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Disaster App Update 80.xx.xx - May 2024

I just want to put my review (app store) from the latest update here in as already so many of us feel the same way:

 

first of all - i m a customer and fan since 2011 and i ve several setups in my home: 1x arc - 2x era 300 - 1x sub (3rd gen) - 1x beam (2nd gen) - 2x era 100 - 1x one (2nd gen). also i m a software dev and system admin for about 25y (large international corporation). yesterday I downloaded the new update and it s a total failure and complete disaster! it s so bad that i m willed to sell all my speakers if it s not corrected or will be rollbacked. the new design is neither intuitive nor performant (iPhone 14 pro) and also key features missing like editing an actual playlist/cue, sleep timer, alarm, etc. also my favorites don’t work anymore, can’t mute, can’t switch between tv and music, nas settings gone and are not available, some services had to been removed and new connected, etc.

how is it possible that a big company like this „burn it down to the ground“ when the app before was nearly perfect?! where is the quality management, the testing rings, etc.? it s unbelievable - such an disappointment and like i wrote before - if this is the new way i m out and selling all my speakers. you can also read a lot of the same opinions in the official sonos community/forum. this is all a huge L

224 replies

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

Post your name on the class-action lawsuit availability in this website

C

My Sonos, which was working perfectly, was auto updated last night. Only 4 of all our Sonos products, of which we have many, are showing up in the App now.  And, it can’t find them.    I went through this a few years ago and it took me days to figure it out.  On my own btw as I was on the phone with Sonos multiple times …hours each time…with no solution.  I can’t begin to say how upset I am… x

K
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

No ability to go to a previous version in IOS only in Android 

Not true. Especially if you haven’t updated the firmware of the devices, there are ways. Restore from older backup or google ‘GitHub iTunes charles’ and follow the clear instructions. You need windows computer, though. 

  Disable automatic firmware updates so you don’t accidentally update. 

H

I’m also here to reiterate everything that everyone else has said. Please roll back to the previous app. This update is horrible and I just want to be able to play music from my phone through the app through my streaming services without having to deal with turning my TV on, etc., even after the update, I had to completely reset all of my speakers and set them up as brand new all over again, which was time-consuming and frustrating because then the app wouldn’t recognize them right away, and I had to restart the app every time I reset one speaker and I have the arc, 2 One SL surround speakers  And the sub. New update is horrible. Please fix it!

D
Userlevel 2

This new app UI design is terrible!! I have had my Sonos system for over 10 years, this is really making me sad since up until now I have really like Sonos.   This new app makes me want to ditch the whole thing. 

P
Userlevel 1

Absolute disaster. I can list the issues I am experiencing, but you all know them already. I am a retired VP of Engineering and my responsibilities included a software development team developing driveline critical software for the automotive industry. Granted, a music App isn’t driveline (safety) critical, but EVERY step of the development process at SONOS has to be questioned. The Market Study and Customer input process, the product requirement, the conversion to a product specification that guides engineering, the design reviews, the software validation, the beta testing, all controlled by a product development process and good program management, ultimately released with understood risks and fall back plans. The success is based on identified responsibilities and accountability. I sent this comment to Patrick Spence, President of SONOS. Give him credit for making himself available. But even he is not absolved from such a disaster because it’s his systems and personnel decisions that have come to bear, and now it’s his responsibility to enforce accountability. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t safety critical software, but it is business critical software. As VP of Engineering I would be fired for not having the processes in place or, if they were, not alerting “management” of the risks involved in a premature release. If the risks were indeed understood, then it falls back on Spence. 

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Absolute disaster. I can list the issues I am experiencing, but you all know them already. I am a retired VP of Engineering and my responsibilities included a software development team developing driveline critical software for the automotive industry. Granted, a music App isn’t driveline (safety) critical, but EVERY step of the development process at SONOS has to be questioned. The Market Study and Customer input process, the product requirement, the conversion to a product specification that guides engineering, the design reviews, the software validation, the beta testing, all controlled by a product development process and good program management, ultimately released with understood risks and fall back plans. The success is based on identified responsibilities and accountability. I sent this comment to Patrick Spence, President of SONOS. Give him credit for making himself available. But even he is not absolved from such a disaster because it’s his systems and personnel decisions that have come to bear, and now it’s his responsibility to enforce accountability. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t safety critical software, but it is business critical software. As VP of Engineering I would be fired for not having the processes in place or, if they were, not alerting “management” of the risks involved in a premature release. If the risks were indeed understood, then it falls back on Spence. 

So what?? 

It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -
P
Userlevel 1

Castalla, that is certainly a valid point, simple as it is. I guess my perspective is that, unless the root cause of the problem is investigated and identified within the SONOS organization, this kind of disaster is just part of their DNA and makes my less confident, actually zero confidence, it won’t happen again, and I should start shifting my system investment in another direction. It’s a decision I need to make. My inclination is that I’m going to stick with SONOS for now assuming they WILL right the ship and not let this happen again. But it gets fixed with true root cause and corrective action, not just promises of “we’ll do better”. Anyway, thank you for your comment. 

A
Userlevel 1

I e-mailed (ceo@sonos.com) Patrick Spence and got a response (from a minion I expect) saying that the regressed functionality will be restored in a future update. The work around until then (suggested by whoever responded on behalf of Patrick Spence) is to use a the Windows version of the app. I think that this is unacceptable. What would be acceptable for me is to have the last known working versionof the Sonos 2 app made available in the app store alongside the new abomination so that we can have our functionality restored on our iOS and Android devices until it is made available again in the new version. I have replied saying as much. If you agree with me please e-mail Derick Spence and make the same demand.

