Constant Updates REALLY ANNOYING


Userlevel 2
Who else is getting sick and tired of constant requirement to reconfig and update Sonos Controller SW. Im a LONG TIME Sonos use, love the simplicity, but the bugginess/constant need to upgrade every time I use my Sonos is ruining my experience. Yes I've maybe 10+ devices connected but still. Who's with me?

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

127 replies

We use the app and have for years but the past 3 months dealing with updates is driving me nuts as well. Every time I want to turn it on to listen the radio (daily/weekly) I am prompted to do some sort of update on either the cell phone or PC. I have noticed I use it less and less because of this hurdle. It's easier to just connect my BT device and go on my way. For the thousands spent on this system, I would not buy it now if I knew of all of the snags. In addition to updates, half of the time my playlists aren't available. So while sharing is a great idea, it really does not run smoothly. I asked the hubby for a system to run throughout the house so I could listen to the same music in all of the rooms. I can honestly say this pricey ($3000) "gift" is one I would not recommend. Great product in theory but does deliver in reality; it's a mediocre system at best.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
@spydrwebb, it's buried a few pages back, but Jeff had a few comments on this topic 4 days ago. As you suggested though, let's all try to remember to stay friendly and on topic. If this thread continues to head into the territory of excessive and inappropriate analogies, I'm going to close it down for further conversation.

While I understand the sentiment and frustration about not wanting anything to get between you and your music, we also know how important it is to bring fixes and features to people. We'll make sure to pass along your feedback about the frequency to the software team for you.

While we have more regular updates now than before, it gives us more opportunities to release fixes for issues that might have come up. If you're familiar with the community, you've probably seen threads where there's a known bug or issue that we're working to resolve and an update would be needed for it. That update couldn't possibly come fast enough for the people affected. Our team works hard balancing bringing new features and fixes with the frequency of release and many other factors.

As a general rule, we recommend keeping systems updated to maintain security and system functionality. For example, getting new music service protocols and patching other things that come up. Some releases have more in them than others, but there's always something.

There are ways to stop getting updates, but we strongly suggest against doing it, since that also means you don't get any of the mentioned fixes or any new features until you do so. If a controller is running a different version from any of your players, you will get prompted to update, this is designed so your system is on the same build, and therefore compatibility is assured. So if you think you've turned off updates on everything, I'd start with making sure all of your controllers and players show the same version number.

Our recommendation is to turn on automatic updates, you'll be able to keep your system up to date and not have to worry about clicking any update buttons on anything aside from some of our older controllers. The desktop controllers don't automatically update, and neither do the old Sonos CR200s. You have to use a mobile controller to enable automatic updates.

As Jeff suggested above, if you're running into issues every time you update, it's most likely network related and our support team can help. You can contact our phone team for some live assistance in improving your system's stability.
i am also sick of the constant updates! It seems like there is one every month, if not every week. I have a few different devices that i use to control it, and it feels like every time I pick one up, it needs an update. Some have limited memory so I need to clear photos, apps, etc just to play some music in my house.


SONOS PLEASE STOP PUSHING UPDATES!! IT ALREADY WORKS FINE.


😠
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
I m sick of it too. The updates are way too frequent; we are essentially production-testing their future capabilities because most of these updates don't add functionality for my current usage and I have no interest in the focus towards streaming and voice control where sonos seems to be heading. I just want to use the system as I intended when I purchased.

And I also don't appreciate having to filter out the "thousand-reply club" (people like ratty and Airgetlam) trying to convince users like me who are agitated with the stability of the platform that we are imagining things by implication. I don't care if your system is stable, good for you, but sonos-support is not a hobby of mine so I don't have the time and focus you do, I just want the thing to work reliably without visiting support forums, and it hasn't for some time now.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Who else is getting sick and tired of constant requirement to reconfig and update Sonos Controller SW. Im a LONG TIME Sonos use, love the simplicity, but the bugginess/constant need to upgrade every time I use my Sonos is ruining my experience. Yes I've maybe 10+ devices connected but still. Who's with me?

