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Alarms "hidden" in System Settings with 10.4

  • 10 September 2019
  • 144 replies
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Userlevel 4
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Ah come on Sonos, alarms used to be so easy. It used to be click ‘More’, click alarms. Now in 10.4 it’s click ‘Settings’, click ‘System’, scroll around a bit, click ‘Alarms’. Why? Sometimes it feels like Sonos is constantly changing stuff for the sake of change, not to improve the functionality.
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Best answer by Ryan S 11 December 2019, 17:05

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144 replies

Currently, Sonos does not support going back to a previous controller.
Userlevel 1
Put the Alarms setting back in the main page of the app. And stop messing about with the app and breaking it, it's really annoying and I now hate Sonos.

What happened? Sonos used to be really good, then you got rid of the separate controllers, then you messed up the app and now you're just intent on making it completely unusable. Do you not bother testing this stuff? And have your app team had a psychotic break?
Userlevel 3
I came here to make my first post ever to say the same. Alarms are a feature I check/update daily, I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

It should not be in buried at the same level as the options to change the date or turn on parental controls.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
Please can I add another vote for move alarms up a level in the menu and make more prominent.

I do have repeating alarms but I go in and turn on/off when my routine changes. Literally every other option on the top menu looks like something I’d access once/rarely (account, services, app preferences) or never (help, privacy, legal).

ALSO I’m seeing the alarm menu itself being buggy - text was strobing grey/black on iphone 6S ios 12.4.1 and I couldn’t make any selections. Working again after forced close. I am nervous about setting an early morning alarm I can’t turn off!
Userlevel 5
Badge +5
Please can I add another vote for move alarms up a level in the menu and make more prominent.

I do have repeating alarms but I go in and turn on/off when my routine changes. Literally every other option on the top menu looks like something I’d access once/rarely (account, services, app preferences) or never (help, privacy, legal).

Well said. Anyone who believes that you set an alarm as often as you change your wifi settings or add a new music service, clearly is very confused. Alarms are a daily or almost daily activity. The other settings they are grouped with are a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing
Userlevel 1
Just thought I’d add my feedback:
  1. Alarms are a function and should not be buried in a settings menu
  2. I’ve had Sonos for years (now got 12 rooms/devices) and am continually amazed how you’re making the core product worse not better - getting rid of the old controllers that used to do the basics perfectly every time and forcing us to use an app that now seems to keep changing for no reason. I used to love Sonos and recommend it to anyone who asked - now I stick with it because it’s in most rooms in the house and I can’t be bothered to research a replacement.
Userlevel 2
I too find that burying the alarms is ridiculously complex. I eventually found where they were, but multiple levels of menus plus having to scroll past very rarely used options makes no sense at all. I can’t imagine what Sonos is thinking.
Userlevel 2
I use alarms daily, too, and agree that there are way too many clicks required to get to them now. Just adding my voice to the chorus. I hope Sonos will make alarms more accessible in the next update -- which can't come soon enough for this very reason!
Userlevel 2
What an incredibly stupid change.
revert this change immediately
Userlevel 2
I also adjust and add or remove alarms daily. I do not like the alarm position/page change or the UI/UX changes this update has made.
Userlevel 2
Same here; alarms are set daily by all members of my familiy. Has this change even been beta tested? Please move ‘alarms’ up in the menu directly under ‘settings’.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
+1 from me also to restore the Alarms option to the page immediately under Settings. I use my bedside Sonos as an alarm clock and visit the Alarms screen daily to adjust check wake up times due to changing shift patterns. For this reason (and to cater for the lack of snooze button functionality on the players) I have 12 alarms set up for different scenarios which I switch on and off as required.

Unfortunately the redesign also wastes a lot of screen estate. I could previously see all my alarms easily on one screen, and the green colour on the button when an alarm is ON made it plain at a glance which were on and which were off. I now have to scroll to view the alarms due to wasted space and the monochrome version of the buttons doesn't make it plain at a glance which are on and which are off. You've made a screen which was a pleasure to use rather frustrating.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
just to add to my previous post about usability of the redesigned screen:

In the previous app version I could see up to 10 alarms on screen at the same time. In the new I can only see 2 and a bit, so no way to see at a glance which are on and off without scrolling.

It used to be quick to visually scan down the list of Alarms to see which times/days of the week were set, but the addition of extra text appended to the end of the days telling you what sound each alarm will play (whilst a good idea) actually slows down this process as the brain (at least my brain when I'm just about to go to sleep at night) has to process the extra information.

