advises against downgrading to the older version."

 

I wish I could revert to the old app.

Userlevel 4
Badge

https://www.thurrott.com/music-videos/sonos/302560/sonos-responds-poorly-to-complaints-about-its-new-app - quite a good summary

This quote from it:

The most significant change is that the apps use new cloud services that provide richer music discovery features than were possible with the old app.

How exactly? What could S2 not do here that the new app will? Or, what can native apps of the Spotifys of the world not do that this new app will?

I would really like to know the what and the how of these two questions!

Userlevel 4
Badge

The most significant change is that the apps use new cloud services that provide richer music discovery features than were possible with the old app.

 

Presumably this all dependent on actually being able to conenct to your Sonos system? I’m no IT expert but this appears to be a bit of a flaw with the new app….

Well yes, my question was assuming that this little detail gets addressed!

Userlevel 7
Badge +12

The most significant change is that the apps use new cloud services that provide richer music discovery features than were possible with the old app.

 

Presumably this all dependent on actually being able to conenct to your Sonos system? I’m no IT expert but this appears to be a bit of a flaw with the new app….

So if my internet connection doesn’t work I cannot control my speakers playing Blu-ray or vinyl in my home?

more than a missed step imho 

So if my internet connection doesn’t work

From what I have understood of this brave new world that Sonos is hawking, no internet = no Sonos in future. So far, no one has corrected me on this.

Will a TT wired to the line in on Sonos still work then? I don’t know the answer to that.

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

The most significant change is that the apps use new cloud services that provide richer music discovery features than were possible with the old app.

 

Presumably this all dependent on actually being able to conenct to your Sonos system? I’m no IT expert but this appears to be a bit of a flaw with the new app….

At this stage @ha1292 I wish that I was not an IT expert 😁

In the absence of good information then people like myself will speculate about what is going on and how things are architected.

Reading the responses here I can tell you that we have a lot of IT experts trying to piece things together in the hope of finding Sonos’ strategy. I’m sorry to sat that we are probably not helping the non IT crowd.

I can tell you that, in my 45 years in IT, I have been impacted by a number of really dumb IT related decisions and that Sonos have 2 in my top 10.

But to answer the question, you are correct, a richer Cloud based service is of zero value if the local speakers do not work.

 

But to answer the question, you are correct, a richer Cloud based service is of zero value if the local speakers do not work.

Sorry to repeat, but this is what I still haven't heard from anyone from day 1 of this debacle - Sonos is promising a wonderful tomorrow of elevated experiences of music listening in the home, with no specifics as to the how and what of that. 

To the quoted therefore - what is this richer cloud based service that Sonos is not able to access with S1/S2 today? Where is it hiding and how will the new app uncover it once the app starts working on Sonos speakers at home?

Or is this just more Sonos Kool Aid?

Userlevel 6
Badge +12

i just can’t get my head around how people at Sonos thought it acceptable to release the app with missing features, they must have seen this coming. I suspect that 9th May was meant to be the full release but it wasn’t ready. The marketing had already gone out a couple of months earlier so rather than hold their hands up and say it’s not quite ready yet they release a half-baked version with missing features that affect peoples daily lives, omitting alarms is just ridiculous!

Wrong decision, and potential catastrophic for their reputation.

I certainly ain’t buying their headphones 🤣

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

 

But to answer the question, you are correct, a richer Cloud based service is of zero value if the local speakers do not work.

Sorry to repeat, but this is what I still haven't heard from anyone from day 1 of this debacle - Sonos is promising a wonderful tomorrow of elevated experiences of music listening in the home, with no specifics as to the how and what of that. 

To the quoted therefore - what is this richer cloud based service that Sonos is not able to access with S1/S2 today? Where is it hiding and how will the new app uncover it once the app starts working on Sonos speakers at home?

Or is this just more Sonos Kool Aid?

@Kumar I am not a Sonos employee and have no special insight to what they are planning.

My understanding of the question @ha1292 asked, and the context that I used when answering, was not being able to get the speakers working with the app at all. If your speakers do not work then nothing else matters.

Userlevel 6
Badge +12

 

But to answer the question, you are correct, a richer Cloud based service is of zero value if the local speakers do not work.

Sorry to repeat, but this is what I still haven't heard from anyone from day 1 of this debacle - Sonos is promising a wonderful tomorrow of elevated experiences of music listening in the home, with no specifics as to the how and what of that. 

To the quoted therefore - what is this richer cloud based service that Sonos is not able to access with S1/S2 today? Where is it hiding and how will the new app uncover it once the app starts working on Sonos speakers at home?

Or is this just more Sonos Kool Aid?

 

It’s just nice fluffy words that they think will sell products. Like when they reply to every issue with their standard blurb around the app being their most ambitious project yet. 

I personally have no desire to control my Sonos from ‘the Cloud’ and it being thrust upon us is not appreciated
 

 

@Kumar I am not a Sonos employee and have no special insight to what they are planning.

 

I get that; my post quoting your words was not to you but to a wider audience including Sonos who claim they are reading every post. My point is that even if the speakers do start working again, what is this new exciting future they will give us, where is it hiding today, and why can’t S1/S2 apps access it via existing architecture that works. Or, worked.