I'd give a million thumbs up to the original post, if I could. I"ve posted my own thread about how annoying the constant updates are. My guess is the programmers for Sonos are 20-somethings that have no idea how to orchestrate a software platform for long-term use. It's just "well, we found a tiny bug that will affect 1 out 300 million users, so let's force an update to bring everyone up to speed. I'd bet the underlying code is buggy and patchy and that's why it needs constant attention. Stable, professionally-created software does not need to be updated every other week, and it certainly doesn't create the headaches that EVERY update causes in the Sonos environment. There's nothing more wonderful than having to run around the office, reconnecting all of the speakers that seemingly disappear after every update. And no, I don't feel like restarting routers, resetting speakers, and assigning new IP addresses ever time Sonos decides I need to have the controller updated to include Swahili.

Please - LISTEN TO YOUR USERS - and just reduce the frequency of your updates. I'm about ready to sell off all of the equipment and start over with another company. Sonos is killing itself with this nonsense.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
I'm not the only one who feels that way. Read through the other threads on the same complaint, and you'll see that.
There are at least 8 million Sonos households. If only 1% of Sonos users were to complain about an issue with update frequency, it would essentially be the only topic on this forum.

My Sonos updates proceed quickly and smoothly across two houses, 100% of the time. This is true for the vast majority of Sonos users, most of whom never come near this forum. You have underlying network issues that you need to resolve (*). Sonos support may be able to help with this.

(*) Let's avoid the usual glib response that 'all my other network devices work OK'. Sonos requires inter-device communication that will expose network issues to a greater extent than most other devices. But this is still a network issue, not a Sonos issue.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I don't really want to get into a debate about update frequency but I didn't want to let the assertion, made repeatedly, that Sonos updates "ever few weeks" go in-challenged. Taken from this site https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/31941/sonos/version-history

The updates since 2017 have been as follows:-

Date Version Weeks
27/03/2019 10.1 8.1
29/01/2019 10.0 8.1
03/12/2018 9.3 2.7
14/11/2018 9.2 10.0
05/09/2018 9.1 15.1
22/05/2018 8.5.1 4.7
19/04/2018 8.5 3.9
23/03/2018 8.4 6.6
05/02/2018 8.3 2.6
18/01/2018 8.2.2 8.9
17/11/2017 8.2 1.6
06/11/2017 8.1.1 0.4
03/11/2017 8.1 3.1
12/10/2017 8.0 7.0
24/08/2017 7.4

The average time between updates from 24 Aug 2017 to 27 Mar 2019 is 6 weeks. Some certainly have been a few weeks but my understanding of a few weeks would not be 6
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
I get where you're coming from, @pacificdiver, and rest assured, software is in testing for a good while before it goes out into the wild. I have a lot of faith in our software teams as I've seen some of their world and it's quite impressive.

A fix that might be included in a release doesn't necessarily mean that it was originally broken in the previous release, it could be something unrelated to Sonos software that changed, and we had to adapt to it, or perhaps there is something new that needs to be worked out. Also, the fix could be for an issue that developed years ago, update 10.1 could have had a fix for something from 3.4 that didn't cause an issue until recently. I'm speaking pretty generally here, but the point is that just because an update is coming out, it doesn't mean there was a problem with the previous version. However, with regular releases, we have the opportunity to include fixes if they're needed.


My father can barely use a screwdriver. Picture a support agent on the phone trying to walk him through the steps given above.

For the record, I have tried many of the fixes listed above. They help, but don't fix the problem completely. What WOULD fix the problem would be to lessen the frequency of the app updates.

And btw, another "An update is available" window literally just popped up on my PC. Oh, the irony.


I've walked hundreds through the procedure. No one yet has had a problem (and there are no screwdrivers involved). On a scale of 1 to Network Engineer, if changing a WiFi password is a 1, reserving IP addresses is a 1.2.

