Prodigy I

Answered

My list of issues with new Sonos App on IOS

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
May 7, 2024
183 replies
12888 views

I have updated the Sonos IOS app on just ONE of my IOS devices (thankfully).
My overall impression of the new Sonos IOS app is that it is missing quite a bit of functionality that was available in the old app. I therefore suspect there will be quite a backlash from existing users until Sonos address some of these issues.

For what it is worth, here is my initial list of issues/questions…

1 - There are issues with the Rova service on the new app. When you click on Rova via the “Your Services” rail nothing shows.
My other IOS devices that are still using the old Sonos app correctly show the list of Rova Station selections as expected.

2 - Related to the above point, when searching for a radio station. e.g. “The Sound” the Rova stations do not show in the results and the Rova service icon in the search rail shows with a “!” icon next to the service name. Doing the same search using the old app correctly returns the Rova stations in the search results.

3 - The “Sonos Favorites” rail list only shows 18 items and nothing happens when you click the “>” icon at the top right of the “Sonos Faborites” rail. This should expand the list to show all of my favorites. The old app and the new Web app BOTH allow you to see all of your favorites (I have 30 favorites in my list).

4 - The Music Library no longer allows you to position into your list of Artists or Albums by selecting a letter to position into. This is a pain if you have a large list of albums.
e.g. To play Album “Zombie” by Fela Kuti you have to scroll through your entire list of albums in alphabetical order to be able to select it.
What makes this worse is the fact you can no longer search your Music Library being that the “Classic” search option which supported Music Libraries is no longer supported.
Again what makes this worse is that the Album list within the Music library previously displayed in grid form, now it displays in list form with 1 album per row so it takes forever to scroll through the list.

5 - When you play an album from your Music Library the tracks on the album are not added/visible in the queue. You there cannot edit the queue to reorder tracks etc. You also don’t seem to have the ability to be able to add songs to the end of the queue or select to play next etc.

6 - The “Manage” list within “System Settings” on the old app doesn’t include the ability to setup/maintain your Music Library settings. So currently the only way to maintain these settings is by using the old Desktop Controller, which I understand is soon to be retired.
So my question here is, moving forward how are we going to do tasks like adding a new Shared Music Folder?

Ross.

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Best answer by rosswells127

I really like my Sonos gear, but the new app not so much!
Here is what I have decided to do until Sonos add the missing features and fix their bugs with the new app.

I have installed a 3rd party Sonos controller on my iPad - which I had updated to the new Sonos app.
The 3rd party app has excellent Music Library support and also allows me to listen to my radio stations via Rova. It also allows me to see all of my Favorites.
I have turned off updates on my iPhone to keep the old S2 app in place.

It would be good if Sonos could add the old S2 app to the Apple Store so users could revert back to that version while they work on their new app to bring it up to standard. I do hope that Sonos listen to their user base and get the new app up to speed ASAP.

Ross.

Show previous replies

D

DaveR42

Lyricist III

@DaveR42. Just FYI, I had DM’ed @unahppyowner with the 3rd party app suggestion.
The bad news is that he is on an Android platform and therefore can’t use the suggested app, the good news is that he managed to downgrade the Sonos app back to 16.1.
Ross.

OK, thanks - glad we’re all on the same page about this - shame Sonos isn’t !

M

Moosewalk

I have updated the Sonos IOS app on just ONE of my IOS devices (thankfully).
My overall impression of the new Sonos IOS app is that it is missing quite a bit of functionality that was available in the old app. I therefore suspect there will be quite a backlash from existing users until Sonos address some of these issues.

For what it is worth, here is my initial list of issues/questions…

1 - There are issues with the Rova service on the new app. When you click on Rova via the “Your Services” rail nothing shows.
My other IOS devices that are still using the old Sonos app correctly show the list of Rova Station selections as expected.

2 - Related to the above point, when searching for a radio station. e.g. “The Sound” the Rova stations do not show in the results and the Rova service icon in the search rail shows with a “!” icon next to the service name. Doing the same search using the old app correctly returns the Rova stations in the search results.

3 - The “Sonos Favorites” rail list only shows 18 items and nothing happens when you click the “>” icon at the top right of the “Sonos Faborites” rail. This should expand the list to show all of my favorites. The old app and the new Web app BOTH allow you to see all of your favorites (I have 30 favorites in my list).

4 - The Music Library no longer allows you to position into your list of Artists or Albums by selecting a letter to position into. This is a pain if you have a large list of albums.
e.g. To play Album “Zombie” by Fela Kuti you have to scroll through your entire list of albums in alphabetical order to be able to select it.
What makes this worse is the fact you can no longer search your Music Library being that the “Classic” search option which supported Music Libraries is no longer supported.
Again what makes this worse is that the Album list within the Music library previously displayed in grid form, now it displays in list form with 1 album per row so it takes forever to scroll through the list.

5 - When you play an album from your Music Library the tracks on the album are not added/visible in the queue. You there cannot edit the queue to reorder tracks etc. You also don’t seem to have the ability to be able to add songs to the end of the queue or select to play next etc.

6 - The “Manage” list within “System Settings” on the old app doesn’t include the ability to setup/maintain your Music Library settings. So currently the only way to maintain these settings is by using the old Desktop Controller, which I understand is soon to be retired.
So my question here is, moving forward how are we going to do tasks like adding a new Shared Music Folder?

Ross.

Hi @rosswells127

May I ask what 3rd party app you installed?

