Make the Windows controller open source

In what sense are you loyal, if you are ready to dump Sonos?

In the sense of “loyal” sticking to one supplier for over ten years in the presence of other competing products being available.

Of course if the supplier stops doing something for me that they were doing when I spent thousands on my system then that loyalty is going to be lost at some point.

I’m a Windows desktop user and if the company no longer want to provide us with a service they once did then it is the company who has initiated the loss of its own customers.

Nothing has changed recently  with the desktop applications.  You can no longer to setups and some other configurations, but that was changed a long time ago.  You can still control a Sonos system from the desktop applications.  Are you saying Sonos needs to restore features that have long since been removed, or perhaps add additional features that don’t currently exist?

You bought Sonos when you thought it in your best interests to do so. You are now  considering dumping them because it is (in your view) now in your best interest to do so. 

That is perfectly reasonable and logical (although I don't feel the same way). But please don't try to gloss it as the noble human trait of loyalty.

Lots has changed, for example I can no longer rename a unit as I used to be able to do.

Here’s just one example of many similar complaint threads:

https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/renaming-room-speaker-6221210

and of course this

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/updates-to-the-desktop-controller-coming-soon-6813300

Where we can read:

Here's the full list of exactly what will be removed from the desktop controller:

• Setting up or transferring a system
• Adding a player to existing system
• The ability to bond/unbond players (surrounds, stereo pairs, or adding a Sub).
• Registering players
• TV setup for Beam, Playbase, and Playbar
• Enabling parental controls
• Network settings and management
• Line-in settings
• Renaming a Room
• Opting in or out of a beta program
• Resetting your Sonos account password (you can still do so on a computer via sonos.com)

I would tolerate this to some degree if I were not forced to update the controller sometimes bu I am.

Sometimes I’ll open the controller app and it will insist on updating, I have no option to not update and do so later, nope. I must update the app/system or I cannot use it.

This is like my car suddenly being no longer able to reverse - it is NOT the product that I purchased.

No the system is not what it was when you bought it. There have been lots of free enhancements.

I am never forced to update the desktop app. I think this would only happen if the system itself had updated. Have you turned off automatic system updates?

I have no idea about automatic updates, was this a feature of the desktop app that is no longer available perhaps?

I just want to rename a unit that has moved from my bedroom to my patio, something elementary yet not possible without using an additional computer like a cell or something.

Now I must rememeber and tell others that the “Bedroom” is really the “Patio” and the “Lounge” is now actually the “Library” and so on, this is farcical but is what modern technology has become.

The product I purchased has less functionality than when I purchased it, this is the nature of modern software, it frustrates the user.

The desktop controller full functions other than for setup.

You can rename devices everything else that isn’t necessary in daily use on the mobile app.  I’m not sure the issue with using a mobile device for very rare changes to the system.

Few other systems even have a desktop app to begin with (I think Bluesound does - not sure as to its quality).

If you are not prepared to use a phone controller a few times a year for admin tasks, then that is your business.  That you would rather ‘remember and tell others that the “Bedroom” is really the “Patio” and the “Lounge” is now actually the “Library” and so on’ is one of the daftest and funniest things I have heard in a long time.

Agree - if using a mobile controller for infrequent setup changes is a burden - I think having a networked music system may be a bit of a burden.

Maybe this will work work on the patio ..