New Sonos app removes key features - beware!


Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Having just upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • There is no longer a volume number indication
  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end’
  • You cannot create or edit any alarms

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.


326 replies

Userlevel 2

Having just upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • There is no longer a volume number indication
  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end’
  • You cannot create or edit any alarms

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.

It is Astonishing for a tech company like SONOS to have such poor UX

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

Have you say. Show the power of the community…

 

Click this link and let Sonos know of your disatisfaction!

Userlevel 6
Badge +1

Sleep timer and alarms seem gone…

Stations are gone from the main page.

Mute button seems gone as well.

Sonos Radio and TuneIn are signed out and I sign in fails with error about missing internet connection. Other stations work fine but search seem broken on a number of services. 

App released in Denmark just af support was about to close and I was told that they disconnected calls within minutes... That wasn't told when the release would drop - no extra support even though they have announced the release for weeks…

I was told that Sonos Radio probably wouldn't work another week.

A quick message for the users who rely on the Sonos alarm on the mobile app - a fix for now...

  1. Download the app onto your pc or mac (I am a mac user - never done this - and have always relied on the mobile app).
  2. Connect to your existing system wifi.
  3. In the main window bottom right corner - select the alarm function button
  4. If you cannot see your favourite radio station - I use to wake up to - play it through the main browser window
  5. Go back to the alarm you created and ‘edit’ it
  6. 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!
Userlevel 6
Badge +1

Having just upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • There is no longer a volume number indication
  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end’
  • You cannot create or edit any alarms

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.

It is Astonishing for a tech company like SONOS to have such poor UX

A quick message for the users who rely on the Sonos alarm on the mobile app - a fix for now...

  1. Download the app onto your pc or mac (I am a mac user - never done this - and have always relied on the mobile app).
  2. Connect to your existing system wifi.
  3. In the main window bottom right corner - select the alarm function button
  4. If you cannot see your favourite radio station - I use to wake up to - play it through the main browser window
  5. Go back to the alarm you created and ‘edit’ it
  6. 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!
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

Email ceo@sonos.com

 

Be silent and accept to treated like a nuisance or make yourself heard. Your choice!

Userlevel 3
Badge +1

The release of this new app shows that Sonos doesn’t care for thier customer at all and that they have the worst quality review team of the planet. Period.

My system is for sale!

Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Email ceo@sonos.com

 

Be silent and accept to treated like a nuisance or make yourself heard. Your choice!

No sooner said than done

… 

Dear Sir,

I was totally caught by surprise as I discovered that the Sonos S2 app was updated on my phone. Using it is a real nightmare and one of the most important feature to me, adding my own radio streams, has disappeared to the point that even the favorites are not usable anymore. They are just grayed out.

That's a shame and I urge you to roll back this obviously poorly designed app to the previous one.

I'm a user of Sonos system for many years now and all the changes I had to come through only made things worse.

Your company reminds me the also poorly designed and manufactured cars of the '80s by the big threes in Detroit at that time. History has shown what happens when a company has nothing but contempt for its customers.

Kind regards.

Userlevel 7
Badge +4

The new app is starting to hit the tech news sites now, looks like it may overshadow the launch of the new headphones.

Sonos says its controversial app redesign took ‘courage’ - The Verge

Wait! Don't update your Sonos app until you read this | Digital Trends

Sonos takes a cue from Apple, citing 'courage' as why its new app is disliked - 9to5Mac

Sonos' new S2 app simplifies audio control, but there's a catch - or two | ZDNET

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

Reply from Sonos and my response. Sorry its a bit long, but important we share information and responses Enjoy playing “Spot the Bol****”.

 

Thank you for reaching out to Sonos support.

My name is David, I am a supervisor here at Sonos and I will be handling your escalated case.



I hear you loud and clear. It's incredibly frustrating to feel like the functionality you've come to rely on isn't there when you need it most. Your feelings of anger and disappointment are completely valid, especially when you've invested in a product expecting a certain level of performance.




It's clear that this situation has resulted in a lot of feedback from our customer community. We never intended for the transition to our new app to be this disruptive, and we're actively working to address the missing features and restore the experience you expect.



We understand that for many of our customers, time is of the essence, and we want to do everything we can to make things right.

We're committed to ensuring that our products meet the standards our customers deserve, and we'll do whatever it takes to make things right.



