Just trying this new app on both android tablet and iPad. Still boring but now more difficult to use. Not intuitive or user friendly.
I didn't like the app before now I hate it more. SONOS you need to get better app designers. This app is the only thing that would put me off recommending sonos to all friends and family. HORRIBLE,HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. BORING colours, BORING design, BORING LAYOUT.
Hate this new app 8.0
Userlevel 5
+3
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Userlevel 3
Yeah, I wish I hadn't updated. The look is ugly and it doesn't use space well at all. Now instead of seeing all of my radio stations in a compact list I can see only two at a time. Come on, can't you do better than this?
Userlevel 3
Exactly! This new one is a major step backwards! A typical thing, when software "geniuses" try to design a controller. Only these idiots understand the logic, not for normal people. Bad.
Userlevel 2
Fully agree. I have been using Sonos for over 10 years. I have 6 rooms and have been through all the different controllers and device apps but this is by far the worst user experience. The layout is appalling, the workflow is so bad I get cross everytime I use it. It's the most unfriendly app I have ever used. Why can you not follow the same design as most app developers where simple things like back equals back. So often I hit back only to return to my phone's home screen. If I wanted to go home I would have pressed home. Please please please listen to your customers and invest in a decent app UX team.
The white look is hideous.
Userlevel 2
This is SO awful. Horrible workflow. Just garbage. Totally disappointed.
Userlevel 2
I rarely get bothered by changes to software, but this ver8 is, on first look, a really retrograde step.White background a matter of taste (and it will use batteries quicker... it's really BRIGHT!) but Why oh Why do we have to have such big icons in the My Sonos page? Have to scroll down and across to even get to see lists.. ridiculous "design"! Have lists please so we can see what's what on one page without having to search the page first.
I note that the Ver8 for MacOS (Sierra) looks like the old controller Ver 7 and before... much better>..DON"T CHANGE IT!!!!!!!
I note that the Ver8 for MacOS (Sierra) looks like the old controller Ver 7 and before... much better>..DON"T CHANGE IT!!!!!!!
Userlevel 2
It´s the same story like Apple iTunes. From the best Musicmanagement to an unattractive nightmare. sonos has now done exactly the same. I´m to old for the 8.0 App !:(:@
Userlevel 2
It needs to be simply, compact, intuitive and fast. The new app is none if these.
SONOS you have done it again !
Every time you update the design of the controller for the IPAD it gets worse and worse, its more confusing than ever now, it's more fragmented with umpteen screens and drop downs to flow through just to do very basic tasks.
The new "My Sonos" tab is badly thought through - now we have to use My Sonos and Browse in some quirky combination to see and control my music sources and playlists - Why ????
I want to be able to browse every music source so why aren't Sonos Playlists visible under Browse ? and why isn't my Music Library and all its options plus all My Radio Stations available in its entirety under "My SONOS" without having to add individual items such as "Artists" ???
Being able to browse all of my music library is such an obvious thing that one would want to do under "My Sonos" I cant understand why its missing or seemingly only available under browse.
Anyway here is a positive suggestion for your app "designers"
Take a look at the PC version - it is simple and logical to follow and its all in one screen - although you could argue that Music Sources should be on the left hand side 🙂 , followed by "ROOMS" (ie where do you want to play it) , followed by whats in the queue or playing - perhaps that would be an even more logical flow..
Could your next update offer an option to allow people to revert to the PC controller design template on the IPAD ? (ie the old one that we used to have on the IPAD) it was so easy to follow and to find what you wanted to play.
You really must learn not to change things just for the sake of it - you had a reasonable design in the first place (functional not flashy) and then you let it drift away to the fragmented nonsense that you have today. - it might be better for a phone but its a very poor implementation on a tablet.
And for Your marketing team to listen to here is a very real example of how damaging this is......
With that older "PC" interface I used to be able to just hand my IPAD over to guests and let them find and control the music without any instruction from me - they were impressed as to just how easy it was to use.
Now I have to spend ages having to explain its operation to them and most just give up and hand it back. Several have gone on to say they "wouldn't buy one as it was too complicated / confusing!" That should start send nervous twitches down your product development management and marketing / sales teams shouldn't it ?
Every time you update the design of the controller for the IPAD it gets worse and worse, its more confusing than ever now, it's more fragmented with umpteen screens and drop downs to flow through just to do very basic tasks.
The new "My Sonos" tab is badly thought through - now we have to use My Sonos and Browse in some quirky combination to see and control my music sources and playlists - Why ????
