Think twice before you install the new SONOS app as at least the following features are no longer available (temporarily or permanently):
Sleeptimer has disappeared completely. Either you sleep the entire night with music on or you wake up to switch off the music… Quite defeats the purpose.
Alarms: creating and editing an alarm is no longer possible. You can only toggle an existing alarm on and off.
Local music library: make sure you don’t remove it as it is no longer possible to add a local music library stored on a NAS or shared device. Also the search doesn’t work on the local library any longer; it only searches the online music services. Sonos seems to have finally let down its initial user population that made Sonos big before music streaming services existed…
Either this is a deliberate choice by Sonos to reduce the functionality or someone validated a pre-beta release for production to meet some preset deadlines… In any case, don’t upgrade if you need these features.
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No alarms on Android for me, had to downgrade the app from apkmirror.
Thankfully reconnecting the system was easy.
I think I know what caused this mess: "Agile development".
A scheme for management to do even less and make devs into assembly line workers.
Release a minimum viable product (bare minimum in this case), then improve on it in 1-4 week sprints.
Google did the same with YTM, but they shut down old Play Music completely, hope the old Sonos app stays functional for a while.
Could also be that all the original developers who knew the code well have left Sonos Dev, (for a reason maybe) if such a department exists.
With such basic functionality like Alarms and playing from local storage missing, I'm wondering what the point of the app is.
Not having alarms defeats the point of having speakers in the bedroom for me, so I guess I'll just slowly start replacing those with other brands with the basic functionality.
I can stream to the speakers direct from the Spotify app for example
Totally agree with someone writing we should rate the app - just gave 1 star in App Store. Cannot recommend Sonos to anyone after this. Money talks - creating bad reputation like Sonos has sparked with this crazy release will hopefully lead to someone in charge being fired.
Yep! Have given it 1 star. Would give it ZERO if it were possible. (Conspiracy thought..... It's like SONOS did this on purpose to get publicity of a sort???)
Conspiracy thought#2: Perhaps a competitor infiltrated Sonos mgmt
I think I know what caused this mess: "Agile development".
I don’t think that the choices to completely replace and retire the working app, and do it come-hell-or-high-water with no roll-back option on May 7 are because of working in a way that seeks frequent feedback and adapting plans according to what they learn - it almost seems like they haven’t been very agile :D
IF YOU USE ALARMS, DO NOT INSTALL THIS! ON ANY OF YOUR DEVICES. THIS IS NOT AN UPGRADE, BUT RATHER, A DOWNGRADE. ANY FEATURES GAINED ARE OFFSET BY FEATURES YOU LOSE.
Man, I desperately need midnight mode and dialogue boost as for playing PS5 without shakes the room!
anyone?
New app is not finding a update for my System (Arc, 2 Era300 and Sub Mini). Someone else having this issue? On release notes it says that all products run version 80.0 now.
Think twice before you install the new SONOS app as at least the following features are no longer available (temporarily or permanently):
Sleeptimer has disappeared completely. Either you sleep the entire night with music on or you wake up to switch off the music… Quite defeats the purpose.
Alarms: creating and editing an alarm is no longer possible. You can only toggle an existing alarm on and off.
Local music library: make sure you don’t remove it as it is no longer possible to add a local music library stored on a NAS or shared device. Also the search doesn’t work on the local library any longer; it only searches the online music services. Sonos seems to have finally let down its initial user population that made Sonos big before music streaming services existed…
Either this is a deliberate choice by Sonos to reduce the functionality or someone validated a pre-beta release for production to meet some preset deadlines… In any case, don’t upgrade if you need these features.
A quick message for the users who rely on the Sonos alarm on the mobile app - a fix for now...
Download the app onto your pc or mac (I am a mac user - never done this - and have always relied on the mobile app).
Connect to your existing system wifi.
In the main window bottom right corner - select the alarm function button
If you cannot see your favourite radio station - I use to wake up to - play it through the main browser window
Go back to the alarm you created and ‘edit’ it
Set the music to - radio - recently listened to, It should be there.
At least I don’t have to wake up to the siren tomorrow - phew!
Agree with most comments. It’s New Coke syndrome- release a totally inferior product and alienate your customer base. Pease give us the ability to return to the previous generation.
New app only allowing me to add voice assistant to Sonos roam. I have 8 other speakers.
It’s saying my other speakers are offline. All are online and working.
Are there any new improvements to the new app or just a visual and layout? Why the big promo push with emails etc for this?! Makes it even worse when standard features are not included. Leave a perfectly working system alone until you can properly replace with something equal to what your users are used to and why they come to your pricduct. Did many complain about the previous app?
In addition, you can't add to the queue or edit the queue or existing Sonos Playlist.
I'd bet there was genuine frustration and anger in the beta community knowing this pile of shit was getting released and nothing was being done about it despite, I'll bet, every single issue being raised here having been raised there.
For complete clarity, no, I was not a part of the beta.
I can’t believe there was a beta programme. This latest release is an unmitigated disaster. Seems like Sonos have forgotten everything that made them good in the first place. There was nothing particularly wrong with the previous app - all that was needed was an iteration. Instead they’ve gone for a totally different UI and left out a load of useful features. And, they’ve got the nerve to tell us it’s “better than ever”. Quite unbelievable really
Just spoke to customer service and I believe they kind of acknowledge that these features are missing and frustrating many users. They mention that a future update will revert these features.
