new app update is SLOW. SLOW. SLOW!!!!

If anyone is as frustrated as me with the new Sonos app, you can download and use the sonophone app while Sonos rectify their flawed app.  It works perfectly and we get to control our music again.

If I were in charge of Sonos, in fact if I were any employee of Sonos, I’d be so embarrassed by this slow and painful App. It needs to be replaced with the previous working version immediately and the new update should not be released until it has been fully tested and all the reported bugs addressed. 

Why is Sonos silent on the matter?

Apart from the unmissable green banner at the top of every forum page with a link to the letter from the CEO and details of the forthcoming fixes via subsequent app updates…?

The new Sonos App is possibly working okay for many users too - it’s working okay on my system, for example. (See attached) and some users are mostly complaining about the ‘missing’ App features, which Sonos have not been silent about and have published a list of future App developments here: 

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/the-new-sonos-app-and-future-feature-updates

If you’re finding the App slow maybe check the connected products SNR levels in the Sonos App as mentioned here…

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/understanding-the-network-details-section-in-the-sonos-app

…and perhaps try to run all or the majority of devices (where practical/available) on your routers faster 5GHz WiFi band, rather than the 2.4Ghz WiFi band or SonosNet which are slower these days. If still no joy with that then you can always go onto to reproduce the issues seen and immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to help you to resolve the matter.

Why are some people in denial that the new app is flawed? Why are some people trying to convince US that the problem is with US and with our systems? 
 

Very many users are having the same problems  (since the app update)  Our systems worked fine before the update - they are now virtually unusable. 

The problem is with Sonos. The CEO has admitted this and said that they are working to rectify it. 
 

But with random updates over months - NOT GOOD ENOUGH !! 

I’ve not seen anyone in denial that the app is flawed. No-one is trying to convince anyone that the problem is solely with the user, but there is a very strong tendency amongst those with issues to resist making any changes to help it work. As I have said before, no-one should have to make any changes, but sometimes a tweak can deliver a fully working system. But sometimes it won’t, but a vociferous majority won’t even try. 

Those you are referring to - i.e. those “in denial of a flawed app” - are simply those whose app works for them. But even they (and I am included in this group) recognise there is a long way to go, and can see that there are still issues (as shown by the amount of fixes still to be released in app updates). 

I agree with @Rhonny here, the new Sonos App works fine in my own case, but I accept that I can’t perform any queue editing or queue playlist management at this moment in time, as I’m waiting for those features, which are still in the development pipeline, but the music playback on my own system has never stopped and I’ve not got any issues with mDNS device discovery, or group volume control like some have reported, but in many cases those kind of issues can be resolved with some simple changes and it’s why I often suggest folk perhaps contact Sonos Support, rather than switching to 3rd-party Apps that still use SSDP - which ’may’ have to switch to mDNS device discovery too at some point in the future… much better to get the problems resolved now with the new way the Sonos App works, rather than perhaps facing the same issues further on down the line.

If you have a minute, take a look at the Sonos app reviews on the App Store. The negative 1 star reviews (since May) are overwhelming - and all complaining about the functionality and reliability of the app since the update.  
 

That tells us something. 
 

Which Sonos have acknowledged as they rebuild their new App from the ground up - but for the majority now, I suspect, the App is working to play audio on Sonos products, but don’t expect the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people worldwide, to descend here on the community to announce the fact it’s working for them, as this area is similar to a ‘hospital’ and those that report here are often only those that do have issues …plus it’s clear that a number of those reports are not related to the Sonos App at all, like playlist/audio interruptions, for example. 

Others may have device discovery issues too that are perhaps not App related in some cases. So it’s always worth discussing matters with Sonos Support, not least if there is a Sonos App issue with certain network hardware, the Sonos developers can look to prioritise and maybe address those issues in a future App update.

There are many unknowns from my perspective looking in.

Are there flaws and bugs in the new app, not just missing features, certainly and they need addressing.

How many people out of all Sonos owners are affected? I actually have no idea, only Sonos really know that info as they collect the functional data when people use their systems. Many more than their support team could handle based on the queue wait times. More than an expected spike when an application has a major new release. While there have been increases on forums and online sites, the biggest unknown is the overwhelming silent majority.

