New App Upgrade - HORRID

I have seen this all before. This is not the biggest anti new app protest there has been. The next one will be whenever it goes from v8 to v9. There are some necessary changes and I believe Sonos will make them. But they will have expected this backlash and will ride out the storm. There is absolutely no chance of them going back to the old app.

Look, it's important to distinguish between:
1. Sonos changed how things worked and some people don't like the change (eg. the new different-from-desktop "My Sonos" screen) - change happens in the quest for improvement, and we should be open to this, even if we're not enthusiastic about some of the choices Sonos make
2. Sonos released a broken, poorly-designed or "unfinished" product (eg. the current "My Sonos" implementation, or last year's "ephemeral-by-default-except-when-it's-not" queue changes), and Sonos have a track record of not addressing design flaws - we should absolutely be complaining about this
3. Sonos focus their efforts on shiny new features (eg. voice activiation) and neglect the core product (ability to easily control Sonos with mobile and desktop controllers) - this is a business decision that Sonos have made, but many of us feel that the core product and existing users should be the priority

But they will have expected this backlash.
I doubt it - I think that they genuinely believe that they know how to design a decent UI
... and will ride out the storm. There is absolutely no chance of them going back to the old app.
Absolutely - they have no other choice, anyway, as they have no regression system in place.

@Alan_6. We will have to agree to disagree on some of this. I don't agree that the new app is 'broken' because I am using it without difficulty. But 'unfinished'.... maybe, in that I think that what we will get in 8.2 or 8.3 or whatever is what we should have got in 8.0. As a result of these flaws, Sonos have managed to make many users believe that the app has changed more fundamentally than it really has.

I suspect that people are making insufficient use of the tab bar, and that a large part of that is Sonos' fault for not making it visible on the Now Playing screen.

On the queue - I didn't want that change either and I argued against it. But it was partly in response to demands from other users. I have adjusted to it.

@Alan_6. We will have to agree to disagree on some of this. I don't agree that the new app is 'broken' because I am using it without difficulty. But 'unfinished'.... maybe, in that I think that what we will get in 8.2 or 8.3 or whatever is what we should have got in 8.0. As a result of these flaws, Sonos have managed to make many users believe that the app has changed more fundamentally than it really has.

I suspect that people are making insufficient use of the tab bar, and that a large part of that is Sonos' fault for not making it visible on the Now Playing screen.

On the queue - I didn't want that change either and I argued against it. But it was partly in response to demands from other users. I have adjusted to it.

And just for clarity:
1. The app isn't totally "broken", there are workarounds and alternate methods for the "unfinished" functionality, but some of the changes (specifically the persistent-to-ephemeral queue default) have been in an unrefined/unfinished state for a while, so I'm not expecting things to have improved be version 8.3
2. In case it's not clear, I don't have a problem with the 2016 switch in how the queue worked. But Sonos do. If they had committed to a "you can add to a playing queue all you want, but when it's finished a new one starts" design, things would be fine. But they didn't. The app is littered with "play next" buttons that either shouldn't exist in an expired queue context, or do confusing things. The "play album followed by tracks 2-end of yesterday's listening" button (it's labelled "play now" or "play next", or alternate defaults as you navigate through the mobile app) that does unwelcome inserts, and the many defaults for what happens when you click on a single track (play single track or play to end of album) are bound to confuse new users and lead to a period of learning how to navigate the app.

I've adjusted and learned how to make Sonos do what I need it to do. But I still think their UI/UX is seriously lacking. I'd love to see Sonos defend their design decisions (as opposed to their design aspirations) in a blog post.

I think it would be a good idea for sonos to start replying to some messages on here befor we start slandering the products and company in a very public domain like Amazon.
Its not hard to acknowledge they have possibly made a few errors and they will fix it soon.
I think, give them a week then slate them. See how the sales plummet.
They might start listening when it hits there pockets. just a thought.

Thanks for responses and guidance which you all helped me get back to functionality I feared I had lost, but fortunately not. Shame on Sonos for:
1) Changing the layout of navigation so that we had to spend an hour on the support site just to recreate our way to used Sonos before we tapped the "upgrade" button. Hide-and-go-seek is the height of user insensitivity. Why not educate us about the changes coincidental to delivering them?
2) Sonos should be an open platform to play ANYTHING we want to hear through Sonos speakers. The new interface pushes we users to PAID STREAMING SERVICES by the page layout. If we want something else, like my access to Tune-in Radio, there is no easily identified path, or way to save. The site should highlight equal access to user desired content and music/radio services, not file something out of sight in the hard-to-find Browse icon.
For a company that understands the subtlety of sounds coming so beautifully out of their products, it is a disappointment to learn the user experience of those who pay a premium for quality are ignored.

Thanks for responses and guidance which you all helped me get back to functionality I feared I had lost, but fortunately not. Shame on Sonos for:
1) Changing the layout of navigation so that we had to spend an hour on the support site just to recreate our way to used Sonos before we tapped the "upgrade" button. Hide-and-go-seek is the height of user insensitivity. Why not educate us about the changes coincidental to delivering them?
2) Sonos should be an open platform to play ANYTHING we want to hear through Sonos speakers. The new interface pushes we users to PAID STREAMING SERVICES by the page layout. If we want something else, like my access to Tune-in Radio, there is no easily identified path, or way to save. The site should highlight equal access to user desired content and music/radio services, not file something out of sight in the hard-to-find Browse icon.
For a company that understands the subtlety of sounds coming so beautifully out of their products, it is a disappointment to learn the user experience of those who pay a premium for quality are ignored.

What total nonsense.

Thanks for responses and guidance which you all helped me get back to functionality I feared I had lost, but fortunately not. Shame on Sonos for:
1) Changing the layout of navigation so that we had to spend an hour on the support site just to recreate our way to used Sonos before we tapped the "upgrade" button. Hide-and-go-seek is the height of user insensitivity. Why not educate us about the changes coincidental to delivering them?
2) Sonos should be an open platform to play ANYTHING we want to hear through Sonos speakers. The new interface pushes we users to PAID STREAMING SERVICES by the page layout. If we want something else, like my access to Tune-in Radio, there is no easily identified path, or way to save. The site should highlight equal access to user desired content and music/radio services, not file something out of sight in the hard-to-find Browse icon.
For a company that understands the subtlety of sounds coming so beautifully out of their products, it is a disappointment to learn the user experience of those who pay a premium for quality are ignored.

You have only posted this post. How exactly has anyone tried (and subsequently failed) to help you "get back to functionality" when you never even described what was lost before this post? :?

It is indeed nonsense. The Browse button is on the new tab bar, which is the key navigation tool. It is, in effect, 'browse sources' and lists them exactly as they were on the old main menu, with local sources at the top of the list

It is indeed nonsense. The Browse button is on the new tab bar, which is the key navigation tool. It is, in effect, 'browse sources' and lists them exactly as they were on the old main menu, with local sources at the top of the list

Not to mention you can add any of your own content to Favorites or construct playlists from local content and have them all prominently display on My Sonos.