Prominent Collaborator I

Feedback on Actual Usage of New Sonos App

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
May 7, 2024
93 replies
6430 views

Just installed the iPad version. Definitely do not like the app compared to the old one.

The new app feels way more busier, due to everything being thrown at you at once (which was their design intention). I’m not saying this approach can’t work though. I’m just saying that the way they designed it, it doesn’t feel right.

In terms of the look and feel, it feels less stylish to me and more cheap. Like it feels like I’m using the Amazon Alexa app (which I hate). The album covers are smaller and not as pronounced, compared to the previous apps recents area.

And the Now Playing screen on the iPad?! Like WTF? Why is there a gap around it showing the interface area behind it (ie Home area)? Why isn’t it full screen (and without rounded corners)? Makes zero design sense, as it’s super distracting, only adding to the busy feeling of the screen. Also see no option to make the app dark instead of light.

All said and done, this just makes me want to not use the app at all, unless there are substantial improvements made to it.

PS. I seem to be having occasional issues loading the app or returning to it, as everything in the app just pulses, as if it’s trying to reload the images / content.

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jgatie

As everyone now knows and accepts - except Sonos insiders - this app is total garbage.

I see this as just another step in the long term, and eventually terminal, decline of Sonos. As more rot sets in, they’ll one day get bought by some Private Equity outfit, who’ll then milk the remaining customer base dry.

With how Sonos operates today, and this roadmap ahead, I cannot see me ever buying another Sonos device again.

It was a blast for a good few years, but Sonos is now a yesteryear company and ecosystem, with its future behind it. Sad!

I can show you identical posts from 6 years ago when they last overhauled the app. I’m not defending the app, it should not have been released with features missing. However, the navigation through the app complaints are exactly the same as when the last overhaul took place; unintuitive, clunky, slow, hard to find things, more clicks, more swipes, etc. Now the old app is beloved, and all those complaints are levelled at the new app. People don’t like change, until they get used to it, then the changes they once hated become their preferred way of doing things. It happened six years ago, and three years before that, with the exact same predictions of doom and gloom for Sonos, and none of them came true.

N

Nimrod knows

Lyricist I

The app is now junk. Cannot create a playlist amongst a litany of lost options. Whoever created, authorised and signed this off is a moron. Classic example of complete incompetence. Just watch your sales bomb when consumers catch on to this s@#£ sh#£. Bravo you ruined your system usability in a stroke.
No excuses, it is amateurish rubbish.

J

JJP

Contributor I

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience. Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company. If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

jgatie

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience. Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company. If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

User @CronoCX has graciously put together the following steps for those not able to stream local libraries from a PC/Mac/NAS drive:

Bumper

In addition to other complaints I’ve registered (no ability to stream from my local NAS anymore nor commercial-less 3rd party content that doesn’t have sonos apps w/o having to pay a $10/mo premium account for tune-in), the new app is cumbersome to use, poorly laid out, lacks flow or any sensible user experience. Would love it if you could make your S2 app available again. It was far far far superior and didn’t have a pay-walled garden - which frankly, is pretty unacceptable for an audio hardware company. If you insist on being a gatekeeper of who I get content from, I will be looking towards new products in the future (like blue sound).

You can stream from your NAS but they removed SMBv1 support and removed the ability to add or edit libraries from the new app. But you can add libraries on the desktop app for now.

If you don’t understand the SMBv1 issue best to contact support.

M

MikeBird

Lyricist III

The new controller app on my MacBookAir (Sonoma 14.5) is almost unchanged, thank goodness. The new controller on my iPhone is a nightmare. All I want to do is play from my library and listen to the radio, forget all the other stuff, but it is so unintuitive compared to the old controller.

B

brave855

Contributor I

Hi @Nollind

Thanks for your feedback! There are a few issues that need to be addressed - and will be soon - though I think it’s safe to assume that the general look of the new app will be here to stay. We have long received feedback on the “clunkiness” of the previous app UI, and this new version is an attempt to address this feedback bring the Sonos app more in line with other music apps.

Please note that although there isn’t yet an option in the new app, the Dark/Light mode of it should be matching your phone’s own settings - please try adjusting in the phone’s relevant setting.

PS. I seem to be having occasional issues loading the app or returning to it, as everything in the app just pulses, as if it’s trying to reload the images / content.

A reboot of your phone and/or speakers may help to address this - if not, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

What BS this is, reboot everytime the bloody app pulses. It pulses continuously. It’s far worse than the previous release and that one sucked too…..stop the typical American brabrabra that it was defined from the ground up. The version 80.02.04 is crap slow and full of hiccups. Never any new Sonos products here

S

SimonVoigt

Lyricist I

Someone has ruined what Sonos had.. Everyone chose Sonos not only for good sound, but for the simplicity of the App, and for bringing all your streaming platforms into one interface, making it easy.

Sonos had made a platform that everyone in the household knew how to use, and now with the new App, wanting to throw everything and nothing at you as a user, my whole family stopped using it, simply because they cant understand the app..

Now my daughters and wife switched to using airplay, and this even fails on the units after the upgrade..

Sorry Sonos.. Just not very impressed, and i actually have the same feeling as if I had bought a brand new car, and the manufacturer visited me half a year after at home and tore out the seats saying "Heres your upgrade"..

R

Rkeatley

Lyricist I

Unbelievably terrible…the old version was pretty close to flawless and I regularly recommended my setup to friends. I wouldn’t wish the new version on an enemy. The app refuses to remember the room I asked it to play in. It defaults to a specific amp and has to be reminded where I want it to play. Amps/speakers cut out randomly and Spotify skips to the next song on the playlist mid track. None of these things ever happened with the old version. please give us back the old version.

H

Hi_its_Zippy

Lyricist I

Long time Sonos user who isnt so fussed by the new UI, but can’t believe how slow the app is to respond to Spotify. I’ve given up on the new Sonos App and am controlling my Sonos speakers directly through Spotify until you fix the App. You can and should do better

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