Android app constantly freezes / crashes with update 9.0.1 update.


I updated to the most recent release for Android, v9.0.1. At first, it was laggy, then would freeze up and crash. When I say "at first", I mean after the first 5 minutes of use. Now it crashes immediately on opening and I can't even submit a diagnostic report because it just keeps crashing! Tried reinstalling but to no avail.

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It still doesn’t mean there isn’t a bug though!
Why would Sonos not acknowledge and admit a bug?
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It still doesn’t mean there isn’t a bug though!
Why would Sonos not acknowledge and admit a bug?


I’ve been developing commercial software for over 30 years now and I know every company I’ve worked for has done this. There are bugs that we’ve not wanted people to know about before we’ve fixed them. OK it will be in the release notes when the fix has been done but it’s quite often best to not publicise certain issues. I’m not saying that Sonos does this, I’m just saying that every company I’ve worked for does this and so we can’t with 100% confidence assume about known bugs in a system 🙂
[...] However, I'm really not convinced that every problem encountered with the software is network related.
There isn't a known bug related to the Controller app either.

Surely most bugs are unknown until they're discovered...
I’ve been developing commercial software for over 30 years now and I know every company I’ve worked for has done this. There are bugs that we’ve not wanted people to know about before we’ve fixed them. OK it will be in the release notes when the fix has been done but it’s quite often best to not publicise certain issues. I’m not saying that Sonos does this, I’m just saying that every company I’ve worked for does this and so we can’t with 100% confidence assume about known bugs in a system :)
I imagine this applies mostly to bugs unknown to the public. What does not affect me will not hurt me.
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I’ve been developing commercial software for over 30 years now and I know every company I’ve worked for has done this. There are bugs that we’ve not wanted people to know about before we’ve fixed them. OK it will be in the release notes when the fix has been done but it’s quite often best to not publicise certain issues. I’m not saying that Sonos does this, I’m just saying that every company I’ve worked for does this and so we can’t with 100% confidence assume about known bugs in a system :)
I imagine this applies mostly to bugs unknown to the public. What does not affect me will not hurt me.


Yes that’s exactly what I was saying. Unless a person works for the company and knows everything about the software, they should not be telling people that there are no known bugs in a piece of software.
Anyhow, the amount of complaints would have been overwhelming if lots of customers were affected by a constantly freezing/crashing Controller app.
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Anyhow, the amount of complaints would have been overwhelming if lots of customers were affected by a constantly freezing/crashing Controller app.

Again that is a wrong and dangerous assumption to make. When dealing with very complex systems such as this, there are so many different permutations of hardware and software options (not to mention network options) that you can’t just say that it would affect lots of customers. Anyone who’s ever worked in proper development or support should know that :)

Please note that I’m not saying categorically that there is a bug freezing the app, I’m just pointing out that there could be and people just blindly trying to deny that Sonos ever has problems can do more damage than good. People may rip their networks apart thinking the problem is with their hardware when in fact it isn’t.
Please note that I’m not saying categorically that there is a bug freezing the app, I’m just pointing out that there could be and people just blindly trying to deny that Sonos ever has problems can do more damage than good. People may rip their networks apart thinking the problem is with their hardware when in fact it isn’t.
I don't deny anything – I'm not with Sonos, I'm just a customer like you are. But I have been an active member for two long years now, mainly on the German board though, and I'm a keen observer.
I came across a system where a wired computer's Internet connection was running about half of the expected speed. There were no reliability issues, but it was perplexing. Eventually, I discovered that a construction project had damaged a network wire to a switch. Since there was a SONOS unit also attached to that switch, the SONOS unit was sharing its SonosNet connectivity with the switch. SonosNet is not as fast as a wired connection.

In my own network I like to say that I don't have any issues, but there was a case a couple years ago that blindsided me. It seemed like an ancient NAS drive was finally showing EOL (End of Life) symptoms, but they were not the symptoms that I expected and they were intermittent. This couldn't be a network issue because I'm too smart for that, right? Finally, I swallowed my pride and checked the network in detail --- !! --- duplicate IP address. A couple weeks prior I had reconfigured the DHCP range slightly. Unfortunately, I forgot about a little palm sized gadget hidden away and rarely used. It was also the only device on my network that had a fixed IP address. As is the custom with Murphy's law, this device was now inside the DHCP range, using the IP address assigned to the NAS. Easy fix, injured pride.

I mention this only to point out that when in diagnostic mode, after one assumes the problem must be [...] or cannot be [...], one is likely to be blindsided. However, one should play the percentages. It's pointless to concentrate on the 0.001% probability first.

JohnG666, are you familiar with the [player-IP-address]:1400/support/review data? Pick through this, especially the Network Matrix at the bottom. Colored squares indicate SonosNet links. Make sure that everything is connected as you expect. BTW, this is a static display, refresh the page if you are attempting to follow a dynamic situation.

Your symptoms are consistent with communication problems.There is very little "chatter" between the controllers and the players. Controllers are on a notification list. If a controller misses a notice, for whatever reason, it will be out of sync with the system status.

Note that there is a rare SONOS player failure mode where the internal connection between the network switch and the main board fails. The switch works as far as the network is concerned, but the player is not wired. If this connection is intermittent, the player will tend to flap between wired and SonosNet or offline. (or, depending on your setup, WiFi might be thrown into the mix) This sort of failure can disturb the network.