Please know that we're listening to your feedback and taking action to resolve this as quickly as possible. Your support means everything to us, and we're determined to regain your trust.



Thank you for sharing your concerns with us. We're here for you every step of the way

.

 

My reply:

Thank you for your reply but apologies are worth nothing. Action is what is needed. You can achieve everthing you need to in 5 minutes by re-posting the app on Apple Appstore. NOW!  If you seriously understand that time is of the essence this would have been done already.
 
“We're actively working to address the missing features and restore the experience you expect.” The features and experience were all there in the old app. Give it back to us!
 
“We understand that for many of our customers, time is of the essence, and we want to do everything we can to make things right.” Then give us back the old app immediately!
 
“We're committed to ensuring that our products meet the standards our customers deserve, and we'll do whatever it takes to make things right.” Clearly you are not ensuring your products meet even acceptable standards never mind the standards expected by your customers. No quality assurance process has been used – clearly – to allow such a lump of coding garbage to reach customers. If you want to “do everything we can to make things right”… not difficult! Give us the old app back!
 
“Please know that we're listening to your feedback and taking action to resolve this as quickly as possible.” No you are not! If you wanted to resolve things as quickly as possible you would have given us the old app back already!
 
Listen to your customers. Open your eyes to the simple solution we are requesting! We have spent hours today telling you that what we want is the old app back whilst you sort out the hundreds of problems with the load of crap you have forced on us. We should not have to wait. Now! Not in 10 minutes… Now! You will never regain our trust unless you do this.
 

Userlevel 3
Badge +1

One other missing/lost feature, in at least the Android app: The ability, for those of us who use a Boost (or apparently directly wire a component via Ethernet), to change the SonosNet channel to avoid WiFi interference.

The Sonos help files now state this regarding changing the SonosNet channel:
Sonos app version 80.0
This setting is not currently available in the Sonos app for iOS or Android, but it will return in a future update.

Since SonosNet control was earlier removed from the Sonos Windows app in favor of network control via the mobile apps, I can now find no way to switch between SonosNet channels until the feature is restored. Definite downgrade in that functionality.

Having just upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • There is no longer a volume number indication
  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end’
  • You cannot create or edit any alarms

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.

 

They've also done away with the sleep function. The whole update is absolutely shocking. Feels so amateur, but having had Sonos for over 10 years, this is the worst update I've seen. 

Userlevel 2

Just been insulted further by getting an email from Sonos entitled “The Sonos app is redesigned and better than ever”. 
deluded!

Userlevel 4
Badge

Just been insulted further by getting an email from Sonos entitled “The Sonos app is redesigned and better than ever”. 
deluded!

 

HAHAHA Just got this one a few minutes ago, too. Utterly shocking and painfully tone deaf

Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Thank goodness I use APK Backup and Restore and do not have auto updates turned on - at least I have been able to go back to the last version of this app that was of any use.

It beggars belief that they released this - they have absolutely no connection to their existing users if they thought this made any kind of sense.

The biggest issue for me is not being able to search my local library… I mean WHY would you remove such a basic feature? I can browse it, but not search, it makes zero sense at all.

When my Sonos reaches EOL I am out of here - they have just messed us about too many times to just keep swallowing the crap they feed us.

Userlevel 3

Agree with all. Very poor implementation missing key features of why I "liked" my Sonos system. Mainly queue management- adding and removing songs, clearing the queue.  How could such a release happen? Big meh! When will it be fixed?

Badge

can you please explain what you did with the boost when you re-created your system. I too am having connection issues with the new app when the boost is on.

Userlevel 1

Courage my a**. Releasing an app before it’s ready is foolish, and is akin to giving a 14 year old the keys to the family car because they know how to turn a steering wheel. 

Userlevel 3

The headline of their email today says  “redesigned and better than ever”. Whose ever? Not mine.

Userlevel 3

Having just upgraded to the new app, I’m utterly amazed at how poor it is from a user perspective.

  • There is no longer a volume number indication
  • You cannot edit queues
  • You cannot add single songs to a queue as ‘play next’ or ‘add to end’
  • You cannot create or edit any alarms

How did this get through any UAT? These are basic features every Sonos user has enjoyed for years.

Absolutely ridiculous, please add this functionality back ASAP.

Sonos - please fix these items ASAP!

Userlevel 4

I’d have a hard time believing the new App was actually beta-tested by actual Consumers.. That’s SW Development 101.

