Question

How to get old iphone app?


Userlevel 1
Badge +4
I had just been getting a few iPod gen 2s specifically to use as Sonos controllers. I'd got two of them in, and installed the old app before the new App came out yesterday. Unfortunately I hadn't yet downloaded the old app to the third before it was updated yesterday. The new app reports as not compatible with my third Gen2. How can I get the old one & install it?

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64 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Can't remove update.  use SonosPad app
Hi dan, where did you purshase it?
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Sonospad is in App Store
I have two iPods and One iPad 1 that will not work on the sonos system that i just bought and it really pisses me off.  Now I have to buy my wife a new iPad? She did not want me to get the Sonos system anyway and now she is all over me about my decision.  Not too much I can do about it based on all the replys I have seen.... Hmmmm 
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Yes Ken, unfortunately Sonos has officially disabled the fundamental functionality of the Sonos system.  They have stopped production of the CR200 controller and blocked all but the latest ipods, ipads, and iphones.  Presumably the company is closing since there is no possible explanation for ending the ability to operate their products.

Samsung has taken over where Sonos ended and will continue their version of this product, now called the "Shape", and of course they support any ipad/pod/phone.

If you still wish to use the obsolete Sonos for some reason, you can purchase the third party Sonopad/Sonophone app which will provide limited functionality until Sonos blocks it as promised with a pushed firmware update in the next few months.
Userlevel 5
Badge +3
Hello Ken,

I can see why this is frustrating. You may not be aware but Sonos has a 45 day return policy if you purchased the product from us direct. If the system isn't what you are looking for or does not suit your needs, we're happy to assist you with a return. Sonos supports numerous controllers such as PC's running Windows XP SP3 and higher, MAC OS X running 10.6.8+, Android devices from 2.1+ and iOS devices running 6.0+. 

If this is something you are considering, you still have some time to think it over. If you decide within that time that it ultimately is not for you, we completely understand.  Here is our contact info. 

All well and good until the next cull of controllers and this doesn't help those of us who have already lost a considerable amount of functionality.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
Dominique, Sonos has altered my experience of this product, "the system isn't what [i] are looking for or does not suit [my] needs", are you happy to assist me with a return and refund?  Surely the fact my experience of your product has been so dramatically changed by your updates that the 45 day return period should have been instated for EXISTING customers too?
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
Ah, having just clicked on the 'Here is our contact info' link I see what you did.. sent him to an invalid URL just to cause the poor fella that much more distress, really useful.
Userlevel 5
Badge +3
We apologize, the invalid link was not done intentionally- the link has now been updated to the correct URL.

We have a 45 day return policy from date of purchase for all product purchased from us direct. Other retailers may have different return policies that could allow for returns outside of this window.
Userlevel 1
Well this does just about amount to a recognition of a problem. One small step I suppose.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Dominique, have you considered simply re-releasing the 4.3 app as "Sonos Classic"?  Seems like such an easy and obvious solution, especially considering how awful the 5.0 app is.
Userlevel 5
Badge +3
Sonos does not have any plans to bring back the 4.3 app.
  
This is a topic that is discussed further in our ' Don't like the New App ' thread, please take a look for further info and feedback.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Thanks Dominique.  So then it seems the real root of the problem here is that the customer relations team (You, Ryan, etc.) are not in communication with the upper management.  Thus they continue blindly along whatever path they've chosen without knowing good from bad until the quarterly financials are compiled.

So if you care about the longevity of your company and your job I would suggest that you explain to your boss that there is a crisis going on here and see if he/she can get in contact with upper management about it.
Userlevel 1
Sonos want to go fully wireless. That needs a firmware update. After that only 5 will work. Hence their unwillingness to reissue 4.3.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
@Colin: no one cares about the old software. But the functions it had. Also: sonospad is based on the old 4.3 controller and I'm told it still works on beta versions of the upcoming firmware. That would indicate that the incompatibility between the old controller and new firmware is mostly a forced check box/ requirement that they inserted. @User926838: I doubt the next quarterly financial will show much of our issues. I have been in a dozen stores this month and a lot of stores are still showing sonos with the old 4.3 controller. So it might take longer for things to seep through.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
Frederic, I hope you clicked the 'Update' button to save potential new owners the heartache of finding a major loss of functionality when they got the product home.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
Haha. Great idea, if I wasn't shopping around for 9.2.4 home cinema. So it would be great if I could benefits/ discount when I buy it. And not a angry store owner because I turned his sonos showroom controllers into crappy paperweights.
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
That was my point Frederic.  The upper level decision makers at Sonos do not read this forum (obviously).  They simply have a PR department (Ryan and Dominique) "handle it".  And with no line of communication between the customers and the executives it will take years for them to realize there is a problem, long after Samsung and others have taken over their market dominance.

