I know this is not helpful, and I apologize for it: it’s just a rant. But I am sick and tired of frequently having to “reauthorize” my sources. My main only remaining sources are TuneIn, Apple Music, and Hearts of Space (I deleted my other sources, as trying to maintain them was just too much trouble); and every time I try to play one of them on my Sonos speakers it is a gamble whether it’s going to just work, like it’s supposed to, or whether I’m going to be told that my authorization has mysteriously “expired” and that I have to “reauthorize” the source. And when I’m told to “reauthorize”, it is even more of a gamble whether I’m going to be able to do that without Sonos giving me the mysterious “Something went wrong” chant. 

I see from https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/the-new-sonos-app-and-future-feature-updates that Nick Millington knows that these items need to be high on the new app’s to-do list:

• Replacement of vague errors when the app cannot connect to Sonos, or when software updates fail, with more specific, actionable steps to fix the problem.
• Fewer interruptions asking you to “reauthorize” Sonos’s access to your music services.

I’m glad that someone knows they need to be done, but the fact remains that they are not done. And I am sick of it. A smart speaker that cannot reach out onto the Internet to play a source is not a smart speaker: it is a stupid speaker. I can always work around these difficulties by playing the source on my iPhone and streaming the output to my Sonos speakers, but that is being a stupid speaker; I might as well just get myself some Bluetooth speakers if I’m going to have to do that.

I remind everyone, lest our collective memories be eradicated by the new regime, that this used to just work. The new app is what broke things, and this breakage was and remains irresponsible and infuriating.

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest, and now I’ll go back to lurking.