The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

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1622 replies

L
Userlevel 4

I have a system I cannot use. The app doesnt recognise my system.  Bring back the old app while fixing the broken one.  It’s quite a simple fix. 

M
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Apologies if I’ve missed this in earlier posts here. 
 

I would suggest disabling automatic device firmware updates in the controller app for the time being. I wouldn’t put it past Sonos to push out an update that would block us from using the S2 versions. This would give them perfect cover for saying no, we can’t re-publish the old versions. 
 

 

Have now read this thread up to page 6 and am so glad I took an earlier hint and did what this post is suggesting. I hope resolution comes soon for those affected. For now I’ll stick with 16.1

B

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.


Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.
 

 

Available now
 

To access these changes, check for updates in the iOS / Android app store to download the latest version of the Sonos app. Make sure your Sonos products are also up to date.

  • Adding and editing alarms
  • VoiceOver on iOS now properly interacts with individual elements of the Sonos app's home screen.


Coming soon

  • Additional improvements to screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Snooze alarms: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June
  • Update WiFi settings: mid-June

SInce this new app+ additional update the system intermittently says it is not connected.

This didn't happen on the old app

A
Userlevel 3

Remember Abercrombie & Fitch?

From a “proud & brag” product to “a brand I do not wanna be seen with” in short time. Could be Sonos’ future, in case they do not get serious about user requests.

  • Make downgrade to last pre-80 version possible (iPhone!).
  • Pause forced upgrades on all. systems for a while.
  • Organize a user poll to identify a most used/most wanted feature Top 20.
  • Launch a mature product upgrade when you are ready. Take your time. Allow beta testing.
  • Commit yourself to a max 1-year-upgrade interval for new functions. Bug fixes & security if required.

Just my 2 cent.

A
Userlevel 3

Or take the mobile phone industry as a role model for a dual business model:

 

1 - Sponsored hardware: Cheap, but with a long-term paid service contract.

2 - Real price hardware: Expensive, but leaving the customer with free choices.

 

With 1, You (Sonos) can do what you want and customers have to accept service restrictions and a one-sided balance of power. Since they can save money and are happy with what you offer.

With 2, You make money just with your cool hardware but allow an open app concept. Speakers might become even more expensive than now, but in exchange, customers have freedom of choice regarding services and “all-you-can-eat” app functionality. Simply as powerful and user friendly the engineers can design it. Broad user base will provide enough input, for sure, to make it a brilliant product. Open your hardware even up to 3rd party app developers.

Another 2 cent, makes it 4.

A
Userlevel 3

OMG they’ve done it again!  On the 13th they updated & dropped support for SMB1 - yes I know its old & unsafe but its what my old NAS uses.  So I now can’t see my music library at all.  Royally F*!cked!  I have no words

G
Userlevel 1

I made the mistake of downloading your new app this morning and am now no longer able to listen to ANY of my music via Sonos. Since my only use of Sonos is to listen to my local music library, your hardware has overnight become useless.  I have painstakingly digitalised a substantial CD collection (1,300+ CDs) into FLAC format that I store in the D drive of my Windows-based desktop computer.  I am not able to add that shared folder to a Sonos music library (error code 913) and, when I try to play individual files, I get the message “FLAC file denied”.  Your UK customer service has a 2h wait time - unacceptable in itself.  Your message to users of the new app suggests I should subscribe to iTunes or ApplePlay but both of those have a cost and I want to continue listening to my local library digitalised CDs via Sonos as per hitherto.  If renewed access to local music library search and playback won’t be available until mid-June (as per Keith N’s message - and I’m not counting any chickens about that) why was the new app rolled out in April/May?  

S
Userlevel 4

So...how to make bad worse? On Android, gone are the mini controls in the notification area (when you swipe down the screen). Gone are the widgets....

 

People at Sonos. Why do you launch an app that is unfinished to the extend of lacking quite basic functionality of the previous version, while at the same time saying a downgrade is not recommendable - trapping you customers in a worse product experience? 

 

Have you not learned from all the frustration raised when companies release unfinished stuff? Have you not learned from the abysmal app ratings your apps got so far? It's really not that difficult to make a half decent app - just be honest when testing internally. Listen to input. Listen to criticism. If you don't, external criticism will be twice as harsh. Your speakers are expensive, your aspiration premium, your software does not live up to this, at all, not in the slightest. And you just made it worse… why? 

