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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
    Rhonny
    Prodigy III
    August 8, 2024

    I had written a lengthy post commenting on yesterday’s earnings call and neglected to post and unfortunately lost it.  Here are the highlights:

    1. Patrick Spence spent the first 10 minutes of the call “falling on the sword” and “bending the knee” to take responsibility for the “ongoing” disaster with the app
    2. Patrick noted that there were 2 new hardware products that were ready to come to market in Q4 that will now be delayed.
    3. Company is entirely focused on fixing the app
      1. Process is being independently overseen by a board member
      2. Original Sonos App programmer is fully engaged with implementing fixes to the new app
    4. Sonos beat Q3 24 EPS estimates and revenue estimates, but guided down by over -40% Q4 24 revenue guidance ($397M → $250M = $600M+ annualized)
      1. The guide down is material, stock continues to fall, approaching $10 in the aftermarket.  Down nearly 50% since this fiasco started
    5. Entire tone of the call was ominous.  No investor presentation, just a conciliatory press release
      1. The CFO sounded like a sheep in a wolves den.  Comments were monotone and meek, she offered no updates as to the disappearance of the finance department (and IR department) who undoubtedly were overwhelmed with calls from disappointed investors

    In summary, management only now understands the impact of the disaster to forward sales, and due to regulatory requirements (and to avoid SEC scrutiny) had to disclose the -40% reduction in revenue.  As an avid Sonos user I hope they are successful.  That said, I think this fix is going to require new senior management.  IMHO, the Sonos franchise is at risk, there are no more 2nd chances.

    Finally, music library access (without hacks) has been pushed back to September.  This is why a management change is necessary, we don’t need false information, just be straightforward and honest, and stop missing self-imposed deadlines for the fix.

    To Rhonny and others - I hope you take this post as a factual commentary, I don’t mean to pile on.  That said, this is a deep hole that has eliminated 2 - 3 years of growth in the Sonos franchise...and Patrick Spence admitted that he rushed this update through.

     

    Great post. I can’t disagree with any of that, and nor would I want to.

    ThresherUK
    Enthusiast II
    August 8, 2024

    Wow. Brilliant stuff. Will be totally ignored of course. Companies rise and fall. Same for countries and civilisations. Something to do with ego and not listening first then doing. 

      BVRBVR
      Contributor I
      August 8, 2024

      Hi @Ian_S and @sigh, at the beginning of the Sonos Q3 earnings call CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged customer problems with the new app and accompanying device firmware. One of the issues he specifically called out was “speakers disappearing from customers’ systems.”

      I believe this is the first time the company has acknowledged the problem. It is genuinely good to know that it is on their radar … even better that it was disclosed with such a high profile. Fingers crossed this vexing problem will be resolved in the not too distant future!

      I admire your optimism. Sonos broke their own system and we are all so grateful that they acknowledge it. It would be good if all previous functionality was returned. My worry is how long that is taking, why is it being drip fed and why the heck did this debacle happen in the first place!

      Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

      This would make the great majority of the user base happy and take the heat off the software developers so they could move into an acceptable development cycle and get out of the downward spiral of patch and release.

      If headphones are dependent on the new release I guess those users automatically enter the beta program.

      Since Sonos seems to be ready to face facts they might as well make the best decision for themselves and their customers. 

      Then put procedures in place that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.

      Ultimately, the new version could takeover and Sonos could sunset the 16 version.

      Just sayin’

        Itsumishi
        Trending Lyricist I
        August 9, 2024

        Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

        This has been true since May 8. It’s been really really obvious since May 15 when Sonos hosted its AMA. It was true when 2 months and 20 days after the app “update” rolled out, Spence finally apologised for the bin fire situation he pushed the company into.

        Pretty clearly its not going to happen, not with Spence still wearing the CEO badge. How that badge hasn’t been snatched off him by the board at this point is what I don’t understand. Perhaps the board is waiting for the stock price to fall another 35% so they can purchase more during the dip before they vote to replace him?

        BVRBVR
        Contributor I
        August 9, 2024

        Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

        This has been true since May 8. It’s been really really obvious since May 15 when Sonos hosted its AMA. It was true when 2 months and 20 days after the app “update” rolled out, Spence finally apologised for the bin fire situation he pushed the company into.

