SONOS are you reading this? Please put the controller queue function back how it was!

  • 12 September 2016
  • 353 replies
  • 15981 views

Userlevel 4
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I've downloaded version 6.4 of the app. What a mistake. To anyone who is about to do it, DON'T DO IT IF YOU LIKE YOUR QUEUE.

Sonos please put it back how it was. This new app is so awful I am considering selling my entire Sonos rig (6 pieces!) and walking away from you, after what was until this week, many happy years.

Touching on a track because I want to play it, or add it to the queue (the queue that I DID WANT), does not mean I want to delete the whole queue and replace it with the entire album (which I DON'T WANT) which the newly added track comes from.

If I wanted to delete my queue, I would delete it. If I wanted to add the whole album, I would add it using the play all function.

You've just taken something intuitive and user friendly which worked so well and turned it into a worse than hateful mess.

PLEASE UNDO THIS AWFUL, HORRIBLE CHANGE.

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353 replies

what in the world happened? Sonos went from being one of my favorite gadgets around the house to something that is almost useless to me overnight. Why in the world would I want to destroy my queue just because I play a track off of an album? this makes no sense. I've lost my queue and I've lost a lot of love for Sonos. It's pretty clear that people want the old queue functionality back. Sonos - this is not the time to alienate 72% of your users just as Google Chromecast Audio is coming to maturity.
Userlevel 5
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Why to play from here does the queue have to be deleted anyhow (vs. just add from there to end of queue).

I have asked this myself and I am STILL waiting on the answer!!! Would be happy for anyone to give me a sensible answer - preferably from a Sonos rep.


I was sure I had answered this somewhere but I can't find it. What happens is that the end of playing a queue, no matter where those tracks came from, the focus of the player rotates back to the first song so that you can restart what was playing with just the push if a button. The downside, is that if you then go to add an album/track/playlist using Play Now, the focus is still at track 1, so these get added at track 2 and beyond.

We've been sure to pass on the feedback that this can be a negative experience to the team so they know to take a look into.


I am not sure you are answering the right question here. The question is why is there a need to replace the queue at all with this play from here one tap behavior. Couldn't you just add the playlist or album to the existing queue without trying to delete. What is the rationale?

I think you were answering about why after an exhausted queue the "Play Now" works to add after the first song. I have seen that "explanation" before yes. But I still view the outcome as very messy, unintuitive and not fit for public release. I am very clear on that. Very clear. That type of software release does no favors to a company's reputation.
I think Ryan's real answer (but can't say) is - the team f@cked up with this release and didn't listen to the beta testers. I would pass on this feedback to the team but they probably won't listen. We've recently jumped into bed with Apple and Spotify so are going to change our unique selling point (the awesome queue) to behave just like their mundane players.

Sort it out Sonos and let us know when you are going to sort this mess out. Stop giving us a load of waffle trying to cover your tracks.
Userlevel 1
Guys, I went over to Facebook and I notice there is quite a bit of support for the tap to play feature. Perhaps many of these users never truly understood how to use the awesome queue feature as it was. Basically newbies who just expected a "make music go" functionality from Sonos got their wish. Meet the lowest common denominator to satisfy the masses. I get it. I just hope there is an exec with some pull at Sonos that appreciates what we had and figures a way to give the option of the old queue back.

Another observation is that Sonos seems to be active on their Facebook with lots of "thanks" to those who praise the new feature, while I haven't seen anything from Sonos on this thread yet. So I suggest if you use Facebook or Twitter, get on there and make your feelings known.
And don't forget to add your review if you don't like the changes to the iOS App Store. Sonos is nose diving big time on there at the moment.
I'm not a Facebook user but just checked out the Sonos page, only one reference to 6.4 saying that it is driving them crazy. Can't see much support on the Sonos page at all.
Userlevel 1
There is a thread on the Sonos Facebook page posted September 7 by Sonos just after release of 6.4 with a video of the new tap to play feature. It currently has 200 likes, 9 loves, and 2 angry. This doesn't seem possible, I'm scratching my head... maybe they liked it before they tried it.
Userlevel 2
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Ryan can you confirm on behalf of Sonos??? Are you guys trying to annoy the hell of us for "strategic reasons"???

I'm pretty sure this is rhetorical but I'd be happy to deny it on behalf of Sonos. I can confirm that the intent was to make playing music easier and perhaps more familiar for those used to some of the most popular music playing software out there.
*snip*.


