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Keith N
Keith N
Sonos Staff
May 11, 2024

The New Sonos App and Future Feature Updates

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: 

 

    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.

    2256 replies

    Show previous replies
    BrianJG
    Enthusiast II
    July 4, 2024

    The more I think about it, why can’t Sonos allow the last working version to be downloaded and installed so we can use our systems until you’re done with the roadmap?

    We’ve been round this loop multiple times and I have concluded that the answer is either pride or there is a genuine technical reason.

    No need to draw conclusions. We’ve been through the actual reason multiple times too. It’s because the old version didn’t support the Sonos Ace, and there needed to be a Sonos app to support this new launch product. To have a second version of the app that didn't support Ace would be very confusing for Ace owners. Of course, those are in the minority, and the majority are apparently suffering as a result, but the rationale remains.


    I’m guessing the majority of Sonos users would not have such a polite understanding, accepting response.

    I think the decision making was flawed and didn’t take the current user base into consideration at all. 

    It would seem they decided to meet a marketing deadline with total disregard to their users.

    I wonder how many Ace owners there actually are? Existing users who might have bought Ace probably haven’t because of the new app release.

    @BVRBVR @Rhonny They hosed their existing base in order to sell headphones. The thing is that, as a 10+ year customer of SONOS, I personally won’t buy anything new from them given the disaster at hand.

      Rhonny
      Prodigy III
      July 4, 2024

      The more I think about it, why can’t Sonos allow the last working version to be downloaded and installed so we can use our systems until you’re done with the roadmap?

      We’ve been round this loop multiple times and I have concluded that the answer is either pride or there is a genuine technical reason.

      No need to draw conclusions. We’ve been through the actual reason multiple times too. It’s because the old version didn’t support the Sonos Ace, and there needed to be a Sonos app to support this new launch product. To have a second version of the app that didn't support Ace would be very confusing for Ace owners. Of course, those are in the minority, and the majority are apparently suffering as a result, but the rationale remains.


      I’m guessing the majority of Sonos users would not have such a polite understanding, accepting response.

      I think the decision making was flawed and didn’t take the current user base into consideration at all. 

      It would seem they decided to meet a marketing deadline with total disregard to their users.

      I wonder how many Ace owners there actually are? Existing users who might have bought Ace probably haven’t because of the new app release.

      @BVRBVR @Rhonny They hosed their existing base in order to sell headphones. The thing is that, as a 10+ year customer of SONOS, I personally won’t buy anything new from them given the disaster at hand.

      It was a huge miscalculation that the customer base would tolerate a substandard app and drops in functionality. But there is no doubt that Sonos top brass recognise that now.
      As I understand it, there was furore around S1 to S2 - I can’t imagine Sonos screwing up a third time, or investors accepting it.

        Bumper
        Bumper
        July 4, 2024

        Generally agree but I’m not sure it was a miscalculation and not incompetence. Incompetence has a way of repeating itself. 

          PJJ
          Contributor I
          July 4, 2024

          I inclined to think it’s more commercial arrogance! I can’t imagine the corporate memory is so poor that it doesn’t remember the debacle over the S1/S2 update. I am still running a duplicate S1 and S2 system because of that with two different NAS drives with identical copies of my music library until I have enough funds to replace my ZP90’s  . Perhaps that is rewarding their bad behaviour and I should be looking elsewhere for my next music system.

           

            BrianJG
            Enthusiast II
            July 4, 2024

            Generally agree but I’m not sure it was a miscalculation and not incompetence. Incompetence has a way of repeating itself. 

            It’s more like hubris. They said it was “brave” to release an app like this. The CEO said we will learn to love it. I can only play SONOS Radio at this point, which is not what I paid for. 

              BVRBVR
              Contributor I
              July 4, 2024

              Generally agree but I’m not sure it was a miscalculation and not incompetence. Incompetence has a way of repeating itself. 

              It’s more like hubris. They said it was “brave” to release an app like this. The CEO said we will learn to love it. I can only play SONOS Radio at this point, which is not what I paid for. 

              Try the SonoPhone app from the AppStore. 

                BrianJG
                Enthusiast II
                July 4, 2024

                The more I think about it, why can’t Sonos allow the last working version to be downloaded and installed so we can use our systems until you’re done with the roadmap?

                We’ve been round this loop multiple times and I have concluded that the answer is either pride or there is a genuine technical reason.

                No need to draw conclusions. We’ve been through the actual reason multiple times too. It’s because the old version didn’t support the Sonos Ace, and there needed to be a Sonos app to support this new launch product. To have a second version of the app that didn't support Ace would be very confusing for Ace owners. Of course, those are in the minority, and the majority are apparently suffering as a result, but the rationale remains.


                I’m guessing the majority of Sonos users would not have such a polite understanding, accepting response.

                I think the decision making was flawed and didn’t take the current user base into consideration at all. 

                It would seem they decided to meet a marketing deadline with total disregard to their users.

                I wonder how many Ace owners there actually are? Existing users who might have bought Ace probably haven’t because of the new app release.

                Being polite about it does not mean that I am not angry or that my plans for future Sonos spend is not zero 😉

                This was badly planned and subsequently mismanaged, but as the old adage says “don’t get mad get even” and for me that means no future spending on new Sonos products. Loss of future sales is what Sonos will understand. 

                And this as well. This should be getting their attention.

                 

                  Paq
                  Lyricist III
                  July 4, 2024

                  Sonos Team, take your time to fix what you have broken. I downloaded Sonoipad and it work. All the feature that I need are present. It doesn’t have the Sleep but anyway I don’t need it. 

                  You are frustrating your customer that bring the money to Sonos. Do you realize that? 

                  I won’t replace my speakers by another Sonos...it will be Bluesound. Go on, take your time, have a laugh to all users that bought a Sonos speaker. You have no respect. You could have done another apps Sonos(something) and keep the old app available. But no, someone decided that it was a better idea to have Sonos system down for some months. What a wonderful idea.

                  You decided to stick with your decision and laugh to your faithful client. 

                  You said that you read you customer comment but the biggest wish was to bring back available the old app. It seems that someone at Sonos doesn’t read properly or maybe is blind.

                    SFM
                    Lyricist II
                    July 5, 2024

                    Hi, So when I move between homes from 1 Sonos system to another, I have to delete the app, download it again, search for existing Sonons system, which it finds and I’m up and running.  However, with the prior version it just worked out that I’d moved from 1 system to another.  Am I doing something wrong or is this just the new normal… 

                      PaulR01
                      Trending Lyricist I
                      July 5, 2024

                      Generally agree but I’m not sure it was a miscalculation and not incompetence. Incompetence has a way of repeating itself. 

                      I think the level of miscalculation is justification for it being called incompetence. It really is shocking.

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