        Pretty clearly its not going to happen, not with Spence still wearing the CEO badge. How that badge hasn’t been snatched off him by the board at this point is what I don’t understand. Perhaps the board is waiting for the stock price to fall another 35% so they can purchase more during the dip before they vote to replace him?

        I know, but at certain points on the timeline, it can’t hurt to remind the “powers that be” what is the best decision for everyone, including Sonos.
        From the introduction of this mess I suggested that setting unrealistic expectations and entering a cycle of patch and release was a bad idea. 

        Steve1958
        Contributor I
        August 9, 2024

        Hi @Ian_S and @sigh, at the beginning of the Sonos Q3 earnings call CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged customer problems with the new app and accompanying device firmware. One of the issues he specifically called out was “speakers disappearing from customers’ systems.”

        I believe this is the first time the company has acknowledged the problem. It is genuinely good to know that it is on their radar … even better that it was disclosed with such a high profile. Fingers crossed this vexing problem will be resolved in the not too distant future!

        I admire your optimism. Sonos broke their own system and we are all so grateful that they acknowledge it. It would be good if all previous functionality was returned. My worry is how long that is taking, why is it being drip fed and why the heck did this debacle happen in the first place!

        Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

        This would make the great majority of the user base happy and take the heat off the software developers so they could move into an acceptable development cycle and get out of the downward spiral of patch and release.

        If headphones are dependent on the new release I guess those users automatically enter the beta program.

        Since Sonos seems to be ready to face facts they might as well make the best decision for themselves and their customers. 

        Then put procedures in place that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.

        Ultimately, the new version could takeover and Sonos could sunset the 16 version.

        Just sayin’

        Seems blindingly obvious to me. I miss the pleasure of tweaking and adding to my playlists. Especially when enjoying music with others. It's such a major loss of functionality and clearly a hard one to solve, given the time line for play list and queue editing to return.

          sigh
          sigh
          Prodigy II
          August 9, 2024

          Hi @Ian_S and @sigh, at the beginning of the Sonos Q3 earnings call CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged customer problems with the new app and accompanying device firmware. One of the issues he specifically called out was “speakers disappearing from customers’ systems.”

          I believe this is the first time the company has acknowledged the problem. It is genuinely good to know that it is on their radar … even better that it was disclosed with such a high profile. Fingers crossed this vexing problem will be resolved in the not too distant future!

          Of all the places he would need to give more acknowledgement with some clear actions, than just the canned statements we’ve received so far it, would be in that meeting. Having read the the transcript I think it keeps the investors happy, so he won’t be collecting a golden parachute any time soon.

          At least there is now confirmation that it has been part of a full Sonos platform rewrite, not just a shiny new app, and unexpected behaviours when rolled out at scale. Some of the early behaviour, such as transferring ownership to yourself resolving issues only made sense to me if the cloud side had changed and data wasn’t fully populated.

          How long it will take to fix, that will unfortunately be a waiting game.

          sigh
          sigh
          Prodigy II
          August 9, 2024

           

          It’s almost like the dev team are re-discovering what used to be there before and slowly coming to the same conclusions that were made years ago…

           

          Some 24 years ago Joel Spolsky wrote a seminal blog piece:

          https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/

          For a recent retrospective...

          https://www.reddit.com/r/ExperiencedDevs/comments/18vxqqf/24_years_ago_joel_spolsky_joel_on_software_wrote/

          I agree with the sentiment of the article, one of his closing statements is the most important part

          It’s important to remember that when you start from scratch there is absolutely no reason to believe that you are going to do a better job than you did the first time.

          I have been involved in multiple projects when code was rewritten from scratch. IF there are good clear reasons to do it and it is managed well none of your clients notice. If it is badly managed, done ‘just because’ or for the types of reasons listed in the article then you deserve all the calling out and client loss that follows.

          Successful projects we did it on had a number of reasons two that stand out.

          • break up monolithic code. We were moving the platform to on-demand scaling and self healing services, but some of our services could only scale vertically, which hadn’t been a problem when small but as we grew became a painful platform bottleneck.
          • move from Windows based server hosting to Linux and container based. that was a mix of .net modification to .net core and clean rewrite depending on the existing code.

