The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

As I noted about 40 pages earlier 1 week after the Sonos App was destroyed, the markets would be cruel to Sonos...and they have been.  Stock was below 12 this AM, down from ~18 before the “abortion” of an app was released.  And the company has yet to disappoint on Q2 24 earnings.  If they miss significantly, expect further declines.  Today Sonos’s market cap is ~$1.5B, down $750M...if I am the Board, I want the CEO’s head on a stick.  Never again screw your customers as badly as they have. 

I am not a software expert, seems that the app is still not working well.  Constantly freezes, hard to connect to playlists and library (thankfully i was able to connect with the NAS workaround), slow to find radio stations, no artwork, bleh.  How do SonoPhone (and LYD for Apple Watch) still connect so well, and yet Sonos can?  Open API’s ?

Management (and the Board of Directors) deserve the 33% destruction of shareholder value.  If you sell Coke, don’t change the batch to a new recipe not well tested that everyone hates (oh right, that happened). 

And btw, all the fixes promised in May have been late, including the Music Library fix which is now August (probably never)...

Any time your stock chart looks like a downhill ski course, it is a bad thing...

Unlike others, I take no pleasure whatsoever in any financial decline of Sonos. I want my speakers to be supported for years to come, which wouldn't be the case should Sonos fail. Nor would I want their thousands of employees to suffer from a misstep. (And that’s all it is: a misstep.)

So gloating about share price falls might be a thrill to some, and cause some to rub their hands with glee at the thought of Spence’s resignation. 

But the bottom line (no pun intended) is that Sonos Sthe company in which we have invested thousands] made an error. They knew immediately what a colossal mistake they’d made, and eventually issued a statement - all the while never letting up on issuing remedial app updates, which continue now iEDIT: INCLUDING TODAY] and into the next couple of months. 

I’m no Sonos apologist as this should never have happened, and on that we can all agree. But I just don’t see what is achieved by dancing gleefully around an injured stag with these incessant share price graphs - it’s not like Sonos haven’t noticed. And tomorrow they need to issue their latest quarter’s financial results and statement, with whatever that brings… 

But In a couple of months the app and most people’s systems will be up-and-running, and lives will continue, and all of this will be an unhappy memory (apart from those whose systems don’t work, but then there have ALWAYS been people with issues)...

TODAY’S APP UPDATE DETAILS: 

Current software version

80.06.04 (Android)
80.06.03 (iOS)

Release date: 8/6/2024

As I noted about 40 pages earlier 1 week after the Sonos App was destroyed, the markets would be cruel to Sonos...and they have been.  Stock was below 12 this AM, down from ~18 before the “abortion” of an app was released.  And the company has yet to disappoint on Q2 24 earnings.  If they miss significantly, expect further declines.  Today Sonos’s market cap is ~$1.5B, down $750M...if I am the Board, I want the CEO’s head on a stick.  Never again screw your customers as badly as they have. 

I am not a software expert, seems that the app is still not working well.  Constantly freezes, hard to connect to playlists and library (thankfully i was able to connect with the NAS workaround), slow to find radio stations, no artwork, bleh.  How do SonoPhone (and LYD for Apple Watch) still connect so well, and yet Sonos can?  Open API’s ?

Management (and the Board of Directors) deserve the 33% destruction of shareholder value.  If you sell Coke, don’t change the batch to a new recipe not well tested that everyone hates (oh right, that happened). 

And btw, all the fixes promised in May have been late, including the Music Library fix which is now August (probably never)...

Any time your stock chart looks like a downhill ski course, it is a bad thing...

Have you looked at the whole stock market yesterday?

Investors had a bit of a panic with many trading platforms either collapsing or stopping trading.

Buffet had $15 billion wiped off Berkshire Hathaway  investments

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, FTSE 100, FTSE 250 all down between 2 - 3.2% The Nikkei 225 lost 12% 

Google down about 2.7 percent, Apple down 5.5 percent, Nvidia nearly 7 percent, Microsoft more than 3 percent, and Meta nearly 3 percent

It’s a mix of concern over global events, such as potential for war between Iran and Israel, Japanese Yen

US concerns including the current economy/potential recession, high interest rates about to be cut.