This is the key right here. The intent was to make it more like the streaming service software. McFarlane said they were going to push streaming and voice control. Those of us with large music libraries are not the key demographic anymore. No more features for us. Any other solutions out there?
Userlevel 2
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Can anyone confirm that the Sonopad app still works the old way? I'm going to try it tonite (forgot I had it).
Userlevel 5
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Guys that shouldn't really bother you. It all depends on the culture of a forum and the nature of the users on it. Those are also very small numbers. If you check the reviews of the new update on the Apple App Store the update is being panned more than loved. I wouldn't worry. I am sure Sonos is quite aware that the fall out is real. A significant portion of Legacy users are not pleased. I don't believe the update is the end of the world but I am seriously irritated by it. I tell you it's the 1st time I feel so annoyed with the company and I know many feel the same way. In the effort to make new friends you take you core support for granted. This is fundamental and I don't think the company appreciates that or it is being done with a wider strategy in mind and they expect the cost of a short term fall out will be dwarfed by some sort of long term market success for which this change is key. Right now I am just widely speculating.
Userlevel 7
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I think sonopad has a toggle as far as how behaves. The new Sonos version has no effect on how Sonopad works.

I tried out Sonopad again during the Sonos Beta since I knew I hated what Sonos had done to their version. My problem with Sonopad however is the lack of universal search. That is a big advantage with the Sonos official version.
Userlevel 2
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I think sonopad has a toggle as far as how behaves. The new Sonos version has no effect on how Sonopad works.

I tried out Sonopad again during the Sonos Beta since I knew I hated what Sonos had done to their version. My problem with Sonopad however is the lack of universal search. That is a big advantage with the Sonos official version.


You are correct. There is a 3 way toggle on Sonopad. Always ask, always add to end, or always replace (play now). How hard is that? You're right, sonopad has no universal,search.
Userlevel 7
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You're right, sonopad has no universal,search.
Neither does Sonos, as their so called ´universal search´ doesn´t include the Contributing Artists.
Userlevel 7
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You're right, sonopad has no universal,search.
Neither does Sonos, as their so called ´universal search´ doesn´t include the Contributing Artists.


Sure it does

If you search for ARTISTS then it returns those artists. I didn't ask it to search CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS so your comment is not correct.
Userlevel 7
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so your comment is not correct.
The 'universal search' does not include searching in Contributing Artists so it is not universal.
Userlevel 7
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When you search in Sonos you specify what to search for:- Artist, Albums, Composers, Songs and Genres

You probably noticed Contributing Artist is NOT there. I suppose if you want to be ultra-pedantic you could claim the search isn't "Universal" in that case. However, you might as well complain that as it isn't searching in my sock drawer the search isn't "Universal". In other words your criticism is not fair or proportionate.
Userlevel 7
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your criticism is not fair or proportionate.
It isn't me who invented or uses the phrase 'universal search', it it Sonos.
Userlevel 7
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your criticism is not fair or proportionate.
It isn't me who invented or uses the phrase 'universal search', it it Sonos.


And it was YOU who interpreted it to mean searching in every single tag even though, as you know, the search is refined by tag. And the tag you want searched ISN'T in that list.
I could see adding all tracks in album to end of queue actually having a use.

But you could do that already...
Userlevel 7
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as you know
Please stick to the facts you do know.
Please get this sorted it is doing my head in. I'm not the only one in my group of friends. We all hate it. The sooner this is sorted the better. Hope your listening Sonos.
Userlevel 1
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Thought I'd just add one more voice regarding this disaster of an "update". Sonos... put it back the way it was.
Userlevel 1
Sonopad now includes a "Play (Keep Queue)" option which adds the choice at the end of the queue and plays the song/album the way it worked in the Sonos controller before the 6.4 upgrade. I've got the configuration option set to "Always Ask" so the queue can't get overwritten accidentally too. It works great and I'm going to use Sonopad as much as possible as long as Sonos doesn't have a play at end option. In addition, both the SONOS controller and Sonopad can be loaded so I can always use the SONOS controller if needed. Here is Sonopad's release note for the feature: http://sonopad.de/tap-to-play-or-keeping-the-queue-sonopad-lets-you-choose/.
Userlevel 5
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"I have to admit, that personally I’m a huge fan of “tap to play”. Maybe I’m just simple minded – just playing a single album is all a need
I play entire albums all the time. I used to just search for an album, choose it, and hit "Play all" at the top of the album listing that showed up. I could string together album after album like that if I wanted to. It was easy, intuitive, and non-destructive. What I have no use for is to search for a particular song and have whatever album the version of that song was on play from that track onward while simultaneously loading the previous songs into the queue and replacing all the other tracks/albums I've already loaded, all via one tap.