P
Userlevel 1

Anton, I agree with you on all points. TY. While I was focused on a company correction the reality is that my BBQ this coming Memorial Day is highly impacted without my functioning SONOS system. An immediate roll back to S2 would be the solution. 

P
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

I have always found it interesting how hardware companies try to break into software sales, where you find annuity streams for music and video services - this is where the real money is. SONOS hardware items are quite expensive, and yet they moved into software and…………...the rest is history.

P
Userlevel 1

I am 72, not very computer savvy but found Sonos OK, now cannot access I tunes on my pc where I store all my music.

 

Unable to contact Sonos (wonder why) so what am I supposed to do?

 

Shambolic, my wife is ex IT and just says - don’t they test these things?

 

Any ideas how I get I tune connection back? - keep it simple. 

O

Absolutely agree, really bad decision by sonos! Talked to some other heavy sonos users, all of them more than annoyed. Sonos is luring its customers into heavy investments and then thinks they can do whatever with them, I think this time they may be wrong.

P
Userlevel 1

Also as I am not very tech savvy can someone suggest an alternative system I can purchase, I need an amp to run two Dali speakers and the equivalent of two play ones.

Just want to play music from I tunes and Spotify and listen to the radio.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

M
Userlevel 1

I’m just chiming in, so that this thread bulks up and gets the attention of the powers-that-be that screwed up any functionality and enjoyment of my Sonos system. Like many, I am a long time user. I am also not a devotee of streaming and prefer to access my own library. So, the PRIMARY function of my Sonos system is GONE. Thankfully, I have music because of others in the house that want streaming music. 

I have been recommending Sonos to friends and family for years, and am feeling very embarrassed to have made such a stupid recommendation. Stupid, at least, in the short term, until this TITANIC of a screw-up gets resolved. Without a satisfactory resolution soon, I second a previous post about selling all of my Sonos gear.

This is unforgiveable, and even with a resolution that works for me, I will NOT be recommending that anyone I care about dive into the SONOS ecosystem. That ship has sailed…or like the Titanic, has sunk.

M
Userlevel 2

Same here. So much trouble. Starting to regret going full Sonos last year. Have 4 Ones, 1 Arc, 1 Sub, 2 Era300, 2 Roam.

should have been a separate App. So one could chose to update. This way it’s a mess.

Roll back the update!

L
Userlevel 1

Agree with all! We should be allowed to roll back to previous version. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

The new App isTerrible!!  What were they smoking?

E
Userlevel 1

I did some research and you can go back to the earlier app on Android phones (sorry but the cool Apple people seem to be stuck). 

E
Userlevel 1

You can go to the Play Store settings and turn off auto-update of apps to keep Sonos from updating you old app you just installed.

The old app works fine for me.

 

Let’s hope Sonos gets the word and fixes this ungodly mess.

 

I don’t know if anyone at Sonos reads all of this and, if they do, do they care.  It seems amazing to me that we have heard nothing from Sonos, given how many people are trashing the new app. At the least they should offer an offical roll-back rather the the fix I have reported here.

 

Good luck to everyone

R

I just want to put my review (app store) from the latest update here in as already so many of us feel the same way:

 

first of all - i m a customer and fan since 2011 and i ve several setups in my home: 1x arc - 2x era 300 - 1x sub (3rd gen) - 1x beam (2nd gen) - 2x era 100 - 1x one (2nd gen). also i m a software dev and system admin for about 25y (large international corporation). yesterday I downloaded the new update and it s a total failure and complete disaster! it s so bad that i m willed to sell all my speakers if it s not corrected or will be rollbacked. the new design is neither intuitive nor performant (iPhone 14 pro) and also key features missing like editing an actual playlist/cue, sleep timer, alarm, etc. also my favorites don’t work anymore, can’t mute, can’t switch between tv and music, nas settings gone and are not available, some services had to been removed and new connected, etc.

how is it possible that a big company like this „burn it down to the ground“ when the app before was nearly perfect?! where is the quality management, the testing rings, etc.? it s unbelievable - such an disappointment and like i wrote before - if this is the new way i m out and selling all my speakers. you can also read a lot of the same opinions in the official sonos community/forum. this is all a huge L

I just researched why my SONOS is not recognizing my system, over-and-over again.  I have 6 pairs of speakers plugged in and one pair of mobile--thinking about buying some additional pairs--not now.  I have SONOS Connect for my Stereo.  If I can’t use them when I want, especially to entertain, trouble free like I used too, I am bailing.

M
Userlevel 2

I’m on iOS and lost. There are not settings to turn off updating a certain app. It’s all apps on auto update or all manual.

And now I am in this broken new version with no way to rollback.

Sonos should be held accountable for willfully impairing products and be forced to offer refunds and return for breaking their products.

E
Userlevel 1

I am not familiar with iOS, so I can not help with this.  I did not see any way to load the old version of the Sonos app for iOS. It seems to be for Android only.  

I have Android, and rolling back to the App as of March, 2024 works as I described in my posting.  I hope I can keep the old app forever.

L
Userlevel 1

I did some research and you can go back to the earlier app on Android phones (sorry but the cool Apple people seem to be stuck). 

. 

L
Userlevel 1

This worked for me. Thank you so much for posting the solution

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