There was a global sell off, but don’t let facts get in the way.

Anyway, for those who missed it sandwiched between financial chit-chat, there is an app update today. Details above.

Still no evidence of TrueCinema for Ace. Unless I missed something?

If it’s not in the release notes then no. There will always be a ‘still no sign of x’ for someone - it’s your turn this week. But the Ace additions in the list of fixes this week isn’t too bad for a great many people...

I’m more on the technical side. I want Sonos to succeed. Until this terrible release I’ve always took pride in showing friends my seven zone Sonos solution. Since the release of the app I won’t recommend Sonos.  Many, many people have begged and pleaded for Sonos to revert to the 16 version just until the new app was truly ready. All these pleas fell on deaf ears.
As an experienced software developer and cofounder of a vertical application company I posted the following suggestions when the update failure became apparent. I think much pain on both side would have been averted had Sonos put the version 16 app back up until the new app was ready.

No doubt about that - crisis would have been averted. 

Was the release of the Ace worth it…? We might find out tomorrow when the results are announced. 

 Not to be to bold, but I think I can speak for the entire user base when I say “No, it was not worth it.”

Sonos used an update to release a completely new application that was no where near ready for prime time. They should be beyond embarrassed.

Sorry, but that’s how I feel. I would never have released it as a new app let alone an update. 

Added S2 to S1 downgrade tool

Oh thank * finally, I spent one hour to “downgrade” my system and it works perfectly again. And it’s faster.

Do not even consider touching S1 ever (except removing the banner “Upgrade to S2”, I know S2 is here, I don’t want it).

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

Rhonny - 

I made a significant financial commitment to Sonos.  I take no pleasure (and am not gloating) about the stock price downfall.  Instead, I am pointing out the implications of screwing core customers by robbing them of core functionality.  At no other public company would this take place….

I am firmly pro-Sonos, their speakers are excellent, love the lossless playback.  I love the fact that with soundbars, satellite speaker, Move’s I can create a whole house music system where i can control the zones, stream, and have music library playback.

All of this said, the CEO is “dumb” and we need better leadership at the Company.  Kick him out, bring in someone who cares about the customers, both loyal and new.  Btw, the app mishap (releasing an under developed Beta stage software product) was essentially repeated with the Sonos headphones.  The #1 feature request was to have the headphones operate as another Sonos zone, and it cannot do that - released too early.

Let’s hope for executive management change, to me this is as clear cut as the change that occurred at the Secret Service a couple of weeks back - this failure needs to be addressed.

If I have misconstrued your points then I apologise.

(And my point about gloating was more widely targeted, by the endless stream of users revelling in the stock price graphs posted across the forum...)

lol, no need to apologize, I can take the heat .  You are correct to a degree, however, by continuing to promise updates then not following through on time, only serves to pore more salt on the wound.

Have a great day Rhonny, we are on the same page.

As I noted about 40 pages earlier 1 week after the Sonos App was destroyed, the markets would be cruel to Sonos...and they have been.  Stock was below 12 this AM, down from ~18 before the “abortion” of an app was released.  And the company has yet to disappoint on Q2 24 earnings.  If they miss significantly, expect further declines.  Today Sonos’s market cap is ~$1.5B, down $750M...if I am the Board, I want the CEO’s head on a stick.  Never again screw your customers as badly as they have. 

I am not a software expert, seems that the app is still not working well.  Constantly freezes, hard to connect to playlists and library (thankfully i was able to connect with the NAS workaround), slow to find radio stations, no artwork, bleh.  How do SonoPhone (and LYD for Apple Watch) still connect so well, and yet Sonos can?  Open API’s ?

Management (and the Board of Directors) deserve the 33% destruction of shareholder value.  If you sell Coke, don’t change the batch to a new recipe not well tested that everyone hates (oh right, that happened). 

And btw, all the fixes promised in May have been late, including the Music Library fix which is now August (probably never)...

Any time your stock chart looks like a downhill ski course, it is a bad thing...

Have you looked at the whole stock market yesterday?

Investors had a bit of a panic with many trading platforms either collapsing or stopping trading.