I think Dave gave the answer to that, which I suspect is the correct one.

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

If Sonos ever provides a functional app for download again, it may well be the last update people are willing to download. I know that personally (after getting screwed with this download) I’ll be waiting at least a month after a download is released before I’d be willing to try it.. and that will only be after monitoring the forums for reactions.

Userlevel 6
Badge +4

i just can’t get my head around how people at Sonos thought it acceptable to release the app with missing features, they must have seen this coming. I suspect that 9th May was meant to be the full release but it wasn’t ready. The marketing had already gone out a couple of months earlier so rather than hold their hands up and say it’s not quite ready yet they release a half-baked version with missing features that affect peoples daily lives, omitting alarms is just ridiculous!

Wrong decision, and potential catastrophic for their reputation.

I certainly ain’t buying their headphones 🤣

Ex blackberry ceo. 

Userlevel 1

Anybody else experiencing issues adding new speakers to the system? I either get error 1002 when updating speaker software or a random error after trying to add the speaker after pressing the infinity button

Anybody else experiencing issues adding new speakers to the system? I either get error 1002 when updating speaker software or a random error after trying to add the speaker after pressing the infinity button

There are a lot of posts about this. Probably best to contact support unfortunately. 

Userlevel 1

Anybody else experiencing issues adding new speakers to the system? I either get error 1002 when updating speaker software or a random error after trying to add the speaker after pressing the infinity button

There are a lot of posts about this. Probably best to contact support unfortunately. 

But is this really helpful? I read support guys just rule out the problem as being a defective unit, which is just ridiculous. I tried everything suggested, resetting to factory settings, unplugged my speakers billion times already, yet still getting either wifi connectivity errors (even with ethernet cable plugged in) or simply “there was a problem adding your speakers, please try again later”.

Honestly, is there no pressure on Sonos to fix these issues ASAP? This is so shameful and so unprofessional that it even sounds criminal what they’re doing here, considering uninformed people buy their products and can’t even use them.

It’s up to you if you want to contact support or not. Likely a 2 hour wait. They’ll have you reboot your network etc. Probably won’t fix it cause the app is buggy AF. But you won’t know unless you call. 

@Ken_Griffiths has had little to no issues with the app, I’ve pinged him so he sees your posts and maybe he has some suggestions. 

The Sonos CEO says he’s been using the app Since Christmas, as well as Sonos employees. He said something like 1% having problems. You tell me if they seem urgent? 

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

(...)

The Sonos CEO says he’s been using the app Since Christmas, as well as Sonos employees. He said something like 1% having problems.

If that were actually true, he's telling us that 99% of their users never edit their queue or a playlist. So why even put those on the development roadmap if no one uses them?

The incompetence of that guy is very comforting. No matter how unbelievably bad you are at logical reasoning, you can always become the leader of a billion dollar tech company.

Should Trump not be allowed to enter the elections next November, we could be looking at the next president.

"Best. Update. Ever... That old S2 app? Ugly as a dog!"

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

It’s up to you if you want to contact support or not. Likely a 2 hour wait. They’ll have you reboot your network etc. Probably won’t fix it cause the app is buggy AF. But you won’t know unless you call. 

@Ken_Griffiths has had little to no issues with the app, I’ve pinged him so he sees your posts and maybe he has some suggestions. 

The Sonos CEO says he’s been using the app Since Christmas, as well as Sonos employees. He said something like 1% having problems. You tell me if they seem urgent? 

The problem with Sonos right now is that they tried to do too much at once, with too little thought to UX through the process.

They have two major issues:

  1. The app is buggy and missing features.
  2. The app is very different and not intuitive for many users.

It won’t matter if they iron out all of the bugs and missing functionality, if at the end of the day users are left with what amounts to “kale flavored bubblegum”.

Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Sonos' Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, who claimed the app "upgrade" was courageous, sold 50% of his Sonos shares this week…

 

https://in.investing.com/news/sonos-chief-product-officer-sells-over-665k-in-company-stock-93CH-4209793

Userlevel 5
Badge +5

From yesterday:

Sonos update: Smart speaker company responds to outcry over new app

‘We’ve heard your feedback,’ Sonos says after flurry of user complaints

Userlevel 6
Badge +6

The most significant change is that the apps use new cloud services that provide richer music discovery features than were possible with the old app.

 

Presumably this all dependent on actually being able to conenct to your Sonos system? I’m no IT expert but this appears to be a bit of a flaw with the new app….

So if my internet connection doesn’t work I cannot control my speakers playing Blu-ray or vinyl in my home?

more than a missed step imho 

Thank you. I am so tired of hearing the complaints are about missing features. The mass majority of the complaints are that we cant even access our hardware most of the time and when we can’t it still is a disaster.

Userlevel 6
Badge +6

From yesterday:

Sonos update: Smart speaker company responds to outcry over new app

‘We’ve heard your feedback,’ Sonos says after flurry of user complaints

 

They have not heard user feedback or they would pull this trash app and let people roll back. They blew up a working setup and refuse to restore it.  No one is asking for a fix of the new app “in the future”.  They absolutely are haven’t heard anything.

Reply