New SONOS app: many features no longer available!

U
Userlevel 6
Badge

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.

170 replies

A
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Looks like I’m going to have to sell all my speakers unless they bring back local music library.
How could they replace the old app and remove these important features!!!

S
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

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.

R
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Removal of these features is completely unacceptable. It does seem like management of music library and alarms is apparently temporarily with the workaround being to use the desktop app but I’m really concerned if they shipped this in this state that they don’t see it as too much of a priority to fix it. 

D
Userlevel 3

Unfortunately I didn’t check before updating. Breaking the queue is just lazy. There is no way this is release ready 

A
Userlevel 3
Badge

Sonos Beam: 

No indication of music playing, nor possibility to control it.

When playing TV content: no indication of sound format anymore

Controls for midnight mode and dialogue boost gone

Also when streaming from NAS: no HD and High Res badges gone?

This new app feels buggy and ill conceived, please re-publish the previous one. 

A
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Sonos should have left the S2 app alone and released this MVP app as a new app so customers could keep the old app or try the new one and decide which one is best for them. Forcing a completely new app which removes features is a bad move, especially since we are the people most likely to buy their new products!

Clearly the beta testers for this new app were a narrow selection of the Sonos customer base. Do Sonos not understand how their customers use their devices?!

G
Userlevel 4
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To anyone at the decision-making level at Sonos:

  1. Bring back sleep timer
  2. bring back ability to create and edit alarms

Please!!

J
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

There are many excellent points here. Hey Sonos- Make the old app available. Your update made it impossible to use!

V
Userlevel 3

Timer is gone!!!!! Wth!!! 
 

time to sell my Sonos. Honestly the product owner must be fired. 

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Restore sleep timer and the alarms functionality. Are you any kind of Amateurs in Sonos?

R
Userlevel 4

How is this real life? I just went to set a sleep timer for my daughter’s music while she's in bed and the function is gone?! How does software like this get pushed as a replacement rather than a different app? This is extraordinary and is a reminder to never trust a private corporation, I doubt I'll ever buy another Sonos speaker.

H
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Sonos has gone completely mad! This is the end of it. Each app update made things worse and this really is next level. Bring back the former app(s): IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!! 

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Unless they sort this out ASAP, then they won't sell many of their new headphones, or any other devices.  

🎶 CRAZY 'BOUT AN AUTOMOBILE 😎🎶
S
Userlevel 3

This is crazy!! Please bring back sleep timer 

paulrudkin
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

I am sure there are reasons that a decision was made to release a substandard app with fewer features and functionality than its predecessor, but as a SONOS customer for 15 years, the reason escapes me. 

I sincerely hope the team is in a crisis management meeting right now. Brand reputation is important, and I think you have damaged it quite considerably with this release, over the last 15 years I have championed your products with family, friends and colleagues and can no longer do this. 

Hopefully, you can dig yourself out of this hole quickly.

S

My first thought when i got the email an update was coming was “OH NO” and it turned out to be way worse.  If you haven't, don't.  There are no new features and stuff you've tweaked over the years is gone. Major fail

J
Userlevel 3

I wish I had read this thread an hour ago. Astounding that Sonos would create an “update that is so terrible. Honestly it is bad enough that I am considering getting rid of the mountain of Sonos products I have. Embarrassing. Whoever is leading the App development process and made this decision should be fired. Trying to figure out how to roll back the update. Mind boggling.

U
Userlevel 2

This is unbelievable-updating an app should provide new and improved features, not eliminate the old ones that worked. What were they thinking???

A
Userlevel 3

No sleep timer !!! 
this is ridiculous!!!

fortunately I still have the old app on my iPad.  

I simply don’t understood why Sonos’ management would approve a change like this 

M
Userlevel 4
Badge

In bed. Can’t create the alarm I need. WTF?

D
Userlevel 2

Sonos, sort this nonsense out.

sleep timer and alarm were fundamental functions 

M
Userlevel 4
Badge

I can’t even find where to toggle existing alarms, where is that?

D
Userlevel 1

Android in the UK: Alarms are there, editable in Your System>Manage. Incidentally, an alarm has just come on correctly.

Everything else about the new app is even worse than the old one. Fortunately the Sonos equipment I use most of the time can be downgraded to S1.

Here’s one that probably few people have discovered: add an album with 333 tracks (Massenet songs) from a streaming service - it adds the first 100.  After that, you have to add individually to the queue, play it, then add the next, etc, because the Edit and Add to Queue functions have gone.

M
Userlevel 4
Badge

Interesting about alarms - they’re there on Android? On IOS they are completely absent.

H
Userlevel 2

Unacceptable and shocking to release this new app without warning owners! Not to be able to use NAS is just silly and clearly the design team is made up of entitled millennials with no grasp of how the world works. I’ve long wanted to sell my Sonos speakers and today is the day they’re going on eBay. I will post on any forum I can find for prospective buyers to NOT choose Sonos.

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