I’ve been in the software industry for 50 years now. That’s a long time. A very long time. I have seen many applications, utilities, services, and products come and go. I have built many of them.
This new SONOS Android app? One of the worst re-versionings I have ever seen. Two cardinal rules have been broken:
- Never release a product that is not fully baked. If you present functionality to your users that doesn’t actually work as the UI suggests it should, you will feel the wrath.
- Never release a version update that removes functionality from earlier versions without very, very good reason. Doing so, after setting the self-created standard, takes away a considerable amount of your goodwill you worked so hard to create.
We all know how depressingly awful this new version is and how much has been lost in the process so I won’t belabor the painful details.
I really just want to know what you, SONOS, are doing about it? This sub-standard garbage has been all we have had for way too many months now. How hard is it to fix this thing and, at a bare minimum, get it back to the same or better level of reliability and responsiveness?
One of your best marketing tools is word of mouth. I was your biggest fan and brought numerous new customers to you. Now? I have not recommended any of your products in over a year. Because of this poorly implemented app and your lack of responsiveness.