Constant Updates REALLY ANNOYING

I am not surprised at this, but is this stated official policy?
You're a long time member of these boards, so you should be aware of the answer already.


If so, I have to again say there is much merit in the points being made by those unhappy with this trend because:
Automatic updates are not really so for desktop users.
How many desktops do you have? 20, 30, 50...
Pardon me for not being as clever as you and point me to where this is stated by Sonos.
And how many desktops I have is not relevant to the fact that updates are not automatic for desktop users, contrary to what you have been asserting over and over.

I don't really want to get into a debate about update frequency but I didn't want to let the assertion, made repeatedly, that Sonos updates "ever few weeks" go in-challenged. Taken from this site https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/31941/sonos/version-history

The updates since 2017 have been as follows:-

Date Version Weeks
27/03/2019 10.1 8.1
29/01/2019 10.0 8.1
03/12/2018 9.3 2.7
14/11/2018 9.2 10.0
05/09/2018 9.1 15.1
22/05/2018 8.5.1 4.7
19/04/2018 8.5 3.9
23/03/2018 8.4 6.6
05/02/2018 8.3 2.6
18/01/2018 8.2.2 8.9
17/11/2017 8.2 1.6
06/11/2017 8.1.1 0.4
03/11/2017 8.1 3.1
12/10/2017 8.0 7.0
24/08/2017 7.4

The average time between updates from 24 Aug 2017 to 27 Mar 2019 is 6 weeks. Some certainly have been a few weeks but my understanding of a few weeks would not be 6

Stuart, any idea what was the average time between updates in 2012? I could not find it anywhere. Comparing that to the above is more pertinent, I suggest. Or even to any year prior to 2010.

Speaking of assertions and 'These are the only releases....' etc.., where is 10.0.2 and 10.0.3? They were separate bug fix releases too from memory. Assuming all 'updates' are being discussed - whether that be player or App.
EDIT: Looks like they were released within days of each other about a month ago
( https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/sonos-10-0-is-now-available-6820022/index6.html )

Speaking of assertions and 'These are the only releases....' etc.., where is 10.0.2 and 10.0.3? They were separate bug fix releases too from memory. Assuming all 'updates' are being discussed - whether that be player or App.
EDIT: Looks like they were released within days of each other about a month ago
( https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/sonos-10-0-is-now-available-6820022/index6.html )

I was mindful that the site I linked may not be complete which is why I noted for full disclosure.

But just my own feeling based on updates is that it's not every few weeks on average

Memory is notoriously unreliable; with that said, I'd say that I remember this being a once in a quarter exercise back in 2011/12 that is now once in a month.
I have a feeling that the churn started when Sonos started feeling the heat from Echo. They felt that they have to do something even if it often meant churn minus noticeable forward motion. Which led to more bugs needing to fixed as an inevitable consequence, causing more churn.

I'd like to think that Sonos are on top of this in terms of they know exactly how the updates have changed over the years and the effect on users. It's clearly a concern.

To me they could perhaps create different levels of updates - minor and major for the want of better explanation. If you select don't update then minor updates will do nothing but majors will notify the user. These should be restricted to, say, twice a year

That is one way of handling this; or major could be defined as where the version number changes - as in from 10 to 11. The problem then is what do you do with the 11.0.1 that usually is the bug fix for 11.0?!

[
I've never claimed the updates have no value. My criticism is that the updates come far too frequently, and that they would be better served in larger portions, on a much less-frequent time scale. Obviously, systems need to be updated, but they don't need to be tweaked every couple of weeks. Sonos could update its system quarterly, and the world would move on just fine.

You said there is zero reason for the update frequency. Isn't that the same as their being no value in the updates? Yes, you're correct, frequency is an important aspect, but also irrelevant to the point I was making. Your assumption is that those who are interested in the features and bug fixes that come with an update gain nothing from getting it sooner rather than later...later being something like once a quarter. And that just isn't true.

I'm not at all saying that Sonos doesn't need to consider the frequency of the updates, but to assume they don't consider it, that you have all the information they do in making these decisions, or that they are just wrong...doesn't really add up. Your frustration is valid, but your conclusion that there is no reason for them is not.


I am not surprised at this, but is this stated official policy?


I'm not sure if or where it's written down, but Sonos staff have stated this in round about ways since I've been hear. They may assist with network issues and such, but if the reported issue is something that has been addressed in the current version, they aren't going to give you a one-off patch for your issue. I imagine that help desk will probably ask you to upgrade to the current version before attempting to troubleshoot anything. As I'm sure you recall, this was a big issue, when it came to the support of the CR100 and the ipod dock.


If so, I have to again say there is much merit in the points being made by those unhappy with this trend because:
Automatic updates are not really so for desktop users.
And while everyone including Sonos suggest turning updates off if these are not to one's taste/convenience, there is this withdrawal of support.


To be clear, you don't have to have automatic updates on to get support. It's more accurate to say that if you're unwilling to upgrade to the current version when reporting an issue, the Sonos support you can get is surely going to be rather limited. Maybe Sonos can provide some general network advice, maybe tell you the results of a diagnostic, I'm not sure. I don't want to speak for Sonos exactly. Even if Sonos has it officially stated somewhere, Sonos has a habit of providing better service than they promise when it comes to things like this, such as providing replacement speakers at a discount for out of warranty products.


And no one has yet said why there is such a churn of updates now compared to a few years ago for what is a music system, at the end of the day. Other than streaming services as a popular music source, what has changed? And the related question - apart from Trueplay and cosmetic UI changes - what has changed to improve the essential quality of the user experience since 2011? Bug fixes are needed by everyone, agreed, but many of the bugs are caused in the first place by all the churn as well.


There have been several new products, new features and feature changes, voice control support, security changes, etc. Sonos will provide release notes and information about each update that they provide, at a high level anyway.


Sonos needs to take this criticism on board and bring some discipline to its upgrade release process. Particularly when it is so dependent on network quality to be seamless and fault free.

I'm just not seeing the conclusion that they don't already have discipline about this. We don't know what sort of decision process they go through in deciding when to update, nor how often they delay something they want out there but don't want to annoy customers. They clearly have a concern for it since they added the automatic updates feature. It's not something they would add if they were not aware of how some customers feel about updates.

But yes, it's good to let Sonos know how you feel about the updates. Maybe not too helpful, but good to see suggestions on how it could improve to be less intrusive without hindering customers who want/need the updates.

Seems it may be time for a Sonos employee to directly comment on this thread again, and specifically attempt to answer some of the legitimate questions posed. Wade through some of the empty complaints and there's merit among this madness for their representation and clarification.