The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

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M
Userlevel 2
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One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

A
Userlevel 4

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.
 

  • Screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding and editing alarms: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June 
  • Update Wi-Fi settings: mid-June

Can you confirm whether the fixed, variable and pass - through line out control of the SONOS Port will be restored in the coming days.  There is NO workaround or way to control the Port when connected to an AV system.  

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

Did you read the post before you made this response? Let’s leave the pool party, make our way into my office so we can add songs to the queue on the fly. That will keep the party going. Ha Ha.

J
Userlevel 1

Local music in June? Is this a joke?! I came here thinking I just couldn't find it.

Incredible example of Ensh***fication 

B
Userlevel 3
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  • Screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding and editing alarms: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June 
  • Update Wi-Fi settings: mid-June

Just roll back the app and rerelease in mid June. 

I
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Please add lockscreen controls

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Keith, I appreciate you and the team trying to stem the bleeding.  I don’t envy your position of having to clean up self-inflicted consequences from management decisions.

That said, these timelines strike me as tripling down on the tone deaf and self-congratulatory  “courageous” marketing messages being sent out.

You are telling me, the market leader Sonos speakers won’t be able to add a song to the listening queue for a month.  This capability was available last week, but no longer due to an unannounced impact of the “upgrade.”  

If I tried to suggest surprising users by taking away core functionality and promising to bring it back in a month, I’d be laughed out of a job.

The most obvious way to get back to current state parity is to provide access to the v16.1 app.  No need to rush development and testing on the v80.x.  Let those for whom the new app works continue.  Let those for whom the new app does not work migrate when core feature parity is achieved.  The last thing you want is to make the above promises and introduce new bugs.  

Yet, for unspoken reasons, this option is never mentioned.

I’m all for change and creating a new platform for the business.  I would like to see Sonos succeed.  However, I haven’t seen evidence of Sonos having the judgment to know how and when to course correct.

Best of luck.

Well said, sir.

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

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.
 

  • Screen reader for visually impaired customers: May 21
  • Adding and editing alarms: May 21
  • Adding to queue and playing next: early June
  • Sleep timer: mid-June
  • Local music library search and playback: mid-June 
  • Update Wi-Fi settings: mid-June

Please just give us back the old version while you fix the new app.  I can't even use the alarm, that's terrible😐

M
Userlevel 2
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One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

Did you read the post before you made this response? Let’s leave the pool party, make our way into my office so we can add songs to the queue on the fly. That will keep the party going. Ha Ha.

You said “you’re unable” to add songs to a queue. You are, there is an app readily available that lets you do this right now. I don’t know if you or anyone else have a pool or an office. What I do know is that the amount of time people are spending on here saying they cant do something they could have done it 100 times over, organised a pool party and had a swim.

press250
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

 

Rename the new app ‘S3’ and re-release v16.1 as ‘S2’. Sonos have voiced great confidence in the new (S3) app, and if you confidence is deserved users will gravitate there. In the meantime, users with issues can continue to use S2 and have a good experience. As S3 adds more and more working functionality, users will switch from S2 to S3.

One key thing we’ve not highlighted with this approach: users could run the new (S3) app and the legacy (S2) app ON THE SAME DEVICE AT THE SAME TIME. We could use the new app and when we encounter an issue pop open the legacy app to resolve it … without frustration!

As the new app gets better, we would naturally use the legacy app less, a win-win (users-company).

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

Sure, using the desktop app might be OK for a single person, assumiing their desktop is near their speakers (or they have a laptop) but in a group setting everyone has a phone and can play DJ.  I am not asking everyone to bring a laptop…  Even in a non-party but just couples or families…  unless the wife and I are going to sit around with our desktops queueing up songs…  its totally not the same thing as using the phone app to do the same.

T
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Sonos knows they made a lot of customers unhappy. I have no doubt that they think the new platform is the right move going forward (and they may be right!), but right now, it’s not. What is astounding to me is that they have a super easy way out of it that they aren’t taking. Every post brings it up. Roll back to the old version, bring out this one again in a few months. Release them in parallel or not - either way would be fine.  

Bumper

 

Rename the new app ‘S3’ and re-release v16.1 as ‘S2’. Sonos have voiced great confidence in the new (S3) app, and if you confidence is deserved users will gravitate there. In the meantime, users with issues can continue to use S2 and have a good experience. As S3 adds more and more working functionality, users will switch from S2 to S3.

One key thing we’ve not highlighted with this approach: users could run the new (S3) app and the legacy (S2) app ON THE SAME DEVICE AT THE SAME TIME. We could use the new app and when we encounter an issue pop open the legacy app to resolve it … without frustration!

As the new app gets better, we would naturally use the legacy app less, a win-win (users-company).

This is a great idea which guarantees Sonos would never consider it. 

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

Did you read the post before you made this response? Let’s leave the pool party, make our way into my office so we can add songs to the queue on the fly. That will keep the party going. Ha Ha.

You said “you’re unable” to add songs to a queue. You are, there is an app readily available that lets you do this right now. I don’t know if you or anyone else have a pool or an office. What I do know is that the amount of time people are spending on here saying they cant do something they could have done it 100 times over, organised a pool party and had a swim.

Clueless 

A
Userlevel 4

Why release the product when it was so obviously half baked?  Just please roll things back to a usable version and release the current thing as a public beta. It is useless. Please don’t steal months of time from people that have spent thousands of dollars on Sonos simply because of some mistake. 