I want to be able to browse every music source so why aren't Sonos Playlists visible under Browse ? and why isn't my Music Library and all its options plus all My Radio Stations available in its entirety under "My SONOS" without having to add individual items such as "Artists" ???
Being able to browse all of my music library is such an obvious thing that one would want to do under "My Sonos" I cant understand why its missing or seemingly only available under browse.
Anyway here is a positive suggestion for your app "designers"
Take a look at the PC version - it is simple and logical to follow and its all in one screen - although you could argue that Music Sources should be on the left hand side 🙂 , followed by "ROOMS" (ie where do you want to play it) , followed by whats in the queue or playing - perhaps that would be an even more logical flow..
Could your next update offer an option to allow people to revert to the PC controller design template on the IPAD ? (ie the old one that we used to have on the IPAD) it was so easy to follow and to find what you wanted to play.
You really must learn not to change things just for the sake of it - you had a reasonable design in the first place (functional not flashy) and then you let it drift away to the fragmented nonsense that you have today. - it might be better for a phone but its a very poor implementation on a tablet.
And for Your marketing team to listen to here is a very real example of how damaging this is......
With that older "PC" interface I used to be able to just hand my IPAD over to guests and let them find and control the music without any instruction from me - they were impressed as to just how easy it was to use.
Now I have to spend ages having to explain its operation to them and most just give up and hand it back. Several have gone on to say they "wouldn't buy one as it was too complicated / confusing!" That should start send nervous twitches down your product development management and marketing / sales teams shouldn't it ?
Cross posted from another topic thread - I made the mistske of telling Google Store to update the Sonos app. Once the app updated it self and all my speakers were upgraded, I found the new UI to be terrible and not have dark backgrounds, among many other issues. I uninstalled the 8.0 app and found an apk mirror for Sonos 7.4, I reverted back to 7.4 for android to get the original, useful UI back that also has the wonderful dark backgrounds and a host of other things. No issues so far... 🙂
Userlevel 2
I understand the logic but why not then put MusicLibrary under MySonos, what's more uniquely 'mine' then my library. I think we agree that all sources should be grouped, separated by 'true ' sources and customised i.e. playlists and favourites oh wait we had that it was called v 7.4. All I'm sure it is as a 6 year user of Sonos no version of the app has been as counter-intuitive as this one I'm still working my way around it. My wife was very comfortable with 7.4 but hates this version and I've never before complained about an update so either I'm getting old or something's wrong
Userlevel 1
New iPhone version is awful....so bad it prompted me to leave my first complaint of any app ever. Does anyone work on ui ux over there? Two weeks in and still can’t figure out how to use it. The old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” applies here. And to the converse, since it’s now broke please fix it.
Userlevel 1
......
There was a similar furore when Strava changed its iOS app from dark to light. Lots of angry jumping up and down before everyone just got used to it. I guess Sonos could probably implement a night (dark) mode without too much effort if there really is a persistent widespread objection, but I'd leave it a few weeks to see if folks get used to it.
No it's just bad UX/UI.
The fact that it needs "a few weeks" getting used to defy the hallmark goal of good design - intuitiveness.
I'm a flexible tech savvy user and this app keeps annoying and confuse me since the launch.
I'm not a designer so no suggestion other than get some outsourced UI expert firm to help and (as important if not more) get feedback from focus groups, user surveys, etc.
For instance - Much too many times clicking the 'back' button on Android exits the app instead of going to the previous screen... God if wanted to exist the app I would f**** close it alright? Back button is convenient and intuitive for a library app... Why make it close the app?
And many more (like I feel common stuff are way too buried away and uncommon items just always in your face.. but that might be just me. Although my music and audio enthusiasts friends agree).
All very fixable, much less complicated than making something like the 2x Play:5 + Sub sound so darn good 😉
Is there anyone who has the 7.4 iphone app software? this app is so bad, i started to research how to Crack/hijack my iphone just to load the previous versions. i done have an itune ack-up so the easy way is not available to me
Userlevel 1
I agree that the new app has some major design problems. Need more clics to play songs, search, change rooms, and also need to move around the screen more extensively to finish selection and play. Much less user friendly 😞
The new design does not work for me.... I really hate it. I've got 9 zones and been loyal since 2004. This app is so horrible I feel betrayed.
Fix this and play around on the Windows interface, that UI sucks anyway.
Fix this and play around on the Windows interface, that UI sucks anyway.
The usual complaints when a new version is rolled out. It is different ergo it is hideous and wrong. I do so wonder how some people ever cope with the new BT tv remotes.
