My Sonos system has lost all (four) speakers. The speakers are three Play:1 and one Play:3. I have not done a system upgrade. I did an app upgrade, currently running Android Sonos 80.06.04. However, I also had to change the settings on my router to deal with other network issues that were not affecting Sonos. I suspect that might be why the devices were lost from the system.

The Sonos app tells me that these devices cannot be added using the app, and I have to do a factory reset on all four speakers. In preparing to do this and looking online for guidance, I stumbled into the current firestorm of criticism that Sonos is facing regarding the May 2024 app update, with many people saying it made their systems unusable. I also found out that Sonos faced a class action lawsuit a while ago for deliberately bricking older devices.

Most concerning was complaints that the new update requires a network connection to play a *local* music library, as I play a lot of my music from a shared network drive. (I also use Spotify.) I’m concerned about usability (if you lose internet completely, as we did recently because Comcast was doing work in the area, you can’t play local files at all). But I’m also annoyed about this from a privacy standpoint.

Basically, I want a system that works the way it used to. I’m having a hard time figuring out which forum posts or support pages apply to my use case, and there are several moving parts, so some expert guidance would be appreciated.

1. I believe I have to start with a factory reset of all devices. Are there any gotchas I should be aware of? Is there any danger of bricking the devices?
2. If I just want a basically usable system, does S1 vs. S2 matter? In particular, would going with S1 avoid the problems with the recent app update, or do those affect both S1 and S2?
3. I’ve seen recommendations online to avoid the new app by sideloading the old app. Most of the complaints I’m seeing are directed at the iOS app, and I can’t tell if the same thing applies to Android. Why should (or shouldn’t) I sideload the old app, and how would I do so?
4. How serious of a usability issue is network access being needed for local music playback? What would I have to do to set it up so that my local music playback does *not* send information to Sonos servers?

If it matters to any of this, future growth does not matter. I will probably ride this setup until it becomes unusable, then look at the market to see what else is available. But I’ve only had these speakers for 5-7 years, and don’t want the expense of replacing them. (I have stereo equipment, TVs, and computers that are far older and still work.)