But don't let that reality ruin your ranting.

PS - You do know that update notification is just a notification, right? You can easily choose not to click it, and go about your merry way.

This surprises me, Danny. Please allow me to be very clear. I agree with your statement -- Sonos is not for everybody. That said, I believe there have been several in this community to offer very clear technical assistance. Those same people would likely contact pacificdiver directly via phone/skype and walk him/her through the process. This issue (at least in part) is a set it and forget it proposition. Reserving IPs does not have to be made more complicated, and at least that element of pacificdiver's issue would be addressed (and potentially resolve the problem altogether).


Yea, I don't think I said that very well, or at least didn't clarify it well enough until later in the post.


What surprises me about your position is that you appear to be giving pacificdiver an easy out here, whereas what I believe they should really (only my opinion) receive is a solution. You can absolutely offer it, as can others.


I can offer some basic advice, but many others offer much better advice. Really, my only advice is repeating what others have stated here already, when it comes to network stuff. My purpose in the last post was to acknowledge that I saw some truth to what was said, even if I didn't fully agree with the entire point.


FWIW, pacificdiver appears to be very passive aggressive and I'm not convinced they want anything else but to keep repeating the same phrase "updates don't have to be so frequent" ad nausea. If that's truly the case, they need different help, and I doubt we can offer it.


I'm not always successful at it, but I try and ignore motives in these discussions/debates. That's partially because I don't like it when someone attempts to minimize my own statements/views by claiming I'm just a "Sonos apologist", secretly on staff or something of that nature. A statement is either true or false regardless of why the statement was made. Also, motives are personal, and calling it out can be viewed as a personal attack or lead to personal attacks. I'd rather avoid that.
Applause for that post, Danny. Wish I could "like" it more times than one. We share much of the same motivations.

And I don't have the energy necessary, once I've made a post, to argue my points. Either they can see a different perspective, or they can't, and no amount of "argument" will help. The statements I make I would prefer to stand on their own. Like science, the proof is in the process, not in the arguments about who's right and who isn't.

This is a public forum. I'm happy to have people post opposing views, and if they can support them, it's an interesting read. It's those who can't that boggle my mind. But in the case of feelings, I can't deny someone else what they feel. Just as they can't deny what I feel, and try to support with facts and solutions.

Gah. Rambling. Sorry.
Another, perhaps useful, thing to mention in this thread, is that Sonos also has the “automatic update” feature these days. See attached screenshot, which can be quickly scheduled to suit most users...

When enabling it, within the Sonos App Settings, the feature performs Speaker/Device firmware updates automatically, within a two-hour window and can be scheduled as follows...

Overnight: 2am-4am
Morning: 5am-7am
Afternoon: 12pm-2pm
Evening: 5pm-7pm

If a speaker fails to update, it will retry 5 times. If for some reason the player is still unable to update after 5 attempts, it will hold off until the next day and attempt the update at the chosen scheduled time.

If you were to launch your controller after a failed update, you will not be presented with a message calling out that the update failed, you will simply see that an update is needed.

I’ve never had a failed firmware update so far, since the release of this auto-update feature. It definitely cuts down on the update time immensely and that means the only update required is the Software App on the controller itself, which is often completed in less than a minute, or two, depending on local download speeds.
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
Constant updates? Am I missing something? They don't appear to be that frequent, do they?
Apart from the odd patch release, updates are not that frequent. Perhaps every few months. Of course if the user has enrolled in a beta test then new builds tend to appear every week or three, and this is to be expected. One can always leave a beta program if it becomes irksome.