(And I am sure you will have an empty marketing speech or entirely internally focussed strategic reply for me now.)

You know, you may sit in meeting rooms and discuss software strategies, brand identity and other super cool corporate stuff. Your customers don't care, they want a functioning product. Not a "but we are working towards our new xyz strategy to position ourselves 123" kind of non-answer replies. From my outside perspective, it sure seems like you are too focussed on things that seem important to you but are irrelevant to your customers. 

Just talk with your customers like normal people. We're not idiots you can park in a corner while you finish developing an app, as part of whatever strategy...

 

 

J

I am trying to add a SONOS Roam to my existing system. It has worked fine for some time but now won’t. I have connected it to the new IOS app but it keeps asking to register the unit. This fails continually. Is this all connected to the launch of the new app?? I am keen not to reboot the system etc or do anything else drastic given all the comments above! TIA.

I
Userlevel 2

This is clearly a major failure and a lesson in how not to implement an update. I’ve never seen an app with so many one star reviews on Play Store before!

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +3

Sonos earns money with hardware only. The software is (still) for free. The new wireless headphone is coming soon and their software/hardware not compatible.

So the whole architecture has to be rebuilt in order to fit in the new component.

As the old and new platforms are not 100% compatible,  screw the old users ( with their free of charge software). The same happened when moving from S1 to S2 …

Sonos, have a look how other companies treat their customers, e.g. Apple: extensive feature lists, keynotes, informations BEFORE releasing the new software. 

Good luck earning back the trust of your actual customers.

Good luck earning the trust of potential new customers with all these bad reviews.

Keep it simple
N
Userlevel 3
Badge

Sonos earns money with hardware only. The software is (still) for free. The new wireless headphone is coming soon and their software/hardware not compatible.

So the whole architecture has to be rebuilt in order to fit in the new component.

As the old and new platforms are not 100% compatible,  screw the old users ( with their free of charge software). The same happened when moving from S1 to S2 …

Sonos, have a look how other companies treat their customers, e.g. Apple: extensive feature lists, keynotes, informations BEFORE releasing the new software. 

Good luck earning back the trust of your actual customers.

Good luck earning the trust of potential new customers with all these bad reviews.

Can I play?

Good luck selling new headphones with a crap app

Good luck with audio/ hi fi stores recommending your product

A
Userlevel 3

Sonos behaviour smells like

Things You Should Never Do, Part I (rewrite code from scratch).

Knowledge since Netscape fail days

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

I have a system I cannot use. The app doesnt recognise my system.  Bring back the old app while fixing the broken one.  It’s quite a simple fix. 

If you are lucky enough to have the app see the system long enough, run diagnostics and send the diagnostic number to Sonos via Twitter.  I had 3 older products (PlayBase, Play:5 Gen2, and Connect:Amp) that had constant audio dropouts for which I sent the diagnostics number to Sonos via Twitter, and magically, my system is working better.

S

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.


Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.
 

 

Available now
 

To access these changes, check for updates in the iOS / Android app store to download the latest version of the Sonos app. Make sure your Sonos products are also up to date.

  • Adding and editing alarms
  • VoiceOver on iOS now properly interacts with individual elements of the Sonos app's home screen.


Coming soon

  • Additional improvements to screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Snooze alarms: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June
  • Update WiFi settings: mid-June

Shut down the app and reboot the old system until you fix what’s going on with the new update.

N
Userlevel 2
Badge

Apple app store says I have the latest version, your app doesn’t show any update avaiable, yet I still have no alarm!

Ken_Griffiths

Apple app store says I have the latest version, your app doesn’t show any update avaiable, yet I still have no alarm!

Maybe try logging out the App, close it fully (slide off screen) and then open/login again. To see the alarms, goto  ‘Settings/System’ (cog icon top right in App). Then select ‘Manage’ (above the rooms list) and all being well the Alarms will be in the list on screen.

Some users have also reported deleting the Sonos App and installing again from the App Store has got the feature to return.

Hope that assists.👍

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

You also need to update your hardware to version 16.2. 