Why is it every time you guys change the app it becomes more cumbersome and less user-friendly. This 8.0 app is NOT better. Please give us the choice before you go changing the apps that we use all the time.
Userlevel 2
I also hate the white look, even the notification area turns white, looks like a school project app. I don't see any increase in speed, album covers from my library are updated more slowly then 7.4. I agree with comments about tabs and why are playlists found under MySonos and Music Library under Browse?? Browse should display all sources that's what browse means right? On the MySonos tab as previously mentioned playlists are now big ugly icons which you have to scroll down to find , and most are just the generic icon anyway. A nice alphabetical list like 7.4 is all that's needed. App is getting more like Apple every day more form less function.
Userlevel 2
I agree. I think the new UI is a huge step bacwkard. I have a large system, that is pushing the limits to the number of units. It is complicated to operate and move across the system. Any good 3rd party apps we could switch to?
I’m with you, had Sonos for many years but this is definitely the worst design of the app. Not intuitive at all and every step takes much longer compared to what it was before. Bring back the previous version and improve from there....
“Nope... It's been a month and it still drives me bonkers everyday. Have had sonos for 7 years and this experience is driving me nuts... always been it's biggest fan...”
“Nope... It's been a month and it still drives me bonkers everyday. Have had sonos for 7 years and this experience is driving me nuts... always been it's biggest fan...”
Userlevel 7
+20
FWIW, I think the new iOS apps are good once one spends a few moments adjusting to the model. The tabs at the bottom allow the functionality to be more logically organised, accessed faster, and make the app more expandable for future functions. Rooms are now a first-class UI element. Its major crime seems to be that it's 'different'. There are one or two minor UX tweaks I'd make, but the basic direction seems good.
The choice of light/dark is a matter of taste. Light appears to be more common in modern mobile apps.
There was a similar furore when Strava changed its iOS app from dark to light. Lots of angry jumping up and down before everyone just got used to it. I guess Sonos could probably implement a night (dark) mode without too much effort if there really is a persistent widespread objection, but I'd leave it a few weeks to see if folks get used to it.
The choice of light/dark is a matter of taste. Light appears to be more common in modern mobile apps.
There was a similar furore when Strava changed its iOS app from dark to light. Lots of angry jumping up and down before everyone just got used to it. I guess Sonos could probably implement a night (dark) mode without too much effort if there really is a persistent widespread objection, but I'd leave it a few weeks to see if folks get used to it.
Wow so much hate. I actually like it. It’s much faster for me than the old app. Better layout. Yes a dark theme would be nice though. But I don’t get all this hate.
Userlevel 2
Personally this latest update feels like a real step backwards in user friendliness.
The 'MY SONOS' tab... Use far too much space displaying content, I always have to press 'show all' button to see what I need to, so why bother with the new BIG look?!
The 'ROOMS' tab. Again, the new layout uses to much space and makes it much more difficult to see what's playing in each room at a glance (which is surely the point?) Now only shows 3 rooms on screen, a completely unnecessary waste of space when the old layout showed much more. I would like to be able to see many more rooms/speakers.
'SEARCH' & 'BROWSE' tabs - why are there two tabs for an almost identical function?!
Another slight annoyance is when on the expanded playing screen... The new tabs across the bottom VANISH (on my phone) so there's barely any point having them if they're supposed to be short cuts... I still have to hit the tiny arrow in the top left corner to get anywhere!
On a plus, the quick grouping of rooms does seems slicker/better, but overall I'm pretty unimpressed!
The 'MY SONOS' tab... Use far too much space displaying content, I always have to press 'show all' button to see what I need to, so why bother with the new BIG look?!
The 'ROOMS' tab. Again, the new layout uses to much space and makes it much more difficult to see what's playing in each room at a glance (which is surely the point?) Now only shows 3 rooms on screen, a completely unnecessary waste of space when the old layout showed much more. I would like to be able to see many more rooms/speakers.
'SEARCH' & 'BROWSE' tabs - why are there two tabs for an almost identical function?!
Another slight annoyance is when on the expanded playing screen... The new tabs across the bottom VANISH (on my phone) so there's barely any point having them if they're supposed to be short cuts... I still have to hit the tiny arrow in the top left corner to get anywhere!
On a plus, the quick grouping of rooms does seems slicker/better, but overall I'm pretty unimpressed!
Your comments about the size of things are valid. Browse and Search are not remotely similar, but browse is mis-named and should be called Sources. The fact that the bar is not visible on the now playing screen is certainly a flaw, which I hope will be corrected. I find it easier to swipe down the screen than press the down arrow.
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