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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

E
Userlevel 1

Here to pile on. I don’t care about sleep timers or music services. I care about basic functionality, and that’s been compromised. Twice the clicks to control the speakers and the app doesn’t always seem aware of what speaker is playing. Also, there’s a constant prompt to sign in even though I’m already signed in. It’s like they did no testing at all prior to release. 

P
Userlevel 1

How will this affect my system?

We've taken great care to ensure that this update only enhances your Sonos experience. Your products, features and services will work as they always have, and all your settings will be saved.

 

 

Just to remind you what the E Mail from Sonos said about the May 7th update.

 

Is it true I will not be able to access my music on my PC until mid June?

 

 

 
P
Userlevel 1

Guess what, just got an E Mail from Sonos telling me the Headphones are here and I can preorder!

 

They are idiots to wind up customers like this, I hope no one places an order 

P
Userlevel 1

The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.

 

Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.

 

 

 

Err, are they serious? Where we fell short, fell off a cliff.

C
Userlevel 3
Badge

Having upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end of queue. 

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

On 7th August 2009 I embarked on my SONOS journey with my first purchases which included the now defunct ‘hand held controller’. Over the following 15 years, I have added to my ‘system’ and been generally happy with my purchases.

In recent years I was particularly pleased that SONOS had responded to feedback and ‘found a way’ for longstanding customers to continue using ‘older components’ (via the S1 app) as well as ‘newer components’ via the S2 app. The online help to set-up a ‘dual function system’ (separating S1 & S2) was a stroke of genius and a masterstroke of good business sense in that it kept on board ‘original customers’ whilst still encouraging ‘new’ purchasers. Have all of the people responsible for this (good sense) now left the employ of SONOS?

Does anyone employed by SONOS read these ‘community posts’?

If so, can someone please take the initiative and either explain how I can ‘downgrade’ (back to the S1 app) my newer components OR suggest how the ‘old/new’-S2 app can continue to be used rather than (or alongside) the ‘new/updated’ app!?

U
Userlevel 1
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end of queue. 

 

 

This was the big shocker for me. Impossible to add a song or album to the queue without replacing what’s currently playing. There is no more basic functionality of a queue than being able to add items to it. Imagine going to a coffee shop where stepping up to the counter to place an order forces everyone who was in line ahead of you out of the building.

Astonished beyond words.

H
Userlevel 3

I use Tidal exclusivy. After the app update I cannot start Artist radio or even add songs to a queue. 
what point is there to having a music system if you have to manually start every track?

i simply cannot fathom how Sonos could ship this - and then even do it as an app-update so there is no way back?!

and why do I have to wait in a queue (1 hour now without contact) to open a ticket with my issues.. 

C
Userlevel 1

It’s the worst app I have ever had on my iphone since my first iphone 2008, and I’m not talking about different Sonos apps, I mean any app. Nothing has improved. The only functions that has not been made worse and much more user unfriendly are the functions they removed, and I’m not sure what’s worse. Getting frustrated over functions you used to enjoy that are now removed or functions that used to work but does not work but only makes you frustrated or even furious.

S

SONOS RUINED MY MORNING VIBE

THANKS SONOS FOR THAT ☹️😖

I absolutely agree, I’ve had Sonos for ten years now, never had problems until now. I woke up this morning and just wanted to hear some music and the app didn’t show my whole system then I rebooted the wifi system then turned on and off the speakers. then the living room showed up but not the whole system. I have (2) Fives in the bedroom (2) Fives plus Sub in the living room. (2) Ones in the Kitchen.

Anyways an hour later and I'm pissed off I never write on forums like this. But this time I’m pissed off!!!! The F****** thing is a piece of s*** and I'm ready to dump the whole system.

The other thing that’s f***** up is they don’t have an app for my desktop which I have an iMac in every room and when friends come over it used to be great as anyone can look on the iMac and play DJ or whatever.

Sonos get your s*** together or I'm dumping the whole system.

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

D

Here’s a thought-If Sonos would put the same amount of effort into fixing what has to be the worst roll-out of an app to date BY ANY COMPANY as they do the irritating pop-ups to sell you things in the same poor app, maybe there wouldn’t be 1-years of pissed customers standing here with pitchforks.  LOVE LOVE LOVE Sonos stuff-right up to the new app.  Now I’m thinking of renting a wood chipper and mailing this crap back to sonos….

M

Loss of mute function is pure ens***tification for the sake of ad revenue.  Best solution for me is walk away from the app, just use my sonos soeaker as a dumb bluetooth unit. Thanks sonos, life will be better without you. 

 

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

M

Registered especially to express my disbelief at how poor this new app. Just staggeringly bad. 

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Having (also) realised that the ‘all new app’ no longer allows me to access/use MY LIBRARY, I tried an online search for alternatives as well as looking for what is (still showing) on ‘Sonos Support’.

It is truly outrageous that (with their ‘new app’) not only have Sonos removed this (from my perspective) ‘vital feature’, their own ‘support page’ STILL states that “Sonos allows you to stream your music library from any computer, or network attached storage drive, to your Sonos system”; see below!!