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Dear Keith (sonos)

Please read the room!!! I bought a speaker for my home system not a new listening experience. I was very happy with the old listening experience, my music that I purchased completely as albums being played on my speakers. The app to all intents and purposes is a remote for my phone. THAT is what I was sold, THAT is what I purchased, THAT is what I want.

If I wanted streaming from the internet I would use Spotify - I don’t as it’s not what I want

I don’t want to go where you wish to lead and that is the same for a lot of others.We would not have bought the system you are wanting to build.
 would you go to a restaurant and order, pay for your meal up front. Then when the waiter delivers something you didn’t order and don’t like agree to eat the meal anyway as the waiter says it really is very nice indeed or would you demand the dish you ordered or your money back ?? 🤷‍♀️ And this is worse as you have essentially switched plates on us half way through and refused to return the meal we were happily enjoying. And you have come into OUR homes and done this. You didn’t tell us this was what you were doing, you just did it and said IT’S DONE and it’s for your good with no contrition at all when we complained.

 

 

E
Badge

Multiple people are reporting “older” units with low base firmware that cannot be added to the system, since the firmware update on those units hangs. I just bought a NIB Sonos One (G1). Yes, unused. Comes with base firmware v8 and I can’t install the unit to my system since the update fails. Tried everything, including using Sonos S1 Windows app. It just doesn’t work.

So there are plenty of users out there who are trying to add equipment to their system, and they can’t.

What a mess, Sonos.

L
Userlevel 2

Keith,

Not going to rehash what everyone else has written. We need a complete update in response to the issues raised.

My priorities:

  1. Ability to restore prior version of S2 app and separate this ‘improved’ version as S3 or S2fu.
  2. Restore access to local music library search and playback. Mid-June is not an acceptable timeline.
  3. Sleep timer and alarms.

As many have described all the faults with this launch, you have royally screwed faithful Sonos users. We have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars/pounds/euros/etc to build our systems. Perhaps time to hand some cash back to your users. A discount on future purchases is not compensations, it is a means to generate future sales. 

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Dear Keith (sonos)

Please read the room!!! I bought a speaker for my home system not a new listening experience. I was very happy with the old listening experience, my music that I purchased completely as albums being played on my speakers. The app to all intents and purposes is a remote for my phone. THAT is what I was sold, THAT is what I purchased, THAT is what I want.

If I wanted streaming from the internet I would use Spotify - I don’t as it’s not what I want

I don’t want to go where you wish to lead and that is the same for a lot of others.We would not have bought the system you are wanting to build.
 would you go to a restaurant and order, pay for your meal up front. Then when the waiter delivers something you didn’t order and don’t like agree to eat the meal anyway as the waiter says it really is very nice indeed or would you demand the dish you ordered or your money back ?? 🤷‍♀️ And this is worse as you have essentially switched plates on us half way through and refused to return the meal we were happily enjoying. And you have come into OUR homes and done this. You didn’t tell us this was what you were doing, you just did it and said IT’S DONE and it’s for your good with no contrition at all when we complained.

 

 

Could it be about recurring revenue?

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Update:  Nevermind that the audio dropouts on my Playbase is fixed; it has gotten worse again.  While it isn’t dropping out constantly on the optical in, it will still have constant dropouts for seconds at a time with good audio for seconds at a time.  Streaming from Spotify is almost as bad as it was prior to this morning.  I guess that I have to go back to using the sucky speakers on my projector until I replace the Playbase with an Atlantic Technologies 3.1 HSB and a Denon Heos Amp or Heos-compatible receiver.

N
Userlevel 2
Badge

Still no alarm now I can’t play my 15.000 songs in my library!  This sucks. 3 worthless systems!   Going to give me a refund?

J
Userlevel 5

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.


Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.
 

 

Available now
 

To access these changes, check for updates in the iOS / Android app store to download the latest version of the Sonos app. Make sure your Sonos products are also up to date.

  • Adding and editing alarms
  • VoiceOver on iOS now properly interacts with individual elements of the Sonos app's home screen.


Coming soon

  • Additional improvements to screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Snooze alarms: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June
  • Update WiFi settings: mid-June

It is absolutely rediculous that you want all your customers to be without such features for any amount of time and then “give them back” as a present sometime later.

Sonos, you should be ashamed of yourself!

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