Buffet had $15 billion wiped off Berkshire Hathaway  investments

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, FTSE 100, FTSE 250 all down between 2 - 3.2% The Nikkei 225 lost 12% 

Google down about 2.7 percent, Apple down 5.5 percent, Nvidia nearly 7 percent, Microsoft more than 3 percent, and Meta nearly 3 percent

It’s a mix of concern over global events, such as potential for war between Iran and Israel, Japanese Yen

US concerns including the current economy/potential recession, high interest rates about to be cut.

There was a global sell off, but don’t let facts get in the way.

Sigh, for the last 3 business days you are for certain correct.  The continued decline served to reinforce my point, but was more likely created by Beta of the market.

Large playlists are NOT improved in this software version. I have tested and the Apple Music Favourites Playlists crashes the network. Resulted in the software asking if I wanted to add a White Sub and then a Black Sub into my network!!! I mean - WTF???

Then it auto selected the wrong speakers, twice.

It would be nice to have default speakers you can select for your software. ie. the room you are usually in. 

But FIX THE LARGE PLAYLIST BUG.

I think the Q3/Q4 reports would provide more critical information assuming the current world events don’t send it all a bit crazy. I could have seen it sinking further off the back of them if the sales aren’t there and they are stuck holding too much inventory.

It’s difficult to look at suitable comparisons, because there aren’t actually that many listed companies in the streaming speaker/multiroom market.

If you look at masimo corp (masi)  the sounds united owner (denon/Marantz heos) or Voxx international (who have many audio brands) they follow a similar trajectory even with their additional brands to prop them up.

Samsung, Amazon, Apple make too much from other parts of their company to compare. Most of Samsungs Harman business comes from the automotive/professional side rather than home market.

Lenbrook and Bose are private, so unknown. I don’t know about the US market, but for me in the UK I know Bose for 3 things. Awful sounding over priced acoustimass lifestyle systems from the 90s, the recent success with QC headphones and their awful in car audio systems. The worst thing about my car is the Bose integrated system 

“Added mute buttons for individual products in Group Volume controls”

Are you seeing these? I can’t see these in Android or iPad app. In the 16.1 there was a mute icon on the left but I can’t see it in similar position. There is just the speaker icon in that group UI.

is that somewhere else now?

When you adjust the group volumes, tap the speaker icon on the left of the Sonos speaker slider line you wish to mute.

Maybe the screen-capture (attached) from Controller App here will assist you to find where to mute individual rooms in a group.

Ok, now I think I see what the issue still is:

• A: when the Now Playing screen is whole display size, when I tap on the speaker icon on the left, it only mutes all. It does not bring up the individual volume controls. It does bring them up in the 16.1 app. I was expecting it to be available also in this screen.
   
• B: when the now playing component is small in the bottom of the screen I can tap on the speaker icon. It mutes and also brings up the volume control for the individual grouped speakers. I can mute individual speaker in this screen. 

It probably is a firmware issue if it works for others also in scenario A. For me it looks that it’s only been implemented in the small Home Screen component.  

Yes, that’s how I see it at the moment too - it's probably ‘by design’ for the time being, but I would like to see the option to mute individual rooms on the "Output Selector/Room Grouping Screen” aswell.

Agree. That screen was where I was also at first looking for them. But I now see that the 16.1 app also does not have them there. The radio buttons are on the left in the 16.1 whereas they are on the right in the latest app. 
 

The bigger icon on the left in the latest app seems to be an indicator of the type of device the room is. If that icon is always the same then I’d change that into a mute functionality. I don’t have a soundbar so not sure if the icon looks different depending on the device. 

Yes, it’s the same icon for a soundbar too.

Against my better judgement I updated to this new version.   The volume controls are improved (are they going to put the EQ back onto that screen?).  I tested out my main issue, I.e. the speakers dropping in and out when tracks change and when rooms are added. Adding 1 room at a time, 3 rooms worked together including when I changed tracks.  However, when I added a 4th room it all fell apart - silence, then one room resumed then dropped out, then another room came back on but missing out every other beat. It sounded like a pneumatic drill.  I started again and only one room played until it too dropped out.   So it’s great to have better volume controls but what good is that if the system at best seems to play only every other note!!!