Sonos controller problem on iOS 9.3.5



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Me too - controller working perfectly yesterday and will not run today. Farcical. Sonos... FIX THIS
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Can I join others here in asking for Sonos to make the older version of their app available . I don't want the whistles and bells I just want my Sonos system to work on 9.3.5 . I wasn't notified of this when I bought the system


My complaints are frequent because Sonos presents these updates without warning. I don't need recently played - so why must I update?


Once again - YOU DON'T HAVE TO UPDATE!!!!!!!

There was guy here who kept his system at 4.0 for years. Nothing forced him to update, and nothing is forcing you.


I would happily not have updated my Sonos software. Where was the choice? I woke up this morning and suddenly my iPad won’t talk to my system. Using older hardware as a controller is a perfect use of older hardware. I don’t want it burning up memory on my phone. My iPad 2 was dedicated to Sonos.
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I am ready to give up on Sonos as this is the 2nd time they have essentially bricked an iPad for me. My wife can’t stand using a phone or PC to control Sonos but is happy having a dedicated older iPad the listen to Sonos. I am not buying a new iPad just to be a Sonos controller. I have 4 Sonos devices and was a big supporter as they are vendor agnostic. The app does little and killing support sucks. Don’t blame Apple, this is Sonos fault for not understanding their customers. If you can’t handle an app, there is this technology called web pages you could use.:
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My complaints are frequent because Sonos presents these updates without warning. I don't need recently played - so why must I update?


Once again - YOU DON'T HAVE TO UPDATE!!!!!!!

There was guy here who kept his system at 4.0 for years. Nothing forced him to update, and nothing is forcing you.


I would happily not have updated my Sonos software. Where was the choice? I woke up this morning and suddenly my iPad won’t talk to my system. Using older hardware as a controller is a perfect use of older hardware. I don’t want it burning up memory on my phone. My iPad 2 was dedicated to Sonos.


Totally agree. Sonos could have sent an email to its customers sayin to turn off updates and older devices weren’t supported.
Actually, an earlier poster is right about the work-around. Use iTunes as your controller - it works fine with the Sonos speakers. I also do direct stream of my radio stations and Spotify and Amazon from their apps. It is not as convenient as the one stop app, but it does allow me to use my perfectly functional iPad as a controller for my sound system.
How can this happen ? why would you think it acceptable that customers should replace working telephones in order to carry on using an expensive sound system. This is a really poor product management.
Same problem here SONOS give us the option or create app for an older version of iOS we unable to keep on replacing or controllers you speakers already expensive if you like us to keep on using the Sonos system give us the option to use our old controllers !!!!
We not getting any Sonos supposed to our community it's All about keeping the vendor (apple) and Sonos numbers up ??
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Same problem. I am really angry at Sonos for making a perfectly functional controller useless (or nearly). I don't want to try to teach my six-year-old some hacky approach to using the app she's used for years.

I will vote with my wallet and not purchase from Sonos again, due to this extraordinarily bad and frustrating customer experience. Hope someone from Sonos central is reading this.:@
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Go to the App Store and download SonoPad. Third party Sonos app that works on old iOS hardware.
Thanks just the key is to get an official app from Sonos. That will support our community and our old devices
Fyi you can also use Spotify app to cast to Sonos but the key is to use an official Sonos application that will have the basic function ( cut version of the new version)
You know add remove room volume select songs from online service ....that's it ..not a lot to ask 😉
Same problem that’s really cheap shot from Sonos.....
just after the most recent Sonos App update i can no longer use the Sonos App on an older Apple iPad. According to the the App i need to update my OS, but Apple is no longer updating the OS of these older iPads. Is it possible to revert to an older version of the App? if not, why would you make you App incompatible with an older device that i only use to play music on Sonos?
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Same problem here, and I am seriously p***ed off having just bought 2 Sonos Play 1 speakers to be controlled by older iPads. I can appreciate that hardware and software evolve and the oldest stuff cannot be supported for ever. I also appreciate that Sonos can have no control over customers upgrading iOS without considering the consequences. However, surely Sonos should have issued a bulletin to warn what would happen. The fix is simple. Sonos should reinstate the previous version and call it Sonos Legacy. No updates, no support, leave as is. I will then be happy and may continue to invest in Sonos.
Same problem here, and I am seriously p***ed off having just bought 2 Sonos Play 1 speakers to be controlled by older iPads. I can appreciate that hardware and software evolve and the oldest stuff cannot be supported for ever. I also appreciate that Sonos can have no control over customers upgrading iOS without considering the consequences. However, surely Sonos should have issued a bulletin to warn what would happen. The fix is simple. Sonos should reinstate the previous version and call it Sonos Legacy. No updates, no support, leave as is. I will then be happy and may continue to invest in Sonos.

