New SONOS App - Feedback

Why is the IOS app so difficult to use. I have a queue that has 475 tracks in it and I’m playing a Bach piece that is probably 275 songs down. Why can’t I go to this track to see what songs are going to play next. It never works and I keep being taken to the top of the playlist. There is no way to find the current track without going into the playlist and scrolling down manually with my finger. What a poor design. But I’ve been complaining about this for almost a year but Sonos is oblivious to this and doesn’t seem to care. I just don’t understand this. And still, the only way to save a new song is to turn on my Windows PC and to use the Windows Controller app. And then I hear talk of this going away soon. Oh, and then I keep getting emails from Sonos about certain percentage off new speakers. I don’t even open them. I just delete them. Are you kidding me with the emails. Who would buy new equipment that you probably will never be able to connect to your system.  And  I shouldn’t have to call the useless tech support group because they don’t know much. 

These issues you highlight are missing features so contacting support will be useless unfortunately. 

New IOS app today. Same awkwardness, same issues as described above.  

I am really sad and disappointed with the actual situation of their Sonos App and their speakers.

I gave Sonos a chance for one year to fix their s***** app but now its game over. Yes, we had alot of fun until this new App was released back then.
Speakers stil disappear for no reason, I can’t add them back again unless I reset all my other speakers to factory settings. And even that is gambling.

I’m a IT guy but that is too much for me but I have better things to do, then adding over and over again my speakers or praying that my speaker config is still there after an app update. This is beyond me …

To all fans out there - Good luck!

Yes I am terribly frustrated, sad and angry.

My recommendation rate has dropped from 10 to 0 over one year. Good job Sonos.

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

I haven’t experienced any speakers disappearing, but I just find the app very un user friendly. I routinely have to spend a week or so in the hospital for brain related issues and when I get home and want to enjoy some music, I can’t. I click on a room and a song, and it starts playing in other room. Then I go to that room to stop the music and a radio station from the Kitchen starts playing in the Bedroom upstairs. I try to stop the music or adjust the volume by tapping on the playing song and it starts over again. I have to keep remembering to swipe down to bring up another window to adjust the volume. Yesterday, I was so f***ing upset because I don’t know what I did, and it shouldn’t have to be that complicated. I just keep hoping every week that Sonos will fix all these problems, but they don’t even know they exist. So nothing is going to happen. What is their motivation for fixing these issues? It’s a free app, that comes with the system. And you can always go online and download other apps with maybe the same or better functionality. I wanted to upgrade my Living Room Surround speakers, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t purchase any more equipment for fear of not getting it connected and working. And it used to be so simple, but I’m not taking a chance. Still no Save button on the IOS app. How stupid can you be???  Does anyone work at Sonos anymore?

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

Hi ​@Asterix007, I’m sorry to hear you have had so many issues with connectivity.
I am also in IT, like many others here, and I use Ubiquiti’s UniFi line for my home network.
I was also fed up with connection issues using the ISP’s combo device. I have my network configured to support audio streaming from any manufacturer including Sonos, who’s devices are notorious for crashing your network if using a managed switch. 

I have eliminated as much interference as possible (no extenders, powerlines or VPNs when using Sonos) so I am always able to find my system.
What I have also done is:

1. Set static IPs for all my speakers. This also includes other devices, like my NAS, cameras and other IoT devices.
2. I have hardwired main speakers like my Arc, Five and my Amp, leaving my Sub and surrounds connected wirelessly to the Arc. I have a Play 1 that is also hardwired.
3. I configured mDNS, IGMP snooping and multicast. I setup RSTP with the proper Priority settings since I have Sonos devices hardwired to more than one switch.
4. In August last year, I bought a used Play 5 Gen 2 and added it wirelessly to my system. In September I bought a pair of Era 100s to replace a pair of Play 1s used as surrounds. Both times they connected flawlessly with no issues to this day.

I am not suggesting that energy Sonos user upgrade to a prosumer network, but I am suggesting that there is an underlying issue for many who still have connectivity problems. It’s is mainly due to an improperly configured network.

Finally, about the new app. While I do find it a bit cumbersome for some things like getting to the EQ section, but, since I am not one who constantly needs to use the EQ every time a song changes, the app works fine for my needs.I use it exclusively for streaming services and my local library. 
Tge app simply works for me.

Yes, Pools-3015, I do agree with your explanation. Being a networking person myself, when I hear certain stories that other people are having, I usually think it’s problems with their home networks. I also have a couple of speakers, and my Sonos Connect directly connected to a switch downstairs in the Living Room, which is basically connected to my router upstairs. It’s good to hear about your experience with connecting your Era 100s in place of your Play 1s in your Surround Sound configuration. That is the only upgrade I was thinking of doing in the future. I’m glad it went well.  

