Question

Terrible, terrible Sonos controller interface!


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Nearly 2 years ago I purchased multiple Sonos speakers. I have no regrets, as Sonos truly sounds magnificent. Sonos also has a top notch customer service, for if you have connection problems. What else could you ask for…

Well, how about giving us the Sonos controller interface we deserve. At the moment it’s terrible! I’d like to see it made better, more complete and more intuitive. At the moment I’m running the app on Windows 10 and Android.

I would like to address the following issues. Issues that prevent me from exploiting the biggest pro Sonos has to offer me! Making playlists with nearly unlimited possible variations. I like to hang upside down on my sofa clicking around doing all I want with just one app!

The Windows 10 desktop controller app

In general:

• The search bar cannot browse all platforms at the same time (e.g., a separate search has to be made for Soundcloud, Spotify, your music library and so on). Not convenient at all.
• Minimal track details, just title and artist. Could be improved. Give us at least track duration.

Soundcloud:

• Not all likes are displayed. In my case only the most recent likes (297) are shown, most are excluded. It limits me a lot when making new playlists, forcing me to only use recent tracks.
• Playlists are limited to 100 tracks. So we can forget about larger playlists. I personally like to start with a big selection, which I move around and filter to a perfect list. Impossible now!
• Liked albums aren’t displayed among the liked tracks. This can be surpassed by liking every individual track from the album. Again, not convenient at all.
• In no way am I able to filter, sort or search within lists (i.e., likes, playlists and such).
• Unable to find particular tracks in the app at all. Let alone listen to them. Not in stream, likes, playlists or search. Again, yet another limitation.
• Some tracks in the stream show up as ‘only available via Soundcloud.com’. After sharing those particular tracks, all of a sudden that’s no longer the case and they play fine in the app.
• Playlists are all displayed with my profile picture, not the picture I assigned to it. This obstructs easy navigation.
• Unable to make or edit playlists (i.e., syncing playlists with your Soundcloud account).
• The Search option is incomplete, will only search within artists and track titles. Manually shifting in between artists and track titles is required, if you want to see all results. Unlike the Soundcloud search, which also includes playlists, album titles, descriptions and tags.
• The list of people I’m following is incomplete, on top of that they are in random order. Ever heard of the alphabet? Navigation skill level 10 is required here, but with no guarantee that you will find what you are looking for.
• The list of followers is completely missing.
• Reposts are also nowhere to be found. Well, in the stream but not addressed as such. I would like to see reposts per individual and I want to see my own.
• Unable to follow or unfollow artists, or repost tracks.

Spotify:

• In no way able to filter, sort or search within playlists, artists and albums. Making navigation a complete joke when there’s a couple of thousand tracks to scroll through. On top of that, the track list is in ‘latest added’ order. Do you really want me to remember when I added what track?
• The list of artists I follow is absent, as is my recently played track list.
• The search option is broken and why on earth do I manually have to shift in between results (i.e., artists, albums, tracks and playlists). I have no idea what is wrong with it exactly, but a lot of results are missing when I do a search. Unacceptable!
• Unable to follow playlists or artists, nor are the artists I follow shown anywhere.

Bandcamp:

• Searching within Bandcamp doesn’t work. It simply does not work, is bro-ken.
• Unable to manually browse the Bandcamp catalogue. Please, wake up the person responsible. I think he fell asleep behind his computer and apparently hit the delete button on his way down!!

Okay, I could go on and on, but there’s no point I guess. Problems everywhere, whether it’s the desktop app or the android app. Take the android app for example, search function for Mixcloud is broken…. b-r-o-k-e-n! Not cool!

The list above is what bothers me about the Sonos interface. Heck, there’s so many things I got tired and left out the rest of the issues bothering me. I do think I have made my point though. The app momentarily complicates listening to music very much for me, instead of simplifying it. It forces me to use both the app and different websites of streaming services, this because of the huge app limitations. Instead of enjoying my Sonos system to the fullest, I’m forced to write all this stuff.

Now lets see what Sonos says… Sonos promotes the app as follows: “Choose what to play, where to play it, and how loud. In one room, or in every room of your home. Track down songs across all your music services with a single search. Create playlists in an instant. The Sonos app does it all.”

A joke right!!?? Or did I miss out? Come on, we are living in 2017, where everything is possible.
Sonos, could you pretty please with sugar on top fix this for us?!

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29 replies



Yes. I disagree with the Sonos approach on this.


