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Why does Recently Played and Sonos Favorites turn to placeholders on Android app?

What changed in today’s release that seems to start causing this again?

 

Just updated the Android app to today’s 22 Jul 2024 version (mine shows 80.05.06-release+20240717.cbccdb2) and the Recently Played and Sonos Favorites section again lose content after 10 seconds from starting the app and home screen being finished loading and just display grey placeholders. 

    I have TuneIn stations in the favorites. In the previous app release the same happened but when I added TuneIn (New) service those sections started working ok and no longer lost content. But now the same error situation happens again and that same isn’t helping. 

I’ve tried but not helping:

  • rebooting router
  • rebooting 4 x One + Port
  • rebooting phone
  • re-authorizing TuneIn
  • uninstalling Sonos app and re-installing
  • removing TuneIn and adding it back
  • resetting the app

 

How do I fix this without buying a new router?

iPad app correctly displays and keeps the content.

Edit: as I earlier mentioned in another thread, the Android log shows again those 

System.err: com.sonos.sdk.musetransport.MuseTransportError$TimedOut

 

How does the Android app behave if you have e.g. playlists in Sonos Favorites from Music services (Apple Music, Spotify etc.) that you no longer have access to? Can these cause the Android app to not display the home screen correctly and remove access to Recently Played and Sonos Favorites altogether? Why does the iPad app work ok?

 

 

23 replies

R
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

What changed in today’s release that seems to start causing this again?

 

Just updated the Android app to today’s 22 Jul 2024 version (mine shows 80.05.06-release+20240717.cbccdb2) and the Recently Played and Sonos Favorites section again lose content after 10 seconds from starting the app and home screen being finished loading and just display grey placeholders. 

    I have TuneIn stations in the favorites. In the previous app release the same happened but when I added TuneIn (New) service those sections started working ok and no longer lost content. But now the same error situation happens again and that same isn’t helping. 

I’ve tried but not helping:

  • rebooting router
  • rebooting 4 x One + Port
  • rebooting phone
  • re-authorizing TuneIn
  • uninstalling Sonos app and re-installing
  • removing TuneIn and adding it back
  • resetting the app

 

How do I fix this without buying a new router?

iPad app correctly displays and keeps the content.

 

 

Sometimes when the app updates, radio stations in Recently Played and Favourites will show as the greyed out thumbnails until you actually play that station again. It happened to me with BBC Radio 2 - it showed greyed out thumbnail but when I played it again, the thumbnail came back and stayed back. 

K
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Edit: with the 16.1 app I saw that there were 20+ old Sonos Favorites that the new app didn’t show at all. I deleted those as well and now the home screen stays on Android. So, seemed it wasn’t the TuneIn stations causing it this time but playlists from Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music in Sonos Favorites. Is there an issue that if you have a Sonos Favorite from Music Service X and then you no longer have access to it - the Android app doesn’t handle that correctly?

 

Playing the stations didn’t help. I then removed all Sonos Favorites and removed TuneIn (New) service. And even though the Sonos Favorites section is completely empty that section in Android app turns to placeholders with no heading text. So currently not possible to access Recently Played either. It initially displays but then disappears. I added one YouTube Music playlist to Sonos Favorites. When the app starts, that is shown in Sonos Favorites but then after 10 seconds that also turns to the empty floating placeholder. 

Is there any other documentation except the API that would explain what the Sonos app is doing and what could possibly cause this error situation? Do I really need to factory reset my devices because of this Android app?

R
Userlevel 7
Badge +15

When you spoke of rebooting devices earlier, did you undertake the rebooting one at a time or in parallel? The latter should work much better. i.e.

  • Turn off the router and all your speakers/port at the wall.
  • Log out of your Sonos account, and force close the app.
  • Turn off your phone.
  • Turn on the router and let it reboot fully.
  • Turn on the Port, then turn on each speaker one at a time, seeing the white light on each before moving on to the next speaker. 
  • Turn on your phone. Let it boot up fully.
  • Open the app. Sign back in.

 

See if that helps? 

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Interesting to read. The Favs I have added as a temp measure until Sonos Playlists return just don't stay there as don't the Recents. 

This had happened since the early May move to 80.xx.xx I just assumed it was part of app issues/old android (2019). 

K
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

When you spoke of rebooting devices earlier, did you undertake the rebooting one at a time or in parallel? The latter should work much better. i.e.

  • Turn off the router and all your speakers/port at the wall.
  • Log out of your Sonos account, and force close the app.
  • Turn off your phone.
  • Turn on the router and let it reboot fully.
  • Turn on the Port, then turn on each speaker one at a time, seeing the white light on each before moving on to the next speaker. 
  • Turn on your phone. Let it boot up fully.
  • Open the app. Sign back in.

 

See if that helps? 

Hi, thank you for the clear instructions. I’ll keep them in case I need that in the future.

I did reboot in parallel and did the uninstall and re-install of the app after that. And then the removal and re-addition of TuneIn after that. That didn’t help. 

I then deleted all Sonos Favorites in the Android app. It then showed along the line of “You have no favorites” in that section but still the sections turned into floating placeholders after 10 s from start.