Like you, I couldn’t believe how awful and how much of a retrograde step the new official app is.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

DM me as well the 3rd party App so I can get back part of my system. Thanks

O

OMG

Lyricist II

I am an unlucky user – iPhone updated app and in one word OMG who ever let this update past RND and TESTING should be fired on the spot – nothing good about this app except NOT WORKING and taking out what was GOD ABOUT OLD APP. Been an avid fan for over 30 years but with this new app – Sonos should buy back all our gear at cost just for allowing this MONSTROSITY to be uploaded by any user of there product. SHAME ON SONOS

M

Moosewalk

Not seeing any Good responses from Sonos. Several issues from several customers and Sonos is Silent. Very Bad release leads to less customers. My system is useless at the moment. Thanks again Sonos for your Great Customer Experience!!!

R

Rgthomas

Lyricist II

Not sure what’s more upsetting. The poor release itself or the seemingly arrogant response from Sonos. This is their Bud Lite moment.

S

SoCalBruce

Contributor I

If you performed a manual backup of your iPad / iPhone onto a computer then it is possible to restore the prior S2 (Gold) App.

The steps I used were:

Make sure your backup was done before the new (v 80, black) Sonos app was installed on your device;
Erase your iPad/iPhone and perform a restore from the backup on your PC;
Once the device restarted for the first time you need to immediately disable auto updates and downloads for apps (Settings, App Store). This is an important step otherwise you’ll get the new app installed again..
Unplug the iOS device from your PC and let your device complete the app installs.

The process took about an hour but I’m happy now that I got the prior S2 app reinstalled..

Good luck.

Bumper

If you performed a manual backup of your iPad / iPhone onto a computer then it is possible to restore the prior S2 (Gold) App.

The steps I used were:

Make sure your backup was done before the new (v 80, black) Sonos app was installed on your device;
Erase your iPad/iPhone and perform a restore from the backup on your PC;
Once the device restarted for the first time you need to immediately disable auto updates and downloads for apps (Settings, App Store). This is an important step otherwise you’ll get the new app installed again..
Unplug the iOS device from your PC and let your device complete the app installs.

The process took about an hour but I’m happy now that I got the prior S2 app reinstalled..

Good luck.

Thanks for posting this. Do you have experience restoring from iCloud, think this process might work with it? Might give it a shot either way.

press250

Prodigy III

Thanks for posting this. Do you have experience restoring from iCloud, think this process might work with it? Might give it a shot either way.

Careful lads! iOS backups—be they direct to iCloud or using iTunes to a local machine—include only a pointer to each application and not the application itself. Restoring from any backup pulls the latest version of your apps from the App Store, regardless of which version was present at the time of backup.

Google it if you need confirmation.

press250

Prodigy III

If you performed a manual backup of your iPad / iPhone onto a computer then it is possible to restore the prior S2 (Gold) App.

The steps I used were:

Make sure your backup was done before the new (v 80, black) Sonos app was installed on your device;
Erase your iPad/iPhone and perform a restore from the backup on your PC;
Once the device restarted for the first time you need to immediately disable auto updates and downloads for apps (Settings, App Store). This is an important step otherwise you’ll get the new app installed again..
Unplug the iOS device from your PC and let your device complete the app installs.

The process took about an hour but I’m happy now that I got the prior S2 app reinstalled..

Good luck.

Careful lads! iOS backups—be they direct to iCloud or using iTunes to a local machine—include only a pointer to each application and not the application itself. Restoring from any backup pulls the latest version of your apps from the App Store, regardless of which version was present at the time of backup.

Google it if you need confirmation.

Barmee

Enthusiast I

I have updated the Sonos IOS app on just ONE of my IOS devices (thankfully).
My overall impression of the new Sonos IOS app is that it is missing quite a bit of functionality that was available in the old app. I therefore suspect there will be quite a backlash from existing users until Sonos address some of these issues.

For what it is worth, here is my initial list of issues/questions…

1 - There are issues with the Rova service on the new app. When you click on Rova via the “Your Services” rail nothing shows.
My other IOS devices that are still using the old Sonos app correctly show the list of Rova Station selections as expected.

2 - Related to the above point, when searching for a radio station. e.g. “The Sound” the Rova stations do not show in the results and the Rova service icon in the search rail shows with a “!” icon next to the service name. Doing the same search using the old app correctly returns the Rova stations in the search results.

3 - The “Sonos Favorites” rail list only shows 18 items and nothing happens when you click the “>” icon at the top right of the “Sonos Faborites” rail. This should expand the list to show all of my favorites. The old app and the new Web app BOTH allow you to see all of your favorites (I have 30 favorites in my list).

4 - The Music Library no longer allows you to position into your list of Artists or Albums by selecting a letter to position into. This is a pain if you have a large list of albums.
e.g. To play Album “Zombie” by Fela Kuti you have to scroll through your entire list of albums in alphabetical order to be able to select it.
What makes this worse is the fact you can no longer search your Music Library being that the “Classic” search option which supported Music Libraries is no longer supported.
Again what makes this worse is that the Album list within the Music library previously displayed in grid form, now it displays in list form with 1 album per row so it takes forever to scroll through the list.

5 - When you play an album from your Music Library the tracks on the album are not added/visible in the queue. You there cannot edit the queue to reorder tracks etc. You also don’t seem to have the ability to be able to add songs to the end of the queue or select to play next etc.

6 - The “Manage” list within “System Settings” on the old app doesn’t include the ability to setup/maintain your Music Library settings. So currently the only way to maintain these settings is by using the old Desktop Controller, which I understand is soon to be retired.
So my question here is, moving forward how are we going to do tasks like adding a new Shared Music Folder?

Ross.

Great list - but so bad is the update that I could easily add several more big issues to it too! Biggest sin of all (for me) being the inability to created/add to the queue of songs)!

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