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revert to previous app


Hi, new sonos app was just installed on my android. It is a mess, half of the services won't work, can't find the other half. Design is chaotic. Had my favourite radio stations on top, now they are mixed and hidden somewhere. 

How do i revert to the old version?

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82 replies

New update is just awful. One of my speakers won’t connect to the app at all. I depended on the sleep timer EVERY NIGHT. Whose idea was It to get rid of that???? So disappointed. Going to see if I can download the old app. No more updates!!!

can someone explain what to do after going to the apkmirror site?  lots of junk downloads, not clear to me what to do next.

thanks!

ah, got it

but now i can’t find the place to disable auto updates; playstore > profile > manage apps > manage

then find sonos s2 … but it’s not there, only the new terrible version shows (even though i uninstalled it before loading the old version 16.1)

ah, finally:

launch sonos s2, settings > system >system settings > system updates

no need to reply, this did it (and maybe helped some other beginner!)

Userlevel 2

this new app is dreadful.

ive invested in sonos all over my home . i use music to chill out this new app has put me off using my system.

 

how can i revert to the old app please ?

should i down grade to the s1 app  ?

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

this new app is dreadful.

ive invested in sonos all over my home . i use music to chill out this new app has put me off using my system.

 

 

This was my first comment to SONOS when I received the update.  You’re reinforcing hatred for your product as often as people attempt to listen to music in their homes.

Seems like a pretty horrible brand-strategy.

Userlevel 4
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I wanted a SONOS system for a lot of years, but felt that I could not afford it. However, as I am now retired and home a lot, I decided to go for it when I had to buy a new television. I loved the ARC and the software. Now, I am up to seven SONOS speakers in my little house. I love to give a little tour of my system to friends. I have a new high-end CD player for my 300+ CDs and I play from my 80,000 digital tracks on my computer. I also use streaming services. Music is very important to me and I have spent what to me is a lot of money on these speakers. Indeed, I drive a 20 year old car in order to afford these. 

Now it doesn’t work. It is so difficult and yet I feel like I can’t afford to just dump the gear on eBay. I humbly suggest that the company do the damage control to lessen the pain: Make the old app available for use, and support it. I use an iPhone, so need the iOS compatible old app. 

Also, if any other users know how to get the old app in iOS, please post. And perhaps there is a market for a third party app! 

Userlevel 1

One more of these adverse software events and there are going to be 3 more sonos units on ebay (for cheap) 

ah, finally:

launch sonos s2, settings > system >system settings > system updates

no need to reply, this did it (and maybe helped some other beginner!)

Sorry but this is incorrect. This setting controls updates to the Sonos system, not the app. To stop the app updating you need to stop updates in the relevant app store.

Userlevel 6
Badge +4

ah, finally:

launch sonos s2, settings > system >system settings > system updates

no need to reply, this did it (and maybe helped some other beginner!)

Sorry but this is incorrect. This setting controls updates to the Sonos system, not the app. To stop the app updating you need to stop updates in the relevant app store.

You should block both: the ones in app store AND Sonos app.

Anyway,  with the architecture overhaul S2 will stop working while S3 still doesn't...

Userlevel 1
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I am so disappointed by the May ‘24 update. It is a mess, as others have noted. Not just a UI mess, but buggy. I am putting aside the fact that I can’t figure out how to get to most of the the options that were previously clear.

 

My Sonos system has several zones. I select a zone and make volume changes or attempt to turn it off and nothing happens. The UI indicates that the zone is turned off and that the volume was changed, but the speakers don’t reflect these changes. This highly repeatable and pretty fundamental Seriously, did anyone test this?
 

i recognize that I haven’t provided a lot of context here, but this is because I am lost. Taking away the the tool bar at the bottom has taken away grounding, which is a fundamental UX principle. What are are you doing, Sonos!

 

 

There is no S3. Currently, both the 16.x version and the 80.x versions are both S2. No new operating system on the speakers, merely a UI refresh on the controllers. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +21

Sonos cannot revert the app now that Roam 2 and the Deadphones have been released as these will only work on the latest app. 
 

So existing iOS customers now just have to wait until all the missing functionality is restored… if ever. 
A dreadful state of affairs😢

ah, finally:

launch sonos s2, settings > system >system settings > system updates

no need to reply, this did it (and maybe helped some other beginner!)

Sorry but this is incorrect. This setting controls updates to the Sonos system, not the app. To stop the app updating you need to stop updates in the relevant app store.

You should block both: the ones in app store AND Sonos app..

I agree that both need to be changed, and I wasn't trying to suggest that changing the Sonos setting was unnecessary., just insufficient  In fact, once one of the system or app has been updated, Sonos will generally insist you update the other for compatibility. 

Userlevel 6
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There is no S3. Currently, both the 16.x version and the 80.x versions are both S2. No new operating system on the speakers, merely a UI refresh on the controllers. 

It is a complete new app, call it what you like …

We basically took a monolith and broke it into modular parts, which allows us to move faster in certain elements.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/22/24162168/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-new-app-design-interview

 

Userlevel 2

I was genuinely sitting on my hands, but now I’ve had enough. 
I want a roll back of the app to the previous version (that worked and could see my local music).
I know everyone already knows this, but I’ll say it again, I literally have a music system that I can’t search for music.

I am not waiting for Fix Forwards with the timeframes mentioned.
They either do it by this weekend (SONOS can you hear me?) or I am selling all my kit and never recommending this company again.


