The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

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1624 replies

U
Userlevel 4

Things seem to be very dysfunctional at the Sonos company.

  1. They replace a functioning app with one that lacks so many essential features and have so many bugs. This in itself is incomprehensible to me.
  2. After this huge mishap, there is no rollback, not even any acknowledgement of a mistake, but instead a message that everything is going according to plan, and making essential functionality unavailable to large groups of users is perfectly OK.
  3. This week’s AMA doubled down on this, and did not provide me any reassurance that Sonos is a manufacturer to be trusted. Quote: ‘Once the release went live, the mood could be described as “energized.”’

I am still waiting for any signal that there is even a spark of beginning to rebuild trust with customers.

What is the agenda and priority for Sonos management? It all seems very strange to me.

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

I am still waiting for any signal that there is even a spark of beginning to rebuild trust with customers.

What is the agenda and priority for Sonos management? It all seems very strange to me.

I agree, the lack of meaningful communication is perplexing and maddening.  The mods here have more or less gone to gone to ground — I don’t blame them as this is not of their making and they should not be out in front of an angry mob to take the flack.  
I haven’t experienced the worst cases that many have, but for there to be no acknowledge of peoples systems becoming undiscoverable is terrible.  And the longer it goes on the more you wonder if anyone is actually in charge any more.  The reputational damage gets worse every day there is no word from the top.  

A

Thanks for the update. Just a few things to add as I didn’t see them mention. Within the “about my system” screen, the “audio in” entry no longer displays the type of audio coming into the system. While I can see the type of audio via the “now playing screen”, I often access the “about my system” screen to review the technical specifics. 
 

also within the same screen, the “wm” has switches from numbers (1 indicating Sonosnet) to actually saying “sonosnet”, but when I am playing audio, my arc indicates “disconnected” while the rest of my 5.1 system indicates “Sonosnet.  Everything is working, so it seems like a bug within the “about my system”. 
 

hoping you can add this to your list. Thanks!

N
Userlevel 3
Badge

By now I would have thought there would have been tentative dates for the returning features instead of mid June, end June.

meanwhile

 

G
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

By now I would have thought there would have been tentative dates for the returning features instead of mid June, end June.

meanwhile

 

The known issues and the suggested resolutions are crazy.

One seems to say, keep trying and hope it works eventually. Isn’t doing the same thing and expecting different results a sign of insanity.

Another one says try a different device. Don't they realise that lots of users won’t have access to another device. 

And all this pain so they can release a set of headphones that no one here will be buying. 

N

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

 

 

Reply : Falling short with this new app is an understatement. The fact that this whole system operates via app and that the app barely works with the new version is a huge problem. Like many, the volume control is super delayed, never have I had it work this poorly in the 7yrs I’ve had Sonos. Changing and loading new content is almost impossible at times. Can’t see the real time content as it’s so delayed. My Sonos system is turned off as it is hardly usable. Sonos needs to publicly acknowledge these major issues and provide  an update on them. Also can’t get ahold of anyone in customer support as they are so backed up. 
focus on the Core issues here and get the app working properly. 

I agree, the app is slowly sorting itself out and working faster day by day, but still improvement needed and don't forget Android widget so we don't have to keep opening the app every time we want to turn the volume up or down

K

“faster access to music”. But it’s not!, The new app is slower. 

B

I can no longer create an artist radio station from Tidal. All the iOS app does is play the 1st song and then stops. The iOS ‘update’ is horrendous. Wish I could go back.

Bumper

I can no longer create an artist radio station from Tidal. All the iOS app does is play the 1st song and then stops. The iOS ‘update’ is horrendous. Wish I could go back.

Yup iand Sonos says it will be like this into June. 🤬

B
Userlevel 2
Badge

I think it’s a great improvement that you are giving dates for these.  I would suggest they are _much_ more widely distributed.

 

I was pretty disappointed with the update but when I saw that people who have active alarms and only phones now cannot shut off or modify them (without a complete system reset) I realized this was a much bigger f-up than even I realized.

Anyone that uses Sonos for more than streaming their favorite subscription service was severely handicapped by this latest release.  I would venture to bet that they have alienated a much larger portion of their user base than they anticipated.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Ok, Sonos, what did you just fix on my PlayBase?  It is playing smoothly this morning so far.

Bumper

Ok, Sonos, what did you just fix on my PlayBase?  It is playing smoothly this morning so far.

The surprise Sonos owners feel when something on the app works. 🤣

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Ok, Sonos, what did you just fix on my PlayBase?  It is playing smoothly this morning so far.

The surprise Sonos owners feel when something on the app works. 🤣

It’s not just from the app—it’s from Spotify Connect and the optical in for my Apple TV/projector setup.  Audio has been dropping from even the optical in since the update 1.5 weeks ago. 

C
Userlevel 2
Badge

The worst and the most amateurish system “upgrade” (downgrade rather) I’ve ever seen. And Sonos is still trying to keep a straight face pretending that this was all planned.

Any reputable company, a company that respects and follows standards, has a backout plan. If things go sideways, they roll everything back. Please at least admit to the mistake and do the right thing.

By insisting that things are fine, you are digging your hole even deeper. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. If we see how shitty the apps are on the outside (missing buttons, options not working, MISSING MUSIC FOLDERS!!!, greyed out options, and more), the things that are obvious to anyone who just woke up and wanted to turn their Sonos on, can you imagine what kind of garbage must be inside the code that is invisible to the user??? What if the same bad coding is used in your security modules? What if someone just disabled this part of the app and created a giant hole for the hackers to get in. 

I don’t know if it’s possible but since you give us a crappy product outside, it must be the same inside.