I agree with comments made 2 weeks ago by jr98351, “Bring back one-tap playing in the app. WTF is the idea of having a box that is way too large……and then you open the box, and have to tap to play it. Umm...again common sense here...if we selected that item, why would we need to open the box to play it?”

This two-step process is also happening in radio station selection. 

Completely agree. My wife is threatning to toss them out and I keep thinking that it’ll get better. Ha-Ha.
… and all of the nonsense about router closeness, etc. I have units further from the router that work fine,
but there’s always - every single time - at least one speaker that disappears. My wife sits one night watching something on TV with the speakers finally working fine (after 6+ hours of working on getting them up and running) - goes to bed and we get up the next morning and want to listen to something this morning and three speakers are completely out. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to spend hours getting speakers working only to give up and say, “OK, maybe I’ll continue this tomorrow...” I have to spend at least a half-days effort each week just to get them to produce any sound. I’m taking these to the recyclers and going with someone else - ANYONE ELSE! I’ll soon have no more hair to pull out!!!

I’m at a loss to understand why my system works without issue, and your’s does not. Granted, we probably exercise them in slightly different ways, and likely have different routers, but why do mine perform without issue, with more than 20 speakers in use, and your’s perform so poorly? Evidence suggests it isn’t the Sonos software , since we should both be using the current versions. That suggests to me it’s the network on which the Sonos relies to receive and transmit data. It’s unfortunate that Sonos can’t/doesn’t expose the data in a system diagnostic to us in the public. I would guess that’s part of the joy of passing laws such as GDPR.

As I often do, I would suggest you call Sonos Support directly to discuss it, since they have the access to that data. 

It could help, if you have not done this already, if you’d share your problems with Sonos.

My only problem with the new app seems to be that it starts slowly and sometimes will, probably because of that, not show favorites or sources. I have disconnected my Boost to see if that helps.

You are tinkering around with the details but the whole Sonos app experience is appalling.. Can’t you hear us? Your software is completely unfit for purpose. Why don’t you find some proper developers and start the whole thing again?

They should have just roll back to the old s2 app on May 8th. It would have saved me a year of frustration. I’ve been patient but I’ve had enough. 

Even better than that.. take whoever is in charge of the software and the developers and boot them all out, then make the code available to the open source community who care about things like this. For a major company to have such a piss-poor app that is ugly and useless is beyond belief! Stick to making decent hardware but sort this out or before you know it, Sonos is gonna be history.. maybe it’s part of someone's masterplan and they’re doing it on purpose.. 🤔

Less than a month to go before the anniversary of Sonos shooting itself in both feet! After many months of frustration - echoed in these comments - I swapped my hardware for Bluesound equivalents and am very happy with the results. Honestly, dumping Sonos it’s like constantly hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, then putting it down… Headaches are gone!

DOI: I still have a Beam 2, Sub 2 and 2 x PLAY:1s handling my TV’s sound, but that’s a separate room. If they stop working they will also get Bluesound replacements.

I’ll check Bluesound.

Tonight: wife and I sit down to watch TV and there’s absolutely no sign of the “den” speakers. Again, it doesn’t even show up. It’ll work 2, maybe 3, different nights - then pfffft...they’re gone.

The other thing that I noticed after one of the latest updates is that the lowest volume has been boosted so loud that I can no longer listen quietly in bed to a single speaker on an adjacent table. “1” on the new volume is like the old “15” - and I don’t have the boost on.

Bluesound may have a new convert.

I’m looking at these Bluesounds and they look nice,
but I’m being shy on pulling the wallet because I’ve
already spent a good chunk on these Sonos ones.
What I’m trying to decide is whether to go ahead
with the Bluesounds and cross fingers that they
don’t screw things up or keep the Sonos and pay
for a monthly or yearly Roon subscription that uses
the Sonos speakers. The speakers themselves sound
fine - and I’m talking about a modest, nothing fancy 
setup of two Play 1s on either side of a Beam; and
two other Play 1s in different places in the house - 
but spending hundreds more hoping that I won’t
be having another batch of doorstops in months
or years ahead is what’s weighing on my mind now.
For the same amount of money I’d be spending on
new Bluesounds, I could have a lifetime subscription
to Roon that would pay for itself after 5 and a half years -
if they lasted that long.

Also, to attenuate the volume problem,
I set the volume limit low on the bedroom speaker
and it appears to have quieter gradations across the spectrum.
We’ll see tonight.

Came back into the bedroom in the middle of the night
last night to find that the light on top of the speaker was on.
I pressed it to shut it off and the music screamed from
the speaker almost giving my wife a heart attack.
Holy crap - what a company!