Hey Sonos, allow your Customers to re-install the S2 App!!!

Userlevel 2

I’m finding the all new Sonos ‘Web App’ just has rather basic functionality, but I actually like its layout on my iPad screen (landscape mode) - I think I prefer that layout to the new App, with the rooms down the side, but appreciate it would not work on a phone display. 

One feature request I have already, is to be able to change the order of the ‘pinned categories’ on the Web App, like we are able to do with the new Sonos App.
 

…I really like the layout here.👍

I’d really like to know how you were able to move all of your speakers to the right hand side of your screen. I can’t figure out how to do anything on this new interface. I can’t even figure out how to remove a song from a speaker and it keeps trying to put that song on all my other speakers. I keep trying to put a song on one speaker and it wants to put some other song, not only on that speaker but on a bunch of other speakers. I’ve never been frustrated with anything from Sonos ever in my life. Anything you can do to help me figure out how to  actually try to use this thing. I’d appreciate.  Thanks

DMW

Userlevel 5
Badge +3

Another huge problem … I search all the time for artists and songs. The search function used to return info from BOTH Spotify and my Music Library. It no longer searches my music library of 25,000 songs. this is worthless. How do I uninstall the new app.

Userlevel 1

Please can I get the old app back? No sound level number, really? I've not even used it properly yet and that one thing alone sucks. Do the developers even actually use this app? 

It will all get sorted out in due course - the previews for the new app showed lots of individual track options (like Add to Queue), so I’m confident those missing options will be rolled out at some point soon, along with any number of other aspects which have caused such ire on this forum over the last 24 hours.

I would not be so confident. For instance “new search” came out over a year ago and it still cannot search into local libraries. Do you think that missing to implement “old search” in the new app was an oversight ?

 

It appreciate it must be an absolute pain to have lost this functionality. I can’t guess as to whether local library search is to come, but I also wonder what proportion of Sonos users access music via their own  storage? If Sonos feels a section of its user-base is expendable in pursuit of the streaming mass-market majority, then it will unfortunately reduce focus on those users.

The proportion of local storage users on this forum is very high (and rightly noisy at the moment because of the app omissions) as forums for any tech tends to attract the more advanced users - but what is the proportion of Sonos forum users vs the total Sonos user base? 

I don’t know, just surmising… Has Sonos made a sweeping decision?? (But local storage search and functionality might all show up next week!)

As accessing and using an existing library and music catalogue was my primary reason for buying Sonos products, and I did so waaaaayyy before streaming services were generally available - if this functionality is deprecated, I’m out of the ecosystem.  I will re-rip all my disks to FLAC and look at alternatives - funded by selling 2 x Play 3 / 2 x amp / 2 x port / 2 x Roam / Move / Beam / Playbar.

I will join the AMA discussion mentioned - we have the heads of development, UX and Product Management at Sonos on that event.  Sounds like a fun 3 hours for them ;-)

Userlevel 5
Badge +4

The integration between Sonos and Apple Music feels completely broken to me. I create a lot of Apple Music stations based specifically on a song, or artist. For example, I have a playlist based on the Rolling Stones song ‘miss you’. This plays not just ‘bands’ like the Rolling Stones, but songs specifically like that particular track.

I have another one set up on a song by called Mont LaRue called ‘sleepwalking’.

I can no longer search for or find these when using the Sonos search. They don’t show as a result in my Apple Music account (they did in S2).

Not only that they simply do not show up in the ‘recently played’ list. For some reason the new Sonos app simply cannot see any of these stations that I have created.  
 

It used to be very easy to replay these stations which always plays a different variety of music simply by playing them from my recently played list. In the screen snap below you can see three missing station art icons from Soma FM stations. This is another huge annoyance you cannot tell at glance what FM Soma FM stations you recently played by visual cover art. 

 

In between each of these stations I have made a red line where I streamed one of my curated Apple Music stations. They just are t showing as ‘Recently Played’.

Why are they not visible in the Sonos app?

All I see other Soma FM stations and not any of the Apple Music stations I played in between each of these . 

 

You can even see that I am *actually currently playing* the station from Apple Music based on Monte La Rue. And yet no matter how many times I plan an Apple Music station it will not appear in the recently played list.

 

What is going on with the integration between the new app and Apple Music?

Where is the station artwork from SomaFM?

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