why so many updates

Here are the release notes.

A lot of the issues are going to be bug fixes that only a small number of users are experiencing in rare cases.  It does not make a lot of sense to give details about these changes, since the vast majority will not care, or perhaps even understand what the issue is (myself included since I don’t have inside knowledge on how some parts of Sonos work)

It could also be security related changes to protect against known attacks.

It could be that these are pre-emptive changes to deal with future OS changes that Apple or Google has planned.  Or changes that Sonos has planned but not yet fully implemented.

And sure, as a consumer, we might prefer to have less updates and only apply the changes that we care about.  However, that makes it rather difficult and expensive to troubleshoot issues when every installment is potentially a different version of your software.  So Sonos requires that you update to the current version before working on issues.

All you need do is turn off auto-update on speakers and controllers. 

i came here to make this thread, UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE and all i experience is a graduately worsening user experience. I was holding on tightly to my S1 app since i was told S2 is **, but then i added a one gen2 to my system and was FORCED to update, and i see npw what they meant whe they said it was crap. Unstable, often not working, uses more CPU power on fancy animations than actual functions that works, when and why did sonos decide to become manufactor of useless crap..?

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

Sonos frequently updates their app and devices to make enhancements to their products and improve the Sonos user experience. This is pretty common with modern-day technology. And Sonos updates aren’t that difficult. You update the app which takes a few seconds. Then you update the speakers which usually takes anywhere between 1-5 minutes depending on the update. That’s it.

If this process is a burden in your life and makes the speaker unusable to you, then you are probably better off selling your speakers and using a traditional stereo system that doesn’t require an app and doesn’t connect to your wireless network.

I’ve mine set to 4am. She won’t notice an update…..

In most instances this is probably due to a mismatch in versions when an update has been made to a controller app but not to the system, rather than on not being on the latest version.  This situation can be avoided by the user, as explained by @Stanley_4 .  Most uses of Sonos are simply to play music, and it is to be expected that “system management” tasks require a stable and predictable environment.

Do you have your Sonos system set not to update automatically (setting in Sonos app) but the Sonos app to update automatically (setting in your app store)?  If so, then that would explain your experience. 

Something like that. 

The S2 controller offers more features and can use more controller resources. In my case the latest S2 controllers are slightly slower starting up because they collect more data from the players and from online servers, but I’d need to use timing instruments to prove that screen to screen operation is significantly faster or slower than the older controllers.

With regard to “no network issues” we have helped hundreds of people, who had “perfect” networks, achieve full use of their SONOS system (after reconfiguring their network slightly). SONOS makes more demands on the local network than simple web browsing and email.

When I first started my SONOS system it was awful. After I reconfigured my “perfect” network and dealt with a neighbor’s wireless phone interfering with my system, it has been smooth sailing since 2005.

I’ll note that SONOS offers far fewer iPad updates than SPOTIFY or AMAZON MUSIC.

So you’ve still not done the right things:

• fix your router
• ste updates to automatic.

Certainly would increase complexity for the user, and cause Customer Service to support more versions of the system. 

It is not optional when you are prohibited from adding new services or doing anything but basic operation before you update. 

There are several points I find puzzling about your post. 

First is the use of the word ‘CONSTANT’. This is certainly counter to my experience, and if you look at the dates on the release notes page, not what I would consider constant.

Second, there are two parts to an update, generally speaking. The first is on the computers that run each speaker, and controlled by that ‘automatic updates’ flag you’ve mentioned. Since that feature was released, I’ve not had to update my speakers once, it has always occurred automatically, I assume at the assigned time. However, I mostly use the iOS controller, so that I manually update, once on each device (I tend to have three, two iPads and an iPhone). At most, this takes a minute to download and install, on my sub-gigabit network. When I sit down at a desktop, I update the controllers there, but that doesn’t happen often.

Having to reconnect a streaming service frequently is more concerning to me. You shouldn’t be needing to do that. It suggests that either Sonos has stored an old authorization token (which aren’t supposed to change), or that your speakers are unable to properly connect to the service’s authorization server. This is unlikely to have anything to do with an update, unless the network is experiencing duplicate IP address issues being generated by the router. 

It may be worth the time to read the manual for the router, and set up reserved IP addresses for all Sonos devices. It’s good network practices, and certainly won’t hurt anything, and it could resolve this issue you seem to be experiencing.