I recieved a reply - unfortunately not from the CEO but from the well-meaning support. Here it is, and following is what I responded.

It doesn’t look like anybody in the “community” really cares, so I will leave with this as my final words.

Dear Jörgen,

Thank you for reaching out to share your feedback about the new Sonos app.

I understand you rely on being able to play folders from a local library and search your local library via the Sonos app.

I know you are disappointed that these features are not available, and I want to assure you that your feedback has been heard loud and clear. We are committed to providing our users with the best possible experience, and we are working tirelessly to reinstate some important features in the app in the coming weeks.

The ability to play and search music from a local library is planned for next month. You can reference this article for additional details on upcoming updates. In the meantime, a couple workarounds to play local music are to use AirPlay (iOS devices) or via the Sonos web app.

Thank you for your engagement and for being part of the Sonos community.

Best regards,

Sonos Customer Experience

Hi,

Don't worry and don't bother - I'm out of here. You cannot continue doing such things to your customers. Your product was interesting once, but now you have spoiled the magic several times - first when you suddenly sneaked in an update that required everybody to log in in order to use their devices, meaning that they couldn't avoid forced updates. Second, when you threatened us to use that mechanism to kill our old devices if we were not buying new ones from you - and now, destroying every usefulness that was there with sending out a miserable excuse for an app that isn't even half finished.

I don't want to use Airplay and keep my Mac running just to hear music. And I don't want any other such trouble. That was why I bought a Sonos device. To avoid all that. Otherwise, I could have streamed music through Airplay to my Denon amplifier or some other device already in the house.

I want convenience, and you have destroyed any dream I may have had of getting that with Sonos.

But thanks for the reply.

Everyone needs to email them and continue speaking up. Still annoyed, still frustrated, and until a software solution is provided I will continue to be annoyed and frustrated.

Okay, I recognize the pattern from 4 years ago - a lot of fuzz, some leaving, some telling that they are leaving. Sonos is not going to do anything at all to meet the complaints, and they are telling back in the boardroom that “it is going to get tough, but we have to do it.”

Well, you can do it with some other people than me.

I have again wasted money on you, and it will never happen again, trust me.

Unfortunately, it leads to me now again to having to buy an alternative, and this time it will be Bluesound. This I must buy from the worst audio reseller in the country, who has p….. me off before, since they are the only reseller. As far as I can see, they are owned by the same people who produce the Bluesound.

Like jumping from one “family” to another in this respectless and seemingly criminal world of music streamers that really should have been about enjoying the beauty of music.

Be careful what what you write - this topic is being pre-moderated. Big Brother is watching you!!!!

Not sure why this would be necessary. Why would any courageous ethically sound company that supplies fully functioning, feature rich hardware and software be worried about their customers posting information as they will all be happy and content.

It would only be companies that do the opposite. For example, a company that forcibly release an app that they know removes functionality and is bug-ridden. Then arrogantly refuse to roll the app back.

Ah, now I understand.

Given that this is not the first time sonos has shown questionable customer service (S1 - S2 precedent), there is no way I am remaining in their eco system.

I have therefore started the process of changing my hardware.

A sonos amp (paired with monitor audio silver 100s) has been replaced with a pair KEF LSII speakers (active with streaming built in) which I am very pleased with and were cheaper than the original pairing.

Currently looking at replacing my other amp with a WiiM amp or a Bluesound Powernode.

The 2 ports I have will be replaced with a Bluesound node or WiiM Pro Plus.

All of the devices in question are Roon Ready and I have taken out a Roon subscription (which to be honest is a bit on the pricey side) but it will give me a unified point of entry for any of the hardware I choose. That way I am not tied to any hardware vendor. Should any them act in the reprehensible way that sonos have.

Unfortunately I will still have my arc I use in the bedroom. It’s wall hung and the room has just been decorated otherwise I would have probably replaced it with KEF LS50’s given how good their smaller siblings are.

I ditched Twitter long ago and am quite happy about it. When recently trying to find back to it, I realized that I see no value in it at all any more, so it will not happen.

About Sonos: I was happy to get my first Sonos device years ago, and mostly because of the app that allowed to operate the system from either a computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone - at my own choice. And that app allowed me to hear my music collection without breaks between the pieces (good for classical music, for instance), and it allowed me to queue seemingly unlimited amounts of music - I just added the full set of albums by an artist to the queue, and the music pieces would be played after each other as requested - not alphabetized, no unwanted breaks, or otherwise ruined.

I had a wish then that it would be possible to play the albums according to their publishing year, but that wasn’t possible. Apart from that, the usability of the system was close to perfect.

I do admit that the sound quality wasn’t optimal, but even that was a sacrifice I could agree with for a start, given the advantages of the user interface.

One day, Sonos decided to kill the computer app - starting by removing some functionality from it. Then they wanted to kill the older devices - litterally - by making a new OS and insisting that they would and could make changes that potentially could cause “some key features” to stop working, or what exactly they called it, on the older devices. And now they killed the mobile app, letting know that the remains of the computer app will also be removed.