I don't know what the OP's problem is. Updates are for me painless. And "bugginess"? For what it is and the complexity of making it work, Sonos is extremely stable.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
I'm with you. My irritation is not about the frequency, but the constant change in UI. The updates are not improving the existing sw, it's only changing. I'm constantly afraid for new updates; too often I need to learn and 'get used to' a new UI. That's really not why I started buying Sonos equipment 10 years ago...
I am having the same issue. It's extremely frustrating. Now, when I have an app update the system won't play unless I reconnect each speaker. With 2 amps, an amp connect, a playbar/ surrounds, and more... it's not an insignificant amount of time. Furthermore, 80% of the time lately when I push the buttons simultaneously on the device the app doesn't recognize anything happening, so I end up having to power them off and on (also frustrating as some of these plugs are not tucked away). Sonos is driving me crazy. To make matters worse, after finally deciding to call and troubleshoot - I've been on hold for 12 minutes. Arg.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi folks,

We release updates to add in new features, and fixes. Many of these features are requests from customers. There's no way to add features to the system without updating it. You can, however, choose to disable updates on your system to prevent update messages. Over time, however, some functions may cease to work as music services update their security protocols, for example.

There are 2 steps to disabling updates. You can first do so within the Sonos app's settings menu, under the system updates menu. This will prevent your speakers from checking for updates periodically. The second step is to go into the settings on your controllers (all of them), and disable automatic updates in the app stores. This will prevent your controllers from checking for updates from time to time. If any controller on your system checks for updates, the system itself will acknowledge an update and prompt you to do so. If any of your speakers or controllers update, there will be limited functionality until they are all updated as the system is not designed to run on multiple versions at once.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi folks,

We release updates to add in new features, and fixes. Many of these features are requests from customers. There's no way to add features to the system without updating it. You can, however, choose to disable updates on your system to prevent update messages. Over time, however, some functions may cease to work as music services update their security protocols, for example.

There are 2 steps to disabling updates. You can first do so within the Sonos app's settings menu, under the system updates menu. This will prevent your speakers from checking for updates periodically. The second step is to go into the settings on your controllers (all of them), and disable automatic updates in the app stores. This will prevent your controllers from checking for updates from time to time. If any controller on your system checks for updates, the system itself will acknowledge an update and prompt you to do so. If any of your speakers or controllers update, there will be limited functionality until they are all updated as the system is not designed to run on multiple versions at once.


Really? There are no options on the Desktop PC or the CR200 to disable auto-updates.


The setting is system wide. You'll need to use a smartphone to access the system update settings, in the settings menu. Once set, this will stop each of the speakers on your system, the desktop controller, and also the CR200, from checking automatically for updates.
The level of updates is getting beyond a joke, most of my system is simply used for the home cinema in the living room and thats fine as i obviously never need to open the app for that but it seems everytime i open the app to play something from a connected service like audible or music services (every 3 -4 weeks approx) the app tells me theres an update and prevents me from playing from any service until i update.

During updates sound is lost on all speakers including the home cinema set up, so I cant update there and then as that would disrupt the rest of the families viewing, when all I wanted to do was on my studies play 1 was chillout.

To be honest I often now just play direct on my phones speaker and give up on playing direct on my sonos play1.

At the very least allow us to hold off on updates but usually its update now if you want to do anything with the app like play anything to your speakers.

I literally today again went to demo the system to a colleague who had called round and again it wouldnt let me do anything without updating...asked by said colleague do i recommend Sonos, I paused and realised in all honesty i couldnt, not anymore.

The sound is great but the forced updates preventing you from doing much until you update meant that for the first time ever I said no.

In fact I told him to avoid.
[
I've never claimed the updates have no value. My criticism is that the updates come far too frequently, and that they would be better served in larger portions, on a much less-frequent time scale. Obviously, systems need to be updated, but they don't need to be tweaked every couple of weeks. Sonos could update its system quarterly, and the world would move on just fine.


You said there is zero reason for the update frequency. Isn't that the same as their being no value in the updates? Yes, you're correct, frequency is an important aspect, but also irrelevant to the point I was making. Your assumption is that those who are interested in the features and bug fixes that come with an update gain nothing from getting it sooner rather than later...later being something like once a quarter. And that just isn't true.