Thousands of dollars spent. Future dollars likely to spend - currently zero. 

Half baked would be nice at this point.  Honestly the speakers are essentially useless.  Listening to music is honestly a chore.  I gave up and stopped even trying to use a single speaker JUST to listen to music.  Can't Group, can't find the system half the time, slow response to changing song or volume (if it even responds without an error).  Just roll back the app, that will atleast show users you are hearing them.  This month until some features work again is painful.  When will the rest of the other std operations work reasonably well?  Honestly this feels like a significant project before the app is usable. 

 

My bet is this new app had to be pushed out for a new product soon to be announced for it to work with the system.  So screw everything else up for a product launch.  I get it, but holy cow who would buy anything new from sonos at this point?  Screwed yourself double with this one.

J

Hello Keith

In S2 you were able to specify the distance to surround L and R to help balance the volume to the rears. That functionality has disappeared from the upgrade. Are your bringing it back because with rear L and R are different distances from the seating position it’s vital to help maximise surround experience.

B
Userlevel 2

 

Rename the new app ‘S3’ and re-release v16.1 as ‘S2’. Sonos have voiced great confidence in the new (S3) app, and if you confidence is deserved users will gravitate there. In the meantime, users with issues can continue to use S2 and have a good experience. As S3 adds more and more working functionality, users will switch from S2 to S3.

One key thing we’ve not highlighted with this approach: users could run the new (S3) app and the legacy (S2) app ON THE SAME DEVICE AT THE SAME TIME. We could use the new app and when we encounter an issue pop open the legacy app to resolve it … without frustration!

As the new app gets better, we would naturally use the legacy app less, a win-win (users-company).

+1

 

I’ve been a Sonos user since 2009. This update is horrific. Sonos needs to make the old app available immediately. 

New App Hater.
Userlevel 2
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Keith, how can Sonos release an app that doesn’t allow distance settings for the rear surround speakers? My system now sounds like a $400 Samsung surround system. 

This app is an incomplete abomination that never should have been released, The Sonos team members need to have their head examined over this absolutely costly decision, that will haunt Sonos for years to come.

 

This release was 100% a premature cluster hump, Sonos is going to lose hundreds of thousand or dollars over this decision. And every single one of your app designers need to lose their jobs over this fiasco, if they pushed this through, which I highly doubt.

(I’m sure they were forced to release it from their superiors.)

 

Furthermore, there was nothing “courageous” about screwing over multiple thousands of paying customers by forcing this half cocked app down our throat. Sonos has lost the faith of hundreds of thousands of customers, myself included.

 

So, how is Sonos going to earn back our trust in a company that completely dropped the ball on this premature ejaculation of an app? For one, you can start by letting us use the old app until you fix this abortion of an app.

 

This app, and Sonos is completely out of touch with the reality of your customer's needs, your company's arrogance is well beyond ludicrous.

 

Yours truly.

Extremely unhappy customer.

 

New App Hater.
Userlevel 2
Badge

Hello Keith

In S2 you were able to specify the distance to surround L and R to help balance the volume to the rears. That functionality has disappeared from the upgrade. Are your bringing it back because with rear L and R are different distances from the seating position it’s vital to help maximise surround experience.

They don’t care, they already have our money, it has been paying their mortgages, and Tesla payments for years now.

M
Userlevel 2

I guess we were notified that the app would be reworked, but never in my wildest dreams would I have expected that you would just remove core functionality that I depend on. In my house we use Sonos devices as alarm clocks, and we frequently change alarms or just need to check the settings, and doing that has become annoyingly difficult. I have my phone at hand when I'm in bed but definitely not a laptop/desktop, and not all members of my household have access to a Mac or Windows computer. Please just roll back to an old version.

On top of this the new app is a way worse user experience than the old one. It may improve when features are reintroduced, but right now it's close to useless.

K
Userlevel 3

I got to throw in my vote for going back to the previous version of the app. The fact that I can't add to the queue for over a month is utterly ludicrous. Never mind all the other issues . And utterly frustrated loyal Sonos customer.

K
Userlevel 3

This is also going to cost Sonos money. In my case. I had a friend come over yesterday and he liked my era 100s. I have a black set and I planned on sending them back to Sonos as my wife and I decided that the white ones would look a lot better in our new house. He said why don't I just buy them? 3 days ago I would have easily said no problem, I'll be glad to sell them to you. Last night I said no because I don't feel like dealing with the challenges of trying to explain to him how the new app works. Before I could have been pretty confident that that wouldn't have been an issue.

R
Userlevel 2

Can we get access to the previous IOS release somehow?  

press250
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Furthermore, there was nothing “courageous” about screwing over multiple thousands of paying customers by forcing this half cocked app down our throat. Sonos has lost the faith of hundreds of thousands of customers, myself included.

 

So, how is Sonos going to earn back our trust in a company that completely dropped the ball on this premature ejaculation of an app? For one, you can start by letting us use the old app until you fix this abortion of an app.

PREACH!

N
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

One of the most used features of Sonos has to have been the ability to add songs into the queue. Songs that you just thought of’ songs that the previous song reminded you of. That whole functionality was great and kept family parties going for ages!!
Now suddenly you’re unable to do that.

Hopefully until May 21. Let’s hope that’s a deadline that is kept to.

You can do this very easily on the desktop apps.

lol, and how many of us use the desktop app?

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