For those of you who hate having to use the sonos app, here's a useful alternative

This is beyond me! Can someone with a better brain than mine tell me please

Does this APK thing work on a Windows laptop - I looked at the FAQs and couldn’t find an answer.

I don’t have a Smart Phone but do have an Android tablet - but I can’t see in the FAQs what download I need. Can someone give me a bit of a guide please? My head is starting to ache from looking at the screen for so long - and what the heck is Sonos doing to rectify this mess? I haven’t seen anything from them. 

I love my music - there’s precious little to attract me to tv these days. I’m away next week with no internet, maybe it will all be sorted by the time I get back, can only live in hope.

No, the APK is only for android (your tablet).  It’s a bit complicated; read all this before you try.

First, as he said above, need to completely uninstall the current Sonos.  Then...

You need to go to the link above (preferably on the tablet browser) and download the 16.1 APK (probably the arm64-v8a one*).

Once you have the right one downloaded, you need to go to your download folder (using any file explorer app).  Select it and it should start to install.  It will probably force you to go to settings to allow the APK install.

Mind you, I have not done this install yet.  I’m still deciding whether I want to go back to 16.1.

So...If anyone sees anything I have advised wrong or incomplete, please chime in for Essex Girl.

*I had to look up a way to tell which one I needed for my phone, so I searched for it and found a page recommending putting “Droid Hardware Info” app.  But it was no longer there, so I installed “Device Information” from Yalintech, and ran it and went to “CPU” and learned I had the arm64-v8a, not the armeabi-v7a.  So that is the APK I downloaded. Then I uninstalled the Yalintech app.

Thank you for your help. I’ve tried the simple route as suggested by one poster - about it being the network - turned off router, turned on again - no different. Besides I seldom have issues with the network and this only started after the new updates were downloaded. I was looking at internet radios a while back for my other half - he hates computers! perhaps that’s a route I’ll go down myself.

My next trick is to uninstall the Sonos from the laptop and reinstall it to see if that works.

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye!

I was so excited when I saw the post from 907sjl with the link to the old app.  I thought for sure that would solve my problems, and allow me to play my own music again.

But alas, after removing the crap app and installing the previous version, I still can’t access my Music Library (12,000 MP3 files located on my Win10 PC).  The old app no longer lets me browse my own music.  I recall that when the crap app was installed, it said that it was updating my hardware as well.  So apparently the hardware is now ruined as well, and can’t be controlled from the old version of the app.

For now, I have found an alternative that works somewhat for me.  I installed the Hi-Fi Cast app, which can send music to my Sonos speakers. Unfortunately, it couldn’t see the playlists on my PC, so I installed the MinimServer app, which can see my playlists.  So now at least I can listen to my music again. But I do miss having scheduled playlists that the Sonos Alarms feature allowed.

What a disaster.  I’ve been with Sonos since the VERY beginning (remember those ipod-like controllers on the wall?), and this app fiasco is the last straw.  I just hope I can make enough money back on my Sonos stock puts to enable a systemic change.

Something tells me there will be a surplus of used Sonos speakers on the market soon, and it won’t be because we’re upgrading to a different Sonos product… we’re abandoning.

In the meantime, I’ve bought the Air Music app, and it works like one would expect (unlike Sonos’ app).  Does anyone know if I’m getting high res audio through that app, or if there’s a way to force that (streaming from Tidal app)?

I feel your pain, this update has been rough for many of us!

Using APKMiror to revert to the v16.1 app is strictly an Android thing. It is a little tricky, so I think you’ll have better luck (as a first step) with your Windows laptop. The Sonos Windows desktop client is still on the ‘old’ codebase, so it is much more stable and reliable.

Once you get your laptop up and running, here are the steps for your Android tablet …

• Uninstall the Sonos app
• Visit the website APKMirror from the browser
• Search for the Sonos S2 app, specifically version 16.1
• Download the apk file and install it (click ‘OK’ on the notifications)
• Turn off automatic app updates in the Google Play store

Whats the best previous version of Sonos app that supports older Sonos 1 hardware??

What a mess!

Like many of you, I have 1000s of tracks running off a NAS. I use Amazon music a little, to review an album and if I like it enough I will buy the cd and rip it to the NAS.

Does anyone at Sonos actually read the community posts?

They often talk about how the app is changing, 'thanks to customer feedback'. Do they really do that or just think 'users will really like this, I'm sure'

I'm looking at the Brennan B3,  has anyone used one of their products with Sonos?

Hello again - I was away last week, talking to real humans. I see Sonos has done nothing to rectify their disaster! I emailed the CEO before I went away and got a list of all the woopy-doo things they propose for the rest of the month but nothing - nothing about the current state of affairs. 

So press250 - you advised the old Sonos 

I was away last week, talking to proper humans in language I understand. The situation is still the same, and an email I sent to the CEO gives me a lot of woopy-doo things they propose for later this month but nothing nothing about the current issue of not being able to access my favourite radio stations, though I can still access BBC through Sounds, and Spotify. Had to turn off the alarms - at least they are still visible on laptop as the one for a Dutch radio station just got the appalling Sonos chime. 

In short press250 where do I find the “Windows desktop client…. on the ‘old’ codebase”? Uninstalling the app on Windows and reinstalling did B all! but I’d be glad of clarification if you’d be so kind.

Best regards,

Essex Girl.

Happy to help! Download the Windows desktop client here …

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/downloads

While the above app has been updated quite recently, it is still on the old codebase and is quite a bit more stable (and functional) than the new mobile apps.