The new monochrome buttons are smaller than the old, seem to be a bit more 'sticky' to use and more difficult to 'hit' without accidentally going into the associated alarm amendment screen. I do prefer the old larger style of button much easier to use with accuracy and found the green coloured background when 'On' much easier to pick out quickly (and more visually attractive to look at).

Please please please move the Alarms screen back up a level under 'Settings' - Alarms aren't a System option, and take another look at the GUI design and layout. I've now decided that I really don't like this new design. It's annoying and frustrating. (Sorry).
Userlevel 2
Sorry, folks. Alarms are not a “set and forget” function. People whose schedules change regularly go there daily or more. Nice that we have figured out where it’s been hidden, but really, it’s not a system function — it’s a primary Sonos function, and should be easier to get to, not harder.
Userlevel 2
… Alarms are a system setting which are usually set and then not changed frequently ...

Totally disagree with your statement, Ryan! I change them daily and like to have them back on where they were before so I don't have to do so many clicks. Putting them at the same level like Accounts or Audio compression does not make sense to me. Alarms needs to be 1 level higher, at least.
Userlevel 1
Really annoying to search Sonos help to find the Alarm "button". Total waste of time. Put it back on main menu! User since 2013, not liking wacky updates.
Userlevel 1
Ah come on Sonos, alarms used to be so easy. It used to be click ‘More’, click alarms. Now in 10.4 it’s click ‘Settings’, click ‘System’, scroll around a bit, click ‘Alarms’. Why? Sometimes it feels like Sonos is constantly changing stuff for the sake of change, not to improve the functionality.
Userlevel 1
I agree. I have alarms that don't change and alarms that change daily. What a pain it now is to set and/or update an alarm. Even just turning it on or off takes too long. Obviously the developers don't use the functions they work on.
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
This is a really bad change to the user interface of Sonos. Alarms aren't a system setting. They are used really often, especially to the people with often changing schedules like me. Also the alarms interface (when you get there in the end) is worse then before. Only 2 alarms are directly visible, in earlier versions of the app you got 5 alarms in one view which gave a lot better overview.

Sonos please put the alarms up a level!
Userlevel 1
We have three people in the house with different routines and set alarms daily. The move the the bottom of a scroll of a submenu is really inconvenient and unintuitive.

Move alarms back to the top menu, please.

the monochrome buttons also suck. What the hell, designers?
Userlevel 4
Badge +3
At first I thought I was going senile while trying to set the alarm, then remembered that Sonos likes to fix things that aren’t broken...

Please put the alarm function back up to a level one menu!
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
I rarely find fault with Sonos, but I feel I need to comment on the “hiding” of alarms in the latest version of the software.
I use alarms frequently, and now you’ve hidden them in system settings, under System and then at he bottom of a list of products (6) so quite a long list, and other items. Don’t you want people to find them? Why not put the timer settings under the first level of settings along with Services, App Preferences etc? Just a thought.
Anthony
Userlevel 1
Have always liked (do like, very much) my Sonos, but the one thing that really ****** me off is illogical UI change like this. In a previous UI change (happily now reverted after - let say - "quite clear" user feedback) the background turned white rather than black - illuminating my whole room while listening to music to relax in the evening lights dimmed, quiet music and a 5" rectangular phone illuminating the whole place!

Now "data" (bad data analysis at least...) has made the UI/UX guys decide that an alarm is a system setting at the same level as audio compression or date/time. Really? Less regularly used than setting up music services or account??? I call BS. I am certain that the data can say this - i suspect a majority never use alarms - but for a minority of your users we use it several times a week. You need to read user data based on more than just frequency (otherwise Sonos will just end up with a "play Sean Mendes" button at the top to suit the populist masses...)

Put alarms back in the level above... as another poster pointed out, there is even a gap on my (not big) screen at the bottom of the menu it should be in!

Throw Services down a level if you need to - I have 2 or 3 and last looked at that when I changed an email address or something ..

Alarms? Every. Single. Day.
Just adding my voice to the chorus requesting that alarms be moved up a level in the menus. Alarms are not a system setting!
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I agree to the feature being a function not a setting as I as well change alarms weekly. More importantly though is the missing snooze button on the pop up notification in IOS. The alert pops telling me the alarm is activated but no way to snooze, if I touch the alert it just opens the app, still no snooze option, or is it buried somewhere else? Not being able to snooze is a huge issue.