Why is the Sonos App (for Mac) the worst piece of software on my entire computer?

  • 16 September 2021
  • 15 replies
  • 458 views

The Sonos app cusses a mild headache. The app is awful and every aspect is so horrible that I don't know where to start.

Please start over.

I often end up using my phone, headphones or internal computer speakers just to avoid opening it.


15 replies

Really? Worse than iTunes? 

I am on a 16 inch MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura. Bought the Sonos Play 1 off a second hand site really cheap only to realize that it doesn’t work with Bluetooth.

The Mac app is absolutely painful to use. For one, volume is independent to Mac OS, none of the control on the keyboard works with Sonos. Keyboard shortcut for Play / Stop is Command+P, volume control is Command + / -, the app ignores this thing call Podcasts. No Podcasts at all.

Search, oh my God, you can only search either by artist, album, song or playlist, there is no search across them. I used to think Amazon Music was bad, this is on a league of its own. Please do something about it. Please. 🙏🏻

Sonos haven’t developed the Mac app for years. It is a dead man walking.  It isn’t going to change.

Really? Worse than iTunes? 

Probably not.

But for the same reason, I have never used iTunes. So yes, the SONOS app IS the worst app on my computer.

Well, Sonos did state several years back that they were no longer actively developing the PC and Mac apps.  Similar to S1 systems, they just provide bug fixes and security updates.

Because Sonos stopped development, except for bug fixes, on both desktop (Windows and Mac) controllers years ago?

Userlevel 1

I’m glad to find I’m not the only one who hates this miserable excuse for an app. My problem isn’t the one that most of you are reporting, it’s that the app is almost unbelievably unstable. I go to look for an artist or an album, find it, then -- before I can click on it to play it -- the app jumps back two or three levels, and I’m right where I started. And this happens over and over and over again, until I inevitably use the mobile app.

Just one of the many, many signs that Sonos no longer cares about the user experience at all. 

Nothing is worse than the Sonos controller for Mac. NOTHING! It almost never works. I get the beach ball constantly. After almost 6 months I decided to try it again to see if I could get it to work, It worked a week, then there was a system update and once again it will not work. 

How can you say iTunes is worse than anything. At least it works consistently. I am really disgusted at how crappy this app is. There is no excuse for the crappy app except incompetence. 

I am on a 16 inch MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura. Bought the Sonos Play 1 off a second hand site really cheap only to realize that it doesn’t work with Bluetooth.

The Mac app is absolutely painful to use. For one, volume is independent to Mac OS, none of the control on the keyboard works with Sonos. Keyboard shortcut for Play / Stop is Command+P, volume control is Command + / -, the app ignores this thing call Podcasts. No Podcasts at all.

Search, oh my God, you can only search either by artist, album, song or playlist, there is no search across them. I used to think Amazon Music was bad, this is on a league of its own. Please do something about it. Please. 🙏🏻

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

The Sonos app cusses a mild headache. The app is awful and every aspect is so horrible that I don't know where to start.

Please start over.

I often end up using my phone, headphones or internal computer speakers just to avoid opening it.

Agree and even after multiple controller updates, i fail to find one single difference in the UI, stability or design, all of which need vast improvements

Been using Sonos for over 13 years. Controllers used to work great. It’s been updates in the last year or so that it’s gone down the crapper.

  • I get the hyper sensitive mouse movement issues as well making it extremely difficult to scroll quickly through music. 
  • The checkbox and dropdown arrow icons next to artist/album/songs constantly “disappear” or don’t work. I have to minimize and then maximize the app to get them to work again. 
  • Every time my mac goes to sleep or I close the lid, when I return, the app has reset back to the top-level menu. I have to drill back down to where I left off every time, again a royal pain when you have a large library.

None of these issues existed in older versions of controller. They’ve all been introduced as part of more recent software updates (Stop changing an app that used to work!!)  

Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Or caused by Apple updates that could/should have been solved by Sonos updates? So Sonos updates are not the cause but the solution?

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eh.  it works okay on my M1 mbp, but I wish they would compile it as an ARM/Intel universal app.   Don’t know why that’s not done yet, Sonos.

Although, the stream format is always different on my Mac when compared to the app on my iPhone - one will say 7.1, the other will say Atmos, I don’t know which is correct.

Crap, Crap and Crap. I wish I could throw all of this Sonos garbage into a dumpster and start over.

Anyway make the switch to something that actually works and, if so, can you PLEASE make a recommendation.

And I’ll note, one of my favorite features of my fully updated Sonos app on my very latest and fully up to date MacOS…..the mouse function jumps all over the place from left to right and back in the application. I’ll scroll into my saved playlist, barely touching the mouse and NOT moving my finger at all, and it sends me backward three levels at will!!!!

 

Crap, crap and more crap.

It’s odd, I don’t have any of this on the Mac client, on either of my Macs. Have you contacted Sonos support?

Odd, I’m using it every weekday (while working) on an intel Mac that’s a couple of years old, running MacOS 12.4 and I’ve never got a beach ball. It’s totally responsive for me. I run it less frequently on an M1 Air, and it also runs without issue. 

Since you’ve not really supplied us any information on which to build a tentative mental image of your setup, have you tried submitting a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and calling Sonos Support to discuss it?

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

 

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