new sonos app released 7th May 2024 issues

Hi @TGROSE, I recently looked into SSD-only NAS boxes and was surprised by the dearth of options. Certainly seems like a great idea for, say, a 4TB NAS with no noise and high reliability. In any case, QNAP and Synology are the big names to look at.

With respect to categorization, that is done using the ‘Genre’ ID3 tag. Check out the shareware tool MP3tag, it is fabulous. https://www.mp3tag.de/en

Thank you for your reply Ken. The issue has appeared post the application update. I finally managed to get the app to recognise the errant speaker but although the process completed, the speaker still does not show in the app. 
I have no idea how to recreated the fault and to be frank, I spent a lot of money on Sonos and regret it.  the customer service is only during business hours and guess what, I also have to work. How one company can think it is OK to treat customers like this is beyond me. The product is no longer as advertised. 

Samazar wrote:

@TGROSE - I never knew about SonoPhone, I will definitely try it out. I too would like to access local music files in the future, any suggestions in terms of a nice SSD based NAS solution that is simple to setup and use? How does one copy files to it and do the music files have to be categorised in sub folders, for example: Pop, Instrumental, Vocals, All time Hits etc.

I use a Synology NAS, but only because I want the additional backup and ransomware security provided by a NAS solution.  (Synology is great because of the software, but there are others.)  Prior to using Synology I just used a Windows PC with the network settings set as a Private Network and shared the directories where the music was stored. (You can rip CDs or download music to a Windows PC, or Mac. Then, copy it to the NAS if that’s what you’re using.) Whatever you use, make sure the Sonos devices and the music “server” are on the same network.  You can certainly use an SSD drive, but a traditional internal hard drive works fine as well. (If you go the NAS route, be sure the NAS model you select will use SSD drives for storage.) Then, in Sonos’ Manage Library Settings, add (point to) the directories where your music is stored.  

Formerly on the PC and now in Synology, my music is separated under three base folders (MP3, Recorded, Hi-Res).  The next level of subfolders are the Artists, and the third level of subfolders are the Albums.   What I am calling the three base folders is the level where you could sort your music by Genre or whatever you choose.  (Note: You can choose to have all of your music in one base folder with an Artist subfolder and then the Albums subfolders below the Artists.)  The, the way it used to work in Sonos is you could select music by Artists, Albums, Composers, Genre or Songs and you would be selecting from the entire music library.  Alternatively, you could select music by folder first and then drill down into Artists, etc.  However, the alternative folder functionality is not working at all in the current software version.  This a huge limitation for me.  Unfortunately, the drilldown by folder first function is not available in SonoPhone. Until it is fixed in Sonos this is not available so keep that in mind.

The only other thing I’ll add is make sure your wireless network is working well wherever you intend to place wireless Sonos speakers, especially if you are using Hi-Res music. 

This is a lot of information.  I hope it’s enough to get you started.

Every since Sonos released the new app in May, it WILL NOT connect to my Play 1 speaker. I have spent hours with tech support. Sure, every now and then it will connect for 10 minutes tops, then it cannot find my speaker again. Tech support admitted tonight they are barraged with customers with the same complaint. BUT no communication, no ETA, nada. Super poor customer service. Unless there is communication and/or it is fixed in a week— no more Sonos. Moving on….

@press250  - Thank you for your kind input, I will certainly look into QNAP and Synology. Just want a good basic NAS that is reliable and works. A 4TB SSD based NAS would be ideal for me, I’m opting for SSD for reliability but I guess platters would be fine too as long as I can manually maintain a back-up of all my files.

Good to know about mp3tag. However, I prefer accessing folders and sub-folders even if they show up as a list. Example my main music folder would be called MUSIC and then that would contain sub-folders and the sub-folders would contain music tracks. So, in a nutshell, a three level directory structure: Music → Sub Folders → Music Files.

@TGROSE - Thank you very much indeed for taking the time to write such a comprehensive and useful response, I really appreciate it.

I would like a basic 4TB NAS drive, I was opting for SSD for reliability but have no problem with platters if I maintain my own backup of files on a separate back-up drive which could be a 4TB external USB3 drive - which raises a question: Would it be better to implement a RAID Level 1 topology? It feels safer to maintain a separate back-up drive.

I hope the developer of SonoPhone implements the ability to access music files in folders and subfolders in the near future. In your experience, do you think SonoPhone has a better interface? Has it ever stopped working when Sonos upgrades the firmware in their speakers?

Does Apple Music integrate and work inside of the SonoPhone app just like it does within the Sonos App?

Every single Sonos device in my system will be wired to a network switch. From what I understand, it’s now possible to deactivate SonosNet for each device within the Sonos App.

The issue of the app not connecting to devices, or starting to show the home screen and then switching to a no devices message, which needs an app restart or two as a temp fix, seems to come back after an app update.

The best fix (until the next app update) is an app re-install or at least to delete all app data. It’s necessary to go through some initial app screens but at least the app becomes stable again.

@jwsg i have tried multiple times to reconnect my Move2 by uninstalling the app and reinstalling. The Arc connects and shows no problem but the Move2 connection sounds make all the right noises but a. Does not appear on the App and b. The App remains stuck in ‘searching for nearby products mode’. 
This is basics that SONOS should be able to master before working on random nice to have things like alarm etc. I would argue that they currently have not retained a MVP and certainly no longer conform to the product sales description. 

This was just for an intermittent glitch with a working system, for when you launch the (android) app it shows the no devices message either right away or after a second or two and if you restart the app once or twice you can get the home screen OK. An app re-install or clear app data does seem to cure this specific glitch - which came back after the latest app update - but not being able to connect at all is likely something more fundamental.

I agree on the separate back-up drive.  RAID-1 would avoid down time in the case of a single drive failure, but it’s not considered a backup because the device it’s in could fail leading to unpredictable results.  For reasons other than music, I use Synology’s SHR, which is essentially RAID-5.  It works well with Sonos. 

I was wrong about SonoPhone.  It does allow you to select the base folder first as well.  From there, you can select by Artists.  The original Sonos-2 interface was my favorite, but it was also the one I knew well.  I haven’t played with the SonoPhone settings much because when I installed SonoPhone it just configured itself from the Sonos app.  Even though there have been recent updates to the inoperable Sonos app, I still use SonoPhone to regain the music library functionality from my iPhone.  I have noticed there are differences between the two apps.  For instance, I set Sonos to update the library every day at 2 a.m.  SonoPhone just seems to have a manual Refresh button.  That may be intentional.  I assume SonoPhone is designed to not conflict with the Sonos app settings.  Therefore, I think it is best to leave both apps on your phone.  I’m not sure about the firmware question.  I have been using SonoPhone since early May, so if there have been any recent firmware updates they have not caused issues.  Apple Music works well for me in SonoPhone.  I use Apple Music only occasionally, so I’m not the best person to compare the two apps for that functionality.

My Sonos network configuration is probably considered outdated.  I still use Sonos Boost with a mixture of wired and wireless Sonos devices.  I can’t be 100% wired.  I’m not sure how 100% wired would work with Sonos speakers that can’t be wired like the Move.  Turning off wireless may limit their use?  I haven’t had any connectivity issues, so I haven’t followed the recent recommendations.