If Sonos have abandoned the Windows controller (and with it a large number of users who paid for a product) then please consider putting the code into a public repo at Github.
This will allow technically minded users to maintain the application. There are a huge number of very experienced and able Windows software developers - myself included - (I also developed a .Net Sonos API and have some serious insights to this).
I paid for a product, I’m a software developer and work at my Windows PC a great deal, this is the world I live in, not Android, not Apple and was one of the attractions of Sonos at the time I made my purchase.
If we’ve been abandoned or sidelined then I see no reason to remain a loyal Sonos user and will simply dump the product.
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In what sense are you loyal, if you are ready to dump Sonos?
In the sense of “loyal” sticking to one supplier for over ten years in the presence of other competing products being available.
Of course if the supplier stops doing something for me that they were doing when I spent thousands on my system then that loyalty is going to be lost at some point.
I’m a Windows desktop user and if the company no longer want to provide us with a service they once did then it is the company who has initiated the loss of its own customers.
In the sense of “loyal” sticking to one supplier in the presence of other competing products being available.
Of course if the supplier stops doing something for me that they were doing when I spent thousands on my system then that loyalty is going to be lost at some point.
I’m a Windows desktop user and if the company no longer want to provide us with a service they once did then it is the company who has initiated the loss of its own customers.
Nothing has changed recently with the desktop applications. You can no longer to setups and some other configurations, but that was changed a long time ago. You can still control a Sonos system from the desktop applications. Are you saying Sonos needs to restore features that have long since been removed, or perhaps add additional features that don’t currently exist?
You bought Sonos when you thought it in your best interests to do so. You are now considering dumping them because it is (in your view) now in your best interest to do so.
That is perfectly reasonable and logical (although I don't feel the same way). But please don't try to gloss it as the noble human trait of loyalty.
In the sense of “loyal” sticking to one supplier in the presence of other competing products being available.
Of course if the supplier stops doing something for me that they were doing when I spent thousands on my system then that loyalty is going to be lost at some point.
I’m a Windows desktop user and if the company no longer want to provide us with a service they once did then it is the company who has initiated the loss of its own customers.
Nothing has changed recently with the desktop applications. You can no longer to setups and some other configurations, but that was changed a long time ago. You can still control a Sonos system from the desktop applications. Are you saying Sonos needs to restore features that have long since been removed, or perhaps add additional features that don’t currently exist?
Lots has changed, for example I can no longer rename a unit as I used to be able to do.
Here’s just one example of many similar complaint threads:
Here's the full list of exactly what will be removed from the desktop controller:
Setting up or transferring a system
Adding a player to existing system
The ability to bond/unbond players (surrounds, stereo pairs, or adding a Sub).
Registering players
TV setup for Beam, Playbase, and Playbar
Enabling parental controls
Network settings and management
Line-in settings
Renaming a Room
Opting in or out of a beta program
Resetting your Sonos account password (you can still do so on a computer via sonos.com)
I would tolerate this to some degree if I were not forced to update the controller sometimes bu I am.
Sometimes I’ll open the controller app and it will insist on updating, I have no option to not update and do so later, nope. I must update the app/system or I cannot use it.
This is like my car suddenly being no longer able to reverse - it is NOT the product that I purchased.
No the system is not what it was when you bought it. There have been lots of free enhancements.
I am never forced to update the desktop app. I think this would only happen if the system itself had updated. Have you turned off automatic system updates?
No the system is not what it was when you bought it. There have been lots of free enhancements.
I am never forced to update the desktop app. I think this would only happen if the system itself had updated. Have you turned off automatic system updates?
I have no idea about automatic updates, was this a feature of the desktop app that is no longer available perhaps?
I just want to rename a unit that has moved from my bedroom to my patio, something elementary yet not possible without using an additional computer like a cell or something.
Now I must rememeber and tell others that the “Bedroom” is really the “Patio” and the “Lounge” is now actually the “Library” and so on, this is farcical but is what modern technology has become.
The product I purchased has less functionality than when I purchased it, this is the nature of modern software, it frustrates the user.
The desktop controller full functions other than for setup.
You can rename devices everything else that isn’t necessary in daily use on the mobile app. I’m not sure the issue with using a mobile device for very rare changes to the system.
Few other systems even have a desktop app to begin with (I think Bluesound does - not sure as to its quality).
If you are not prepared to use a phone controller a few times a year for admin tasks, then that is your business. That you would rather ‘remember and tell others that the “Bedroom” is really the “Patio” and the “Lounge” is now actually the “Library” and so on’ is one of the daftest and funniest things I have heard in a long time.