I suspect this time the cause likely were those playlist Sonos favorites - the ones that the new app didn’t show but were visible in the old 16.1 app where I then deleted them. They were from those music services I no longer pay for but they are still as services in the Sonos app. 
 

Unfortunately as I deleted all of those the Android app starred working ok (I.e. Home Screen now stays nicely) and I can no longer debug. If I let go of my current streaming service I’ll then see if this situation is reproducible as I now have playlist from that in Sonos Favorites.

K
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Interesting to read. The Favs I have added as a temp measure until Sonos Playlists return just don't stay there as don't the Recents. 

This had happened since the early May move to 80.xx.xx I just assumed it was part of app issues/old android (2019). 

That happened to me in the new Android app since May. But then I realised I had TuneIn stations there and adding TuneIn (New) service fixed that issue. But yesterday’s update broke it again and I resorted to deleting all Sonos Favorites. 
 

I’m fairly sure I didn’t have anything from local library in the Sonos Favorites. I did remove my local library also just recently so perhaps there were something in the Favorites and that then caused that issue with the Home Screen?!

J

Deleting favorites and Recently Played will fix this? Do I do that on the web app?

 

Clearly, this is a bug that has existed since May and Sonos needs to deal with it. 

K
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Deleting favorites and Recently Played will fix this? Do I do that on the web app?

 

Clearly, this is a bug that has existed since May and Sonos needs to deal with it. 

I don’t see an option for removing them in the web app. In the windows app you can remove in the Select a Music Source panel > Sonos Favorites > hover over and from the drop down select Remove from Sonos Favorites. I don’t see Recently Played in the windows app, though.

But I don’t know if the windows app is able to show the old favorites, hopefully it is. I still had the 16.1 app and removed using it. 

https://support.sonos.com/en/downloads

sigh
Userlevel 6
Badge +8

I’d say the Android log stating

System.err: com.sonos.sdk.musetransport.MuseTransportError$TimedOut

in the OP, suggests this has more to do with the controller talking to the Cloud Platform than anything local.

The Sonos cloud api has a number of endpoints for loading and subscribing to favourites. The api reference states “See the x-muse-error-codes extension for a list of muse errors that generate this response” on many of the documented call responses.

https://docs.sonos.com/reference/favorites-loadfavorite-groupid

In my opinion, the grey placeholders are the app waiting for responses or a bug in display from timed out requests. It seems to be the Sonos default placeholder when it’s waiting for remote calls to respond.

Doesn’t make any sense to store favourites on the device and keep writing to the device flash, especially when they are against the household and need to be available to any controller, so I’m not sure what rebooting the router and speakers is hoping to achieve.

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Interesting to read last few posts. I've noticed slight changes since posting 10 days ago... (and a couple of app updates & 1 hardware update)

Initial start up of app on android is quicker and menus generate quickly. Can tap on recents and they then scroll down page (then disappear). Tapping on Favs sends them away, so they can't present as a complete list like recents do.

Tiny changes, but agree with. sigh and their thoughts. 

iOS takes longer to generate all menu items, once they appear they don't disappear at all.

 

J

After investing an inordinate amount of time in troubleshooting this issue, I am convinced that it is a problem with the Sonos app for the developers to address.

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

After investing an inordinate amount of time in troubleshooting this issue, I am convinced that it is a problem with the Sonos app for the developers to address.

I'd agree with you on that one... since reading the CEO's stated timeline I am just checking system fortnightly and updating. Windows app is my daily way of lining up my listening now. 

controlav
Userlevel 7
Badge +23

I’d say the Android log stating

System.err: com.sonos.sdk.musetransport.MuseTransportError$TimedOut

in the OP, suggests this has more to do with the controller talking to the Cloud Platform than anything local.

The Sonos cloud api has a number of endpoints for loading and subscribing to favourites. The api reference states “See the x-muse-error-codes extension for a list of muse errors that generate this response” on many of the documented call responses.

https://docs.sonos.com/reference/favorites-loadfavorite-groupid

In my opinion, the grey placeholders are the app waiting for responses or a bug in display from timed out requests. It seems to be the Sonos default placeholder when it’s waiting for remote calls to respond.

Doesn’t make any sense to store favourites on the device and keep writing to the device flash, especially when they are against the household and need to be available to any controller, so I’m not sure what rebooting the router and speakers is hoping to achieve.

Yes, rebooting local devices seems an unlikely fix for this. Favorites are still stored in the same place as before (in the distributed UPNP object tree), but the cloud API that reads them is broken. My Favorites have never shown in the new app or the web app, I can see Error 500 in the web app when they are read. This is because I have several “unusual” Favorites, created specifically to test my own app behaviors. Sadly Sonos do not appear have an equivalent set of test cases. If they asked me I would be happy to export my Favorites and email the xml for them to test with.

Author of the leading independent Sonos app for Windows, the only Sonos app for Xbox, and a Sonos app for iOS
J

Updated to the latest release today (8/6/24), version 80.06.04

I wonder if Sonos is even aware of the issue of the disappearing Sonos Favorites and Sonos Resents.
Now you see it, now you don’t! 

