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Feedback on Actual Usage of New Sonos App

Just installed the iPad version. Definitely do not like the app compared to the old one.

The new app feels way more busier, due to everything being thrown at you at once (which was their design intention). I’m not saying this approach can’t work though. I’m just saying that the way they designed it, it doesn’t feel right.

In terms of the look and feel, it feels less stylish to me and more cheap. Like it feels like I’m using the Amazon Alexa app (which I hate). The album covers are smaller and not as pronounced, compared to the previous apps recents area.

And the Now Playing screen on the iPad?! Like WTF? Why is there a gap around it showing the interface area behind it (ie Home area)? Why isn’t it full screen (and without rounded corners)? Makes zero design sense, as it’s super distracting, only adding to the busy feeling of the screen. Also see no option to make the app dark instead of light.

All said and done, this just makes me want to not use the app at all, unless there are substantial improvements made to it.

PS. I seem to be having occasional issues loading the app or returning to it, as everything in the app just pulses, as if it’s trying to reload the images / content. 

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93 replies

J
Userlevel 2

I have been a loyal Sonos user for decades at this point. The app is horrible. Hope do I get the old app back. Just basic functions that I can do in my sleep are different. I had to reset up my services. Bummer 

D
Userlevel 1

I can get used to the busy appearance and navigate my way around the chaos. 
unfortunately I don’t enjoy it. 
it is also brutally slow with a lag that is tedious. 
the old app looked simple. Worked with no lag. 
I love Sonos but I am hugely frustrated and for the first time in many years Sonos is not my only thought when thinking about a home music system, 

R
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

Quite why Sonos couldn’t just follow intuitive app navigation and UI is beyond me. A line up of icons along the bottom, leading to straightforward places, is all that’s required.

There is a ‘Manage’ button that appears above the list of speakers when you press Settings, which is confusing as it’s not clear what Settings will be adjusted by clicking the speaker name and which by pressing Manage. I have to try to remember where things are, and invariably go to the wrong place. 

When you click on the ‘now playing’ pill at the bottom, it brings up the now playing screen in full, which you can then drag down to close. But if you let go, then drag it up again, it doesn’t show the now playing screen, it brings up a list of speakers. When you let go of that, the drag line jumps to the top, and it’s from there that you have to drag down to close the speaker list, not where you last took your finger off. Try it and see!! 

When you are listening to music on a certain ‘room’, why can’t you simply adjust everything for that room’s speaker(s) from the now playing screen? Why do we have to go to Home / Settings / Room to change anything - especially the EQ! 

Why can the Home Screen be edited to put things in order, but Your Services / Manage can only be edited to show your preferred music service first - why can the rest of the services not be put in a preferred order? And why can the Sonos Favourites screen not be re-ordered like the Home Screen can? (e.g. I would prefer Playlists at the top, not Recently Added. If the functionality is there on the Home screen, why not on this screen too? 

And what happened to the alphabetical ordering of the Playlists, regardless of the music service the Playlist came from? And why do we now need massive icons that make scrolling through the poorly-ordered list such a chore? Plus, if I tap a playlist thumbnail to see what's in the list, when I back out, why does the Playlist list revert back to the very top again so I have to start my scrolling all over again. Just remember where I was in the list!!

Give us a choice of Playlist thumbnail size and list option, and ‘Sort by’, etc. AND for the love of God, allow us to categorise our Playlists under user-determined headings (e.g. “Chill”, “Coffee”, “Rock”, “Party”, etc...)!

I would say rant over, but I’m sure I’ll think of something the next time I try to use the app..!

D
Userlevel 1

Clunky. Am I the only one experiencing a lag between pressing play and the music playing? 

R
Userlevel 5
Badge +7

As everyone now knows and accepts - except Sonos insiders - this app is total garbage.

I see this as just another step in the long term, and eventually terminal, decline of Sonos. As more rot sets in, they’ll one day get bought by some Private Equity outfit, who’ll then milk the remaining customer base dry.

With how Sonos operates today, and this roadmap ahead, I cannot see me ever buying another Sonos device again.

It was a blast for a good few years, but Sonos is now a yesteryear company and ecosystem, with its future behind it. Sad!

jgatie

As everyone now knows and accepts - except Sonos insiders - this app is total garbage.

I see this as just another step in the long term, and eventually terminal, decline of Sonos. As more rot sets in, they’ll one day get bought by some Private Equity outfit, who’ll then milk the remaining customer base dry.

With how Sonos operates today, and this roadmap ahead, I cannot see me ever buying another Sonos device again.

It was a blast for a good few years, but Sonos is now a yesteryear company and ecosystem, with its future behind it. Sad!