Agree - if using a mobile controller for infrequent setup changes is a burden - I think having a networked music system may be a bit of a burden.
Maybe this will work work on the patio ..
This is great fellas, really friendly - sadly as I’ve come to expect in today’s messed up world.
I’m elderly, have poor eyesight and rely on my desktop a great deal, I never said there wasn’t an alternative, I know I can use an app on a phone but that’s a frustration for me, as is the case with people today you see every complaint as unwarranted, you think me - the customer - should “just do this” or “have you not tried that” and so on.
It is ridiculous that I cannot rename a unit when I used to be able to do that, it is not me being unreasonable it is ridiculous, stupid, farcical like a Kafka novel.
I’m a former electronics engineer and a very experienced software developer, I know what I am talking about here.
Here’s another example of the modern world of technology idiocy - almost no devices have a power switch anymore, almost none. Not TVs, not Sonos. Why is that a bad thing? Simply because software has become so poor that the recommended remedial action when a system gets into a messed up state is to do a hard reset of the system.
Since there is no power switch the only way to do a hard reset is to bend and twist and pull a cable out of the wall.
This is how idiotic technology has become, to save fractions of a cent we - the customers - are treated like idiots.
I suggest you check out the competition before making threats. Among the 3 most popular competitors; Bose has no PC based app. Denon, the same. Only Bluesound has one, and they are significantly more expensive than Sonos.
I don’t think Sonos is going to restore features to the desktop. It’s been quite some time since the features were removed, and complaints about it are now rare. Sonos made the decision because they new exactly how many people, how often, configurations were done on the desktop, and what it was costing them to support configurations on the desktop applications.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
‘Popular’ means nothing more than flashy advertising and a failure by ‘reviewers’ to actually inform about the technology in anything other than a cursory manner. There are better open-source systems than any of these ‘top’ brands.
‘Popular’ means nothing more than flashy advertising and a failure by ‘reviewers’ to actually inform about the technology in anything other than a cursory manner. There are better open-source systems than any of these ‘top’ brands.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
I think he was just talking about new fangled things in general.
I don’t think Sonos is going to restore features to the desktop. It’s been quite some time since the features were removed, and complaints about it are now rare. Sonos made the decision because they new exactly how many people, how often, configurations were done on the desktop, and what it was costing them to support configurations on the desktop applications.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
Removing functionality costs resources as much as adding it sometimes, in fact any change to software whether we perceive it as adding/removing stuff carries a cost and a risk and needs testing etc.
My remarks about power switches was a general one, the point is that we are advised either in documentation or via email or phone to “pull the power cable out” sometimes. This is very poor design and a thing called a “switch” was invented many decades ago for doing this.
I cannot switch my TV off for example and the power cable is neatly hidden so that I have to move furniture to reach it.
More basically having to pull the power at all is a sign of a faulty design, a well designed system should never get into a state where a hard reset is the remedy. Sloppy design is the norm these days because it has no effect on revenue, people, customers have been brainwashed into normalizing all this like the sheep that we so often are.
I don’t think Sonos is going to restore features to the desktop. It’s been quite some time since the features were removed, and complaints about it are now rare. Sonos made the decision because they new exactly how many people, how often, configurations were done on the desktop, and what it was costing them to support configurations on the desktop applications.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
Removing functionality costs resources as much as adding it sometimes, in fact any change to software whether we perceive it as adding/removing stuff carries a cost and a risk and needs testing etc.
True. Which is part of the reason why Sonos removed them. Every time there was an update in functionality or a new product, they really needed to test the desktop code to ensure it worked properly. Removing functionality removed that frequent need to update and test.
I don’t think Sonos is going to restore features to the desktop. It’s been quite some time since the features were removed, and complaints about it are now rare. Sonos made the decision because they new exactly how many people, how often, configurations were done on the desktop, and what it was costing them to support configurations on the desktop applications.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
Removing functionality costs resources as much as adding it sometimes, in fact any change to software whether we perceive it as adding/removing stuff carries a cost and a risk and needs testing etc.
My remarks about power switches was a general one, the point is that we are advised either in documentation or via email or phone to “pull the power cable out” sometimes. This is very poor design and a thing called a “switch” was invented many decades ago for doing this.
I cannot switch my TV off for example and the power cable is neatly hidden so that I have to move furniture to reach it.
More basically having to pull the power at all is a sign of a faulty design, a well designed system should never get into a state where a hard reset is the remedy. Sloppy design is the norm these days because it has no effect on revenue, people, customers have been brainwashed into normalizing all this like the sheep that we so often are.