Some people will have had issues they’d learnt to live with in the old app, but the new release brought them to their attention again. Especially if it was a missing feature on release so it was further highlighted when the feature returned. It happens all the time with software releases.

Out of the 15M+ Sonos households, the active users on this forum and say Reddit falls short of that number. That isn’t to dismiss number of people having issues or let Sonos off the hook, but I don’t have a handle of how many people are affected.

One area I think may be a potential cause is the previous S2 app had 4 years worth of development and bug fixes in it. Luckily my Sonos ownership was either side of the whole S1/S2 fiasco. If the S2 app was just a continued development of the S1 app, then in reality it contained up to 22 years worth of bug fixing and development and improvements that could handle different environments in the code.

The new app is a ground up rewrite and had a big gap between features, never mind being ready for the brave new world ahead.

An obvious follow up question for me is, did the old codebase contain bug fixes and improvements providing stability on a wide variety of networks and setups from over the years which don’t exist in the new from scratch code base?

From release notes it can be seen there have been bug fixes and improvements for stability. What they actually are only Sonos knows. Maybe they address something that had already be previously addressed in the old app. Maybe it’s a completely new issue. Maybe a bit of both.

For some people they way the use the products or their particular setup gives them no operational issues for the functions that exist. For others the maturity of the old app and its years of fixes may have given them stability which is missing in the new code.

I have no real idea, but it is definitely on Sonos to get the new app back to the level of performance and system stability most users had with the old app.

From a developer/engineer perspective there is a limit to how much information can be collected during normal operation. The ideal time to collect data to try and identify what has gone wrong is when a system is having issues, which is why creating and submitting a diagnostic report is beneficial.

In my experience, while it can help in some situations, the typical IT style turn it off and on again is a temporary mitigation. It gets things working, but doesn’t address the underlying cause which will usually rear its head again later.

I hope Sonos can get things addressed so everyone’s system is back to behaving the way it previously was.

I agree with many of your comments @sigh aswell and the way forward IMHO is to report the issues we see in the new Sonos App with our own network setups and give Sonos the data to work with.

I’ve seen some ‘genuine’ users complaining (repeatedly) here in the community and it appears they don’t report the problems seen in some cases, but may switch to using ‘other’ Apps instead of providing their own data to Sonos Support. Such users then wonder why it’s taking so long to fix things… of course if people want to use 3rd-party Apps alongside, then that’s their prerogative, but my thoughts are then don’t start complaining about the Sonos App still not working for them afterwards, nor start persuading others to step away completely from the new Sonos App, otherwise Sonos will not likely get the data/reports and the Sonos Staff/developers might even think that everything is working okay.

My own personal view is to provide feedback and give Sonos the diagnostic data first & foremost and see if the matters get fixed in an App/firmware update and go onto report any ‘new’ issues seen too.

Disgusting app . My Sonos is become useless 

I have no real idea, but it is definitely on Sonos to get the new app back to the level of performance and system stability most users had with the old app.

I agree with the above, it’s on Sonos… 

What I don’t agree with is the view that people impacted by Sonos should have to spend hours on support lines, or that just because the app works (within it’s severely constrained current functional state) for some people it’s therefore not an app problem but a problem with people’s network, and if they don’t engage Sonos support they are somehow less deserving of any help. That view on here is deeply unhelpful and just fans the flames further. 

In most of those cases a 3rd party app manages to do the basic stuff the new Sonos app can’t, on the same network, on the same hardware, that until the new app, was also working with the old S2 version. 

The new app does not work very well. It has to work the same scenarios the old one did. It was touted as being better. 

Sonos created this mess, and Sonos need to fix it… faster. The current rate of progress is rubbish, and not getting queue editing back until late Autumn… well… 

The problem Sonos have now created is that some people’s systems are so messed up that they will struggle to get the needed firmware updates onto their speakers to help progress. You need the latest app & speaker firmware to make more progress. Catch 22. 

I’m less optimistic than @sigh on general home networking support of mDNS vs. uPnP, but I guess time will tell there. 

For me, the queue paradigm was at the core of the Sonos experience and for them to ditch that concerns me much more than the connectivity issues. For me it shows they are completely out of touch, or not interested in anything than just shifting one speaker per household, or one TV system. Neither is good if you want something to listen to music over in many rooms. 