The executives are directing engineering effort toward attracting new customers, as they should be, with features such as wireless connectivity and surely voice control, multi-band EQ, Mono, multiple playlists via double/triple click, and persistent shuffle/crossfade/repeat settings.  But if they knew that their half-baked 5.0 app knocked out a bunch of existing customers and is painfully scattered and unintuitive they'd surely have a 5.0.1 update out next week that runs on all devices and puts all the controls in an intuitive place.  Or at the very least, they would re-release 4.3 and just let people use and enjoy the product as is for as long as they want.  Future updates could either be properly designed to handle all hardware, or could warn the user of flaws that prevent the use of older devices.
@Frederic - from what I understand, SonoPad uses the standard UPNP protocol to communicate with your Sonos. That's why you didn't have to set up the app with your Sonos system when you first installed it.

The original Sonos controller likely works differently to also provide some additional features that may not be exposed via UPNP.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
@Sebastian: thats the Magic of a well working system.... No one cares if it works through upnp, or whatever way. If they would re-release the old app as "classic sonos" let that work through upnp, They would have the new app with all the fancy functions for whoever wants it. .....but at the same time have a way for hundreds of other devices to have a perfectly functioning control system.
same here raised with sonos no joy

also have windows phone so no app for me makes the system unusable

suggest you try an alternative system
Wow, I can't believe I've just bought into a system, that is made by a company that considers screwing over it's customer base as an acceptable action. We already pay an extra £400 for the hardware to control their devices, and now they just want to render them useless, because some hack developer can't write proper software?

I can never understand why all these hardware manufacturers insist on employing amateur developers, for such fundamentally important aspects such as the controller software. It's not just Sonos either, it seems to be a common trend to employ asshats for the app/software development.

This sets a trend that warrants some strongly worded product reviews, to warn people that the expensive streaming system they're about to buy, could be rendered useless at the flick of an update switch. This is up there with probably the most irresponsible action I have seen from a manufacturer... I hope it costs them dearly in future lost sales.
Userlevel 1
Badge +4
Wow, I can't believe I've just bought into a system, that is made by a company that considers screwing over it's customer base as an acceptable action. We already pay an extra £400 for the hardware to control their devices, and now they just want to render them useless, because some hack developer can't write proper software?

I can never understand why all these hardware manufacturers insist on employing amateur developers, for such fundamentally important aspects such as the controller software. It's not just Sonos either, it seems to be a common trend to employ asshats for the app/software development.

This sets a trend that warrants some strongly worded product reviews, to warn people that the expensive streaming system they're about to buy, could be rendered useless at the flick of an update switch. This is up there with probably the most irresponsible action I have seen from a manufacturer... I hope it costs them dearly in future lost sales.


Sums up the situation well!
Wow, I can't believe I've just bought into a system, that is made by a company that considers screwing over it's customer base as an acceptable action. We already pay an extra £400 for the hardware to control their devices, and now they just want to render them useless, because some hack developer can't write proper software?

I can never understand why all these hardware manufacturers insist on employing amateur developers, for such fundamentally important aspects such as the controller software. It's not just Sonos either, it seems to be a common trend to employ asshats for the app/software development.

This sets a trend that warrants some strongly worded product reviews, to warn people that the expensive streaming system they're about to buy, could be rendered useless at the flick of an update switch. This is up there with probably the most irresponsible action I have seen from a manufacturer... I hope it costs them dearly in future lost sales.


It sums up the situation but there is a simple viable solution if you have old ipads and it costs hardly anything:  http://sonopad.com/ Has anyone found that it doesn't meet their needs, or thinks that it will not in the future?