The issue actually causes the context menus to load very slowly.
Very annoying that we are in August and still this problem persists.

Everything else works. All speakers and amps connect. Music / TV all good.
Thankful for that. Would really like this resolved. 

Where do we communicate with Sonos support and not go into some black hole of no return?

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Android 80.06.04.

Can see Boost as normal and not 'unavailable' as it has been from 8th May.

Library loads quicker.

However, Amazon and Spotify cannot load any content (error message) Sonos Favs don't even load momentarily now as they did before.

Still using 16.3 Windows.

J

Sonos app works good after hours like 12A CST forward. All content loads and the app is snappy. 

Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recently Played all load and stay.

Morning time, all of this goes away. 

This indicates network traffic but on the server side with Sonos not my Wifi as this is consistent. 

 

I got to speak with a level 2 support guy at Sonos yesterday. He said that the issue seems to be with Android and specifically, Samsung phones. 🤔 

 

Recommended I try Sonos app on an apple device. We are Android folks but can try on my daughter's iPhone to see what happens. 

 

Now I have an email of a level 2 guy. 

My goal is to provide information that is helpful to getting this issue resolved. 

This morning when I opened the Sonos app, it could not load any of my Spotify content. A pop up stated that I have to reauthorize my Spotify account. This took like seven attempts with errors galore. 

 

In the 6 years that I've had the Sonos system, there has not been one time that I have had to reauthorize my Spotify account. Actually, none of the music services. A new development for sure that I also will report. 

 

What a mess, Sonos! 

Just let us go back to 16.1.

This avenue has been closed off now. 😔 

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Sonos app works good after hours like 12A CST forward. All content loads and the app is snappy. 

Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recently Played all load and stay.

Morning time, all of this goes away. 

This indicates network traffic but on the server side with Sonos not my Wifi as this is consistent. 

 

I got to speak with a level 2 support guy at Sonos yesterday. He said that the issue seems to be with Android and specifically, Samsung phones. 🤔 

 

Recommended I try Sonos app on an apple device. We are Android folks but can try on my daughter's iPhone to see what happens. 

 

Now I have an email of a level 2 guy. 

My goal is to provide information that is helpful to getting this issue resolved. 

This morning when I opened the Sonos app, it could not load any of my Spotify content. A pop up stated that I have to reauthorize my Spotify account. This took like seven attempts with errors galore. 

 

In the 6 years that I've had the Sonos system, there has not been one time that I have had to reauthorize my Spotify account. Actually, none of the music services. A new development for sure that I also will report. 

 

What a mess, Sonos! 

Just let us go back to 16.1.

This avenue has been closed off now. 😔 

Yes, my wife's iPhone is fine, although iPad on same iOS is very laggy. 

A

I spoke to Sonos level 3 support a couple of days ago.  They said that they ARE aware of the issue (disappearing Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recents) and that they are working on it.  They acknowledged that it is only an issue with Android and that it is not local network related.

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

I spoke to Sonos level 3 support a couple of days ago.  They said that they ARE aware of the issue (disappearing Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recents) and that they are working on it.  They acknowledged that it is only an issue with Android and that it is not local network related.

Thanks for that... appreciated👍

J

I spoke to Sonos level 3 support a couple of days ago.  They said that they ARE aware of the issue (disappearing Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recents) and that they are working on it.  They acknowledged that it is only an issue with Android and that it is not local network related.

Your level 3 trumps my level 2 support. LOL! But both said the same. They are aware and the issue is with Android and not a local network issue. Also, a new release is coming out about every two weeks, so here’s to the next release. Hopeful it will be fixed!

I am not a developer or network engineer but considering that the Sonos app works like it should on Android after hours 12AM forward, may indicate a network traffic issue with the Sonos servers. During the day, there is a lot more usage and somehow the Sonos Favorites and Sonos Recently Played are timing out. First is the recently played and then the favorites. Both are gone. In the wee hours of the morning, it’s all good. Super snappy. That’s been my experience. Also tells me that I need to get to bed earlier too. :)

B

A couple of additions to this thread:

  1. Along wit the disappearing Favorites my Playlists also disappear when I use the Android controller (80.06)
  2. Both Playlists and Favorites are available in the Windows version (16.3)

Are those of you writing about Favorites issues also missing Playlists? For me this is by far the largest outstanding issue, other than the overall terrible sluggishness of the Android app.

almazri
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

One step forwards 2 steps back. 

J

A couple of additions to this thread:

  1. Along wit the disappearing Favorites my Playlists also disappear when I use the Android controller (80.06)
  2. Both Playlists and Favorites are available in the Windows version (16.3)

Are those of you writing about Favorites issues also missing Playlists? For me this is by far the largest outstanding issue, other than the overall terrible sluggishness of the Android app.

I do notice that there is a lot of content missing when it comes to play lists and albums from the services like Spotify and Amazon. Sonos Favorites too!

 

Good call out. Only a small portion of my music is available in the new app. 

Combined with the dissapearing act for Sonos Favorites and Recently Played, these would be the top items to fix! 

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