Oh! So thomashenry disagrees with the architecture that allowed a Billion $ company to support more music services than the number of services supported by all their competitors combined? I'm sure Sonos will get started on that redesign right away! :8


The evolution of business comes from refined iterations of offerings, in this case, the user interface. It really doesn't serve sonos or you as a sonos user to completely ignore very valid points and suggestions to fine tune and hone a "redesign of the architecture" that would ultimately improve and enhance sonos as a company. It in incredibly rare to nail it the first time, and any intelligent company is always wanting to improve and innovate every day. If Apple stopped at the computer we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Ie - iTunes and streaming music. But thanks for this stagnant comment.


Uhhhh, you do realize this thread predates the 8.0 software, the post you are referring to is months old, and therefore the subject being discussed is the OLD release that people like you are desperately clamoring to return to?

Pretty embarrassing, eh?
[quote=DiSoRderLY]Nearly 2 years ago I purchased multiple Sonos speakers. I have no regrets, as Sonos truly sounds magnificent. Sonos also has a top notch customer service, for if you have connection problems. What else could you ask for…

Well, how about giving us the Sonos controller interface we deserve. At the moment it’s terrible! I’d like to see it made better, more complete and more intuitive. At the moment I’m running the app on Windows 10 and Android.

I would like to address the following issues. Issues that prevent me from exploiting the biggest pro Sonos has to offer me! Making playlists with nearly unlimited possible variations. I like to hang upside down on my sofa clicking around doing all I want with just one app!

The Windows 10 desktop controller app

In general:

• The search bar cannot browse all platforms at the same time (e.g., a separate search has to be made for Soundcloud, Spotify, your music library and so on). Not convenient at all.
• Minimal track details, just title and artist. Could be improved. Give us at least track duration.

Soundcloud:

• Not all likes are displayed. In my case only the most recent likes (297) are shown, most are excluded. It limits me a lot when making new playlists, forcing me to only use recent tracks.
• Playlists are limited to 100 tracks. So we can forget about larger playlists. I personally like to start with a big selection, which I move around and filter to a perfect list. Impossible now!
• Liked albums aren’t displayed among the liked tracks. This can be surpassed by liking every individual track from the album. Again, not convenient at all.
• In no way am I able to filter, sort or search within lists (i.e., likes, playlists and such).
• Unable to find particular tracks in the app at all. Let alone listen to them. Not in stream, likes, playlists or search. Again, yet another limitation.
• Some tracks in the stream show up as ‘only available via Soundcloud.com’. After sharing those particular tracks, all of a sudden that’s no longer the case and they play fine in the app.
• Playlists are all displayed with my profile picture, not the picture I assigned to it. This obstructs easy navigation.
• Unable to make or edit playlists (i.e., syncing playlists with your Soundcloud account).
• The Search option is incomplete, will only search within artists and track titles. Manually shifting in between artists and track titles is required, if you want to see all results. Unlike the Soundcloud search, which also includes playlists, album titles, descriptions and tags.
• The list of people I’m following is incomplete, on top of that they are in random order. Ever heard of the alphabet? Navigation skill level 10 is required here, but with no guarantee that you will find what you are looking for.
• The list of followers is completely missing.
• Reposts are also nowhere to be found. Well, in the stream but not addressed as such. I would like to see reposts per individual and I want to see my own.
• Unable to follow or unfollow artists, or repost tracks.

Spotify:

• In no way able to filter, sort or search within playlists, artists and albums. Making navigation a complete joke when there’s a couple of thousand tracks to scroll through. On top of that, the track list is in ‘latest added’ order. Do you really want me to remember when I added what track?
• The list of artists I follow is absent, as is my recently played track list.
• The search option is broken and why on earth do I manually have to shift in between results (i.e., artists, albums, tracks and playlists). I have no idea what is wrong with it exactly, but a lot of results are missing when I do a search. Unacceptable!
• Unable to follow playlists or artists, nor are the artists I follow shown anywhere.

I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU!!

Sonos has an incredibly thoughtful approach to sound and connectivity across multiple platforms. Unfortunately sonos severely lacks thoughtful design and a clean experience within the interface. The speakers are designed very clean, they look beautiful and sound incredible, and they created a product that is revolutionary. However, I have a problem with the fact customers are taking the time to provide genuine and detailed valid feedback on behalf of the masses and there hasn't been any updates or response on the design or experience within the interface. If your products are being offered and carried in stores like Apple, who as a company, dedicate themselves to ongoing innovation and product evolution based on customers needs and wants - sonos should be following suit and keeping up.


Think about your music loving consumer and how they've been listening to, sorting through and organizing music for the past 15 years via iTunes and multiple other music streaming platforms. There is a familiarity in how the layout flows, looks, and reads. The user options (artist, song name, date added, bpm, kind) have become staples and again, any song is quickly easy to get to or find with the ability to search your music library or reverse the order of a playlist.


