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New Sonos App Update Sucks Massively


Sonos really screwed the pooch on the update.  Nothing connects now, simplicity is gone.  What in wide world of sports were you thinking?????  Was there any real world testing done?  Massive screw-up.  Thinking of pitching what I have and starting over with another brand.  Awful product

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143 replies

Userlevel 1

Agree 100% - this update sucks. The app is extremely slow and non responsive. The setting/volume adjustments and changes made - if you’re lucky - take several seconds to occur… or the app will simply move back to prior setting like it has been hacked… 😩

Userlevel 4
Badge

Sonos really screwed the pooch on the update.  Nothing connects now, simplicity is gone.  What in wide world of sports were you thinking?????  Was there any real world testing done?  Massive screw-up.  Thinking of pitching what I have and starting over with another brand.  Awful product

Sonos has taken an app that worked well 85% of the time to one that is virtually unusable. I was looking at upgrading to the newest speakers (x8) but now considering dumping the system and going with something else if this isn’t resolved quickly.

Userlevel 6
Badge +4

I just want this crap fixed and sell my whole sonos system.

I couldnt sell something that is not working

Userlevel 1

New update doesn’t work at all. Every single button takes 3 seconds to load, the app is super glitchy ALL the time and there’s no queue function??? I can only replace the queue, there’s literally no function to edit the queue. 

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

I had some limited functionality after spending 90 minutes with tech help in the Philippines. Changing speakers in the app did not work. It kept reverting to the previous speaker configuration. It took about 15 minutes to locate  my music library when 2ft from the router.  Today the iPad app won’t even open. What a worthless piece of crap.

Congratulations Sonos, you destroyed my ability to listen to music. Good luck selling your hardware!

Userlevel 1

Agreed.  Remote speakers not connected.  Looks like they want us to play music through them.  Hate it.  Calling sound guy to remove and switch to another brand.

The new update is awful. Couldn’t leave well enough alone. It used to work great. Now all sorts of issues. PLEASE FIX.

This app update is causing so much unnecessary stress! Spent hours of time trying to get the system on line at the office. STILL NOT WORKING! Perhaps moving to amazon products is the answer. I have a giant investment in these speakers 15 speakers and all the hardware. Unreal

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

I continue to be astonished by how bad the “new” Sonos app is.  Every time I change the speaker configuration it reverts back to the speaker previously selected. It won't play the selection I have selected from my music library (if I can find it. I seems to appear and disappear). If I mange to get something to play (usually  takes 5-10 minutes) it shows that something else is playing. It plays in rooms I have not selected and won't play where I want it to play.

Who in their right mind would release this piece of crap and call it “improved”. It doesn’t do anything that the previous app could do with ease. The few functions it seems to have are poorly executed and painfully slow. I don't want to talk to the app. I want it to work. If I want to stream Spotify, I’ll use the Spotify app. After 10-15 years of use, you have killed Sonos. It is dead in the water.

It’s like they accidentally rolled back to some dev UI from 15 years ago. It’s terrible. I will actually replace my Sonos hardware rather than keep using this terrible interface.

There is no quick way to scroll to a particular band in my library

Using the volume slider is horrible as your finger covers the position and there’s no longer a numerical value for reference. On a phone if I want to make a minor adjustment I can’t even tell if I’m raising or lowering the volume as I twist my finger slightly to try and move the slider

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Today I discovered that if you reboot or restart your computer (Mac OS) the “new improved” app will forget the location of your music library entirely. You have re-enter the NAS location, user name and password and then re-index your music files. For me, the is a 45 minute operation. Note that on the  iOS app it is not even possible to enter your library location or index files.

Just another addition to the long list of “improvements” to the new Sonos app. Silly me, I thought a music app should be able to play music. Sonos has proved me wrong.

Still researching alternate music app/hardware alternatives that actually function.

Userlevel 1

Today I discovered that if you reboot or restart your computer (Mac OS) the “new improved” app will forget the location of your music library entirely. You have re-enter the NAS location, user name and password and then re-index your music files. For me, the is a 45 minute operation. Note that on the  iOS app it is not even possible to enter your library location or index files.

Just another addition to the long list of “improvements” to the new Sonos app. Silly me, I thought a music app should be able to play music. Sonos has proved me wrong.

Still researching alternate music app/hardware alternatives that actually function.

Yes, already discovered this! I am working on the principle that the present CEO of Sonos will get his redundancy package sooner than later, and someone with a brain will be put into his office. Then a working piece of software will be issued and I can go back to using my beloved SONOS speakers again!  Might take a few months, but seriously – how can he survive? 

Userlevel 4
Badge +1

I was mistaken. Losing the connection to my library does NOT require a reboot or a restart. It just spontaneously loses the connection with no action on my part.

I have never been so ANGRY in my life. What kind of idiots would release this kind of “software”? It's as if they have replaced your car with a new one but it has no engine, only a colorful new paint job a a couple of tires. Worthless!

i can not emphasize enough how bad this update is. was there no usability testing? it used to be so simple to use and now a complete disaster. i have several thousand dollars invested in this system as an early adopter and now i feel as though i am completely screwed. do they hear this feedback????

