That sounds like a very good option, although that means I’d need to stick my new Era 100 pair back in their boxes and pull my old Play1 pair out of the closet again. 

Could you color by numbers for the slower kids like me? How exactly do I ‘reset to factory settings’ and ‘create my Sonos system,’ step by step? I’d need somebody to hold my hand and walk me through that, I think.

Would this mean Sonos playlists would reappear and be fully functional again? Because that’s what I’ve been missing all this time.

So where are all the positive responses to having the ability to downgrade from S2 to S1, with so many thousands of requests for this specific functionality?

Chambolle,

Search the Internet for how to reset Sonos products to factory settings. The Sonos website tells you how to do it.

When you reset a device, you will lose all your Sonos playlists etc, but stuff on things like Spotify or Deezer won't be affected.

You can try the process on newer items and see if it works, but if it doesn't, then you'll have to use the S2 app for the newer ones and the S1 app for the older ones

The Sonos app will walk you through creating your system.

I only posted it half an hour ago! Give it a chance!

I don’t think you were the first to reveal this functionality in the update… ;)

@agbrowne: Now I’m absolutely certain I don’t want to perform this ‘downgrade if, as you say, ‘you will lose all your Sonos playlists, etc.’

The one thing I’m most concerned about right now is that my Sonos playlists vanished the moment the new app weaseled it’s way into my ipad and iphone. Of necessity I need to await the promised future return of Sonos playlists and ‘queue editing’ in September or October. Right now, at least I do have access to my playlists via phonos+ even if I cannot modify and resave existing playlists or create and save new ones.

Unfortunately, that downgrade option is not a one size fits all solution.

Your Sonos playlists are gone forever I'm afraid.

You might as well do the downgrade. It will get rid of all the latency of the S2 system.

Maybe not, but I have explained it.

These are a good place to start.

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/downgrade-a-sonos-product-to-s1

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-app-version-compatibility

Chambolle:

 You could try SonoSaver for Windows PC to backup your Sonos Playlists.  That is if you have a Windows PC.  I would test first to see if the functions Backup / Restore in SonoSaver work as expected.  Works well here.

 I think the app Phonos Plus ( 99 cents for Plus ) also can backup Sonos Playlists, but I only just got it and have not tried that feature.

I was also able to successfully downgrade to S1 with the 80.06.04 Android app. I have 2 play1’s and 2 play3’s that were S2’ed.

The issue I ran across is that I had to downgrade one at a time. Quick summary of steps:

• (In an over abundance of paranoia, I unplugged all my S1 devices)
• Turn off all S2 devices but 1.
• Start S2 app select “Downgrade to S1” in Help.
• Walk through process (app says to connect directly with a wired connection to the router but I found this wasn’t necessary). There should only one device found.
• Once downgrade is done, unplug device. Plug in next device.
• Force stop of S2 app and restart.
• Repeat for all devices

I was able to add the devices back to S1 setup.

I then deleted all installations of any S2 software. Never again.

PS: The iPhone 7 + 16.1 app solution did not work for me. User error, no doubt.

@agbrowne : My Sonos playlists do still to exist somewhere, because I can retrieve a text list of them in phonos+. If I select one of those playlists with phonos+ open, I can then open the Sonos app and voila! The playlist becomes the current Sonos queue. I can add tracks to it, but cannot delete them once added. And I assume I cannot save an expanded queue as a new Sonos playlist.

I’m still holding my breath and assuming that when Sonos says it is restoring Sonos playlists and queue editing, it means things will be as they were prior to May 7. If I’m wrong, I might be screwed. We shall see.

Like the man said, ‘The waiting is the hardest part…’

Busy downgrading like me

As someone that has stayed on S1 since 2020 and has enjoyed full use of all features, including local libraries, of a 5 zone Sonos system from 2011 till today, I trust that the return to S1 works well for all those that desire it. 

If Sonos has indeed reopened the path to go back to S1, this is good news for me as well because it bodes well for the longevity of my S1 system for one that merely wants the app as a somewhat sophisticated remote control for the main act - Sonos hardware that is of excellent quality both for sound quality and reliability. 

Not one failure here for a dozen units since 2011. Including 3 Bridge units.

I assume you do not have any of the newer Sonos devices, like the ‘Era’ speakers? It’s my understanding those are incompatible with S1; or can they also be ‘downgraded’ so they will work with S1?

Maybe because it is going the same for other people as it is going for me? Downgrade, step 1: “Sonos requires precise location for setup” WTF Sonos why? OK. “Sonos can’t find any nearby devices” WTF? Try again. Same. Try again. Same. Give up. 

You are correct, I was done with my needs for home audio with the excellent play 1/ Sub by 2014, and saw no need for anything more thereafter.

I am pretty sure that Sonos models released after 2020 cannot work on S1.

