New app update horrible, giving a leg up to the competitors

I used to tap a room, scroll down and hit “tv” and my tv sound would work. Now I can’t even find an option for anything except music.

I used to tap a room, scroll down and hit “tv” and my tv sound would work. Now I can’t even find an option for anything except music.So all your rooms are Playbars or Playbases? Because the TV source has never appeared for other rooms.

Thanks so much for pointing out the older app mirror! Hated the new one, not the least of which is the glaring white background instead of the older black. In a dark room it blinds you.

I remember complaining loudly when Microsoft changed from the very familiar XP interface to whatever came next, then complaining again when the 2012 server UI was completely different from the then-familiar 2008 server UI. I still have a legacy 2008 server which I have to log into occasionally; it now seems utterly clunky and outdated, lol. Simply a matter of getting used to the changes, which are based on considerable UI research (yes, lots of very smart people work on nothing but UI standards; search for Material Design).

As an AV integrator and very early adopter of Sonos I have years of experience with all things Sonos, including training hundreds of people on how to use the system (many of whom are older and/or luddites).

This update is a huge step backwards, especially in terms of ease of use. Some points:
- Icons are needlessly huge, necessitating constant scrolling. I used to be able to quickly select a favorite playlist etc. from among many on the same screen. Now it's a vertical, then horizontal scroll. Clunky.
- White on white GUI, particularly in the Rooms screen is not intuitive. Highlighted room should appear as others but highlighted, not look like a completely different, separate item. My older clients are going to have problems understanding this screen.
- White GUI is painfully bright, especially at night. I much prefer the dark previous look.
- Choosing a different room to control is not obvious at all from the home/currently playing screen. Selecting the relocated room indicator (now on the bottom of the screen) now only shows grouping options, not room selection. You need to back out of the home screen to choose another room. No logic in that whatsoever, and again, this is going to be a training nightmare for me.
- Buggy operation. Turning on the TV while listening to music results in silence from the Playbar for many seconds, followed by an unpredictable result as the user mashes various remote buttons trying to solve the issue. The Android app is now laggy and buggy, a complete 180° to the stable and fast previous software.
- Bottom bar vs hamburger button: I think this is heading in an ok direction, despite general current GUI thinking, as the hamburger button isn't obvious to people that don't regularly use smartphone apps (many of my clients), but why not include it on every screen? It should be on the home/current playing screen as well.
- Generally ugly and clunky design. This app just ain't pretty, and is a very poor complement to the great hardware.

I'm shocked at how poorly thought out the latest update is. I've been a long time Sonos supporter, I've drank the Sonos Kool-Aid, I love the hardware, and enthusiastically recommended it (even when I didn't make a dime on it), but I'm disappointed enough to start investigating the many other options out there...

I am not here to defend the changes, but to pick up the OP's point about selecting a room and playing music....

Swipe down the Now Playing screen, tap rooms button if necessary, double tap required room, hit play. Takes me about a second. Is that really so demanding and difficult? Is that really ruined? I cannot put it anything like as strongly.

Takes a couple of seconds to do it, but how long did it take you to find out how? Be honest! Like others, I am a long time serious user of the hardware, but hate the iOS app and cannot understand this continual upgrading for no real purpose.

The obvious answer is to make the controller as customizable as possible by the user; I wouldn't think it would be that hard, especially if the mobile screen could be configured through the desktop. I thought the previous changes on how song selections were made and queue'd was a big step backward from earlier; I presume others liked it. I want a dark interface, others not. etc.

The obvious answer is to make the controller as customizable as possible by the user; I wouldn't think it would be that hard, especially if the mobile screen could be configured through the desktop.

99% of users don’t want customization; they want a product that “just works”, which Sonos does better than just about everyone. Too much customization was one of the things that killed the Squeezebox. It was simply far more complex than the 99% wanted.

Nope, can't agree with 99%. Maybe half; who knows? But there's no reason that Sonos can't give it their best UI and your users can leave it just the way it comes; I think of MediaMonkey with massive options. Totally agree with Sonos ease of 1-2-3-4 you're up and running design.

The obvious answer is to make the controller as customizable as possible by the user; I wouldn't think it would be that hard, especially if the mobile screen could be configured through the desktop.

99% of users don’t want customization; they want a product that “just works”, which Sonos does better than just about everyone. Too much customization was one of the things that killed the Squeezebox. It was simply far more complex than the 99% wanted.

This would be a good point, If 8.0 worked better than previous builds; the reality is that it doesn't.
At the very least it requires customisation options for colour and icon size.
A better option would be to have a choice skins back to the wonderful 5.0 through to 8.0. Everyone would be a winner and this can not be rocket science surely ... except with an arrogant company that refuses to believe that it could ever be wrong.
#Sonos$uck$