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Still having App Problems

So, it has been months since the upgrades, but with several mini updates. I am still having problems with sonos app and just want to check if this is common to others.

App remains laggy.

Volume controls are haphazard....master volume control does not work as expected...I have to use the manual controls on each speaker to get to the desired volume.

 Almost everytime i switch apps and go back to Sonos, it does not find the connected system and often takes as long as 3 minutes before it 'finds' the system and reconnects.

These just makes the system unusable. I have 12 or so speakers and have been using sonos for over 15 years yet, this last few months have been my worst experience with the sonos.

It is almost unusable....Defo not buying any more and seriously considering selling these and moving to something else.

27 replies

S
Userlevel 2

Me too. Nothing seems to work properly. Please can we have an update. I feel that my investment in Sonos hardware has become worthless overnight. 
When will this be fixed? Or why can’t we return to the old app? 

U
Userlevel 1

I just figured out that I have some very basic control over things like general volume using the web-based controller. To me this was a step up, worth celebrating. Apple and Android apps are still as useless as ever. My old apps were always quite satisfactory. Sonos management must be a marriage of incompetence and mule-headedness, not the visionary geniuses they think they are.

G
Userlevel 2
Badge

I am having the same issue. Volume control sketchy at best. App does not initially find speakers when turned on. The app is pretty much useless. The computer web browser version works fine. So clearly the app is the issue. It takes Sonos too long to resolve  these problems.

S
Userlevel 2

It’s mad. I’ve gone from one of the brand’s biggest fan to one of its biggest detractorS overnight. How is this update so bad? It’s turned the hardware into a liability. 

J

It is crazy ! cant use properly my system, App keep asking to log as the system owner, that iam doing ! accept all password, even with, its still asking same, despite deleting app and reinstalling, very disappointing, by having two system in two country more than 10 of the sonos product, waste of money, volume on the app is very challenging as well, and cant get services i used before, cant find any help …...shame  

Ken_Griffiths

It is crazy ! cant use properly my system, App keep asking to log as the system owner, that iam doing ! accept all password, even with, its still asking same, despite deleting app and reinstalling, very disappointing, by having two system in two country more than 10 of the sonos product, waste of money, volume on the app is very challenging as well, and cant get services i used before, cant find any help …...shame  

Perhaps see if you can get Sonos Support help from Staff via this link…

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

M
Userlevel 1

My Sonos system stopped functioning the DAY the New App installed.  It is a total joke.  My long curated list of playlists from SPOTIFY is gone, my NAS drive cannot be connected.  Every time I log in to that JOKE that Sonos refers to as its APP, I must manually reconnect all of my eight speakers electronically to make the system work at all, to enjoy any music on a weekend morning.   Some technology companies have life support that will connect and diagnose problems directly, but SONOS technicians are evidently unable or unwilling to do this. 

Yesterday I uninstalled the App and Reinstalled it, unplugged all my speakers throughout the house and left them unplugged for a full shutdown and then plugged them back in progressively hoping for a full rebuild (I did that a few times to refresh the system back in the dimly remembered times when it was actually working!)  But still, the new App cannot seem to install or remember anything at all, I have only a handful of remembered albums after nearly 2.5 months of this total FAILURE on my system.

Total SILENCE from the Failed SONOS company on their inability to repair this technological failure, and the accompanying massive failure of customer service it represents. Meanwhile, as if nothing has happened, I get the cheery new emails hustling their latest Headphones!   What goddam PLANET are these people living on? 

Michael Utvich, Former Sonos Customer

Ken_Griffiths

     

My Sonos system stopped functioning the DAY the New App installed.  It is a total joke.  My long curated list of playlists from SPOTIFY is gone, my NAS drive cannot be connected.  Every time I log in to that JOKE that Sonos refers to as its APP, I must manually reconnect all of my eight speakers electronically to make the system work at all, to enjoy any music on a weekend morning.   Some technology companies have life support that will connect and diagnose problems directly, but SONOS technicians are evidently unable or unwilling to do this. 

Yesterday I uninstalled the App and Reinstalled it, unplugged all my speakers throughout the house and left them unplugged for a full shutdown and then plugged them back in progressively hoping for a full rebuild (I did that a few times to refresh the system back in the dimly remembered times when it was actually working!)  But still, the new App cannot seem to install or remember anything at all, I have only a handful of remembered albums after nearly 2.5 months of this total FAILURE on my system.

Total SILENCE from the Failed SONOS company on their inability to repair this technological failure, and the accompanying massive failure of customer service it represents. Meanwhile, as if nothing has happened, I get the cheery new emails hustling their latest Headphones!   What goddam PLANET are these people living on? 