I'm not at all saying that Sonos doesn't need to consider the frequency of the updates, but to assume they don't consider it, that you have all the information they do in making these decisions, or that they are just wrong...doesn't really add up. Your frustration is valid, but your conclusion that there is no reason for them is not.


I am not surprised at this, but is this stated official policy?


I'm not sure if or where it's written down, but Sonos staff have stated this in round about ways since I've been hear. They may assist with network issues and such, but if the reported issue is something that has been addressed in the current version, they aren't going to give you a one-off patch for your issue. I imagine that help desk will probably ask you to upgrade to the current version before attempting to troubleshoot anything. As I'm sure you recall, this was a big issue, when it came to the support of the CR100 and the ipod dock.


If so, I have to again say there is much merit in the points being made by those unhappy with this trend because:
Automatic updates are not really so for desktop users.
And while everyone including Sonos suggest turning updates off if these are not to one's taste/convenience, there is this withdrawal of support.


To be clear, you don't have to have automatic updates on to get support. It's more accurate to say that if you're unwilling to upgrade to the current version when reporting an issue, the Sonos support you can get is surely going to be rather limited. Maybe Sonos can provide some general network advice, maybe tell you the results of a diagnostic, I'm not sure. I don't want to speak for Sonos exactly. Even if Sonos has it officially stated somewhere, Sonos has a habit of providing better service than they promise when it comes to things like this, such as providing replacement speakers at a discount for out of warranty products.


And no one has yet said why there is such a churn of updates now compared to a few years ago for what is a music system, at the end of the day. Other than streaming services as a popular music source, what has changed? And the related question - apart from Trueplay and cosmetic UI changes - what has changed to improve the essential quality of the user experience since 2011? Bug fixes are needed by everyone, agreed, but many of the bugs are caused in the first place by all the churn as well.


There have been several new products, new features and feature changes, voice control support, security changes, etc. Sonos will provide release notes and information about each update that they provide, at a high level anyway.


Sonos needs to take this criticism on board and bring some discipline to its upgrade release process. Particularly when it is so dependent on network quality to be seamless and fault free.


I'm just not seeing the conclusion that they don't already have discipline about this. We don't know what sort of decision process they go through in deciding when to update, nor how often they delay something they want out there but don't want to annoy customers. They clearly have a concern for it since they added the automatic updates feature. It's not something they would add if they were not aware of how some customers feel about updates.

But yes, it's good to let Sonos know how you feel about the updates. Maybe not too helpful, but good to see suggestions on how it could improve to be less intrusive without hindering customers who want/need the updates.
Seems it may be time for a Sonos employee to directly comment on this thread again, and specifically attempt to answer some of the legitimate questions posed. Wade through some of the empty complaints and there's merit among this madness for their representation and clarification.

Honestly, what are they going to say that will alleviate the complaints? Anything they say will just be fuel to the fire.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

You said there is zero reason for the update frequency. Isn't that the same as their being no value in the updates?


No, it most definitely is not the same. Emphasis on the word, "frequency."

Vaccines are important for kids. If a child needs 50 shots to be fully vaccinated by the time they're 12, should we give them 1 at a time? Of course not - we group them together to make it easier on the child. If I make the claim that "giving 50 shots one at a time is ridiculous and unnecessary," it is not the same thing as saying that the shots are useless. It's the frequency that matters, not the content that's being administered.

As I said REPEATEDLY before (but for some reason, people seem to fail to understand), there's nothing wrong with updates, but doling them out more than a few times per year is unnecessary for an app that plays music, and does nothing else.
Regardless of what response it might incite, the information provided could at least be stamped official. That has to count for something, no? If nothing else, we can all likely agree on the fact silence from Sonos on the issue could do more potential damage than actually addressing the concern(s) presented. My experience is Sonos does a great job of the latter, but I'm aware that isn't all users' opinion.