Userlevel 1

The new Sonos app is complete junk. The old version was amazing and for some reason they left that. Now amongst other things, while playing my songs it will randomly skip to another song. What’s more, it resets everything to play only in one of my zones (my backyard….,the neighbors love it!..not).  In fact every time I play a song it resets all and plays to that one zone. Sonos(!), why in the world would you assume that I want to only play my back yard for this new song after I’ve been playing elsewhere for the last hour?!?!?!

 

Nonetheless, this app is trash. Please roll back to the old one. You literally fixed what wasn’t broke. My entire Sonos setup is about to end up on eBay.

Userlevel 1

What the literal * is going on here!!! Why on earth would Sonos launch a “new app update” and literally * everything up?! My speakers now constantly drop, the connection between speakers is horrible, how they sync to my wifi network now is just crap and to top it off the speakers sound different as well! Why why why would you get rid of the alarm setting!!? Now I have alarms from the previous app version that are still running with NO way of turning them off or modify them!? 
Nice work Sonos… why would you update/fix something that worked perfectly well before, and now it’s garbage…. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this right, and fix all the issues ASAP  

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

Userlevel 3
Badge +1

A gleaming reputation that took over a decade to build by the work of soooooo many talented people, destroyed by this release. The beautiful code with a thoughtful UI with functionality that  others could not equal, gone. What’s worst, it marginalizes the beautifully designed HW and all the work that went into them. The HW is now just an internet radio. Never thought Sonos leadership would EVER let this happen. Shame on you for not listening to your beta testers. You knew it was broke and you released it anyway.

I have Sonos in virtually every room of the house. No, I will not go and factory reset every single one just to see if that fixes it. You didn’t take care of your legacy consumers. The ones that supported you when it was a Russian iPod and a hunk of aluminum.

Give everyone in customer service a raise and hold the decision makers accountable.

Shame on you, Sonos Leadership.

James Koo

former Sonos Director of Mechanical Engineering

Agree it sucks. Cannot save songs to Spotify playlist, seamlessly go to album list of tracks,  timer does not work.  NOT an upgrade

Userlevel 2

The new app is so bad it defies belief. How did it get signed off? The CEO needs to be made aware. We’ve invested massively in a system that’s now unusable. I feel Sonos need to be held accountable and compensate users. 
 

I’d settle though at having the old app back, being able to turn the volume up and down or putting on a radio station feels like a distant luxury now. 

Userlevel 1

What a mess.  Like many of you, I’ve been a loyal user for years and have speakers in every room. THANK GOD I didn’t upgrade and my system still works. It’s just another example of C-Suite morons ignoring the engineers and developers and making the decision to move forward anyway. I feel so sorry for the developers, engineers, and support staff who undoubtedly had to bust their humps to meet an unreasonable deadline, communicated the shortcomings and were ignored, and who are now having to bust their humps again to fix this ess-show while the C-Suite morons hide from all the customer vitriol in their ivory tower. 
 

I’ve read mention of people exploring other options. Has anyone found any…?

Userlevel 2

A gleaming reputation that took over a decade to build by the work of soooooo many talented people, destroyed by this release. The beautiful code with a thoughtful UI with functionality that  others could not equal, gone. What’s worst, it marginalizes the beautifully designed HW and all the work that went into them. The HW is now just an internet radio. Never thought Sonos leadership would EVER let this happen. Shame on you for not listening to your beta testers. You knew it was broke and you released it anyway.

I have Sonos in virtually every room of the house. No, I will not go and factory reset every single one just to see if that fixes it. You didn’t take care of your legacy consumers. The ones that supported you when it was a Russian iPod and a hunk of aluminum.

Give everyone in customer service a raise and hold the decision makers accountable.

Shame on you, Sonos Leadership.

James Koo

former Sonos Director of Mechanical Engineering

I really hope someone from Sonos reads this deeply insightful post. Thanks for sharing! 

I have been having the same issues with the updated app as mentioned by others. It’s terrible. I’m contemplating selling my system and just going with Bluetooth speakers. By the way, Klipsch makes outstanding Bluetooth speakers.  I’m not investing in any Sonos products. 

Badge

Y’all ruined a great product. I’ve been a loyal SONOS customer for 10 years. My house is full of SONOS products. If it wasn’t for AirPlay, my speakers would be worthless. The details of how bad the new app is have been widely detailed across multiple threads here and social platforms, so I won’t go into it. I really hope you remedy this so I don’t have to completely replace my household system with products from a competitor. Hate to spend the money, but junk is junk. 🤬 

Userlevel 2

I could not agree more. The new app, from its nonsensical UI to broken and missing functionality, is a dumpster fire of stupidity. Why on earth would you take something that was great and totally burn it to the ground? Frankly, unless they were specifically directed by the board of directors to release this product regardless of known issues and customer dislike, Tucker Severson and especially Diane Roberts should be held accountable for this debacle. This app release reflects a SERIOUS leadership issue at Sonos, and since they are publicly traded, you can and should use your shares, even if you just own one, to voice your concerns and vote for change. 

Sonos really screwed the pooch on the update.  Nothing connects now, simplicity is gone.  What in wide world of sports were you thinking?????  Was there any real world testing done?  Massive screw-up.  Thinking of pitching what I have and starting over with another brand.  Awful product

The app is so delayed. Takes 20 seconds to respond to volume level change. Really went from a great system to junk. Sucks because I loved my system and now its a pain!