The Sonos S2 app on my iPhone works great. I love my Sonos products.

What specific problems are you experiencing?

I think our biggest problem is that we knew so is made great speakers for a reasonable price.  We purchased a TV sound bar and 8 play 1. The speakers disappear from the app, the playback is spotty at best between speakers and the fixed often include retrieving the speakers from their locations to re-set or plug in directly to the router. also I did not realize that you were required to use the Sonos app to use the speakers.  I am so frustrated by the app. 

That was quite a lot of money to spend without doing any research into what you’re buying! How did you expect to control the speakers, if not with the app?

The other problems you describe are most likely to be network issues. What router do you have, and are you running your speakers wired, wireless or a mix of both?

Which Sonos soundbar did you purchase? Are you able to keep one of your Sonos speakers connected to your router with an ethernet cable at all times? What model router are you using?

Yes, in general, you have to use the Sonos app to play music to the speakers. But you can also play music through Spotify Connect. And if you have an iOS device like an iPhone and a Sonos speaker that is AirPlay 2 compatible, you can stream music using AirPlay.

Are your speakers Play:1s or Sonos Ones? Here is the difference:

So you do not have software problems, but wifi problems. And you did not check before you bought the system. Your message is not very helpful.

On the other hand: what have you tried to resolve the wifi problems? Can you tell us anything about what your wifi network looks like? What router, ap's etc?