I'm afraid you are not going to be happy, because Sonos is not going to reinstate the previous version as Sonos Legacy. Time to invest in another multi-room system that maintains backwards compatibility with outdated versions of mobile operating systems. Good luck finding one.
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Same problem here, have a couple of wall mounted iPad 2s, not great, although I don't expect support for such devices to last forever, a heads up would have been appreciated. Instead we get an updated support article with many devices an OS versions culled.
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I'm afraid you are not going to be happy, because Sonos is not going to reinstate the previous version as Sonos Legacy. Time to invest in another multi-room system that maintains backwards compatibility with outdated versions of mobile operating systems. Good luck finding one.


Well, I wrote more in hope more that expectation. Since my original post, I have stumped up £3.99 for Sonopad, and a quick use seems to prove it works OK. I'm probably only delaying the inevitable.
I think this is ridiculous. I have perfectly good iPads mounted to the wall and I am no replacing them. SONOS you SUCK! The performance response is BS. My iPad has plenty of power to do the job. Sonos is no better than Apple creating a replacement market for perfectly good hardware. Sonos DO NO EVIL and put the controller back.
I have my Sonos controller on several iOS devices but after the most recent Sonos update I cannot start the Sonos Controller on my iPad with iOS 9.3.5. (it's an older iPad and iOS 9.3.5 is the most recent iOS for that device). I can start Sonos controller on my iPhone iOS 11.0.3 and then the iPad with iOS 9.3.5. picks that up and I can then continue to use the iPad with Sonos controller to choose music and so on. Not a huge thing and I have a work around but something is not working as it should, the Sonos 8.1 Software release notes say iOS 9 and higher. Can you let me know how to fix the problem?
It was just yesterday that I experienced the problem with my iPad operating iOS 9.3.5. I’ve read all the information here and it seems like Sonos should be able to support an older version of their controller. Now I’m supposed to go buy a new iPad which otherwise works perfectly for me? I don’t think that this is a good way to do business.
It was just yesterday that I experienced the problem with my iPad operating iOS 9.3.5. I’ve read all the information here and it seems like Sonos should be able to support an older version of their controller. Now I’m supposed to go buy a new iPad which otherwise works perfectly for me? I don’t think that this is a good way to do business.

Apple does not allow you to maintain two versions of an app, you can put up legacy versions, but they must remain as is. The problem with legacy versions is eventually the firmware on the Sonos units is out of sync and the old app stops working (usually after 2-3 firmware releases). On top of that, even if it were possible, changes to codecs, security, authentication, etc. will cause streaming services to eventually stop working. There is just no way for Sonos to support multiple legacy versions of both software and hardware in a customer friendly way because, given the fluid nature of streaming standards, the hardware will ultimately cease to operate.

The true culprit in all of this is Apple. Apple's forced obsolescence policy causes Sonos to abandon an iOS version an average of two years sooner than for Android. So it appears Sonos is willing to stretch out the support when possible, but that is not Apple's way.
Thanked for the education.
Do not bother with the SONOS folks. Download the SonoPad app from the App store. Problem solved.
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How can this happen ? why would you think it acceptable that customers should replace working telephones in order to carry on using an expensive sound system. This is a really poor product management.
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Just finished a call with tech supp regarding the iOS issue. Fellow admitted there are a plethora of phone calls concerning the situation. However, casually sluffed it off as "use another device" or "update to a newer iPad" .
Also admitted the auto update feature is on by default. The more relevant and somewhat ignorant situation is not being able to revert back to the previous sonos version!!