Sonos Staff

The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
May 11, 2024
2256 replies
156776 views

Hey all, today we're sharing a message from our chief innovation officer, Nick Millington in the announcement here. Going forwards we will update that topic and we therefore close this one for further replies.

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.

Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.

Available now

To access these changes, check for updates in the iOS / Android app store to download the latest version of the Sonos app. Make sure your Sonos products are also up to date.

Last updated: Oct 28, 2024. See release notes.

The update has the following version numbers:

80.11.38 - iOS
80.11.32 - Android

In this update:

Support for the all-new Arc Ultra soundbar and Sub 4
Music library improvements*
Improvements to product setup
Improved performance when browsing content in Home and in Browse on Android
Improvements to multi-system support on iOS
Fixes for multiple settings including Bluetooth display, EQ, and Sub bonding on iOS
The ability to schedule System Updates on iOS
Continued Voiceover improvements on iOS

* Requires player update - 81.1-58074 (or higher)

You can also follow along with updates in this article:

New Sonos App Update!

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

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A

ADMRes

Lyricist II

The single most concerning aspect to this entire debacle is in the new terms of use that we all must agree to in order to access the most recent iOS update.

“SONOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCT WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ALL ERRORS AND OR DEFECTS MAY BE CORRECTED.”

This does not bode well for anyone holding out for the return of a functional Local Library, or in fact, a stable and functional system. The reality is that you’re agreeing to your hardware being bricked at anytime by Sonos and you’ve no comebacks.

G0atHax0r

Enthusiast II

The single most concerning aspect to this entire debacle is in the new terms of use that we all must agree to in order to access the most recent iOS update.

“SONOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCT WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ALL ERRORS AND OR DEFECTS MAY BE CORRECTED.”

This does not bode well for anyone holding out for the return of a functional Local Library, or in fact, a stable and functional system. The reality is that you’re agreeing to your hardware being bricked at anytime by Sonos and you’ve no comebacks.

Sadly, almost every single modern software contract has language like this in place to help protect the maker of the product. When you think about it logically, all software has bugs. No software is perfect. There’s no way to achieve something without error or defect.

jgatie

The single most concerning aspect to this entire debacle is in the new terms of use that we all must agree to in order to access the most recent iOS update.

“SONOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCT WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ALL ERRORS AND OR DEFECTS MAY BE CORRECTED.”

This does not bode well for anyone holding out for the return of a functional Local Library, or in fact, a stable and functional system. The reality is that you’re agreeing to your hardware being bricked at anytime by Sonos and you’ve no comebacks.

That language has been in every Sonos TOU/EULA since the beginning, and is standard for all software EULA’s. It’s basically boilerplate for a limited license for software.

A

ADMRes

Lyricist II

The single most concerning aspect to this entire debacle is in the new terms of use that we all must agree to in order to access the most recent iOS update.

“SONOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCT WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ALL ERRORS AND OR DEFECTS MAY BE CORRECTED.”

This does not bode well for anyone holding out for the return of a functional Local Library, or in fact, a stable and functional system. The reality is that you’re agreeing to your hardware being bricked at anytime by Sonos and you’ve no comebacks.

Sadly, almost every single modern software contract has language like this in place to help protect the maker of the product. When you think about it logically, all software has bugs. No software is perfect. There’s no way to achieve something without error or defect.

Indeed, but there’s errors and defects and there’s ERRORS and DEFECTS. I get the distinct impression that Sonos are clinging to those world like a lifeboat in a storm at the moment. They still choose to push a broken product instead of reverting to the previous functional one. That’s weapons grade arrogance.

G0atHax0r

Enthusiast II

The single most concerning aspect to this entire debacle is in the new terms of use that we all must agree to in order to access the most recent iOS update.

“SONOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCT WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ALL ERRORS AND OR DEFECTS MAY BE CORRECTED.”

This does not bode well for anyone holding out for the return of a functional Local Library, or in fact, a stable and functional system. The reality is that you’re agreeing to your hardware being bricked at anytime by Sonos and you’ve no comebacks.

Sadly, almost every single modern software contract has language like this in place to help protect the maker of the product. When you think about it logically, all software has bugs. No software is perfect. There’s no way to achieve something without error or defect.

Indeed, but there’s errors and defects and there’s ERRORS and DEFECTS. I get the distinct impression that Sonos are clinging to those world like a lifeboat in a storm at the moment. They still choose to push a broken product instead of reverting to the previous functional one. That’s weapons grade arrogance.

Oh believe me… I don’t disagree with you at all. This was a textbook case of how NOT to roll out a new app… Not “just” an app, but an app so incredibly critical to the ecosystem to your product no less. It’s like selling a car without a steering wheel or brakes, and saying “oh, we’ll get to that functionality in a few months”. Out of all the blunders I’ve seen in my IT career, this one certainly takes the cake. If I was a Sonos shareholder, I would not be happy. While nobody knows the backstory of how this all went down, to me it seems to be the classic example of management/shareholders having unrealistic expectations regarding the complexity and timeline of being able to roll out a new app that should have carried over all its previous functions, and capable of adding new functionality, such as capabilities for these Sonos Ace headphones that I will just simply never buy. I have lost all trust in this company with this particular blunder. Their app isn’t even close to being out of the woods yet, and I feel a huge amount of empathy and sympathy for the developers and support staff on their end, who have taken the brunt of this “courageous move”, as management put it.

Truthfully… I’m going to start experimenting with WiiM. I bought a wireless receiver…a nice set of powered speakers, all of which costs less than 1 sonos speaker. My music is already available through Plex on the local network. I’m going to give it a whirl. If I like it, I will continue to expand, and you will find my Sonos gear up on eBay here pretty soon.