A power cycle is not a hard reset. Sonos very rarely needs a hard reset. Power cycles are occasionally necessary to sort out IP address issues.
Please do us all a favour and carry out your threat to dump Sonos
I don’t think Sonos is going to restore features to the desktop. It’s been quite some time since the features were removed, and complaints about it are now rare. Sonos made the decision because they new exactly how many people, how often, configurations were done on the desktop, and what it was costing them to support configurations on the desktop applications.
Regarding power switches, Sonos never had any. I’m not sure why you’re complaining about the lack of one now.
Removing functionality costs resources as much as adding it sometimes, in fact any change to software whether we perceive it as adding/removing stuff carries a cost and a risk and needs testing etc.
My remarks about power switches was a general one, the point is that we are advised either in documentation or via email or phone to “pull the power cable out” sometimes. This is very poor design and a thing called a “switch” was invented many decades ago for doing this.
I cannot switch my TV off for example and the power cable is neatly hidden so that I have to move furniture to reach it.
More basically having to pull the power at all is a sign of a faulty design, a well designed system should never get into a state where a hard reset is the remedy. Sloppy design is the norm these days because it has no effect on revenue, people, customers have been brainwashed into normalizing all this like the sheep that we so often are.
A power cycle is not a hard reset. Sonos very rarely needs a hard reset. Power cycles are occasionally necessary to sort out IP address issues.
Please do us all a favour and carry out your threat to dump Sonos
Once again (this is the second time I’ve said this) my remarks about power cycling were general not specific to Sonos, furthermore I did not complain that I needed to power cycle Sonos only that most modern devices - Sonos included - do not have a power switch which is a true statement, and when one must perform a power cycling we are expected to pull a cable out of a wall and reinsert it, another true statement.
A switch is far more convenient and far safer, pulling or struggling to get a cable into or out of a wall in a confined space in a contorted position can sometimes lead to one accidentally touching one of the partially inserted pins - this is WHY switches were invented John.
A switch is far more convenient and far safer, pulling or struggling to get a cable into or out of a wall in a confined space in a contorted position can sometimes lead to one accidentally touching one of the partially inserted pins - this is WHY switches were invented John.
For that you must, I fear, partly blame the choices of those who devised the electrical standards for your country. My wall sockets thankfully have switches.
Once again (this is the second time I’ve said this) my remarks about power cycling were general not specific to Sonos, furthermore I did not complain that I needed to power cycle Sonos only that most modern devices - Sonos included - do not have a power switch which is a true statement, and when one must perform a power cycling we are expected to pull a cable out of a wall and reinsert it, another true statement.
A switch is far more convenient and far safer, pulling or struggling to get a cable into or out of a wall in a confined space in a contorted position can sometimes lead to one accidentally touching one of the partially inserted pins - this is WHY switches were invented.
Sonos power cords can be disconnected at the outlet and at the device. You don’t need to be a contortionist unless your speaker is also in a confined space. And if you can’t reach the cord at the speaker, you probably can’t reach a switch either. Probably best at that point to just flip the breaker that powers the outlets at that point.
Thinking of all the non-Sonos devices I have that don’t have power switches, pretty sure they all can be disconnected at both ends. The exception might be power tools, which usually have some sort of switch to prevent operation for safety, and are designed to be plugged and unplugged frequently. It makes less sense to be able to disconnect at both ends.
Once again (this is the second time I’ve said this) my remarks about power cycling were general not specific to Sonos, furthermore I did not complain that I needed to power cycle Sonos only that most modern devices - Sonos included - do not have a power switch which is a true statement, and when one must perform a power cycling we are expected to pull a cable out of a wall and reinsert it, another true statement.
A switch is far more convenient and far safer, pulling or struggling to get a cable into or out of a wall in a confined space in a contorted position can sometimes lead to one accidentally touching one of the partially inserted pins - this is WHY switches were invented.
Sonos power cords can be disconnected at the outlet and at the device. You don’t need to be a contortionist unless your speaker is also in a confined space. And if you can’t reach the cord at the speaker, you probably can’t reach a switch either. Probably best at that point to just flip the breaker that powers the outlets at that point.
Thinking of all the non-Sonos devices I have that don’t have power switches, pretty sure they all can be disconnected at both ends. The exception might be power tools, which usually have some sort of switch to prevent operation for safety, and are designed to be plugged and unplugged frequently. It makes less sense to be able to disconnect at both ends.
Words escape me, normalizing bad design, such is the modern world.
Yes. Even nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
May I suggest you invest in some snartplugs? No contortions are needed in order to say 'Alexa, trim off Sonos'.
And surely you must have all your electronics plugged into switched surge protectors
