So Complicated... WHY?

I suspect that you have no idea what Sonos is.

How can you say the app is not necessary, when for mlllions of users, it is the only way of controlling the system.

If you want to sit at your PC and use Sonos as a computer speaker via a line-in, then why not just buy a good computer speaker.

The vast majority of users are not sat at their computer and wish to listen to music in multiple rooms and from multiple sources.

I don't use Spotify, but isn't that addressed with the latest software release from Sonos?

As to the rest of your grief, I have a four zone set up since August 2011, and Sonos has been the best audio purchase I have made in the last 25 years. And I am one among many customers that think similarly which is why Sonos now sells a billion dollars of kit a year. We can't all be wrong?!

Hi,

I am a new customer / Sonos 5 owner...

I do not know why you make it so complicated to hook up a direct line into the speaker. Or to use apple play or any other direct app to device functions. The SONOS app sucks. I just want to use the Spotify App, and be able to control the volume of the speakers from my keyboard. Seriously SONOS, the speakers sound great but this whole app thing is totally not necessary or what customers want. Super frustrating experience.

Hello adriaan, welcome to the community.

Sorry to hear the setup experience wasn't direct. Let us know if you need any help or questions about the Sonos app.
About being able to play music using the Spotify app, I'm happy to say we are running a public beta allowing to do just that. Here's the thread about it and how to join beta: Sonos version 7.0 is now entering Public Beta for Android, Mac and Windows PCs (beta isn't available on iOS but will be added on release day)

Let us know how it goes, and if you have any questions or problems I encourage you to contact us.
Thanks.

Thanks for your replies. I understand the concept of controlling the speakers in different spaces, and again the sound is fantastic. But it would be handy if you have the option to organise the distribution via the SONOS app, and play directly from the music source (which is now possible with the BETA). So I guess everybody is happy now :)

I don't have the stats about how 'the majority' of people use their speakers. But I guess there are also a lot of people that use the speakers in a single space, like an office. And I don't want to just use a 'line in'. I share a space and we would like to share and play music through our network with Airplay.

Lol, you'll find that a huge number of Sonos customers gave up on AirPlay long ago due to its constant dropouts. AirPlay is fundamentally flawed. SonosNet is vastly superior.

I guess there are also a lot of people that use the speakers in a single space, like an office. And I don't want to just use a 'line in'. I share a space and we would like to share and play music through our network with Airplay.
People need/use speakers in many more ways than what Sonos is good at - which is why there is range of good alternatives in the market. Sonos isn't really meant for single zone applications for instance, a bluetooth speaker is probably best there. And there some that perhaps offer Airplay as well.
But get into multi zone home audio with stability and sound quality that can come close to matching that of wired legacy home audio - that is the Sonos market where there is, even today, none better. Or even as good.

@adriaan1975
What you are describing is like any typical bluetooth or wifi speaker that you would stream to from your device. The point of Sonos is that it is a stand alone system which doesn't rely on external apps or hardware. If Sonos relied your Spotify app, you couldn't leave the house and let anyone else continue to listen, the music would stop. Sonos doesn't depend on anything to play, music is streamed to it directly. That is why it uses it's own app with plugins for your different music services. Sonos is exactly what I want, but many new customers like yourself have never used a system like this before and it's not necessarily what they expected. Sonos is unlike any other wireless system for a reason.