Michael Utvich, Former Sonos Customer

Hi @MUTVICH,

Theres not enough information in your post to do a full diagnosis of the problems you’re seeing, but it sounds like your setup is having some mDNS device discovery issues and/or some form of network interference so perhaps start with this link:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3286

Sometimes mDNS discovery issues can arise from misconfigured settings on your router, or things running on your mobile controller device arising from some recent changes to the Sonos App.

it can sometimes be simple things like Apps/software running on the mobile ‘controller’ device that interfere with ‘device discovery’ Examples to perhaps consider are…

  • VPN Client 
  • Firewall software
  • Antivirus software
  • WiFi Calling/Dial assist
  • Private network address (MAC address spoofing)
  • Mobile data enabled for the Sonos App  

So if relevant, consider temporarily disabling these features, even if just to see if that may fix your device ‘discovery’ issue.

In your post aswell, you mention playing locally held music tracks, which I presume are from files/folders shared over your network. The new Sonos App will only play such library files if the folder is now being shared using the SMBv2 (or higher) sharing protocol. The previous App prior to early May, did play tracks using either SMBv1 or HTTP shares, but note these shares are no longer supported. So if that’s relevant to your local setup, then you may need to address those sharing issues. See this Sonos Support link:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/add-your-music-library-to-sonos

If you do find your issues persist despite the things outlined above, it maybe best to reproduce the issues mentioned and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Sonos Staff can perhaps suggest to help you resolve the matter.

Bumper

I hear that Mdns issues can also arise out of a buggy POS app. This is usually the case when a company releases a buggy AF app and then takes months to fix it. Just guessing though. 

G
Userlevel 2
Badge

Sonos is the worst audio system ever.

I unplugged my Verizon modem and moved it. Now my speakers no longer connect. I will have to spend the next hour trying to reconnect everything.

There is something VERY VERY VERY wrong when the much time and effort must be spent to listen to music when I have spent good money on a product that does not work reliably!!! Sonos needs to apologize to the all the customers who have tried endlessly to stick with this product and make it work despite the constant set backs and frustration.

I do not recommend this product to anyone when they ask and would not recommend it ever.

A
Userlevel 1

The App still doesn’t work. Please go back to the previous version which worked perfectly well. You have damaged your brand. 

Ken_Griffiths

The App still doesn’t work. Please go back to the previous version which worked perfectly well. You have damaged your brand. 

Just to add that’s actually not the case for everyone - it’s working okay here for my Home Sonos System, but if you perhaps can’t get it to work with your Sonos products, then it maybe best to reproduce the issues you are seeing and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

3 Attachments
press250
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

I hear that Mdns issues can also arise out of a buggy POS app. This is usually the case when a company releases a buggy AF app and then takes months to fix it. Just guessing though. 

You’re not being fair, @Bumper, placing all the blame on the buggy app.

There’s also the buggy firmware.

Bumper

I hear that Mdns issues can also arise out of a buggy POS app. This is usually the case when a company releases a buggy AF app and then takes months to fix it. Just guessing though. 

You’re not being fair, @Bumper, placing all the blame on the buggy app.

There’s also the buggy firmware.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s so true. 

inopinatus
Userlevel 5

My Sonos system is essentially bricked. It can no longer play music from any streaming service.

That’s on top of the UX catastrophe of the new app, with its laggy controls, its low-relevancy search, and the appalling way it wastes smartphone screen real estate.

This is how Sonos dies.

 

uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse
Ken_Griffiths

My Sonos system is essentially bricked. It can no longer play music from any streaming service.

That’s on top of the UX catastrophe of the new app, with its laggy controls, its low-relevancy search, and the appalling way it wastes smartphone screen real estate.

This is how Sonos dies.

If you haven’t spoken to Sonos Support Staff about the matter already then (if practicable) reproduce the issue/grab some screenshots and if possible submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and go onto contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

C
Userlevel 3

My Sonos system is essentially bricked. It can no longer play music from any streaming service.

That’s on top of the UX catastrophe of the new app, with its laggy controls, its low-relevancy search, and the appalling way it wastes smartphone screen real estate.

This is how Sonos dies.

If you haven’t spoken to Sonos Support Staff about the matter already then (if practicable) reproduce the issue/grab some screenshots and if possible submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and go onto contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

Users should not have to spend so much time to find 'fixes'. The product worked perfectly before the App was updated. Since the update, my user experience has - as we say in the UK - gone to pots. 

I now rarely want to use my sonos systems....and when I do, it is a hugely frustrating experience. Most people says it works well over a laptop, but I don't want to use a laptop...I want to use my mobile device. Or bring back the CR01 controller that sonos unceremoniously, and without warning, bricked some years ago (still annoyed about that - CR01 cost me about £250)

I am not sure how I can send sonos screen shots of a laggy performance, delayed volume controls, regular 'dropping' of speakers (midplay) etc. These are all irritating glitches and I had none of these problems prior to the update.