Already, the settings (now vanished) for showing DLNA servers in the sources has never worked, and I must admit that there has been problems at times even connecting to my music collection folders, but when something after a lot of work happend to function, it continued to function. Until now.

Those simple needs I had for which the Sonos system was a good solution, they cannot be fulfilled by the sonos system anymore.

Maybe Sonos will manage to repair the new app prototype and put the needed functionality in it, which I doubt, honestly - because if they could do better, they would have done so already, wouldn’t they? And maybe it is possible to simply use a third-part app and forget about Sonos’ user interface, which they have destroyed.

But for how long will it last? When will they again do something stupid that will ruin my day?

Streaming music isn’t rocket science. Every electronic device can do it by the help of simple and cheap electronics components readily available on the market. The trick is to provide for a nice user experience and then stick to it - because users of such equipment want it to just work, and work, and work. We want a stable addition to our world, like the utilities such as cold and hot water in the taps, electricity, internet, etc.

But apparantly this wish for stability and convenience doesn’t match what is taught at business schools, so the manufacturers of audio streaming equipment believe that they must change our world non-stop, ruining our feelings of flow and happiness, and instead disrupt our world regularly. They believe that this is the only way they can make money on us, the consumers.

If there is nothing else left in my relation to Sonos than being a consumer to be disrupted all the time, then I am not interested. Then we must break up.

Unfortunately, despite this being a very big market with a huge potential for manufacturers, none of the existing ones seem to care about creating that daily convenience many of us want. So the main problem by not using Sonos is - what then? If I still want to listen to music and be free of the need to put a record, a CD, or some other medium into a player every hour, then I need a streaming approach. I just have to find something that fulfills my needs - even if I must end up making a product myself.

For now, I can listen to playlists created in the macOS app and played from there on the Sonos Port with a good result. The sound quality of Sonos’ DAC is really good, and the further processing in the Denon AV amplifier and the Canton loudspeakers makes it a pleasant experience to listen to. At this moment, Robert Reed’s “Sanctuary” series of albums smoothes the air around me - and after some hours it will be some other artist and their full collection, not interrupted by adds or mixed with unwanted music as from the online streaming services.

It works for now, as long as Sonos hasn’t yet killed the macOS app, which they say that they will. After that, their hardware will be close to useless to me, as I cannot use it for what I want.

So I am leaving. Later today, the postman will bring me a Bluesound player, and I will just have to hope that it will work well for my needs. That system is too expensive, in my opinion, but if it works, I will use it. If not, I must again go hunting for something that does - or make it myself, as mentioned.

Yes, they are watching, I hope - but will they learn from what they see? I doubt.

Jorwin,

thank you!! I just signed uo Roon. Looks like 14 days free trial and then a discount if you buy a year. I’m pretty sure Sonos is messing with the desktop app that has not been updated so I needed to do something. (I leave music on for my dog when I’m out, calms him down. I noticed the last 2 times that the Sonos had turned off pretty quick despite what I loaded up. CRAPPY! that hadn’t happened in a long time.) After I got Roon rolling (Macbook pro as the server and iphone app too.) I ordered a pair of same Kef’s as you from Crutchfield. Crutchfield gives you 60 days to try them out. 

I’m with you 100%, I am out fo the Sonos ecosystem for good. Any body buying Sonos speakers or headphones needs their head examined. 

Thanks for ideas!!

Absolutely the worst app update I’ve ever seen.  Piece of junk.  Hardly can use it.  What is Sonos doing.  We pay a Premium for equipment and then they screw it all up.  If I could dump it all I would consider.   Very disappointing to say the least.  Used to love this system and speaker set up I have for outdoor patio pool etc.  What are you going to do Sonos to fix this piece of shit app? Who makes these decisions and who the heck tests it?  No one obviously.  Not sure I’ll ever buy another piece of the this premium platform.   
Get this FIXED.   

Replaced my Sonos play 1 with a Denon Home 150 and I am quite happy with it. 

The sound quality is excellent, allthough tbh I like the Sonos sound better. 

The Denon does have some great features that Sonos has not
1) speaker is recognized immediately
2) volume control works without delay
3) When you click on a song, it plays immediately

I was able to get a decent price for the Play 1. My other speakers are on auction sites now.
A decade long I have enjoyed the Sonos system, but this will come to an end within the next few weeks.

Why Sonos decided to ruin their system remains a mystery to me.
Hope for the people that stay true to Sonos, that things will improve on the short term.

Goodbye
 

This is nonsense corporate script.  They are absolutely not committed to providing users with the best possible experience or they would immediately pull this release and let users rollback.  What a disingenuous crock of $#%#.