Just moved away from the Sonos app and installed the SonoPhone app, though it is not free, it is a BIG relieve, I now have a fast responding app, with all services I had within Sonos and… als the play all songs button in the Deezet Artists toptracks 

THIS! THIS is the nonsense I get from just tying to see the current queue on a speaker. New App. All updates applied..... Stood 1 metre from the router (so it's not the WiFi). Just hope this gets addressed. In the meantime, it's back to the old APK and install that. 

THIS! THIS is the nonsense I get from just tying to see the current queue on a speaker. New App. All updates applied..... Stood 1 metre from the router (so it's not the WiFi). Just hope this gets addressed. In the meantime, it's back to the old APK and install that. 

I think the old APK also demands you update your system. Or if the system is already updated, the old APK version won’t work… Either way, I’m fairly sure they have removed that ability. 

(standing 1m from the router won’t help - that’s not a signal strength issue, it’s more likely to be an mDNS/uPnP/HTTP type issue unfortunately).

If not tried already and you know how, try reserving your Sonos IP addresses in your routers DHCP reservation table and if running all on your WiFi, rather than SonosNet, check all your products SNR levels in the Sonos App and aim to get them at 45dB or higher (if practicable) don’t let their level get close to, or drop below, 25dB. See this link:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/understanding-the-network-details-section-in-the-sonos-app

This may prove helpful too (and the links within it):

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/improve-your-sonos-products-wifi-connection

@Rhonny @Ken_Griffiths - Thank you both for your help and comments. I appreciate that. The thing I'm seeing here is that the old APK still works and responds so much faster than the new app. I've used the latest app too as well as updated all my speakers with the SONOS provided updates, but still the new app is nowhere near as responsive as the old app. Technically this eliminates the problem to being somewhere within the app with how the app is connecting with the speakers.

I can only guess, but I think at some point, instead of the app taking a short trip sending messages over just your own WiFi network, it may probably be going via the Internet via SONOS's hub / servers where your account is held.

Yes, that possibly is the case @BennyB0Y and it’s likely further optimisation may perhaps come later, but if you find things too slow, then I would certainly pick up the phone and discuss the issues with Sonos Support and see if they can assist to make things faster for you. Here is the link to call them if you decide to go that route:

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

Some light reading as there might be a re-launch of the old S2 app....

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/14/24220421/sonos-s2-app-relaunch

Lmao, of course there is. It’s amazing that us random customers had more foresight than their C-suite. Shameful. Roll it the hell back already.

I took the opportunity to email the Sonos CEO (as stated in his apology message). It was just a courteous email that basically carried words to the effect of "Please make whatever you're making as good as the app that worked".

 I’ve never had any issues with speaker discovery or music playback with the new app, but it is a lot slower than S2.  Which is why, I’m guessing, I get error messages when loading the queue yet it loads anyway.  It’s as though Sonos is admitting it’s slow.

 The missing features did disappoint me at first because I thought for sure the new app would only have navigation changes and would for sure retain all the functionality of S2.  I’ll wait for all that to come back.

 Not sure why people would favor 5GHz over 2.4GHz.  Music streaming is not much of a burden.  My issue here is with band steering executed by my Xfinity gateway which for some reason has my Moves using 5GHz rather than 2.4GHz while I’m listening on the deck.  The SNR is lower than 45, but there are no dropouts so I don’t mind that much.  I just thought 2.4GHz would penetrate walls better which would make more sense when out of the house.

It could depend a lot on where they live. 2.4Ghz is far more congested with less available bands than 5Ghz.
The better penetration of 2.4Ghz is also part of the problem. In a city or apartments you can get long lists of visible WiFi networks which are all strong enough to interfere with each other so keep bouncing around the limited available channels.

Routers are covering more than one channel so effectively there are 3 channels which won’t cause overlap. Coupled with having power levels set to max 2.4Ghz networks often leak way beyond the needed range.

The nature of 5Ghz not penetrating as far, coupled with the far higher number of available channels usually results in more stable WiFi and support more networks in areas that would be a congestion nightmare for 2.4Ghz

Or it could simply be the age old 5Ghz is faster so better.

The same thing happened with the home use clamouring for WiFi 6(E). The primary beneficiaries of moving from 5->6 were commercial spaces whether private business or public areas due to improvements to concurrent devices. Home use benefits were minimal. The same bigger is better has started with Wi-Fi 7.