“In the coming weeks” isn’t good enough. They need to do it TODAY!
I really appreciate you sharing your chat text. That’s encouraging. I am glad that after messing up my phone with this update that I did not install on my iPad. So that device is now my safety net to easily set an alarm.
Fed up. Perhaps it is time to look at alternatives.
No alarms on Android for me, had to downgrade the app from apkmirror.
Thankfully reconnecting the system was easy.
I think I know what caused this mess: "Agile development".
A scheme for management to do even less and make devs into assembly line workers.
Release a minimum viable product (bare minimum in this case), then improve on it in 1-4 week sprints.
Google did the same with YTM, but they shut down old Play Music completely, hope the old Sonos app stays functional for a while.
Worryingly, I think you are 100% correct. However, the product manager not knowing what is customer base value and would call “minimum / viable” is appalling - someone definitely needs to get fired over this fiasco, especially as the solution is “boot up a PC or Mac to manage your library / set alarms / manage sleep timers”. They need to re-release S2 or offer the option for IOS users at least.
Updating an app that actually removes features without advising customers first is unacceptable. My NAS drive based library is of little use with the new Sonos app on my android phone ( though it is fine on Windows). If the problem isn’t sorted promptly, I will ditch Sonos for good - the Play 3 and Port can go to family and the rest of my multi room system need not be Sonos based. Will need to replace the Port but there are plenty of alternatives costing less money.
I don’t know whether it is arrogance or incompetence but, as market leaders, Sonos should have greater regard for its customer base.
Literally got my era 100’s a week ago, partly for the alarm feature. Quite disappointed in the whole experience so far, mainly due to the app. This update makes things markedly worse. Don’t release these updates with core functionality missing.
It’s far from ideal but you can still set sleep timers using the voice assistant.
How? please give a step by step guide on how to set a sleep timer ….. us turtles use Spotify for the music - piano lullabies - to get to sleep but don’t want them waking us up by not switching off….
First you should set up the voice assistant through the app, you can do that through the settings; hit the cogwheel in the top right, select your device, scroll down to voice assistant. Follow the steps. Once it’s set up you can say “hey Sonos, set a sleep timer for thirty minutes” for example.
This works but I don’t like using the voice assistant all the time. And with the loss of alarms… I’m very displeased. Just spent a whopping amount of money just to get core functionality taken away a week in. Please just restore the missing functionalities to the app, Sonos.
Unfortunately this only works for speakers that have a microphone. I have Amps and Ports and a couple of old Play:3’s that can no longer accept new alarms, unless I go to my study and boot up my PC...and I’m now worried that the next update to the Windows app will also scr*w the pooch!
This article from The Verge today was a slap in the face. How about adding the features and thoroughly beta testing to verify that all existing features are present and working in the new versions prior to pushing out this app? Why not delay for a few months and get it right instead of pushing out crap that will enrage you user-base and create yet another PR disaster for this company?
“Redesigning the Sonos app is an ambitious undertaking that represents just how seriously we are committed to invention and re-invention,” said chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin. “It takes courage to rebuild a brand’s core product from the ground up, and to do so knowing it may require taking a few steps back to ultimately leap into the future.”
According to Bouvat-Merlin, the new app lays the groundwork for “exciting innovations to come from Sonos in the years ahead.” As for all the missing features, Bouvat-Merlin says the company is “working diligently to reintroduce them in the coming months, alongside additional enhancements that will make for an even better app experience.”
This article from The Verge today was a slap in the face. How about adding the features and thoroughly beta testing to verify that all existing features are present and working in the new versions prior to pushing out this app? Why not delay for a few months and get it right instead of pushing out crap that will enrage you user-base and create yet another PR disaster for this company?
“Redesigning the Sonos app is an ambitious undertaking that represents just how seriously we are committed to invention and re-invention,” said chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin. “It takes courage to rebuild a brand’s core product from the ground up, and to do so knowing it may require taking a few steps back to ultimately leap into the future.”
According to Bouvat-Merlin, the new app lays the groundwork for “exciting innovations to come from Sonos in the years ahead.” As for all the missing features, Bouvat-Merlin says the company is “working diligently to reintroduce them in the coming months, alongside additional enhancements that will make for an even better app experience.”
Thanks for this - I read the whole article. I’m not sure I believe the arrogance on display here. This appears to translate to “we don’t care about the existing customer base enough to genuinely understand how they use our products, because we are looking to get ready for a new host of products we are launching and want to sell”. As many of the experienced users / enthusiasts here are looking to change eco-system entirely (myself included), I’d say that attitude really does take courage...
Apparently...... Saw this...... No ETA though. Are SONOS going to actually act on this?
Can anyone point me to the apk install file for the previous version?
I have all my music on a NAS and this (automatic) app update had as good as bricked all my expensive Sonos speakers.
The app has been going downhill for years, but this latest release is Sonos treating its users as alpha testers. Completely unacceptable.
While the substandard app release is a concern, I’m more worried about what the new web based interface (in place of the desktop app) means.
Part of the reason I chose Sonos was because I could use it with a local music library when the internet was down. If it needs permanent connectivity to function at all that’s going to be a show stopper at all.
Looks like this app update is to do with now trying to run everything via a browser based system. Try going to https://play.sonos.com and logging in with your Sonos ID and password..... Notice anything familiar about the controls and limitations? Looks just like the new 80.x releease