 

Show some maturity.

I could not be angrier I think.

W

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

 

Known issues and workarounds

 

“Fix It” option does not successfully complete new product setup

  • Workarounds:
    • Sign out of the Sonos app, sign back in, and try again.
    • Force quit the Sonos app and try again.

 

“Sonos needs local network access for setup” looping on the Sonos app for iOS

  • Workaround: Use another mobile device to set up Sonos products.

 

“No products found” error on systems with a Sonos Boost wired to the router

 

Unable to play local library content from Folders view

 

"Sign in as the System Owner" error while updating products during setup

  • Workaround: No workaround currently available.

I’m sure you thought you had some very good reasons to roll out this update.  Whoever had those thoughts should be fired.   Management excellence class 101. 

T
Userlevel 1
Badge

So no workaround for Linux users who has older speakers without voice control to set sleep time, time to release a Linux app to get some favor from the Linux community.

garfieldairlines

So no workaround for Linux users who has older speakers without voice control to set sleep time, time to release a Linux app to get some favor from the Linux community.

Check out https://github.com/simojenki/bonob/ !

It’s even better than official Sonos apps (ok the bar was low).

https://garfieldairlines.net
M
Userlevel 2

I guess we the users can take heart that this disaster made The Washington Post. The article was not kind. Perhaps that will speed “improvements” in the app. You know Microsoft did the same thing with the release of Windows 2000. Complete disaster. The company caught complete hell from its customers who were bamzooled into buying the product. But they controlled, and still control the majority of the market. Does SONOS have that luxury? How did this go so wrong? Going for speed, forgetting quality? Deadlines over devices? Forgetting the people who use the product now for a new and improved future...what?

C

Please also restore the A-Z menu on the side of the music library for browsing.  It is infuriating to have to manually scroll through hundreds of artists when it used to work great with the touch to the alphabet letter on the right-hand side.

R
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

All of my playlists have disappeared with the new update. I have been building these on Sonos since 2009. This is my only use for Sonos and you have taken it away. Absolutely rediculous. When will you be bringing this feature back??????????????? 

K
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I guess we the users can take heart that this disaster made The Washington Post. The article was not kind. Perhaps that will speed “improvements” in the app. You know Microsoft did the same thing with the release of Windows 2000. Complete disaster. The company caught complete hell from its customers who were bamzooled into buying the product. But they controlled, and still control the majority of the market. Does SONOS have that luxury? How did this go so wrong? Going for speed, forgetting quality? Deadlines over devices? Forgetting the people who use the product now for a new and improved future...what?

After wasting more hours of time trying to fix the mess Sonos made with this malware and reading a number of tech and national publications on this debacle, I’ve come to this conclusion -
 
Follow the money. Sonos prematurely pushed out a terrible rewrite of the app that controls all of their whole-home wireless audio systems. Why? Because Spence promised new gear that needed new software to support promises made for quarterly earnings.
 
So Sonos rolls out a half-baked, awful app, but guess what? Now it's web-based so Sonos can milk another user data revenue stream (their own radio streaming service was not well received) This new approach opens up tons of user data security issues but gives Sonos tons of user data it can sell off - helping out its mostly hardware-driven revenue model.
 
Damn the loyal customers who used to be the best sales force Sonos could ever wish for! Damn the horrible inconveniences and time wasted loyal users have to endure. Damn the user security consequences. And damn the damage to the Brand!
As long as the C-suite makes its quarterly bonuses, that's all that matters.
 
It's supposed to be a wireless home audio system with speakers and amps. Now it's data mining and garbage software company run by the former executive of Blackberry (oh and we know where that ended up).
 
That’s why there’s no apology from the executives - this was all planned some time ago and they have their mega millions to sit on while we struggle to play audio in our homes and business as promised over and over again by this now terrible company!  
Ken_Griffiths

All of my playlists have disappeared with the new update. I have been building these on Sonos since 2009. This is my only use for Sonos and you have taken it away. Absolutely rediculous. When will you be bringing this feature back??????????????? 

Do you not see the playlists now when expanding the category ‘Sonos Favorites” on the main page?

B
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Do you not see the playlists now when expanding the category ‘Sonos Favorites” on the main page?

Exactly my problem since Sonos released this shameful new app.

Ken_Griffiths

Do you not see the playlists now when expanding the category ‘Sonos Favorites” on the main page?

Exactly my problem since Sonos released this shameful new app.

Ah okay, I don’t have that many Sonos generated playlists myself, as I create/store them either in the music service, or use .m3u playlists on my NAS and so have just a few only that cross the boundaries of those services. I found those in my Sonos favourites ‘pinned category’. I guess youve tried changing the controllers ‘associated product’? If so and still no joy, then maybe ensure it’s reported to Sonos Support, as the playlists should (hopefully) be safe and still stored on your products. 

phillydog
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

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

 

Known issues and workarounds

 

“Fix It” option does not successfully complete new product setup

  • Workarounds:
    • Sign out of the Sonos app, sign back in, and try again.
    • Force quit the Sonos app and try again.

 

“Sonos needs local network access for setup” looping on the Sonos app for iOS

  • Workaround: Use another mobile device to set up Sonos products.

 

“No products found” error on systems with a Sonos Boost wired to the router

 

Unable to play local library content from Folders view

 

"Sign in as the System Owner" error while updating products during setup

  • Workaround: No workaround currently available.

Sorry Keith but the way in which Sonos have designed this update to the app is horrendous. You really should never have allowed the re jig out of the trap in the first place! I think you know this, and you are just backpedaling all the time now.Its a disaster mate and you need to fix it all very quickly .. 😣 Get your skates on!!🧐  

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