YOU COULDN’T MAKE THIS UP ……. where are the responses from SONOS????

  1. Sonos Support
  2. Article
  3. Add your music library to Sonos

Add your music library to Sonos

Sonos allows you to stream your music library from any computer, or network attached storage drive, to your Sonos system. This article will show you how to add your music library using the Sonos app for macOS or Windows.

If you have already added your music library but have downloaded or removed music, created new playlists, or adjusted metadata, see our article on updating your Sonos music library.

  1. Open the Sonos app for macOS or Windows.
  2. From the Manage menu, select Music Library Settings.
  3. Click + (plus) on macOS, or Add if you are using Windows.
  4. If you use iTunes or are not sure where your music is stored, select My Music folder. If your music is not located in the My Music folder, select the appropriate option.
  5. Type in your computer’s password if prompted and follow the on-screen instructions to complete adding your music library. Depending on the size of your music library, it may take several minutes to index.

https://support.sonos.com/en/article/add-your-music-library-to-sonos 

D

Please roll this trash app update back. Have been a super fan of Sonos since 2012, have 10 units throughout my home, have loved Sonos - until now. I can’t even queue my personal music playlist wtf? The updated Sonos app on my phone is basically in a state of ‘wait for app to respond’, the same with my iPad. 

J

Was this sabotage? Worst system now.  Like I went back in time 30 years!!!  I have 3 connect amps, 2 amps (one of which I have not set up yet), and 1 play 3.  I can’t get the play 3 to connect anymore,  Seriously thinking of selling them all and moving to another system if this is not corrected within in a fucking week. 

J
Userlevel 1

I’m astonished at the lack of response from Sonos in the face of this disastrous update. 
I cannot access my music library as my NAS is using smbv1.  I have most of my songs imported onto YouTube music, so I thought adding YouTube music as a service would be a work around.  However, the Sonos interface to YT Music only supports 300 songs/albums/artists from an imported library and there is no search function.  Then, I thought I’d try downgrading to S1 as I only have Play 1 speakers.  Doesn’t seem like I can do that either.  I don’t subscribe to any music services (and have no desire to do so).  As of now, my Sonos system is unusable.

The fact that Sonos implemented this update with apparently no beta testing and no fallback plan is inexcusable.

The way forward is clear… set up the old S2 controller as a separate app, and provide a way to downgrade the speaker firmware back to S2 levels.  This cannot be that hard.

 

 

C

Please let us revert back to the old app until you get this figured out. This has really damaged your otherwise great rep.

D
Userlevel 1

Please fix the downgrade to S1. Also, introduce some quality checks to your software development process. 5 minutes of regression testing would have shown a software newbie that releasing was a bad idea. Please stop kicking your customers…...

jgatie

Please fix the downgrade to S1. Also, introduce some quality checks to your software development process. 5 minutes of regression testing would have shown a software newbie that releasing was a bad idea. Please stop kicking your customers…...

 

What makes you think it was development that pushed this release?  The worst developers and QA team in the world wouldn’t have missed these deficiencies.  This one is on the suits, I guarantee it. 

D
Userlevel 1

Not sure I blamed a particular function….. Generally this is a negative PR event which could have been avoided by Sonos as a brand. ❤️ to all Devs out there!!

S
Userlevel 1

Everyone has said it all. I’m just adding my name to the long list of people who are distraught that the music system we’ve invested heavily in for years has been absolutely trashed by a very poor software release-  incredible it ever got through product testing before release. 
 

I’d seriously consider selling my 7+ Sonos kit and go elsewhere - BUT with the software this poor would anyone actually want to buy the hardware? Nightmare.  
 

Customer Support and FAQ’s…. Hopelessly overwhelmed by some idiotic management decision to release this. It’s isn’t software - it’s malware. Seriously damaged what was a good brand. Sonos- sort it out please! 

B
Userlevel 1
Badge

SPOT ON REVIEW!

Like so many others on here, I’ve been a huge fan of Sonos for 10+ years and have 15 zones in my house. I’m also a low-voltage audio-video integrator by trade. THE NEW APP IS PURE GARBAGE.

It is as though Sonos didn’t beta test it at all and in fact launched it as a beta test to the public. In addition to it not being intuitive, the amount of bugs and glitches is unforgivable.

I tried to add 2 Era 300s to an Arc and Sub for 2 hours with no avail. How ridiculous!!! So many audio professionals turn their noses up to Sonos while I have defended it for years. Now they all have legitimacy to their grips. 

Sonos, way to RUIN such a great product.  #epicfail

C

I see that none of the music apps, (Tidal, Spotify, etc.) have the same functionality within the Sonos app that they do independently. For example, on Tidal, there isn’t a play button for Top Tracks or Artist Radio where the standalone app does. Am I missing something?

H
Userlevel 3

Claw61 you are not missing anything. This is, for me, the worst aspect of this “update”. 
And you can’t add tracks to a queue! 😂

Wouldn’t that be one of the first things you check before releasing an update?

Shame on Sonos for ruining my 10+ unit audio system!

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