Was more an attempt to pull this thread back into a constructive roadmap, as it was taking a hard left turn into... well, nowhere pleasant.


Got news for you, these types of threads always go nowhere pleasant. Sonos commenting only feeds that. Better to let it run its course until the next update triggers the next dozen or so posters who find fault.
I wonder how many of the continuing 'complainers' here in this thread have still chosen not to...

(a) Add their Sonos IP addresses to their routers DHCP Reservation Table?
(b) Switched over to SonosNet and set their channel at least 5 channels away from their routers 2.4ghz Channel and removed their WiFi credentials in the Sonos App Advanced Settings?
(c) Accept the case that wifi network hubs, extenders, repeaters and adapters, whilst sometimes problematic, will need to be set to the same Wifi channel as the router controlling their Sonos subnet.

Just these few 'relatively simple' steps solves a good many issues and yet 'the few' continue to complain, without even trying these things for themselves, or otherwise getting a friend, (with some basic network knowledge) to do these (rather easy) steps for them.

It’s almost like saying “My Table Lamp does not work!” without first checking the bulb, the fuse in the plug, or that the plug is connected to an actual suitable power supply.

All I can add, is that I (and a huge majority of other Sonos users), have continually updated our Sonos speakers/devices for a good many years without a problem. I have 15 speakers in my home and never had a 'dropout' or 'loss' issue arising from any Sonos update process... so that to me, shows this is extremely 'highly likely' going to be a local networking-configuration issue, where the user has still not listened to, or chosen to ignore, the much publicised 'community' suggestions and advice.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
I wonder how many of the continuing 'complainers' here in this thread have still chosen not to...

(a) Add their Sonos IP addresses to their routers DHCP Reservation Table?
(b) Switched over to SonosNet and set their channel at least 5 channels away from their routers 2.4ghz Channel and removed their WiFi credentials in the Sonos App Advanced Settings?
(c) Accept the case that wifi network hubs, extenders, repeaters and adapters, whilst sometimes problematic, will need to be set to the same Wifi channel as the router controlling their Sonos subnet.

Just these few 'relatively simple' steps solves a good many issues and yet 'the few' continue to complain, without even trying these things for themselves, or otherwise getting a friend, (with some basic network knowledge) to do these (rather easy) steps for them.

It’s almost like saying “My Table Lamp does not worki” without first checking the bulb, the fuse in the plug, or that the plug is connected to an actual suitable power supply.

All I can add, is that I (and a huge majority of other Sonos users), have continually updated our Sonos speakers/devices for a good many years without a problem. I have 15 speakers in my home and never had a 'dropout' or 'loss' issue arising from any Sonos update process... so that to me, shows this is extremely 'highly likely' going to be a local networking-configuration issue, where the user has still not listened to, or chosen to ignore, the much publicised 'community' suggestions and advice.


Networking issues have nothing to do with the concept that the update frequency is far higher than it needs to be. As for the lamp analogy, you seem to be forgetting that the vast majority of Sonos users are not network engineers.

Lamp Owner #1: "My lamp shuts off at random times when it's updated and it's pretty frustrating."

Lamp Owner #2: "That lamp is a complex piece of equipment and most users don't have problems so stop complaining."

Lamp Owner#1: All it's supposed to do is turn on and off. Does it really need to be updated every 3 weeks?

Lamp Owner #2: "I don't know why people whine so much when this happens . All you have to do is open the lamp case, rewire the internal farfegnugen mechanism and then reroute the ASP overrun through the internal (NOT EXTERNAL) routing port that connects to the Allen port and then you'll have no issues whatsoever. You may also need to disconnect and reconnect the lamp's internal LPA regulator so that it can't cause interference with LPB mechanism, or you could potentially cause the formation of a worm hole that might transport you into another dimension. Other than that, it's quite safe."

Sonos is intended for consumers, not engineers. One shouldn't have to be a mainframe installer to be able to get their Sonos to work, no matter how infrequent the problem may be.