SUGGESTED DESIGN LAYOUT -
Music library on the left, then you have your tracks, any other activity on the far right. Details (such as: what room the speaker is playing in) should be a small tab in the top right corner. It definitely doesn't need to be part of the trifecta on the main screen. Sonos has literally designed everything backwards.
The page layout doesn't even make sense - the trifecta layout should read from left to right. From the left - "select music source" then "library" then "what's playing" (which should have every song by that artist listed, or every song in the playlist it is playing from listed) and which bedroom should be in the top right corner.

SORTING through your listening library -
Very limited solely to artist name, song title and the search bar (which is also complete rubbish when you're not able to actually search your own library. Also I was playing Black Magic Woman by Fleetwood Mac. That track is in all of my libraries and on spotify... I searched it in the search tab and it came up with NO results... Anywhere. It makes no sense.

Maybe I use sonos differently, but I would love an easy and smart way within sonos to find and sort through my library.
Sort by - date, bpm, time .... artist, song, playlist...

I have roughly 17,000 songs in my iTunes alone - I'm clearly getting new music daily and weekly from all over the place. Why is the ONLY way to play and find tracks in sonos separated into folders of artists, songs, genres. The search bar is pointless when you can't even search YOUR music, you can only search all of apple music or all of spotify.

When you have the "ugh whats the name of the song again... I know the artist but I'm blanking on the track name". Oh I can't search my music? Ok... Or - "I just added 50 songs, I would like to listen to the last 50 I just bought on sonos speakers not on mac speakers ..." Oh I can't. "Ok what about the most recent music I bought say the last month..." Oh. I can't do that either since i can't simply reverse the date tab and listen in that order.

Have a look at Spotify, iTunes, Tidal .... And smarten it up. There are obviously ways around these very basic requests - make a playlist in spotify or iTunes then update music library again, but its an annoying additional step that shoudn't exist when you're charging the prices you are. As leaders in the sound industry, they really should step up this dated and ugly music homepage and design something that is as sharp as their sound AND offers multiple ways to view, filter through and listen to your music.

There has to be a better way.. I honestly don't recommend sonos to anyone simply because the experience has stopped, and isn't designed for or by music lovers. Have some intelligence and integrity.. I blame sonos the company I purchased from, not "the other guy". If the Apple iPhone has a glitch, we're aren't expected to just live with it or told to go to their manufacturer directly. Consumers report a problem or glitch to Apple, they communicate to their manufacturers, and an update is delivered. Very often in fact.... Sonos needs to respond and improve for their customers who are spending hard earned money on their products.


Yes. I disagree with the Sonos approach on this.


Oh! So thomashenry disagrees with the architecture that allowed a Billion $ company to support more music services than the number of services supported by all their competitors combined? I'm sure Sonos will get started on that redesign right away! :8


The evolution of business comes from refined iterations of offerings, in this case, the user interface. It really doesn't serve sonos or you as a sonos user to completely ignore very valid points and suggestions to fine tune and hone a "redesign of the architecture" that would ultimately improve and enhance sonos as a company. It in incredibly rare to nail it the first time, and any intelligent company is always wanting to improve and innovate every day. If Apple stopped at the computer we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Ie - iTunes and streaming music. But thanks for this stagnant comment.


Uhhhh, you do realize this thread predates the 8.0 software, the post you are referring to is months old, and therefore the subject being discussed is the OLD release that people like you are desperately clamoring to return to?

Pretty embarrassing, eh?


Actually I did realize this, however I am still waiting for my current issues to be addressed and sonos to respond.


Yes. I disagree with the Sonos approach on this.


Oh! So thomashenry disagrees with the architecture that allowed a Billion $ company to support more music services than the number of services supported by all their competitors combined? I'm sure Sonos will get started on that redesign right away! :8


The evolution of business comes from refined iterations of offerings, in this case, the user interface. It really doesn't serve sonos or you as a sonos user to completely ignore very valid points and suggestions to fine tune and hone a "redesign of the architecture" that would ultimately improve and enhance sonos as a company. It in incredibly rare to nail it the first time, and any intelligent company is always wanting to improve and innovate every day. If Apple stopped at the computer we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Ie - iTunes and streaming music. But thanks for this stagnant comment.


Uhhhh, you do realize this thread predates the 8.0 software, the post you are referring to is months old, and therefore the subject being discussed is the OLD release that people like you are desperately clamoring to return to?

Pretty embarrassing, eh?


Actually I did realize this, however I am still waiting for my current issues to be addressed and sonos to respond.


Also - not sure why you're trolling the forums and "clamoring" people who are hoping for a quality interface. I'm not sure what you think I am returning to when the OLD release looks EXACTLY like the new one and none of these updates or suggestions have been addressed.