J

jmorin

Avid Listener

From your April press release … “Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos. “After thorough development and testing, we are confident this redesigned app is easier, faster and better.”

This statement is FALSE! The overwhelming number of complaints illustrates that the app is NOT easier, faster or better. And obviously it was not thoroughly tested or developed since it is missing so many features.

The result is many frustrated users like me. I came back from vacation, tried to turn on my SONOS, and found that the apps on my iPhone and iPad were now updated and could not find my music library on my NAS. Totally broken.

When will SONOS have some accountability instead of vague corporate-speak promises, and actually fix this disaster?

jgatie

When will SONOS have some accountability instead of vague corporate-speak promises, and actually fix this disaster?

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/the-new-sonos-app-and-future-feature-updates

Bitt

Avid Contributor I

We set out to create a more personalized and effortless listening experience with the updated Sonos app. It was rebuilt from the ground up to ensure it could support future innovation in the years to come. For its initial rollout, we focused on how we could answer some of the most common requests from our customers, including increased reliability, performance, and faster access to music.

Many of you have shared valuable feedback on both the improvements that have made your experience better, as well as the areas where we fell short. We are listening to all of your comments and working to address them as quickly as possible. Over the coming weeks, we will reintroduce the below features, while fixing bugs and performance issues. Thank you for your engagement and we look forward to building upon this first step to create a listening experience that meets everyone’s needs.

Available now

To access these changes, check for updates in the iOS / Android app store to download the latest version of the Sonos app. Make sure your Sonos products are also up to date.

Last updated: Jun 4, 2024. See release notes.

Improved playback settings including “Play next,” “add to end of queue,” and on iOS, the mute button
Improved product setup, Bluetooth discovery and WiFi settings
Added sleep timer settings
Improved Trueplay setup on iOS
Introduced distance settings for home theater surrounds
Improved navigation for users who are blind or visually-impaired
Added VoiceOver support for toast messages on iOS

Coming soon

Continued improvements to navigation for visually-impaired customers: mid-June
Playback controls including mute and volume numbers: June
Local music library search and playback: mid-June
Improved playback settings including Play Now: July
Create and edit local music library: July
Improved Autoplay settings: July
Improved Sub audio settings with Amp: July
Snooze alarms: TBD

Our latest update resolves some of the most critical known issues, but know we have more to do. We hear your feedback and are working hard to deliver the experience you expect and deserve.

What about Sonos Radio needing to be reauthorized?

Bitt

C

Chamonix

Listener

From your April press release … “Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos. “After thorough development and testing, we are confident this redesigned app is easier, faster and better.”

This statement is FALSE! The overwhelming number of complaints illustrates that the app is NOT easier, faster or better. And obviously it was not thoroughly tested or developed since it is missing so many features.

The result is many frustrated users like me. I came back from vacation, tried to turn on my SONOS, and found that the apps on my iPhone and iPad were now updated and could not find my music library on my NAS. Totally broken.

When will SONOS have some accountability instead of vague corporate-speak promises, and actually fix this disaster?

Everyone hit their OKRs! The problem was the “user testing” the design team did was confirmatory and self-aggrandizing. Just the UX issues are a train wreck that anyone who’s taken an online UX course could avoid, but no one had the incentives to do The Right Thing. I’ve seen it millions of times and it train wrecks launches consistently. People doing work but completely disconnected from actual impact + outcomes.

I’ve used Sonos for over 12 years and completely hate opening the app now. Bravo Sonos. There isn’t a “fix” — this is a “we screwed up, start over” moment.

John Guarr

Enthusiast II

TOTAL INCOMPETENCE- i have never seen any company company provide and update that eliminates key features - like allowing users to listen their music library.

i am surprised that the media and investment community has not yet picked up on this. 🤔

Of course, it has been stated dozens and dozens of times, maybe hundreds of times that Sonos has not remove the ability to play local libraries. I’ll repeat that, as for some reason the message gets lost. Sonos has NOT removed the ability to play local libraries.

i have been enjoying my own local library from day one of the new apps release, and so has every other Sonosuser I know.

There has been posts about any specific issues that may have caused your own library not to be available, and I suggest looking them over or calling Sonos for support. But whatever that reason is, it it’s not because that functionality has been removed.

One of the things that would be really helpful would be for the release notes for the updates to have a list of known issues.

Local library access is a good example of the requirement for this because as far as I can tell there are two types of issue:

The drop of SMB-V1 support. This should be easy to identify and has a known resolution (even if users are unhappy about it).
Other undefined issues. I’m sure that as Sonos investigate this they will find patterns that may include the NAS/File Sharing Service, the speakers in use, etc. These may be harder to diagnose and/or fix but by collating and publishing the information Sonos can at least demonstrate that they understand what is happening. This will also help manage customer expectations. But Sonos need to take into account that for the users in this group the file sharing worked with the old app so the inference is that Sonos broke it.

Sonos might not be able to fix everything in a day but they can communicate better and in my opinion the biggest problem with the release of this App is the ack of communication.

Sonos used to be a lot better than this. Yes, you listed the two biggest issues above. Users should have been informed about the dropping of the SMB1 support with the new app. That is what really caused most of the problems. I’m sure we will all get over this in the near future (I hope). I remember years ago, my music stopped working and I contacted Sonos Tech Support and they knew right away what the problem was. In my setup, I point my Sonos music library to my iTunes library, since all the music that I purchase is usually through iTunes. But when the music stopped a while back Sonos knew right away that Apple had changed something in the iTunes directory which caused the music not working. We talked for a while since we were both technical and I realized that in order to work for Sonos Tech Support, you had to know all the intricacies of all the various music services to keep these expensive speakers running. So I was always impressed with Sonos. So hopefully they will survive this mishap and we will all be up and running soon. Can’t wait.

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