 

I can show you identical posts from 6 years ago when they last overhauled the app.  I’m not defending the app, it should not have been released with features missing.  However, the navigation through the app complaints are exactly the same as when the last overhaul took place; unintuitive, clunky, slow, hard to find things, more clicks, more swipes, etc.  Now the old app is beloved, and all those complaints are levelled at the new app.  People don’t like change, until they get used to it, then the changes they once hated become their preferred way of doing things. It happened six years ago, and three years before that, with the exact same predictions of doom and gloom for Sonos, and none of them came true. 

N
Userlevel 1

The app is now junk. Cannot create a playlist amongst a litany of lost options. Whoever created, authorised and signed this off is a moron. Classic example of complete incompetence. Just watch your sales bomb when consumers catch on to this s@#£ sh#£. Bravo you ruined your system usability in a stroke. 
No excuses, it is amateurish rubbish. 

J
Userlevel 1

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience.  Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company.  If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

jgatie

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience.  Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company.  If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

 

User @CronoCX has graciously put together the following steps for those not able to stream local libraries from a PC/Mac/NAS drive:

 

Bumper

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience.  Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company.  If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

You can stream from your NAS but they removed SMBv1 support and removed the ability to add or edit libraries from the new app. But you can add libraries on the desktop app for now.

If you don’t understand the SMBv1 issue best to contact support. 

M
Userlevel 1

The new controller app on my MacBookAir (Sonoma 14.5) is almost unchanged, thank goodness. The new controller on my iPhone is a nightmare. All I want to do is play from my library and listen to the radio, forget all the other stuff, but it is so unintuitive compared to the old controller. 

B

Hi @Nollind 

Thanks for your feedback! There are a few issues that need to be addressed - and will be soon - though I think it’s safe to assume that the general look of the new app will be here to stay. We have long received feedback on the “clunkiness” of the previous app UI, and this new version is an attempt to address this feedback bring the Sonos app more in line with other music apps.

Please note that although there isn’t yet an option in the new app, the Dark/Light mode of it should be matching your phone’s own settings - please try adjusting in the phone’s relevant setting.

PS. I seem to be having occasional issues loading the app or returning to it, as everything in the app just pulses, as if it’s trying to reload the images / content. 

A reboot of your phone and/or speakers may help to address this - if not, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

 

What BS this is, reboot everytime the bloody app pulses. It pulses continuously. It’s far worse than the previous release and that one sucked too…..stop the typical American brabrabra that it was defined from the ground up. The version 80.02.04 is crap slow and full of hiccups. Never any new Sonos products here

S

Someone has ruined what Sonos had.. Everyone chose Sonos not only for good sound, but for the simplicity of the App, and for bringing all your streaming platforms into one interface, making it easy. 

Sonos had made a platform that everyone in the household knew how to use, and now with the new App, wanting to throw everything and nothing at you as a user, my whole family stopped using it, simply because they cant understand the app..

Now my daughters and wife switched to using airplay, and this even fails on the units after the upgrade..

Sorry Sonos.. Just not very impressed, and i actually have the same feeling as if I had bought a brand new car, and the manufacturer visited me half a year after at home and tore out the seats saying "Heres your upgrade"..

 

 

 

 

R

Unbelievably terrible…the old version was pretty close to flawless and I regularly recommended my setup to friends. I wouldn’t wish the new version on an enemy. The app refuses to remember the room I asked it to play in. It defaults to a specific amp and has to be reminded where I want it to play. Amps/speakers cut out randomly and Spotify skips to the next song on the playlist mid track. None of these things ever happened with the old version. please give us back the old version. 

H

Long time Sonos user who isnt so fussed by the new UI, but can’t believe how slow the app is to respond to Spotify. I’ve given up on the new Sonos App and am controlling my Sonos speakers directly through Spotify until you fix the App. You can and should do better

T

What have you done Sonos people!!? I use Sonos at two different sites, at home as well as in my studio. FOUR TIMES A DAY !!! I am having problems switching from one to the other. Once it is finally connected (this takes like four, five times logging in and out of the app) the controls are slugish/slow or not reacting at all.  Sometimes it takes up to 60 seconds before reacting on even just putting the volume down. Sometimes I have no control at all!! I work with clients and it can be very disturbing when volume needs to be put down and I can’t get that done. If I want to leave work or home I cannot put the system out. It simply does not react on the controls. And don’t start me about navigating through the app, find my music and switch from radio to playlist or back. Man!!  Either do something about this quick or bring back the old one. Use to be happy-user to very disappointed user.

 

D
Userlevel 2

Sonos has completely abandoned their customers with the new app

I
Userlevel 1
Badge

Hi @Nollind 

The app is now on one page, rather than being spread across multiple tabs, which I personally found quite annoying. Of course, there are now other things to be annoyed by, but these will be addressed soon.

Will they though? Because its been about 2 months and I’m still finding that about 30% of the albums on YouTube music will simply never load… albums that work absolutely fine natively in YT Music. Some of them I can even get to work on the Sonos system if I call them up using the Google Assistant through the speaker, I just can’t make them play through the Sonos app.

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