          The worst project I worked on was already 18 months late when myself and others joined it. They had been through two lead devs who both decided a ground up rewrite was necessary. Both lead devs had changed the programming language and nobody in the teams had really understood the original code or any idea how to configure the server platform. Their idea of devops was developers didn’t need operations teams.
          Their driver for the rewrite was hubris and lack of knowledge. Unfortunately the management team didn’t have anyone with technical knowledge so couldn’t realistically challenge the garbage they were being fed about why the rewrite was needed or why it was taking so long.

          I’ve also dealt with a rewrite to break up a monolith, that from an operations perspective was pointless. The hard inter-dependencies between individual services meant it became a monolith with lots of individual parts, but still had to have all parts deployed together and (re)started in a certain order. 

          Steve1958
          Contributor I
          August 9, 2024

          Hi @Ian_S and @sigh, at the beginning of the Sonos Q3 earnings call CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged customer problems with the new app and accompanying device firmware. One of the issues he specifically called out was “speakers disappearing from customers’ systems.”

          I believe this is the first time the company has acknowledged the problem. It is genuinely good to know that it is on their radar … even better that it was disclosed with such a high profile. Fingers crossed this vexing problem will be resolved in the not too distant future!

          I admire your optimism. Sonos broke their own system and we are all so grateful that they acknowledge it. It would be good if all previous functionality was returned. My worry is how long that is taking, why is it being drip fed and why the heck did this debacle happen in the first place!

          Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

          This would make the great majority of the user base happy and take the heat off the software developers so they could move into an acceptable development cycle and get out of the downward spiral of patch and release.

          If headphones are dependent on the new release I guess those users automatically enter the beta program.

          Since Sonos seems to be ready to face facts they might as well make the best decision for themselves and their customers. 

          Then put procedures in place that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.

          Ultimately, the new version could takeover and Sonos could sunset the 16 version.

          Just sayin’

          Seems blindingly obvious to me. I miss the pleasure of tweaking and adding to my playlists. Especially when enjoying music with others. It's such a major loss of functionality and clearly a hard one to solve, given the time line for play list and queue editing to return.

          And now the sound quality has turned horrible. Muddy bass no reaction from the EQ, truly awful sound. Anyone else experiencing this? Streaming from Napster, will try other platforms.

          Steve1958
          Contributor I
          August 9, 2024

          Hi @Ian_S and @sigh, at the beginning of the Sonos Q3 earnings call CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged customer problems with the new app and accompanying device firmware. One of the issues he specifically called out was “speakers disappearing from customers’ systems.”

          I believe this is the first time the company has acknowledged the problem. It is genuinely good to know that it is on their radar … even better that it was disclosed with such a high profile. Fingers crossed this vexing problem will be resolved in the not too distant future!

          I admire your optimism. Sonos broke their own system and we are all so grateful that they acknowledge it. It would be good if all previous functionality was returned. My worry is how long that is taking, why is it being drip fed and why the heck did this debacle happen in the first place!

          Even though it’s been some time since the release of the “new app” the best decision Sonos could make is put the version 16 app back up and split off development onto a new app and start a beta program for users ready to be testers. 

          This would make the great majority of the user base happy and take the heat off the software developers so they could move into an acceptable development cycle and get out of the downward spiral of patch and release.

          If headphones are dependent on the new release I guess those users automatically enter the beta program.

          Since Sonos seems to be ready to face facts they might as well make the best decision for themselves and their customers. 

          Then put procedures in place that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.

          Ultimately, the new version could takeover and Sonos could sunset the 16 version.

          Just sayin’

          Seems blindingly obvious to me. I miss the pleasure of tweaking and adding to my playlists. Especially when enjoying music with others. It's such a major loss of functionality and clearly a hard one to solve, given the time line for play list and queue editing to return.

          And now the sound quality has turned horrible. Muddy bass no reaction from the EQ, truly awful sound. Anyone else experiencing this? Streaming from Napster, will try other platforms.

          Nope same problem with Amazon music. Vocals are buried in a horrible gloopy bass. Sounds like speakers are playing in a locked box. Truly terrible.

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