To be honest, I am more miffed the silence and apparent lack of acknowledgement from the company. My 15 speakers was a considerable investment in the brand...and the pleasure I used to derive from using it is all gone.

😡😡😤😤😠😠😠😠🤬🤬🤬🤬😤😤😠

 

Ken_Griffiths

My Sonos system is essentially bricked. It can no longer play music from any streaming service.

That’s on top of the UX catastrophe of the new app, with its laggy controls, its low-relevancy search, and the appalling way it wastes smartphone screen real estate.

This is how Sonos dies.

If you haven’t spoken to Sonos Support Staff about the matter already then (if practicable) reproduce the issue/grab some screenshots and if possible submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and go onto contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

Users should not have to spend so much time to find 'fixes'. The product worked perfectly before the App was updated. Since the update, my user experience has - as we say in the UK - gone to pots. 

I now rarely want to use my sonos systems....and when I do, it is a hugely frustrating experience. Most people says it works well over a laptop, but I don't want to use a laptop...I want to use my mobile device. Or bring back the CR01 controller that sonos unceremoniously, and without warning, bricked some years ago (still annoyed about that - CR01 cost me about £250)

I am not sure how I can send sonos screen shots of a laggy performance, delayed volume controls, regular 'dropping' of speakers (midplay) etc. These are all irritating glitches and I had none of these problems prior to the update.

To be honest, I am more miffed the silence and apparent lack of acknowledgement from the company. My 15 speakers was a considerable investment in the brand...and the pleasure I used to derive from using it is all gone.

😡😡😤😤😠😠😠😠🤬🤬🤬🤬😤😤😠

 

I’m in the UK too, the App seems to be working here okay, not that it fixes your issue I guess. See attached.

It might be something local to you and your setup, but probably best, when you do have the time, to maybe give the UK Sonos Support Team a call on 0800 026 1526

Hope you get it sorted. 👍

3 Attachments
inopinatus
Userlevel 5

My Sonos system is essentially bricked. It can no longer play music from any streaming service.

That’s on top of the UX catastrophe of the new app, with its laggy controls, its low-relevancy search, and the appalling way it wastes smartphone screen real estate.

This is how Sonos dies.

If you haven’t spoken to Sonos Support Staff about the matter already then (if practicable) reproduce the issue/grab some screenshots and if possible submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and go onto contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to resolve the matter.

Imagine having a device that interacts with your network at layer 2 but you can’t configure the parameters or see anything but the most rudimentary diagnostic information.

I really don’t have time to deal with their half-baked STP & SSDP/mDNS s*** all over again. This reminds me of when they broke IGMP a few years ago and the release notes said “* Bug fixes”. Or when they eviscerated what information could be obtained on the port 1400 service.

Rather than sit on hold with the mediocrity police I have un-retired an old FE switch and a previous generation wifi bridge, and shunted all the Sonos players into their own isolated broadcast domain, hanging off a spare router port as a separately numbered & routed segment. And re-enabled a recently retired smartphone & tablet to join the SSID for the controller role; seems I was right not to trade them in.

Well, I now have a stable topology, it works again. And much later this year, when I have some free time,  I will fire up wireshark to see what’s changed in the discovery and control plane protocols and figure out how & what to proxy/forward across the router in hope of controlling it from my regular devices once more.

I can see why The Wirecutter has dropped their recommendation of Sonos. You shouldn’t need my experience level and big pile of spare electronic equipment to make it work in nontrivial environments, and it’s downright obnoxious (and always has been) that they supply a device that wants to participate in network protocols, and has an application protocol doing complex multicast/broadcast discovery, but comes with a hard-coded fisher-price configuration and almost no further configurability or diagnostics or protocol documentation.

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

uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse
Ken_Griffiths

@inopinatus,

Well glad to hear you now have things working again. In my own use-case the new Sonos App update on May 7th did not upset my own Sonos system as much as it did yours, by all accounts, but proved to be ‘business as usual’ - albeit with the missing features that are now being restored to the App.

Anyhow, it sounds like you have a temporary solution and the knowledge to sort things in the longer term too, when you find the time and inclination to perhaps sort it.

So hope all remains well for you and your setup there.👍

R
Userlevel 1
Badge

     

My Sonos system stopped functioning the DAY the New App installed.  It is a total joke.  My long curated list of playlists from SPOTIFY is gone, my NAS drive cannot be connected.  Every time I log in to that JOKE that Sonos refers to as its APP, I must manually reconnect all of my eight speakers electronically to make the system work at all, to enjoy any music on a weekend morning.   Some technology companies have life support that will connect and diagnose problems directly, but SONOS technicians are evidently unable or unwilling to do this. 

