Sonos iOS update is shockingly bad - first impressions
Userlevel 5
+6
The whole My Sonos feature is confusing. The playlists are confusing, and huge graphics which means hardly any playlists can be shown. Was SO hoping the Mac app would get an update, but no such luck. Wait for more reviews before upgrading..... or am I missing something?
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The rants about 5.0 went on for months. 45 pages worth in one thread. Phase 1 was what you see here, hundreds of people screaming at Sonos as if the app were the multi-room streamer version of Greedo shooting first, as if Sonos stole their childhood. Of course by the time it got to phase 2, as the muscle memory was reprogramming and familiarity increased, it was down to 1 or 2 diehards still carrying the torch and others working with Sonos to tweak the new app in a few helpful ways. All I suggest is much more can be gained by skipping the hyperbole and drama of phase 1 and try rushing the pace to phase two.
As a point, I know one poster who was the single most vocal detractor of 5.0, who wailed like a banshee for post after post after post, and later came to love it after calming down and taking it all in. He even took part in the phase 2 suggestions I spoke of above. I notice he is curiously missing from these threads. Perhaps he, like me, learned that first impressions are not always the most reliable when it comes to subjective analysis.
As a point, I know one poster who was the single most vocal detractor of 5.0, who wailed like a banshee for post after post after post, and later came to love it after calming down and taking it all in. He even took part in the phase 2 suggestions I spoke of above. I notice he is curiously missing from these threads. Perhaps he, like me, learned that first impressions are not always the most reliable when it comes to subjective analysis.
I agree with most of these posts. The new App is awful and I object to having to update all the time. I bought a lot of Sonos kit in 2009 and some since but it's all going on e-bay now. Every time I go to use it there is an update, interruptions, problems, having to sign in to a user account often, passwords uppercase with at least one number digit and 8 characters! These are speakers not online banking! They used to work but rarely now due to the horrible software. I imagine it tracks what you play and will advertise products soon! Why do we need an account with a username and complex password to update with software that is not properly tested and prevents us from using the system until completed. The latest changes are the final straw. I can't find most of my music. There is no keyword search so most classical music is unsearchable. The software has bugs, the update is far less usable than before and some functions have gone. What has happened to what used to be great products? I am migrating to Bluetooth and hardwired. I hate the new Sonos.I used to love it. The developers and team have wrecked it.
You must still be spitting feathers about iOS 10 and especially so with iOS 11.
Can't say I disagree on anything there BoB. The new UI needs tweaking. It stumbles in some areas, is better in others. Good constructive criticism is what is needed. Hopefully after the initial temper tantrums have died down, posts like yours are the norm.
I mostly agree too, although puzzled by the comment about inconsistency in My Sonos. Playlists (which is really Favourite Playlists) seems to me to be just like other Favourites categories.
Personally I would move Sonos Playlists to the Browse screen, leaving (favourite) Playlists in My Sonos.
Then I would rename My Sonos as Favourites 🙂
Personally I would move Sonos Playlists to the Browse screen, leaving (favourite) Playlists in My Sonos.
Then I would rename My Sonos as Favourites 🙂
Personally I would move Sonos Playlists to the Browse screen, leaving (favourite) Playlists in My Sonos.
Then I would rename My Sonos as Favourites :)
Important to note the distinction between "favourites" (anything the user has explicitly specified as a favourite thing) and "playlists" (playlists the user has created for whatever reason). Maybe they should be on "My Sonos", maybe they should be accessed by browsing. Should definitely be the same name and location on desktop and mobile.
I'd rather worry about getting fixes for the "only first 8 alphabetically in any category on main dashboard", "large tiles screen 1 then list on screen 2 inconsistencies", "My Sonos->edit option renames/deletes favourites, doesn't edit My Sonos screen", "poor use of screen space on both phone and tablet", and "Artists now called Others" issues currently affecting the bungled (and no doubt final) "My Sonos" implementation.
Userlevel 1
It has been over a month now, and I'm still not comfortable with the new interface. My wife outright hates it. My neighbors have Sonos, too, and they don't like it either. But I'm not here to complain, I'm here to offer two actionable suggestions to make things better.
1. Never hide the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. (Or at least provide an option to always show it.)
It consumes very little real estate, and always having it there would make usage more intuitive, and often saves a click.
2. MySonos needs an list view.
Every modern navigation system seems to offer choices between large icons, small icons, and various list views. At a minimum, offer the option to show MySonos entries as a list instead of GIANT icons.
If I were king I would roll back this terrible update, but I'm not and you won't, so please consider these simple improvements to address some of the usability issues you have introduced.
Thanks,
Brian
1. Never hide the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. (Or at least provide an option to always show it.)
It consumes very little real estate, and always having it there would make usage more intuitive, and often saves a click.
2. MySonos needs an list view.
Every modern navigation system seems to offer choices between large icons, small icons, and various list views. At a minimum, offer the option to show MySonos entries as a list instead of GIANT icons.
If I were king I would roll back this terrible update, but I'm not and you won't, so please consider these simple improvements to address some of the usability issues you have introduced.
Thanks,
Brian
A defining feature of Sonos design is the absolute lack of user choice and customisation. You want more info / detail (eg. access to tagging info, album / track times)? You're out of luck because Sonos want a clean minimalist interface. You want consistent, persistent-by-default / ephemeral-by-default queue behaviour? Well you're stuck with getting whatever mode the play button you clicked on defaults to. You want to decide what gets displayed on your "My Sonos" screen? Well add/delete favourites and watch Sonos pick the first up-to-8 alphabetically in each category, filling the screen with whitespace and forcing yet-another-click to that "fast access". You want a list of all your favourites in one screen? Use the desktop app instead of the mobile one...
Limiting user choice and keeping things simple is good UI/UX design. Unfortunately, good UI/UX design is rarely found in official Sonos controller apps these days...
2. MySonos needs an list view.
.
Thanks,
Brian
See All shows a list
See All shows a list
Just remember that the desktop app's "Favourites" screen (list of all favourites) is different from the mobile app's "My Sonos->See All" screen, which shows a list of all favourites (or whatever they're called these days) for a specific category only (or not-marked-as-favourite playlists). Because "consistency".
Jeremy Allison wrote:
"If I do this now it does not change the room, but reverts to the wrong (original) room. Now I have to tap 'Rooms', add the room I want to listen to - ensuring that it *AND* the previous room are selected, then touch "Done". Then I have to click 'Rooms' again, de-select the previous room - leaving the new room selected, then click 'Done'."
Same problems with Sonos 8.2/Android 7.0 controller. Disappointing.
"If I do this now it does not change the room, but reverts to the wrong (original) room. Now I have to tap 'Rooms', add the room I want to listen to - ensuring that it *AND* the previous room are selected, then touch "Done". Then I have to click 'Rooms' again, de-select the previous room - leaving the new room selected, then click 'Done'."
Same problems with Sonos 8.2/Android 7.0 controller. Disappointing.
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