I don’t know what’s up with them - must be getting heat from the BOD over poor growth / sales.  Well this ain’t how you fix that.  I imagine a lot of users have about all the product they can use - after years and years, I do.  So they force an upgrade on the hardware that should have been enough to tell us they are not committed to customers at all.  Now they are at it again and the CEO clearly has zero interest in our email feedback.  I feel like they are heading for a “TiVo” moment of irrelevance. I’m voting with my money now:
 

• no Sonos music subs for me
• no headphones or whatever life raft they are pitching that forced this software release
• no new speakers or amps or ports - when they break, I’m looking elsewhere

Just bought my second Wiim

I know lots here vowing to ditch their systems - maybe some will some wont

Slowly but surely, I am replacing the whole thing

I’ve stepped my Sonos app back to 16.1 and (I hope) blocked upgrades on my speakers. And I can now play music from my library again.  Which, to be quite frank, is all I ever wanted my Sonos system to do, Play my music.

Now I read they've allegedly fixed some things.  And maybe there’s something I can do to reconfigure the Windows library to make it work.  But why would I want to go through that stress and aggravation (in order to find what functionality is still missing) when it already works?

And listening to the arrogant idiot that is the chief executive, congratulating himself on kicking his customers in the teeth, well, I hope he finds some new ones.

Jorwin, great email to sonos CEO but it was a predictable boiler plate response, the kind you get when a company outsources tech support, and spend 5 mins hearing them tell you how sorry they are, acknowledging our frustrations, but be assured, they are there to help you fix the problem, etc. etc. etc.

I doubt that 1 million emails like yours will have any effect.

I almost gave up on sonos way back when when suddenly my original many of them, speakers were no longer operable. And sonos response was, I think it was, return the old ones and they’d give you a $25 credit towards a new one, or some rediculus “solution”. 

I gave all my sonos away but them decided I’ve give them another try.

Well, in my world of current technology, it’s 2 strikes and you’re out.

Dickos, thanks for the recommendation for sonos REPLACEMENTS. I hope others weigh in on their new replacement-of-sonos-speakers. 

I am now going to  Wiim Pro website and start purchasing.

Bye, bye, sonos.

as the saying goes, too little too late (if ever, in your case)

Yes I am already doing it with great results thanks.

@jorwin,

Yes you can use Roon to control and play music via airplay. However is not able to control deeper Sonos functions for example sleep timers etc - mind you the sonos app is utterly incapable of doing that also.

The stupid thing is that Roon currently provides better functionality than the Sonos 1st party app. 
This just highlights how appalling this app launch has been.

"We pay a Premium for equipment and then they screw it all up." That's just so true. Startet planing my new homesetup, but Sonos did it again. Couple of years ago I noticed at a customers spot that Sonos just quit support for older devices, providing a 50€ coupon to buy a new version of something that was bought for 200 months ago. Your politics are absolut ridiculous. I'll will never buy or recommend Sonos anymore. It's just sad what Sonos is doing with it.

The reason is pretty simple - Sonos management were so desperate to release a new product (some rather ordinary headphones) that they gambled on forcing untested and unready software on their entire existing customer base.

The gamble was an appalling failure of judgement, and IMO they will pay a price. My guess is that they will lose a lot more customers from dissatisfaction than they will gain by selling those headphones.

Just set up ‘Connect Spotify’, it found all devices, including Sonos Amps, & the GUI is pretty good. Plays all of my ‘Library’ from our servers here as well :-):

User302029 suggested “in the meanwhile, but the headphones.”   the sonos headphones? Never in a million years. I would never buy another sonos product and I was just about to buy the sonos headphones. I’m glad I didn’t.

Before continuing I am still using the old s2 app and firmware 16.1 , I bought a WiiM mini which was delivered Friday and connected it to my 5s via line in and have listened to music more than usual.

i also grouped with my moves and listened in the garden it sounds better than before and my Qobuz is showing 24/192 in the WiiM app it also has a 10 band equaliser so I can at last shape the sound to my taste. 
so I have a replacement path to follow and can utilise my Sonos speakers until they fail can recommend WiiM so far using the most basic thing they sell guessing the more expensive ones just add connections and features

All up and running now and I have the expected sampling rate. It seems that the Qobuz plugin was the limiting factor when carrying out the initial testing.

Not sure if I will pick this over Roon at present. That said, I may well use LMS for the alarm functionality in the future, currently neither roon or the kef app have built-in alarm functionality, so if I do swap out my current sonos bedroom speakers I will have access to alarm functionality. I was going to attempt to do this via automations in Home Assistant.

I recently upgraded my AVR to a Denon with HEOS “built in”. So I copied all my music library to a large USB “stick” and plugged it in to the Denon and downloaded the Android version of HEOS to my phone. I have to say that I am well impressed with the app so far. Of course it currently only works in my lounge where the Denon is connected to a 5.1 speaker set up. Apart from the USB input, HEOS links to streamers such as Amazon Music, Tune In etc. Album art included and flac files are supported in library music . I still have my Sonos kit and continue to use it with S2 16.1 which works fine. But if the new Sonos app doesn’t get sorted to same functionality I may well be investing in other HEOS speakers to replace my sonos ones in the other rooms in the house, There is no subscription fee to use HEOS but you do need to create an account with them.