The majority of reviews for the update are NEGATIVE.

Oh such a 1st world issue - put your energy to better use... It’s like dealing with a bunch of prepubescent kids... goodness sake it’s an initial release ....

I agree with many of the comments. The upgrade is terrible. The app is updating all the time and it doesn't keep the settings for the individual rooms. It takes several menu actions to change the music. When a room is selected, there is no option to change the setting without going back. The menu on the bottom of the new application should never disappear when you select the room. Did you assign product manager that doesn't use the product? My whole family agrees this update is terrible. Over the last 3 years I would recommend Sonos to everyone. We have eight devices in seven rooms. When people visit our house, we demonstrate how great the experience can be. Unfortunately, the demo is no longer simple or intuitive. It has turned into a tough sell. Not at all simple. So unfortunate. Most people judge a products by the app store ratings, the scores are tanking. ROLL IT BACK!!! Your reputation is on the line. Pull together your most frequent users. You have the data. We don't want to see you stumble. We all have a lot invested in your product.

Change always invites negative reviews -- but these reviews aren't just griping about the unfamiliar. This upgrade truly fails in usability compared to previous versions.

Very relieved to see that there is so much disquiet here about the update. Couple of weeks in and it still feels confusing and disorienting. That much already says it all. A well thought out interface feels natural, let alone after two weeks of use! Doesn't seem worth spelling out my views on what's wrong with it and how unsatisfactory that is when it's all been said. Just want to say 'here too'. Whilst we can't ditch it all because if the amount invested, I've started looking forward to the day that we can enjoy something better. Sad indeed.

I think it's safe to say that most users don't like this update.
No, it isn't safe because it is a fallacy well known to poll takers and statisticians. Users that like or are neutral about the update don't take the trouble to post to say so.


This is clearly incorrect. If you look at the total number of reviews over all time, over 90% have been positive or average. Only very recently since the last "upgrade" have the figures completely reversed to show nearly 100% as being negative.

Ok, I was wrong. And I am now quite used to the new app and have no issues with it of any kind. I hope - and I am sure that Sonos listens to all here - that for a long time to come only subtle tweaks and evolutionary changes are made to this version. No roll backs.

Change always invites negative reviews -- but these reviews aren't just griping about the unfamiliar. This upgrade truly fails in usability compared to previous versions.

Same thing was said about 5.0. Now it is considered the ultimate example of usability. My how things change.

The majority of the views were negative for the 5.0 version when it was released, the version you all love now and desperately wants back. I can show you posts and threads identical to these, with the same screenshots and the same complaints, in the weeks following the 5.0 release. People hate change. Give it time.

Not true for me, i love changes and surprises, but if they are intelligent... logic...
The new update is really problematic, poor (white! Absurd!) and the functions are “hidden”.

Sonos please update with an intelligent controller like before (and give back the colored app-icon please)...

Same thing was said about 5.0. Now it is considered the ultimate example of usability. My how things change.

You keep spamming this in every thread and it's just not true. When people ask for a rollback to 7.4 back that doesn't mean they think it was perfect. It merely means it was practically workable.

And practically workable is not something that can't be said from version 8, where all to often have to think in through and decipher a confusing layout in order to get the job done. Switching rooms is the case in point here, where the navigation, the screen lay out, as well the new white design are all contributing factors to a frustrating mess of an experience.

Fact is, Sonos controllers have never been perfect, but at least they were workable. Worse case you had to click twice - in the same spot, not the opposite side of the screen - and you were where you needed to be. With the new design however, it didn't just got worse (as with the transition from 5), it got a lot worse.

And if you disagree with that viewpoint - which quite some of us share - maybe explain your arguments instead of continuously being dismissive of anyone posting a critique.

Explain us, why you favor the white design over the black one, shows us how the new navigation is more efficient than the previous one, or why these big blocks in Mysonos or Rooms are better than a simple list. Just make the case for this new design you like so much.

No, it is true. And I never said one is better or worse than the other. I don't give much credence to the "science" of UI design, it is more trends and fashion than any real science. As to usability and intuitiveness, people rioted over the usability and intuitiveness of the WordPerfect UI after they changed to WYSIWYG. Is anyone going to tell me that a blue screen, DOS character based, control/shift/alt/arrow key combination based wordprocessor is better than a graphic based, mouse driven, WYSIWYG interface? Of course not, but people did, because that is what they were used to.

Look, Sonos will tweak it, your muscle memory will adapt, and we will all be back here in three years arguing the same things, except by then 8.0 will be perfect and 11.0 will be horrible.