From Twitter

”The latest version of the Sonos app is our most ambitious software update yet, and we know there is still more work to be done. To ensure all features meet the standards of our listeners, certain functionalities will not be available at this time. We appreciate your patience as we make future improvements.”

Has anyone heard anything at all one way or another from Sonos about the new app: defending it, giving updates on return of missing features to new app, possibility of rolling back to old app, full apology, etc.?  I have not seen or heard anything myself other than their own backslapping on social media sites and on the top of their own website.  I kind of feel like they just don't care about us existing customers and hope that this whole new app total failure "expletive"-storm blows over.  I, for one, feel so let down by their "just don't care” attitude toward their customers that it would be hard for them to recover my loyalty and trust.  Some of the missing features, like playlist and queue management and the playing of my local NAS-stored music, are absolute show stoppers for me and will drive me to quickly find an alternative to Sonos for my hard-earned sound system buying dollars.

…but what about all of us who use the alarm feature and can’t turn it off or amend it!!? How many months will we have to live with a wake up alarm which we may not need! They need to give answers and stop treating us as fools and it would bite nice if journalists including the verge didn’t let them off so lightly. 

This is truly outrageous. I’ve used Sonos for at least ten years — and one of the MAIN reasons I’ve used it is the precise functionalities they just eliminated with no warning, no recourse, and not a word about if or when they’ll put those critical functionalities back. There are a lot of options out there. If this blunder doesn’t get fixed in the next few weeks, I’m out for absolutely certain.

One question. I have the new unusable crap app on my android phone now. I’ve turned off auto update. Now how do I get the real app back? Delete the unusable new one and then redownload the old app that worked? Will that old version be available? Sorry if this a dumb question!

Thanks!
 

Not to make light of it, but if Sonos isn’t capable of fixing this omission before you go on vacation, you could just unplug your Sonos devices. 

Truly an awful “update”. Who are the developers listening too? I can’t even randomly play all songs from the Music Library (fortunately it didn’t have any problems accessing my Music Library files from my router). And have no way of creating a playlist. And I can’t Add Songs to the “Queue” - it’s always empty even when selecting a full album to play. Basically all I can do is play one album at a time with no way to Queue up another, and no way to create a Playlist!

THIS IS JUST INSANE AND RIDICULOUS!!! 

I've had SONOS since its inception and it just keeps getting worse and worse! But too invested to change now, unfortunately! GET YOUR ARSE INTO GEAR AND FIX THIS STUPID APP.

I can feel a class action coming on. Sonos products no longer fit for purpose as described as now not capable of accessing the functions of the products as set out in the product descriptions at time of sale, etc etc.

Well here's my response from the 'CEO’.

I ended the email (which simply asked him to admit they’d got it wrong and give us back v16 until this was ready) with my full name, but in the reply I’m just ‘C’.

Although I’d like to think it is written by a human, it has more than a whiff of being AI-generated.

It has the usual ‘We are right and know what is best for you’ paragraphs - such arrogance - and at the end I am told to ‘Have a bit more patience.’ 🤯🤯🤯

Sonos have drunk their own Kool-Aid. 

Hello C,

Thank you for reaching out to Sonos.

My name is Ünal C., and I'm an Escalation Specialist on the Customer Experience team here at Sonos.
Our CEO, Patrick Spence, brought your feedback to my attention, and I wanted to see if there's anything I can do to help address this.

I am truly sorry to hear about the frustration you are experiencing with the new app update. Your feedback is important to us, and I want to thank you for bringing it to our attention. Therefore, I will take this case into my own hands and help you further. As a valued long-term customer, your satisfaction is our top priority. 

To begin with, the streaming industry is undergoing a rapid change. As a leader in sound experience with an open platform offering unparalleled choice, Sonos is focused on creating a better way to listen. We’ve redesigned the Sonos app to bring all your content across your services into one customizable home screen for a more personal listening experience, built on an agile software platform for a smoother, faster streaming experience that can – and will – support more innovation over time.

Furthermore, the redesigned Sonos app is a completely renovated, future-built app experience that brings all your favorite content across 100+ streaming services in one easy-to-use home screen. With a customizable layout and more accessible, intuitive controls for grouping and more, the redesigned Sonos app gets you to the music you love even faster for effortless out-loud listening.

Moreover, the revitalization of the Sonos app is our most ambitious software update yet and aims to address what our customers have been asking us for. It’s a huge undertaking, and we are taking the time and effort to ensure all features work seamlessly and meet both our standards and the standards of our listeners. With this commitment in mind, features such as playlist creation and queue editing within the Sonos app, sleep timers, and local library support will not be available at launch, but will be added to the app on a rolling basis over the coming months.

I understand how these missing features can impact your experience with our products. However, I would kindly ask you to have a bit more patience and make sure the app is up to date. This way, the features that are missing and planned to return will return.

Please keep in mind that your feedback is invaluable to us as we strive to improve our products and services. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding  

Best regards, 

Ünal C.
Sonos | Customer Experience - Level 2 | Contact Us

You can go to https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/sonos-inc/sonos-for-android/ and download one of the 16.1 versions which is the old Gold S2 version that works perfectly fine (at least for now).

Is there any way for iPhone users to find a way to go back to the previous version?  I see solutions for Android.  Thanks.

Really hope that enough people attend the ‘event’ (assuming that it goes ahead) and reinforce the message that I believe is coming across VERY loud and VERY clear…….put back the v16.1 app and don’t release the v80 again until it has AT LEAST comparable functionality and has been TESTED. 

When I change songs I have to then change rooms again. It always pulls up the room on the top of the list plus 1. So now I has had to turn the volume all the way down on the speaker itself in the room at the top of the list because the app will always open that with loud volume while I’m across the house trying to listen to another room. The app is Garbage!!!’ Let us download the old app until you figure this pos out. These expensive speakers are worthless right now. To say I’m pissed off is putting it lightly. FIX IT OR REFUND MY MONEY!!!  

I have done that also

I now have my android phone with the old app and the iPad sadly stuck with the new version!