They tried this kind of stuff on the Arlo/Netgear (Security Cameras) and the CEO had to get involved to roll back the changes after the forums were basically under the same amount of pressure as Sonos are now. The Sonos CEO seems to be taking a different tac and actually defending this set of changes.

 

2 days SONOS. You can do it or it’s goodbye to me as a customer forever and I won’t be coming back.

There is no S3. Currently, both the 16.x version and the 80.x versions are both S2. No new operating system on the speakers, merely a UI refresh on the controllers. 

It is a complete new app, call it what you like …

 

 

You have missed @Airgetlam’s point.  This is not mere semantics.  S1 and S2 are Sonos operating systems, and encompass far more than the app.  The operating system hasn’t changed and drives such things as which speakers are compatible with which system.  The change from S1 to S2 was far more profound than any change to the controller app.

Sloppy terminology inevitably leads to muddled thinking and false conclusions.

(We can still agree that the latest app is botched.)

Userlevel 6
Badge +4

There is no S3. Currently, both the 16.x version and the 80.x versions are both S2. No new operating system on the speakers, merely a UI refresh on the controllers. 

It is a complete new app, call it what you like …

 

 

You have missed @Airgetlam’s point.  This is not mere semantics.  S1 and S2 are Sonos operating systems, and encompass far more than the app.  The operating system hasn’t changed and drives such things as which speakers are compatible with which system.  The change from S1 to S2 was far more profound than any change to the controller app.

Sloppy terminology inevitably leads to muddled thinking and false conclusions.

I did not miss anything but a properly working sonos system. 

None of us knows the architecture of the S1 or S2 or "S3". In the verge article the CEO mentioned going from monolithic to distributed. If THAT isn't a major OS architecture change … and also quite profound as we can deduct from the  result: many "programs" e.g. myTuner do not run anymore on this new "OS"

 

 

The app is just a remote control for the system.  It may well now be a botched and less useful remote control but it is still just a remote control.

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

None of us knows the architecture of the S1 or S2 or "S3". In the verge article the CEO mentioned going from monolithic to distributed. If THAT isn't a major OS architecture change … and also quite profound as we can deduct from the  result: many "programs" e.g. myTuner do not run anymore on this new "OS"

 

 

It is interesting that Sonos seems to have scrubbed all evidence of “S2” from its site.  For example, the compatibility page refers to “Sonos S1 Controller app” and “Sonos app”.  There is no longer any “S2” mention:  https://support.sonos.com/en/article/sonos-app-version-compatibility

On the hardware side, they refer to hardware differences using “GEN” identifiers (eg “Connect (Gen1)” and “Connect (Gen2)”)

 

It is interesting that Sonos seems to have scrubbed all evidence of “S2” from its site.  For example, the compatibility page refers to “Sonos S1 Controller app” and “Sonos app”.  There is no longer any “S2” mention:  https://support.sonos.com/en/article/sonos-app-version-compatibility

On the hardware side, they refer to hardware differences using “GEN” identifiers (eg “Connect (Gen1)” and “Connect (Gen2)”)

Sonos has NEVER identified particular products aa being S1 or S2. Sonos has ALWAYS distinguished between different versions of products using generations.  Gen 1 / gen 2 and S1 / S2 are different concepts.  You are correct that the references to S2 have been dropped and that may or may not prove to be significant.  But the “Sonos S2 app” has been labelled just “Sonos” in the app stores, for a long time, possibly since the S1/S2 split, but I can’t remember exactly when.  

Userlevel 6
Badge +4

Sonos refers to S2 as a new app and operating system, so essentially a complete update to the software side of the ecosystem. Those who wish to move to the new software simply need to download the Sonos S2 app from the relevant app store, be it on iOS, macOS or Android.

 

https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-s2-update-everything-you-need-to-know

 

The reason it is sufficient to just download the app is that the only thing that has changed is the app!  i.e the remote control.  There is no change to the system itself.

You have just proved what I have been saying - that this is just an app update, albeit a radical one.  That doesn’t make it a trivial matter, obviously.  Users’ experience of the system IS the app.

But I have a single Sonos system which currently has the new app on my phone and the old app on my wife’s iPad.  It all works, insofar as you can say that the new app works.

Let’s not lose sight of the big picture.  Whatever has changed, the result is lost features, less reliability, and a lot of unhappy users.  Sonos want to portray this as “taking a few steps back to go forward.”  Most people think a major cockup is a more likely explanation.

So I am giving up now on trying to get people to distinguish correctly between generations, system updates, operating systems and app versions.  The game’s not worth the candle.

Is another user on here stated earlier in the thread, I am not typically the type of person to weigh in on Internet discussions however I felt the need to share in this instance.

 

I previously worked as a professional installer and have been recommending Sonos products to clientele for a literal decade. This new app was such a monumental step backwards in the overall user experience, and I am absolutely astonished that the company has chosen to put out such an unpolished and unfinished product.

 

I have an extremely simple set up with a Play:5 in my garage that I use the line in with a cheap old television that still has an analog output. This new app has stripped the auto play functionality on line in, which feels like such a frivolous complaint, but to go from having a system that just magically worked every time I picked up my TV remote to a clunky mess requiring me to pull my cell phone out and manually select my line in every time I walk into my garage; it builds resentment towards Sonos every time I have to do it.

 

My set up consists of a single speaker, I can only imagine how the multitudes of users that have built entire multi zone systems on Sonos feel about their investment turning sour on them. These products are priced as luxury items and marketed as such. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for customers to expect them to perform in a way that reflects what they cost.

 

The way that Sonos moves forward in the coming weeks is going to have a massive impact on the recommendations I make to my clientele moving forward.