By the way, are your Androids using WiFi or SonosNet?
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It appears there is a software bug which is responsible for the problems I'm experiencing with the app opening up in the wrong zone.
It appears there is a software bug which is responsible for the problems I'm experiencing with the app opening up in the wrong zone.
Do you have a source for this?
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It appears there is a software bug which is responsible for the problems I'm experiencing with the app opening up in the wrong zone.
Do you have a source for this?


An email from support about my ongoing issues.
I had a working android app then Sonos did some updates and so did android now it just freezes if it opens at all. I've reinstalled the app several times with no change. Sonos works fine from Windows laptop. Its the phone app/Sonos update combination that seems to be the problem so has anyone actually found a solution. Please don't tell me to change anything other than the app or Sonos as nothing else has been changed or stopped working so it is only these things that are the problem and I suspect it is the app since the android update.

Basically, that means you don't have a clue what Sonos is, muss less how it works.


In my case, downgrading to the 8.6 APK on my phone solved my issue.
If you're having trouble with the current release of the Android software, go to https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/sonos-inc/ and download one of the previous packages. I installed 8.6 which fixed my "network" problem (or lack thereof). I'm sorely tempted to go a few point releases earlier to when the first little bugs appeared.

Moderator note: Sonos does not endorse or encourage the use of the versions listed in link. Proceed at your own discretion. User assumes all risk of downloads from a third party. Also note that we will not support outdated versions of the Sonos application.
In my case, downgrading to the 8.6 APK on my phone solved my issue.
Care to post a screenshot of "About my Sonos System"?
Smilja, I too have this issue. I have a full library referenced on two desktop macs (both have the player software obviously). Plus Ipad, iphone and macbook Sonos controllers. My ipod with version 9.0 on it was working just fine before this update. Now the app is locking up constantly. All the other controllers seem to be fine. I can only assume that this version is not compatible with my ipod for whatever reason. The only way to gain control of the system is to close down the app restart it and make a few changes before it doesnt respond anymore or use a different controller on other hardware. The screen will show the last data (music service, song being streamed) before the lockup. The system will still play a streaming service but forget about making changes to rooms, streams, volume anything. Any other controller app being used on any other hardware is working as intended since the update. I too did uninstall the app and reinstall from scratch on this device and it seemed to be OK for about 15 minutes and then right back to the same lockups. Still experimenting to see if the iOS update with Lock Screen is part of the problem or if it locks up after I turn off the screen. Also asking myself if it will function as long as my screen does not go to sleep. More questions than answers but I am trying to narrow this down to what on this ipod is causing this problem while the others seem to be ok.
[...] Still experimenting to see if the iOS update with Lock Screen is part of the problem or if it locks up after I turn off the screen. Also asking myself if it will function as long as my screen does not go to sleep. More questions than answers but I am trying to narrow this down to what on this ipod is causing this problem while the others seem to be ok.
Sonos is currently looking into an issue related to Airplay devices such as Apple TV, Time Capsule and AirPort Express/Extreme. If you have any of these devices in your household, an upcoming update might solve the problems you are experiencing with the iOS Controller.
I had a working android app then Sonos did some updates and so did android now it just freezes if it opens at all. I've reinstalled the app several times with no change. Sonos works fine from Windows laptop. Its the phone app/Sonos update combination that seems to be the problem so has anyone actually found a solution. Please don't tell me to change anything other than the app or Sonos as nothing else has been changed or stopped working so it is only these things that are the problem and I suspect it is the app since the android update.
Presumably this is fixed as both my laptop and phone did updates on Sonos today and the phone now appears to work - or did I just get lucky?
Hard to tell, Sonos has a long history of not posting any update notes with their releases.
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Give it some time. I thought mine was "fixed" yesterday (the phone worked fine) but then came home today and tried it and it had gone back to doing the same freezing thing.
Mine is now fixed and all that changed was Sonos Update last night.
Getting all of this back on topic, I'm still suffering from this exact situation, despite implementing (one at a time) every suggestion on this forum.

YES, I've uninstalled and reinstalled the Sonos controller app on both my Galaxy S9 and my fiance's iPhone 8.

YES, I've sequentially reset the entire network/all speakers. Several times.

YES, I've switched Sonos from SonosNet to wireless.

YES, I've dedicated static IP's to every one of my Sonos speakers - that's 5 Play 1's, 3 Play 3's, 2 Play 5's, a Playbar, and a Sonos Sub.

YES, I've called tech support (MANY times - escalated to a tier 2 with further investigations ongoing).

YES, I've submitted *dozens* of diagnostic reports, from both phones, the laptop, and the desktop.

YES, best case scenario is that I've temporarily regained control, only to have it revert to immediately crashing/freezing - at best several hours later.

YES, I've read through these forums.

SO: At this point I'm almost ready to sell the entire lot.

DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS??

The details about my setup:
-I've got a Samsung Galaxy s9, my fiance has an iPhone 8s.
-We *ONLY* use local music from a computer that's hardwired to our network.
-The computer controllers (both laptop and desktop, wireless and wired, respectively) still work flawlessly.
-The router setup is the Samsung Connect Home - a mesh network with 4 sub-hubs.
-EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE SYSTEM WORKS FINE. Nest cameras, August, Smartthings, Hue, the aforementioned Samsung Galaxy s9 and iPhone 8... LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as (quite simply), I'm at my wits end!

Thanks so much in advance!