I'm assuming you followed the step by step process, and are trying to downgrade for S1-compatible devices, as discussed in two sonos help articles?

The Sonos S1/S2 support FAQ lists which devices are compatible with either.

So I see two problems that preclude me from returning to S1: (1) As I understand it, the process begins with a ‘reset’ that would wipe out my Sonos playlists — which are for me the most important feature of the Sonos system that I cannot presently access using the post-May 7 app; and (2) I recently added a pair of new Sonos ‘Era’ speakers that can’t be used with S1. I could toss those and pull my old S1-compatible play1 speakers out of storage, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. 

So I will remain in ‘hurry up and wait’ mode, hoping for the promised return of playlist and queue editing functions in a ‘future update’ in September or October.

I also hope that once the dust settles I can safely update all of the ‘firmware’ and the app, abandon reliance on ‘phonos+’ to access my saved Sonos playlists, and eliminate the myriad bugs that plague my Sonos app now. Among new annoyances: at random I’m directed to ‘sign in before performing a search’; or the app freezes and will not respond to any commands, including attempts to close the app, which can only be cured by shutting down and restarting my ipad; ‘recently played’ still says ‘will be displayed once you have played some content’ and other little insects too numerous to mention.

I’m not sweating the small stuff. My playlists are still out there somewhere that phonos+ can find them; I can play all the tracks saved in those playlists; and my speakers sound as good as ever.

That'll have to do for a while. Hopefully Sonos will let us know via email when the development of the new iOS app is substantially completed, including restoration of Sonos playlists and queue editing, just as it does when it has new products to sell.

Hi @chambolle, I think you’ve got the right mindset wrt an S1 downgrade. Beyond the importance of your playlists, you might discover that S1 is missing feature(s) you like.

Should you decide to take the S1 plunge, I’d suggest you downgrade a SINGLE speaker to S1 and live with that for a week or three ... then you can make an informed decision on the rest of your gear. And running S1 and S2 in parallel MIGHT open up a palatable avenue for migrating your playlists.

Yes and yes, almost like the software isn’t very reliable or something. 

I think it's important to understand that the S1 controller is alive today because at the first introduction of the S2 controller (now designated as the Sonos App since the May, 2024 refresh) the products below were still in use. Excepting the CR200 and some of the ZonePlayers. 

If you also had Sonos Products in the following list that were S1/S2 compatible the only way to avoid setting up a Split System was to downgrade those products to S1. However, doing so prevented those S1/S2 products from ever receiving any new updates/features that were specifically designed for S2 capable products. So essentially your system would be relegated to S1 specifications. 

The alternative for Sonos would have been to “kill” the S1 controller thus leaving those S1 products behind and possibly unsupported. That is the route most companies take when moving onto more advanced technology not supported by previous models.

Sonos, thankfully decided to continue support and allow users with a mix of S1 only products and S1/S2 products to continue to enjoy their Sonos. The only caveat being as previously mentioned is that all products would have to run on S1 to avoid setting up a split system.

I don’t have a crystal ball but logic would dictate that at some point Sonos will have to move away from the S1 controller/products. Here are a few reasons (IMO):

• Normal product attrition due to user moth-balling and/or operational ineffectiveness
• Relocation of financial resources for R&D
• Rethinking of the ROI for personnel to support S1

Those (my friends) are some of the hard choices tech companies; and businesses in general, make on a regular basis. To be clear I’m not naive enough to think that I’m immune to product/OS changes brought by Sonos. I just hope they're a loooong way off. 

@AjTrek1 : Understood. Planned obsolescence has been a thing with consumer products for a long, long time, from cars to washing machines to ‘smartphones.’ But I held on to my iphone 5 for about a decade before neither Apple nor my cellphone service would support it; and frankly it was still meeting my needs when I was compelled to replace it. Which ATT did, with a new iphone, gratis, to keep me in the fold and paying those monthly bills for 5G service I could never have used with my old 3G phone.

Sonos has handled ‘legacy products’ and system changes commendably for years. But that’s why it was all the more unexpected, disappointing and frustrating to wake up one day in May and find everything had been tossed into a blender with no explanation from Sonos… other than a number of prior press releases singing the praises of its soon-to-be-released, ‘easier to use’ app. 

Brings to mind that line from ‘Cool Hand Luke’ — ‘what we have here is a failure to communicate.’ And poor crisis management. 

@chambolle 

My response wasn’t focused on planned obsolescence; but more toward getting people to understand the consequences of downgrading to S1. In hindsight I probably should not have mentioned anything about what may happen in the future regarding S1 products.

I can see now what I fear most is that this post (since you honest comment ) has a potential to be taken in another direction. There are plenty of posts already complaining about the failed communication of Sonos upon launching the app refresh in May. We really don’t need another one.