Yesterday I uninstalled the App and Reinstalled it, unplugged all my speakers throughout the house and left them unplugged for a full shutdown and then plugged them back in progressively hoping for a full rebuild (I did that a few times to refresh the system back in the dimly remembered times when it was actually working!)  But still, the new App cannot seem to install or remember anything at all, I have only a handful of remembered albums after nearly 2.5 months of this total FAILURE on my system.

Total SILENCE from the Failed SONOS company on their inability to repair this technological failure, and the accompanying massive failure of customer service it represents. Meanwhile, as if nothing has happened, I get the cheery new emails hustling their latest Headphones!   What goddam PLANET are these people living on? 

Michael Utvich, Former Sonos Customer

Hi @MUTVICH,

Theres not enough information in your post to do a full diagnosis of the problems you’re seeing, but it sounds like your setup is having some mDNS device discovery issues and/or some form of network interference so perhaps start with this link:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3286

Sometimes mDNS discovery issues can arise from misconfigured settings on your router, or things running on your mobile controller device arising from some recent changes to the Sonos App.

it can sometimes be simple things like Apps/software running on the mobile ‘controller’ device that interfere with ‘device discovery’ Examples to perhaps consider are…

  • VPN Client 
  • Firewall software
  • Antivirus software
  • WiFi Calling/Dial assist
  • Private network address (MAC address spoofing)
  • Mobile data enabled for the Sonos App  

So if relevant, consider temporarily disabling these features, even if just to see if that may fix your device ‘discovery’ issue.

In your post aswell, you mention playing locally held music tracks, which I presume are from files/folders shared over your network. The new Sonos App will only play such library files if the folder is now being shared using the SMBv2 (or higher) sharing protocol. The previous App prior to early May, did play tracks using either SMBv1 or HTTP shares, but note these shares are no longer supported. So if that’s relevant to your local setup, then you may need to address those sharing issues. See this Sonos Support link:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/add-your-music-library-to-sonos

If you do find your issues persist despite the things outlined above, it maybe best to reproduce the issues mentioned and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and then contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Sonos Staff can perhaps suggest to help you resolve the matter.

Tried all of this. Then called “support”, wait time over 1 hour. Went to the chatbot, wait time over 30 minutes.

Hellfire, my system won’t even submit a diagnostics report to sonos. And “Support” tells me that this is because I have an unsupported “extender” in my mesh. That “extender” is a sonos Boost. FFS.

incompetent. Rude. It is a *you* problem. Gaslit.

Ken_Griffiths

It’s clear you’ve not been able to resolve the issue and presumably where you are there’s no ‘call back’ service from Sonos, by all accounts - What you could maybe try in the meantime, is moving your setup to ‘Wireless Mode’ and see how that holds up for you. Here’s are two links explaining how to switchover, if you perhaps want to give that a try. If not, then you maybe best to call Sonos Support again at a much quieter period. I really hope the links below assist…

Choosing between wired and wireless mode (for info only):

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/choose-between-a-wireless-and-wired-sonos-setup

Switching Sonos from wired to wireless mode (2nd section of document):

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/switch-sonos-between-a-wireless-and-wired-setup

 

S
Badge

I feel the same way -- I have 14 components and feel like I now have expensive paperweights:

  • After moving I can’t get many speakers to reset and join my new network
  • If I can get them into the network, I can’t add them to the soundar (I have 3, expensive Subs and can only get one associated with a soundbar, I have 4 satellites and can connect only 1). The only components that work reliably are my soundbars because they’re connected to the TVs via HDMI.
  • The speakers I did get online and set up for various rooms, suddenly lost the configuration recently and now everything is organized in one room and some are missing again
  • Lately I can’t control the volume using the TV remote, I have to use the app (which sucks for my guests if I’m not in the room).
  • The app is poorly designed, there’s too much emphasis on perks and not enough on the core functions (manage a room configuration and switch between TV and music apps)

And how do you roll out a buggy app and now roll it back once the problems are discovered? Didn’t Sonos think to roll out the new app incrementally until the bugs got worked out (that’s engineering 101).
 

If I didn’t have thousands of dollars of Sonos equipment, I’d use something else.


 

Ken_Griffiths

@souixa,

Have you contacted Sonos Support about the issues you are seeing to make them aware? If not, here is the link to contact them…

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

Ken_Griffiths

@RacDel,

I would perhaps keep trying to get through to Sonos Support via the phone number provided in the link in my earlier post as the Staff likely have the necessary tools to help you identify where the issues may lie with what sounds like an mDNS discovery issue across your LAN (that’s just my guess of course) but it’s certainly easier to resolve if you can get through to their Staff. I’d just keep trying when you have the time, there’s bound to be some quiet periods hopefully that will allow you to make contact. 🤞

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